aluminium motorbike rim crack.

[Member 66061]

I wouldnt just bin that rim, I would destroy it somehow so it could never be used. I would never be able to bring myself to trust a repaired rim.
If your rim folds, what other expensive parts is it going to take with it?
Maybe theres a reasonably priced second hand replacement on ebay or somewhere.

 

[Mike Wilson]

Cheers all for your responses. He's decided to put a tube in it to get round his upcoming trial and buy and rebuild a new wheel for the future.

 

[Omniata]

Put plenty of tape in and round it too, tubes or none, it looks sharp
Pinhole drill at the bottom of the crack will stop it spreading, as said before...

 

[outofthefire]

Cheers all for your responses. He's decided to put a tube in it to get round his upcoming trial and buy and rebuild a new wheel for the future.

I thought all spoked wheels used tubes anyway and trials bikes for that matter given they run them on such low pressures anyway. This thread has made me laugh all the h&s panicking about how dangerous it is to weld up a wheel, have you ever watched trials, if a wheel collapses they just carry on regardless

 

[brightspark]

I thought all spoked wheels used tubes anyway and trials bikes for that matter given they run them on such low pressures anyway. This thread has made me laugh all the h&s panicking about how dangerous it is to weld up a wheel, have you ever watched trials, if a wheel collapses they just carry on regardless

not when they drop off a tall rock front wheel 1st and it collapses and your face goes in to the handlebars

 

[Tinbasherdan]

I thought all spoked wheels used tubes anyway and trials bikes for that matter given they run them on such low pressures anyway. This thread has made me laugh all the h&s panicking about how dangerous it is to weld up a wheel, have you ever watched trials, if a wheel collapses they just carry on regardless

Not sure about trials but for enduro unused to run mousses in the tyres, like dense foam rings that take the place of inner tubes and equate to about 12psi and so negates the chance of punctures etc.

Returning to the op, and the argument on weld or no weld at large, I have no doubts that I COULD weld that, I also imagine it's very, very unlikely that the wheel will collapse and result in a serious injury as a result of it being welded. However, would I do the job? No, because if that one in a million accident did happen and resulted in a life changing injury to the rider, how could I live with it?

most welders worth their salt could weld that, or most other damaged alloys, a lot do, and most get away with it, however for the most part that's all it is, getting away with it. Just because some bloke in a shed has been welding alloys without a breakage since god was in short pants doesn't mean he actually knows what's going on with the metallurgy of that rim, it just means he's willing to do the job and he's been lucky so far

 

[Hood]

I have no doubts that I COULD weld that, I also imagine it's very, very unlikely that the wheel will collapse and result in a serious injury as a result of it being welded. However, would I do the job? No, because if that one in a million accident did happen and resulted in a life changing injury to the rider, how could I live with it?

Years ago a young lad came to my workshop, he was from Glasgow but had been visiting his Gran in Arbroath and he came off his bike and snapped the front brake lever. He had asked around and had been told I could weld Alu. I turned him down as although I could have welded it and likely it would have been perfect for many a year I just had the thought of the poor wee lad happily flying home to Glasgow, a car pull out in front of him and him hauling on the front brake which promptly snapped. Couldn't have that on my conscience.
The flip side however was he maybe rode home without a front brake although if he did he probably took things canny.

 

[Wedg1e]

Anyone fancy having a crack at welding this?

Slid off a bend in Luxembourg at about 60 in June this year, the wheel hit one of the posts holding up an Armco barrier
When I'd rebuilt the front end I checked out the tyre as far as possible and decided to refit it (to the new wheel) in order to take the bike round the block: if it didn't go in a straight line it was probably not worth buying a new tyre
Anyway I went round the block... a few times... then a bit quicker... then I took it down the Helmsley TT and it seemed OK... so I spent four days riding up to the north of Scotland and back and... er... it's still on the bike
I promise I'll replace it before we go to the Alps next year
One of the less-technical amongst our happy band suggested it might be possible to 'bang the dent out and blow the tyre back up'...

 

[Seadog]

I had a dent in the front rim of my ZX10 (the original one), which was nowhere near as bad as yours Wedg1e but still caused deflation. My girlfriend borrowed my bike to do a run up north when she was a courier. Got as far as Bedford and ended up sliding up the M1 on her knees at about 70 following my bike through a gap between two lorries. Didn't do her knees any good, but thank goodness for leathers. ******ed my bike though.

Still, the dented rim was taken to Alf Hagon and they repaired it. There was no cracking as far as I could tell, but it came back looking like new. Still on the bike when I sold it in 1997

 

[Tinbasherdan]

Anyone fancy having a crack at welding this?

View attachment 98804

Slid off a bend in Luxembourg at about 60 in June this year, the wheel hit one of the posts holding up an Armco barrier
When I'd rebuilt the front end I checked out the tyre as far as possible and decided to refit it (to the new wheel) in order to take the bike round the block: if it didn't go in a straight line it was probably not worth buying a new tyre
Anyway I went round the block... a few times... then a bit quicker... then I took it down the Helmsley TT and it seemed OK... so I spent four days riding up to the north of Scotland and back and... er... it's still on the bike
I promise I'll replace it before we go to the Alps next year
One of the less-technical amongst our happy band suggested it might be possible to 'bang the dent out and blow the tyre back up'...

Oooh lucky boy

 

[cardiffrob]

Found this on Youtube. Scary, huh?

 

[Brad93]

Didn’t even V it out!

Let alone the heat put in it will be soft as hell

 

[Ashley Burton]

Found this on Youtube. Scary, huh?

That is something else!

 

[Richard.]

Didn’t even V it out!

Let alone the heat put in it will be soft as hell

Fixed

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Didn’t even V it out!

Let alone the heat put in it will be soft as hell

But he's got a special jig and everything.......

 

[anto44]

A friend once brought me the back wheel off his R1 for me to change a tyre for him. When I took the old tyre off we found a piece the size of a fag box had broken off the outer rim and been welded back on by a previous owner. The wheels were repainted and you couldn't tell until the tyre was off it'd been done. My stomach turned thinking about how I'd done well over 150mph on that bike a few days before

 

[WorkshopChris]

But he's got a special jig and everything.......

Its a classic case of just because you can doesn't mean you should.
Anything wheel, steering and suspension needs to be spot on, its not just the clown who thinks his repair is OK who may be injured it could close a 3 lane motorway.

 

[Richard.]

steering and suspension needs to be spot on,

I agree with that but steering and suspension components are usually steel, nice and weldable and don’t change much with a sound weld repair.
Wheels are just as critical but impossible not to change for the worst with welding. Successfully welded on a daily basis they may be but as good as they ever were? Not a chance

 

[mechman]

A friend once brought me the back wheel off his R1 for me to change a tyre for him. When I took the old tyre off we found a piece the size of a fag box had broken off the outer rim and been welded back on by a previous owner. The wheels were repainted and you couldn't tell until the tyre was off it'd been done. My stomach turned thinking about how I'd done well over 150mph on that bike a few days before

Not on the highway of course.

 

[Richard.]

Not on the highway of course.

I doubt it was.
You only get those in America