Front wheel damage

[BrownTrousers]

Hi all,

Whilst washing my bike after a long trip to Europe, I noticed the deformation of the front wheel as shown below. 

There was no sign of damage to the paint or tyre, so I'm not really sure how it happened. I don't remember hitting any particularly huge bumps an couldn't notice any unusual handling.




Anyway. after a little bit of umming and aahhing and indecision (ignore it, repair it or replace it), I acted on some advice I got from another forum and gave http://www.motoliner.com/ a go. It meant a 90 mile trip down to Maidstone but there are precious few places I could find who repair motorcycle wheels and given the price of a new one, I thought I'd give it a go.

Well, I just arrived back home and can confirm they are excellent. I rode in at 8am, they removed the wheel, tyre and brake disc, removed the paint from the damaged area, repaired it, repainted it, rebalanced it and refitted it. I was on my way home by 11.30. Looking at my wheel now I literally can't even tell where the damage was. Well worth the £160.

Just in case anybody finds themselves in a similar position one day. They appear to make a living straightening wheels and frames of road and race bikes. 

[20220727]

I hit a pot hole & my wheel has similar damage & I’ve had it inspected by 2 wheel repair/refurbishers & both have told me it’s not safe to repair so its £1044 for a new wheel

Motorliner is one of the companies that told me my wheel was unsafe to repair

[BrownTrousers]

Wow looks like I got very lucky as damage is quite similar!

They did mention they had seen another MTS wheel just yesterday which was cracked (they were worried mine would be the same) I suppose that could have been you!?

[20220727]

Originally Posted by BrownTrousers

Wow looks like I got very lucky as damage is quite similar!

They did mention they had seen another MTS wheel just yesterday which was cracked (they were worried mine would be the same) I suppose that could have been you!?

Yes it was me, the first 950 wheel they had seen

Mine was bent on both sides

[BrownTrousers]

Yours looks slightly worse .. . Mine was still holding air so I could ride on it... Is yours?

£1,000 is no joke. I was also worried it would take 6 months for Ducati to actually get one here given the state of accessory availability and supply.

Sorry to hear about your misfortune (and for accidentally rubbing it in!)

[20220727]

Originally Posted by BrownTrousers

Yours looks slightly worse .. . Mine was still holding air so I could ride on it... Is yours?

Yes it hold air, I must of done 150 miles before I noticed it

[resovoir]

I wonder what the wheels are made of. I had Oz wheels on an Aprila RSVR a while ago and they never suffered any deformation like that and I did 26k miles in UK and Europe.
Really feel sorry for you, is it worth claiming off the insurance as you hit a pot hole and not an accident or even the Council if you know which pothole.
 

[Conman]

Those are really shocking pictures and just let you see the state of our roads in the UK  But lets not get into that!

The council are responsible for local roads and their insurers should stump up - I've claimed many years ago and I don't think the rules have changed. You will need to detail what happend and probably have a photo of the offending hole. But if you carried on for a few miles before noticing there isn't much hope.

I'm off to check my wheels now 

[resovoir]

I am not sure, but I believe  if the councils they can prove they were unaware of the pothole you cannot claim, So the moral is report potholes to your council and keep proof.  Another trick councils use is to put up a sign at the start of a road indicating poor surface. After our last winter and cut backs on repairs we should have such signs on every road!

[BrownTrousers]

Yes I've been through the process with my wife's car and can confirm that you are only able to claim if the council (or Highways England, for motorways) have already been notified of the pothole and failed to fix it in a respectable time - a week or ten days i think.
In her case, they had been told of the pothole a few days earlier, but fixed it the day after her damage, so she was unable to claim.

In my case, I have no idea where it happened (could even have been whilst in Europe, although the roads were generally much better surfaced).