BMW R1200RT/R1250RT Forum

I’ve read that the wheels are pretty easy to dent, so it came as no surprise that an MOT test today came with an advisory that my front wheel is dented.

So where do I go from here? I’m certainly not courageous or talented enough to start swinging a hammer around to resolve the issue for myself, and several calls prompted by Google searches have all been met with the same “We don’t do bikes” response.

The one positive answer came from Maidstone Motoliner in Aylesford, Kent, who appear to be alone in repairing cast bike wheels with a quoted 4 day turn-around, they can also arrange a while-you-wait service with notice. So I’ll drop the wheel off with them in January, it has to be cheaper than a new one!

https://www.motoliner.com/

I've dented rims on all three of my RT's,. the wheels are like toffee.

Fortunately, in the NE, there is Roy Thursby at Stockton-on-Tees who is only a couple of miles away from me to sort them out. The most recent one was earlier this year. I had to get the tyre removed and refitted/balanced (15 GBP) after Roy had repaired it in his custom made wheel jig (80 GBP).

A new wheel could be around 700 GBP.

David. wrote: ↑Thu Nov 10, 2022 8:27 pm I've dented rims on all three of my RT's,. the wheels are like toffee.

Fortunately, in the NE, there is Roy Thursby at Stockton-on-Tees who is only a couple of miles away from me to sort them out. The most recent one was earlier this year. I had to get the tyre removed and refitted/balanced (15 GBP) after Roy had repaired it in his custom made wheel jig (80 GBP).

A new wheel could be around 700 GBP.

When I lived in Lincolnshire many years ago I had the misfortune to run over a lorry spring hanger bolt which buckled and punched a hole through the front wheel on my ZX10. I found Thursby’s advert in MCN and travelled across to his workshop and waited as he welded the hole, and then straightened the rim with a big hammer on his home made jig. It was horrifying to watch but the wheel ran straight and true afterwards and didn’t leak either. I was astonished but very happy. Top man!

Was out yesterday and did about 170mls, Exmoor and Dartmoor, I’m astounded how bad the roads are now with uneven surfaces and potholes… you have to concentrate so hard to avoid holes and also those seep ravines which are often in the centre of the road around towns, crossing the white lines and getting in one of these will have you off easily.
It was very sunny and at one point we were in a very shady spot going uphill on a bend in amongst traffic and then suddenly there’s no way to avoid this 4” deep bloody great hole , I now have a dented front rim , apart from ass ache, cramp, sore right elbow and neck pain we were having a really nice ride around beautiful countryside

Time to buy a Gold Wing Martin

As a footnote to my first post - Motoloner did an excellent ‘while you wait’ job on a loose wheel for £110, while I spent a couple of hours in a nearby supermarket cafe.

I would Steve but I don’t have your funds , Kent’s about a 4 hr trip so I’ve messaged motoliner about couriers etc and maybe wait until winter , I’m guessing with the state of the roads they will be very busy at the mo!.

I have also bent my front very slightly today

sakm wrote: ↑Sat Jul 20, 2024 8:17 pm I have also bent my front very slightly today

It’s ridiculous the state of the roads now, I’m almost at the point I’m not really enjoying the ride just looking to avoid potholes now

If you can identify the offending pothole which caused the damage to the wheel and take a photograph, I believe you may be able to claim against the local council responsible for maintaining the road.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-in ... 0authority.

David. wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2024 8:23 am If you can identify the offending pothole which caused the damage to the wheel and take a photograph, I believe you may be able to claim against the local council responsible for maintaining the road.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-in ... 0authority.

Best of luck with that Martin! In our area they will not pay if it is less than 6” deep, has been reported to them, has a white marker line around it, etc., etc., etc. When I read through their list it appears there is very little chance of making a successful claim.

Steve398 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2024 9:37 am Best of luck with that Martin! In our area they will not pay if it is less than 6” deep, has been reported to them, has a white marker line around it, etc., etc., etc. When I read through their list it appears there is very little chance of making a successful claim.

John,why are we calling each other different names.Everything was in order till Trevor asked about people's monickers,getting all a bit confusing on here nowadays

Steve398 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2024 9:37 am Best of luck with that Martin! In our area they will not pay if it is less than 6” deep, has been reported to them, has a white marker line around it, etc., etc., etc. When I read through their list it appears there is very little chance of making a successful claim.

I snapped a car wheel. I sent tonnes of pictures with measurements. The Council kept rejected my claim. The problem was the alloy wheels were not made any more. I contacted my insurance company and they would not allow copies of the wheels, saying they had to be like for like. They took the highways dept of West Sussex council to court 4 times. In the end the council buckled(sorry about the pun) under and paid for a set of wheels and paid my lnsurance costs. Took over a year of going back and forth whilst I was driving around on the thin temp wheel. The insurance company ended up finding a new set from Italy(new old stock. Along with 5 new tyres. Seeing there were less than 150 made of the Rare Mondeo ST220 limited editions made, it would have taken me a lifetime to find the wheels.

Back to MC wheels my Tiger front wheel had a slight buckle on one side of the rim. After watching hours of videos on YT. I heated the rim on the inside with a blow torch and hitting it with a leather mallet and a piece of 4x2 wood. Two hours later I had a straight rim. Surprisingly the paint was still in good condition.

David. wrote: ↑Sun Jul 21, 2024 8:23 am If you can identify the offending pothole which caused the damage to the wheel and take a photograph, I believe you may be able to claim against the local council responsible for maintaining the road.

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/car-in ... 0authority.

I did say to my wife shall we stop and go back to photograph it but the road was very busy, but like Steve was saying the councils have a myriad of criteria for a claim.

Don't think I would be able to put a claim in for those on this road

Anyway checked with rim and its less than 1mm out so I'm not worried about it

That’s us off to Maidstone in Kent on Sunday and taking the wheel with me to drop off at Motoliner on the Monday.