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Damaged a Rim on my F3L when we hit about a 4" rock that slid off of a rock wall by the road - afraid to ask what a new rim will cost!?!

GRHorst

Member
Finally 50+ degrees today. Time for a ryde. But while riding on a rural highway next to a rock wall, a 3-4" piece fell into our path. It was a bit of a jolt and the tire went down, so I thought I may need a new R front tire. But, as you can see in the picture, the rim is damaged. I'm afraid to ask what a new rim will cost!

Looking back at my dash-cam this evening, I remember that a car was approaching. So swerving around may not have been reasonable at this point/speed. The bummer is that a few inches to the right and the rock could have passed in that narrow space between the front and rear tire which is what I was trying to do. Oh well, guess I need to practice finding that narrow passage in between.

I went ahead and ordered new fancier rims and a set of tires.

RockWeHit-3-4-2025_2.jpg RIM-Damage-March4-2025_s.jpg
 
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You can sometimes get cheap-ish OEM rims &/or tires off eBay, but you never really know what stresses/damage they may have received before you fit them to your Spyder, so IMHO, that's almost as bad an idea of beating that one straighter & just putting it back on!! :eek:

So you might be a LOT better off tossing both front rims and buying a pair of suitable a/mkt rims - IIRC, PPA have some pretty good looking rims in the right size/offset etc, and not only might they be cheaper (per pair vs one OEM??) but they are almost certainly stronger & therefore less likely to suffer that sort of damage - especially if you also toss both of those OEM 'excuses for black round things used to keep the metal bits off the tarmac'!! :cautious: Besides, after a hit that's damaged your rim like that, the tire is a throw-away now anyway, even if you can't see it!! And fitting just one new tire to the front of your Spyder is simply begging for trouble, especially if it's another Kenda! 😖

Unless they've changed in the last few months, the OEM Tires (altho I do hesitate to use that 'Tire' term for the Kendas!) are very lightly constructed car tires with somewhat less inherent strength in the sidewalls and tread plies, so they tend to be more prone to that sort of damage from road hazards & debris than your normal car tires in the first place. And since you really should get a pair of new tires and you hafta toss one of them anyway, just toss the other Kenda and get yourself a good pair of 'normal' car tires in a type that suits your riding needs/wants (anything in a 165 or 175 width, 50 to 65 profile should fit, and may possibly be available as a pair for less $$ than getting just one OEM tire); any tire place should be able to do the strip & refit for you, altho you might need to search for someone to balance them properly; then once fitted and balanced, run them at an appropriate (lower) pressure for the (much) lighter loads a Spyder imposes on them! The advantages and benefits you'll get in ride, handling, longevity, traction (when run at or near the right pressure) will likely astound you, and you'll also be far less likely to suffer tire or rim damage like that ever again! (y)

Just Sayin' ;)
 
Finally 50+ degrees today. Time for a ryde. But while riding on a rural highway next to a rock wall, a 3-4" piece fell into our path. It was a bit of a jolt and the tire went down, so I thought I may need a new R front tire. But, as you can see in the picture, the rim is damaged. I'm afraid to ask what a new rim will cost!

View attachment 212202
Rims can be repaired. Just search Auto Rim Repair for your area.
 
I did something similar. I kissed a concrete divider with the left wheel. I only had the bike for a few weeks and thought I was still on two wheels. There was about an eight inch section that got bunged up pretty good. I took it to a local wheel repair shop and they made it look brand new. It was not cheap, but still less than purchasing a new wheel.
 
I did something similar. I kissed a concrete divider with the left wheel. I only had the bike for a few weeks and thought I was still on two wheels. There was about an eight inch section that got bunged up pretty good. I took it to a local wheel repair shop and they made it look brand new. It was not cheap, but still less than purchasing a new wheel.
It's quite a jolt to hit an object. It can shake you up a bit. A wheel repair shop said they could try to repair mine. But I think this is a good time (e.g. excuse :giggle:) to get some fancier looking wheels along with new tires. I have 12,000 miles on the bike. It had original front tires and a new tire on the rear. Fronts should have been ok for a good bit more. However ...
 
May need to look at "A" arm too for that side that rim got bent. After a new rim and tire, take it to a place that does Rolo Laser alignments to check it. Might be OK as is, or a bit out of alignment
That makes sense. I was wondering if alignment could have been impacted too.
 
You can get two PPA wheels for the cost of one OEM wheel. https://ppawheels.com/products/orb-15
Put two new Vredestein tires on it at the same time. I would not trust that tire.

I have their chrome ORB wheels on both my Spyders.
I think I ordered the same wheels and tires except, since mine is a blacked out model, I ordered the black ORB type with the machined surface. It appears like it should be somewhere between the black look and the chrome look.
 
As others have mentioned above, I hit a foreign object with my car and bent the inside outer rim edge on the front wheel to the point that the wheel would no longer hold air. I took it to a wheel repair shop and they fixed it like new for $125. This was on a aluminium wheel.
 
As others have mentioned above, I hit a foreign object with my car and bent the inside outer rim edge on the front wheel to the point that the wheel would no longer hold air. I took it to a wheel repair shop and they fixed it like new for $125. This was on a aluminium wheel.
Thanks, I got a similar quote. But the shop generally does not do motorcycles. Since mine is a 3-wheeler, they would have been willing to give it a try. But they were a bit hesitant and I had already ordered the upgraded wheels.
 
Did you contact your insurance company?
Reporting it as an accident, the deductible on your policy for something small will most of the time be more than the fix. Plus that will put a mark against you on your insurance, even if you don't have them pay for the fix. That's what we have had done to us before. Next time we had a mishap at our house to our car, we paid for it out of pocket. Best to keep claims to yourself if possible for small stuff. Something major, you use them, and most insurance companies now, if you don't have an accident report with the police, the insurance company won't pay. For towing, you just have the Tow company turn in the bill.
 
Reporting it as an accident, the deductible on your policy for something small will most of the time be more than the fix. Plus that will put a mark against you on your insurance, even if you don't have them pay for the fix. That's what we have had done to us before. Next time we had a mishap at our house to our car, we paid for it out of pocket. Best to keep claims to yourself if possible for small stuff. Something major, you use them, and most insurance companies now, if you don't have an accident report with the police, the insurance company won't pay. For towing, you just have the Tow company turn in the bill.
I think you are right. I had a flat once before where I used Progressive towing coverage. It didn't affect my rate. But you described the reason I didn't report it as an accident. Although a road hazard, if covered, is probably a comprehensive claim, I didn't want it to mar my insurance record. Also, they would probably just pay for the rim refurb minus my deductible which would end up being nothing. Some insurance coverage today is something I refer to as a loan program. They loan you $ to get it repaired, then you make payments via higher rates until they recoup 2x what they paid out.

(My apologies to any insurance reps on this forum. But that has been my experience. :unsure: )
 
I ran over a fallen tree on the freeway and broke a large chip off my wheel. $500 later, I had a new wheel. I also had to buy a new tire, which brought the damage to ~$650 all in. I also didn't report it to my insurance company for same reasons mentioned above. Also sustained damage to my wheel fender, as it is now bent inwards a bit at the top.

20241102_112654 - 0003 - Ran over a tree trunk on Route 57 - Flat Tire and damaged wheel.jpg - 20241102_112634 - 0002 - Ran over a tree trunk on Route 57 - Flat Tire and damaged wheel.jpg - 2025-03-21_13-36-12.jpg
 
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That probably made quite a "whack" depending on your speed. Glad the rest of the branch didn't fly up and hit you!

At the advice of someone on this board, I purchased a nice set of two new wheels for ~$540. The set of tires cost me ~$220 plus mount & balance ~$70. Too bad we didn't coordinate our road hazards. :unsure: We could have shared the remaining good wheel.

I'm having a laser alignment done next week. The tire wasn't wearing right which was apparently happening for a long time before.
 
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