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Bent front rim....possible fork damage too?


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Hit a good size rock today at about 50 mph.  Bent the rim but fortunately I didn't lose control of the bike.  I'm amazed that the tire didn't blow or even lose any air.  I was able to limp home at 25 mph.  Felt like the suspension bottomed out on impact.   It steers kinda wonky now, which is to be expected with the rim damage I suppose.   But I'm wondering if I may have also dorked the the suspension?   

I need to decide whether to bring just the front wheel to the dealer for replacement, or trailer the bike there so they can inspect the suspension, too.   Anyone dealt with this before?  TIA

 

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Woah.  That's quite the smack right there.  Glad you didn't go down!

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2015 FJ-09 / FJR touring bags / oil plug mod / Evotech rad guard / SW Motech bash plate / GIVI DS2122S windscreen / Seat Concepts:  Sport Touring / Vcyclenut ABS rings (speedo correction) / Cosmo RAM mount

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Wow! That's remarkable. Glad you kept it up right!

Forks are probably okay. If you want to see for yourself, drop the forks out and spin them around. You're looking for wobble as they spin.

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'15 FJ09

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I did something similar last summer. It didn’t harm the fork. We went to the dealer to buy another rim....3 month wait and I needed it a week before my yearly big trip. Thankfully, I found one on eBay a 100 miles down the road. 

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Let’s go Brandon

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1 hour ago, 2WHLOZK said:

Felt like the suspension bottomed out on impact.   It steers kinda wonky now, which is to be expected with the rim damage I suppose.   But I'm wondering if I may have also dorked the the suspension?

Pick it up off the side stand, hold the front brake and cycle it through the stroke by pressing down hard on the bars, do it several times.  There shouldn't be any harshness, binding mid-stroke or abnormal noises.  

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***2015 Candy Red FJ-09***

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Wow good for not crashing . I doubt if fork tubes are bend ,but you may have tweaked them in the triple tree and are out of alignment. You will be able to tell when removing the front wheel . If your not confident in how to loosen and line the forks up then your best bet is probably the Dealer or someone that can help you. Good luck !

MIKE

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18 hours ago, micah2074 said:

I did something similar last summer. It didn’t harm the fork. We went to the dealer to buy another rim....3 month wait and I needed it a week before my yearly big trip. Thankfully, I found one on eBay a 100 miles down the road. 

Yep, just got off the phone with the dealer.  None in the U.S.  Five available in Japan (only five?!).   Placed my order, dealer estimates 3 month wait.  Three months must be dealers' stock answer for parts ordered from Japan.  Seems excessively long, maybe it'll arrive sooner.  Anyway, $344 + sales tax.   That's actually less than I expected, so not too bad! 

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18 hours ago, betoney said:

Pick it up off the side stand, hold the front brake and cycle it through the stroke by pressing down hard on the bars, do it several times.  There shouldn't be any harshness, binding mid-stroke or abnormal noises.  

Thanks, good idea.  

Done.  Nothing seems abnormal.

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16 hours ago, GTO MIKE said:

Wow good for not crashing . I doubt if fork tubes are bend ,but you may have tweaked them in the triple tree and are out of alignment. You will be able to tell when removing the front wheel . If your not confident in how to loosen and line the forks up then your best bet is probably the Dealer or someone that can help you. Good luck !

MIKE

This is uncharted territory for me, so I don't know what that is supposed to "feel" like, but I won't be surprised if that's exactly what happened.  Thanks.

I've decided to have the dealer do everything once the new rim arrives.  The service dept there is very good.  I'll have them go through the entire front suspension system.  Replace, repair, or adjust whatever is needed.  Which will include their test driving the bike, as well.  

My collision deductible is $250.   The job will easily run into many hundreds of $$ (or more, depending). 

Total repair cost on my end?....$250 plus $36 for a U-Haul trailer.   That ain't bad!   😀

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Yes some good stuff on eBay, sometimes a bit tricky to navigate.  Last summer when my BMW broke in the middle of HD and Indian country the rear hub was pretty much unavailable as were BMW mechanics - LOL I ordered a complete swingarm off eBay - fast delivery and it was in great condition just as advertised.  If you get a used rim check it for straightness and out of round.  Bigger sellers probably do that but folks parting out a bike they crashed may not.  

IMO I would not hesitate to buy a used rim but would check it carefully.

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