Potholes...again.

[Megadan]

Yeap, my front wheel took a hit again. What got damaged is surprising though. The rim is perfectly fine, well mostly. It has a teeny little flat spot on the lips that can be formed back with ease. No, what was more interesting was the fact that I had 3 spoke nuts fail by stripping out the threads.

So the damage is. The tire is screwed - but it somehow saved the rim. Thankfully I spent the extra 12 bucks on roadhazard, so new tire woo!.
3 spokes and spoke nuts are bad, I went ahead and ordered 36 spoke nuts (20 cents a pop, why not - reasoning below) and a handful of spokes (just in case) from CSC.
New tube on the way too, obviously.

I have never had a failure like this before. Usually the rim eats it pretty hard in the process. I can only assume that I may have potentially over tightened said spoke nuts and they were just waiting for the chance to fail. That is the reason I ordered 36 of them, just to be safe. I am going to relace and true the front wheel. Thankfully, CSC offers 2 day priority mail shipping so I should have them here by Friday. Even if that wasn't the case, better safe than sorry.

I already have the rim off the hub, and it's not warped or bent at all aside from the damage on the lip on each side.

I guess I should be thankful that I didn't crash, and the total repair cost is only about $45. Beats having to buy a new wheel.

On the plus side, my front suspension took it like a champ! Didn't even bottom out lol.

[JerryHawk250]

You must be getting old and your reflexes are getting too slow to dodge the pot holes. Glad you didn't get hurt though buddy.

[Hancadam]

Glad it wasn't any worse! At $45 bucks you lucked out well enough. I hate changing tires, but worth the hassle vs a shop doing it.

[China Rider 27]

Good to hear no upset. I've been thinking about one of those spoke torque wrenches, just to get them all the same, but at $80.00 other mods stand in the way for the time being.

[Jeff Richardson]

I'm actually shocked, no pun, how well my rims have held up against everything I've run into on the road and fake off-road along the railroads. I do stand up on our very narrow pegs, but the hawk still surprises me often.
Good thing because I don't have a spoke wrench, anymore. I did very bad things to my redline 720 rims as a stupid kid. ��

[psychprof]

First, I’m glad you’re okay.

But second, do you think this damage would have also happened on a “name brand” dirt bike? I mean no disrespect. I’m just trying to determine if this was a cheap Chinese steel issue vs. really bad luck and the damage would have occurred no matter what bike you were on?

[Jeff Richardson]

Originally Posted by psychprof

First, I’m glad you’re okay.

But second, do you think this damage would have also happened on a “name brand” dirt bike? I mean no disrespect. I’m just trying to determine if this was a cheap Chinese steel issue vs. really bad luck and the damage would have occurred no matter what bike you were on?

I'd watch those name brands. It certainly means more in the used 'Jap Brand' markets. Things were different a decade ago. Outsourcing and all.

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by JerryHawk250

You must be getting old and your reflexes are getting too slow to dodge the pot holes. Glad you didn't get hurt though buddy.

Honestly, that may be the case. I had my head somewhere other than the road and by the time I saw it my choices were to either slow as much as possible and hit it square on and try to not superman over the bars, or try to swerve, probably still hit the thing or a car, and crash. I chose the former, and for the most part it worked out.

Originally Posted by Hancadam

Glad it wasn't any worse! At $45 bucks you lucked out well enough. I hate changing tires, but worth the hassle vs a shop doing it.

Changing tires is easy as pie. I got my hands on a nice plated spoon set that works like a charm. I haven't pinched a tube, damaged a wheel, or struggled to do a tire since getting them. What I am not looking forward to is lacing and truing a wheel. I have done more than a few of them, but it is still a tedious and time consuming process.

Originally Posted by China Rider 27

Good to hear no upset. I've been thinking about one of those spoke torque wrenches, just to get them all the same, but at $80.00 other mods stand in the way for the time being.

I had one of those at one time, but it only lasted a couple of years before the torque settings were unreliable. My biggest issue is that I can apply a lot more force than say an average person even with a teeny little 4 inch long spoke wrench. I sometimes get my wrist calibration wrong.

Originally Posted by Jeff Richardson

I'm actually shocked, no pun, how well my rims have held up against everything I've run into on the road and fake off-road along the railroads. I do stand up on our very narrow pegs, but the hawk still surprises me often.
Good thing because I don't have a spoke wrench, anymore. I did very bad things to my redline 720 rims as a stupid kid. ��

I am personally neither disappointed or amazed at the performance of the wheels on the Hawk. My first Hawk had its front wheel collapse on a much much smaller pot hole, and turned into a twisted mess. Yet this Hawk's front wheel took a really hard direct frontal hit and just bent the lip a bit.

Originally Posted by psychprof

First, I’m glad you’re okay.

But second, do you think this damage would have also happened on a “name brand” dirt bike? I mean no disrespect. I’m just trying to determine if this was a cheap Chinese steel issue vs. really bad luck and the damage would have occurred no matter what bike you were on?

For starters, any steel rim would have bent under the impact in question. The pothole I failed to avoid also took out the front AND rear tires on a city bus. I am pleasantly surprised how well they took it considering my last Hawk front wheel vs. pothole encounter ended in a pretzel shape. Maybe I managed to get one of the good ones lol.

Secondly, the parts that actually broke, the spoke nuts, are plated brass, not steel. It's no surprise that the threads on them stripped instead of the steel spokes. I am actually glad of that, because the spoke nuts are 20 cents each. You can replace all 36 of them for less than 8 bucks if you needed to.

[Jeff Richardson]

Megadan, you're a gentleman as you are through. Re-true your rims and for god sakes, pick the middle of the road. �� I never find potholes in the middle. Lol

[Megadan]

Originally Posted by Jeff Richardson

I never find potholes in the middle. Lol

Come to Omaha and experience something new lol.