Cracked rim - OEM

After having a rear tire changed recently, the shop pointed out a crack in my OEM rim.

I had not whacked the rim on anything gnarly, so I was somewhat surprised.

It appears as though the crack started where the rim ends are joined at the factory. Further investigation showed that this was not necessarily a fluke, as others have reported the same problem.

Below are a few pictures of the damage. It looks like the side of the rim popped apart at the factory "weld" or "braze" (or however they join the rim ends together).

There are two schools of thought on how to proceed with a cracked rim:

1) Have it welded and it will be stronger than new.
2) You are nuts to repair it - get a new one.

I opted for #2, and grabbed an Excel replacement.

Anyhow, just something to look for periodically....

BTW, if anyone wants this rim, let me know asap.

I'm going to chuck it in the dumpster very soon.

Dave,

Might be worth a shot to call American Honda about this.

Ya never know...

Bump wrote:Dave,

Might be worth a shot to call American Honda about this.

Ya never know...

Chances are they will claim he whacked it...but yeah a quick call to see might get you a little towards the rim you bought.

10-4. I'll give it a shot.

That straight seam split is not indicative of a whack to me. If you have a friendly dealer near you he might help. But at the price of rims today it's worth a few phone calls IMHO. You might get on TT and see if anyone else has experienced this. If so, mention that to Honda too.

OEM Rims are like jelly , I cracked both of mine on the XR and the rear also seam cracked on my CRF, Excels are the best ,throw a pair on it and youll be fine, I got anodised Black Ones looks trick

That sucks man, I hope honda does something for you. It does not look like it really broke, it looks like it was never really joined together. The seperation is too straight. Also, wouldnt it crack on the other side if you hit something? It looks like it got whacked from the inside out.(if it did get whacked at all) How much does an excel rim cost? did you relace it? -Matt

Matt:

I've blocked the new Excel rim cost from my mind, but I think the rim and spokes (OEM spokes don't work with Excels) set me back ~$450 - $500. This included the lacing, at $125.

I probably could have found a used rear for a lot less, but decided to forgo the search and pay the price.

The colorful Excels do look sweet! I could not justify the extra cost, though. Plus, I actually ride this bike, so I know those pretty colors would have gotten scratched up quickly. At least when you scratch the silver rims, everything still matches.

You could buy an old dirt bike for $500!! Couldnt some kind of high tech aircraft welder have fixed it for $100? Im sorry, I know this isnt helping you block it from your memory. At least you can sleep at night knowing that your bike is well. If you are really going to throw that rim away I will take it. I will fix it with jb-weld. Or something. -Matt

Matt:

Yeah, I could have had it "repaired" and bought an old XR600R with the savings. Fixing it just does not sit well with me. I'm not 10' tall and bulletproof anymore. Even if the repair "worked," the fact that it could fail would always be on my mind.

If you want the rim, I'll gladly mail it to you. Pay the shipping and it's yours. Keep in mind, it's just the rim. I have the spokes, but I'm not sure what they are worth. If you want them, I'm sure we can work out a very fair deal (they are in very good shape).

Now that I think about it I guess I dont want it. I need to quit collecting junk. I couldnt help thinking that I could use it to make something cool. I have enough stuff that I need to turn into something cool. Thanks though. Glad your bike is back on the road. Are you going to that desert dual sport daze thing down there? I was looking on the map and it looks like there are a ton of dirt roads and trails down there. The info for it is on the adv site under regional forums-the west etc.-and then upcoming rides. -Matt

The previous owner of my BRP had the same thing happen, he just put on a new rim right before I bought it from him! It to was broken at the seam.