Wheel rim leakage maybe?

[dangerous]

well its like this, the front tyre on the XB12R keeps going down, I have replaced the tyre, the valve yet still the bastard looses 10lb a week.
please tell me its not possible for the rim to be cracked leeking the air out?

[James Deuce]

Definitely possible. Cast wheels can be a right bitch like that. Chuck a tube in.

Maybe even replace the rim.

[Kickaha]

please tell me its not possible for the rim to be cracked leeking the air out?

Entirely possible but quite rare without accident damage

You need a big tank of water to dunk it in, that should show it up easily

Did you replace the valve core or the entire valve stem?

[cowpoos]

well its like this, the front tyre on the XB12R keeps going down, I have replaced the tyre, the valve yet still the bastard looses 10lb a week.
please tell me its not possible for the rim to be cracked leeking the air out?
take it off...the whole thing...take the bearings out...disk off...and dunk it in a vessel of water big enough...and squeese the tyre with some vice grips to try get some air out...and observe :)

[dangerous]

Entirely possible but quite rare without accident damage
You need a big tank of water to dunk it in, that should show it up easily
Did you replace the valve core or the entire valve stem?

never been crashed and yip replaced the stem


Definitely possible. Cast wheels can be a right bitch like that. Chuck a tube in.

Maybe even replace the rim.
yeah a tube would sort it i asume you can do that with the rim... what worries me is a crack could turn in to the wheel colapsing, so yes replacment is safest but i dont... wana know what one of them is worth.


take it off...the whole thing...take the bearings out...disk off...and dunk it in a vessel of water big enough...and squeese the tyre with some vice grips to try get some air out...and observe :)
ohhh man, there goes the weekend... will have to do i spose.


wonder who in town could crack test it?

[Kickaha]

what worries me is a crack could turn in to the wheel colapsing, so yes replacment is safest but i dont... wana know what one of them is worth.

wonder who in town could crack test it?

Waste of time crack testing it when a tank of water will tell you if it is the rim or not

[cowpoos]

wonder who in town could crack test it?

dunk it....or if you don't want to take it to the doctors and get in X rayed.

[Motu]

More likely porosity than a crack.

[_STAIN_]

lots of early mags were pores, just give it a couple of good coats of enamel paint inside, if valve stem is sealing OK

[dangerous]

lots of early mags were pores, just give it a couple of good coats of enamel paint inside, if valve stem is sealing OK
its a 2004 wheel... will look into dealing with it when I find the problem.



More likely porosity than a crack.
but it hasnt always done it... just the last year I spose and slowly getting worse.

[tri boy]

Firestone truck tyre shops have the tyre bath's.

[AllanB]

Surely you don't need to pull bearings etc and dunk the entire thing in one go - just dunking it in quarters in the bath :whistle: should show any leaks from a specific region on the rim & tyre. Obviously rotate it around.

Hell, I'd have a nice warm bath with it - just don't confuse your own bubbles with the wheels.

[Kickaha]

Firestone truck tyre shops have the tyre bath's.

So does just about any tyre shop and if it's losing 10lb a week it'll be easy to spot

[James Deuce]

lots of early mags were pores, just give it a couple of good coats of enamel paint inside, if valve stem is sealing OK
To be completely honest, if the wheel is porous, ditch it. Stress fatigue is an unknowable quantity and wheel failure on a motorcycle isn't pleasant.

[_STAIN_]

To be completely honest, if the wheel is porous, ditch it. Stress fatigue is an unknowable quantity and wheel failure on a motorcycle isn't pleasant.

WTF has porous got to do with stress facture or damage ?????????? it is common place in even modern casting

[AllanB]

My wallet is very porous - money appears to leak out of it all the time.....:oi-grr:

[_STAIN_]

My wallet is very porous - money appears to leak out of it all the time.....:oi-grr:

you need to do it the chinese way, always point the queens head down

[Jerms]

So that's where the hot air is coming from...:whistle:

[cowpoos]

Surely you don't need to pull bearings etc and dunk the entire thing in one go - just dunking it in quarters in the bath :whistle:

spoked wheel...the spokes will be hollow too...and they will finnish in the middle :)

[dangerous]

spoked wheel...the spokes will be hollow too...and they will finnish in the middle :)

kinda lucky with the buell as the spokes are open on one side :2thumbsup

[boman]

Get yourself a plastic bottle. Fill with water, add a bit of dish detergent. Raise wheel off ground. making sure the tyre cotains pressure I.E 40 psi then slowly pour contents of bottle on wheel whilst slowly turning . If it is the rim you should see small bubbles leaking from the area. Check tyre also, as you might have a small nail that has just pierced the liner enough to let air ot when the bike runs over this spot.

[dangerous]

Surely you don't need to pull bearings etc and dunk the entire thing in one go - just dunking it in quarters in the bath :whistle: should show any leaks from a specific region on the rim & tyre. Obviously rotate it around.
Ok meet ya in the middle... now with out the missus knowing I stole the babys bath from the house and riged it up in the garage... and what ya know...

The bike
lets zoom in
zooming in a bit more and BLAMO

yip we have a leak in the rim, the tiny bubbles are comming out from under a disc mount (arow points to leak, circle is actually the bubbles on the waters) What a bitch this will be to fix, any ideas? but at least we found it... cheers fellas :niceone:


PS: anyone got any ideas how to get the oily stains out of the sprogs bath?

[cowpoos]

Ok meet ya in the middle... now with out the missus knowing I stole the babys bath from the house and riged it up in the garage... and what ya know...

The bike
lets zoom in
zooming in a bit more and BLAMO

yip we have a leak in the rim, the tiny bubbles are comming out from under a disc mount (arow points to leak, circle is actually the bubbles on the waters) What a bitch this will be to fix, any ideas? but at least we found it... cheers fellas :niceone:


PS: anyone got any ideas how to get the oily stains out of the sprogs bath?
take it to the dealer....and if he don't wanna replace....ask him if all wheels of the vehicles he sells are only ment to last two years??

[cowpoos]

failing that [the dealer should help out...it obviously a fault with the wheel.]

Brase it...got any mates that are gas fitters,refrigeration engineers??? they should beable to brase the inside part of the leak for ya.

[dangerous]

take it to the dealer....and if he don't wanna replace....ask him if all wheels of the vehicles he sells are only ment to last two years??

Bikes 5yrs old, brought 2nd hand now with 40k on the clock... and it seems Im in the shit and its ALL my fault for landing rough wheelies :doh: (how many times can she use that excues, 2 x cracked clip ons, 1 x belt and 1 x head light fell out)

Ya will get the tyre off and get the rim to a mate to see what he thinks hes a wiz on a welder, failing that liquid metel or something, just want to be sure its a isolated hole not a crack.

[Mom]

take it to the dealer....and if he don't wanna replace....ask him if all wheels of the vehicles he sells are only ment to last two years??

Not sure the dealer will take the bath back for fixing/replacement under warranty tho Poosey.

I suggest he tries grovelling to his lovely lady, and convincing his offspring that showering with Daddy is the only way to go :chase:

[AllanB]

I'm loving that photo of the front in the baby bath! I suspect if mom finds out you'll be in for some 'shed time' :niceone:


My concern would be a stress crack. Any mates at Air NZ who could X-ray it?

If it is literally nothing more than a small hole a bit of JB Weld would fix that. That product is amazing - fixes anything and you can file, tap, drill it like metal once set. I've actually glued in the modified end caps of my mufflers with it - that was about 4,000 kms ago and they are still stuck fast. I got a pack (it's a two pack mix) off Trademe and I saw it at k-Mart a while back.

[Fooman]

WTF has porous got to do with stress facture or damage ?????????? it is common place in even modern casting

Casting porosity is a good nucleation site for crack initiation and/or subsequent growth through stress cycles. Even things like a cold lap, or particularly large precipitates can initiate a crack which can then subsequently grow. Especially if they are in a critical crack area.

Nevertheless, there should be a QA procedure that would check for defects above a certain allowable size, below which, normal operating stresses shouldn't cause growth.

Leakage through alloy wheels is one reason why Toyota went to a squeeze casting process (very high pressures applied to the melt during solidification) to eliminate porosity in their wheels, in around 1978 -squeeze casting makes the casting a lot stronger too, due to closing up of other defects and decreases grain size, due the increased heat transfer and subsequent increased undercooling before solidification.

Cheers,
FM

[laRIKin]

Ya will get the tyre off and get the rim to a mate to see what he thinks hes a wiz on a welder, failing that liquid metel or something, just want to be sure its a isolated hole not a crack.


My concern would be a stress crack. Any mates at Air NZ who could X-ray it?

If it is literally nothing more than a small hole a bit of JB Weld would fix that.

I would JB weld a very small hole but never a stress crack as I would not like to be riding it if the wheel could break.:gob:

As much as I would like to take a cheaper way out.
I would replace it as it is not worth the risk.
Even if welded you would have to X-ray and check it a few times to be sure.

Years a go Ducati had cracking wheels and they would just explode when they gave way.
And I would hate to see that sort of thing happen to anyone I know.

If someone was to get hurt/killed on a known cracked rim, all hell would break loose with OHS and the Police.

Just replace it as it is not worth the risk.

There is more to this than losing a bit of air pressure.

If you don't you may as well start riding your bike in your undies.

[dangerous]

I agree with ya LM,
What I found was a tiny piting on part of the inside rim were the casting had already been cleaned up (see quote below from a member at the OZ Buell forum) it makes a lot of sence having found what I have.
So I have used some 'Devcon' liquid metal to cover the larger area inside the rim and caped over the outside aswell were the air was doing a runner from.
I will be keeping a close eye on this rapair, and in the meantime aare waiting to hear on the price of a new wheel.

"It's a wierd one alright..... but not totally uncommon for cast items to show casting defects over time. Time, Age or a bit of corrosion can all take their toll on an other wise okay little defect. For example, I've seen an aluminium cylinder head with a cold lap inclusion which didn't cause any probs until the vehicle had 226,000km on the clock.

First time I've heard of a Buell with this problem but not the first time I've heard of this problem on cast aluminium wheels.

Being on or around a feature object such as a disc mount, I wouldn't be surprised if the defect is a minor slag inclusion or a small cold lapped seam which until now has been plugged with a little casting slag or even paint. Time, Age or Corrosion has probably loosened up or eaten away the paint/slag plug.

Another distant possibility is that it's developed a small crack.... but I'd be really really surprised if that was the case.

The wee dimples you're feeling on the inside of the rim is making me think that these were the positions of the casting risers.... the points at which the molten aluminium was poured/injected into the casting moulds. It wouldn't be uncommon to find slag inclusions around these risers. Usually riser slag inclusions stand out like dogs balls when machined... but sometimes they are small enough to avoid detection with the naked eye.


I tend to agree with Lazza.... applying an epoxy putty or epoxy liquid like Devcon Aluminium(Putty - Liquid) should do the trick.
I'd favour the putty over the liquid.... only because I've never used the liquid one. Have used the Aluminium one with success and have also seen it perform well inside the aluminium crank cases of a two-stroke engine(used to fill excess space to decrease air volume and thereby increase air/fuel charge pressure"