Archive of BMW Motorrad Club Cape (2006 - 2019)

You might find a place that will do it .... BUT, the Aluminium (or should I rather say peuter) gets very brittle when worked like this. This is why you will not get a dealer to get involved in repairing a rim. Would like to hear what the replacement rim is going to put you back .... :( Doubt if an 800-twin rim can be used - different brake setup etc. THIS is why all GS bikes (untill now) use spoked rims. (not trying to rub salt in your wounds) The 650 twin is NOT a hard core off road bike.

Shah - I'm beginning to worry about you! If you kinked your rim on the bike during your falls this weekend, how did you damage your car? Maybe you should just be the passenger :D

Hi Shah, when you said in another thread that you'd been running your front at 1.5 bar, I wondered how your rim had coped - now we know. I dinged my 800 rim slightly on a previous trip with 1.6 bar up front. It sounds like your best solution is going to be to live with the kinky rim, and just put a tube in the front wheel if it is leaking. I would be reluctant to have the front alloy rim worked on by anyone. p.s. isn't it a 19" up front?

My bad...you are right. 19" on the 650. 21" on the 800.

Ha ha ha ... :D :D, you offering to take me as your pillion?

I know Padlangs. I am vertically challenged and the 650 twin is the only bike I can just about tippy-toe. However, I am not going to allow my shortcoming (no pun intended) nor the shortcomings of the 650 twin's stop me from having my GS (Gelände/Straße) fun!

You know what Shah? I think the hullabaloo about spokes vs alloy is a bit overdone. With the skill you will eventually acquire, you will be able to ride anywhere and be able to take care of your bike's weak points. The plus side of alloy rims is that they can be tubeless - and you are '''much''' more likely to get punctures than damage your rim badly. Everything is a tradeoff. Website Administrator [http://honeybadger.net Honey Badger IT Services]

I saw what a "mild" off did to a front rim of a "650" so I do not concur with advice above viz live with your "650". As your level of experience increases on dirt you will want to do more and go places where the "650"'s alloy rims are just not designed to go. A bad failure of a rim in a remote area will cause you all sort of head aches if not physical pain. If issue is size of bike you can get an 800GS with lower seat and then also can lower the rear shock so sure can get bike low enough for you. Go and have a look at Isabeau Wilson's 800GS at Wild at Heart as she has done this and height is now good for her. If you want to ride dirt then get an 800GS and tailor is to suit your needs.

WGC, you obviously haven't met ZZ. I think the 650 twin is perfect for him. It is a pity they don't come out with spoked rims, but for what ZZ is going to be using his bike, the mags are fine as long as he doesn't run the pressures too low again.

Might be worth doing an "international" search for 650 rims. BMW-SA decides which models they bring in. There are many more in the range overseas. Would be interesting to see if the overseas models have the option of spoked rims ... If you are already spending money on a new rim, might as well get a spoked rim ...

By the time you spent time and money on spoked rims as you still have a "650". Rather look for a suitable 800GS and get it tailored to your needs...and enjoy a proper GS.

Thanks all for the feedback. My next bike will be a "lowered" 1200GS but until then I will just have to live with the 650 and enjoy its pluses and its limitations. Now back to the original post. Is a kink on the rim repairable or not? If yes, where? If not, too bad. It does not seem to have leaked any air at all since we pumped up at Ceres 5 days ago. (2.3bar). Now I remember the kink was there before the Verneukpan trip. Shafik from Tracman Wynberg mentioned it to me when he fitted the Heidi. As long as I keep it way above 1.5 bar (thanks isitututu) and not dive into those ruts at 140kmph, it should be ok. BTW, my heroine DOT made it to London from Sydney in fine fashion. Check out the thread if you haven't already. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=460631&page=127 DOT

Great suggestion WGC but not-so-great results. Spent a hour with Isabeau and Johan at W@H last Sat. Even if I made all the 4 "major" changes Isabeau did on a 800GS, I still have another 30-40 mm to deal with.

This is nonsense about alloy rims being more vulnerable than spoked wheels. The new 800 spoked rims seems to be getting dammaged much just as easy, they seem to be made of a particularly soft material. I am quite happy with my alloy rims and the the fact that they are tubeless is the clincher. I don't think the 800 is worth the extra money if you are not going to specialize in monkey territory. Fit decent tyres like Heidi's, don't let your air pressure all the way down and you will be more than fine.

Re: Dustriders comment on fitting Heidi's, I concur in as much as I fitted them, the K60's, on my 1200 the ride was better as they have MUCH heavier sidewalls vs the TKC 80's and the Karoo T's....thicker and stiffer which acted as additional shocks, softening the ride. So definitely something worth considering, just check the tyres as things do change, and these may have too.

Dustrider/Neil, I have come to peace with having alloy rims and the 650GS/T. Yes, I have Heidis K60 and loving them. Still no response as to where and how to fix the small dent on the rim.

Speak to the head Mach at a dealer or 2 and contact a few of the mag wheel repair places and speak to them, sift the advice and act or refrain. Possibly have a small bit of correction done, as the metal may be okay with a little but trying to get it back to original could prove to be too much??

Speak to Chris from Hamman Motorrad. Lets Ride!!!