Hola

I'm traveling on a Yamaha Ténéré Xt660Z from Fireland to Alaska and on the way through beautiful Peru i cought a flat tire together with a crack in the front rim yesterday.

It happened in the middle of nowhere, luckily i made it to a small town called Caylloma, now considering my options.


Can someone recommend a Motorbikeshop in Arequipa/Peru to weld or buy a new rim? Dimensions 1.85 x 21 or 2.15 x 21
(knowing about the problems welding a rim, i would definitely prefer to have a new/or used one without cracks. especially in the front..)

And is drilling a hole at the end of the crack really a good idea to prevent the crack from spreading?






thankfull for every tipp,
cheers, Raphael!

Attached Thumbnails

 

Does not look too bad at this point. Did you happen to see the INSIDE when you fixed the flat tire?

Does the crack go through to the other side of rim or is it just a surface crack?

If you have LOTS of time you can get another rim or wheel. May take a while to get it to you ... or it may be locked in Peruvian Customs forever. Got Spanish?
Bring money!

There is a very good chance you can ride on that rim indefinitely. You will need to avoid big rocks and the like. A sharp hit may extend the crack but I doubt you would have a catastrophic failure where the whole rim breaks apart.

A good welder can certainly weld that rim safely ... but good MIG or TIG welders may be hard to find in smaller towns. I'd try to make it to Lima and find the best Welder in Peru'.

If the crack gets worse you could always remove it from the bike and take a Bus to Lima ... or to somewhere that has a really good welder.

Fact is, this sort to repair is not that technically difficult for an experienced Welder. We've had riders get rims Welded in Baja twice that I remember. One a front tube type like yours, the other a cast wheel. Both were Welded and held for duration of trip. (maybe another 1000 miles) They did not look pretty but were pretty strong.

Second Mollydogs comments. If you do continue to drive on it definitely drill a hole at the tip of the crack to minimise the risk of it spreading. 3mm would be about the right size.


Sent from my Moto G (5S) Plus using Tapatalk

__________________
Martin

finally back on the road again


http://awayonmybike.blogspot.com/

Be interesting to know if that crack is where the two ends meet? (the join) or if its a crack is on a virgin part of the rim?

Mezo.

The people at Peru Motors, located in Arequipa, were extremely helpful to us when my Wife's BMW cooling fan went on the blink. They had an auto electrician who was able to re wire it, supply new brushes and generally had it working better than new. It is not possible to import second hand parts into Peru, customs will seize them, only new parts are allowed. I'm sure you could find a good welder, through Peru motors, as a matter of fact there is a swag of them not far from where they are located:
PeruMotors S.R.L.
Psj. La Gruta 304
Urb. Selva Alegre - Cercado
Arequipa
Perú

Phone: Lars: (+51) 959 373 203 / Geert: (+51) 959 781 158
Fax: (+51 54) 289899
Email: info@perumotors.com
Skype: perumotors (Lars) / geertinperu (Geert)

Thanks for the replies, that helped me a lot!!

I drove as carefully as possible to Arequipa, and checked the rim from time to time, the crack didn't chance at all.
Also the crack goes through to the other side of the rim but just at the first few milimeters as far as i saw it correctly. (didn't take the tire off completely when repairing the tube)


Will go to Peru Motors (thanks Simon R) in the next couple of days and try to find a good welder.
Also need to check the elektric, after riding in the Uyuni Desert the bike isn't the same as before

Probably going to buy a new Excel Rim and ship it to Lima.
A friend is living there who could probably help me if problems with Customs should appear, my spanish isn't too good.
That may not be the cheapest option (~400$) but a friend is going to visit in Columbia and i really don't want to risk an accident with her.
Also love to go offroad and considering to ship the bike to Russia and go all the way back to Austria, a good rim might be helpful

I'm not sure which rim/wheel Yamaha use on your Tenere, probably either DID or Excel. I'm a big DID fan and if your standard rim is a DID, I would go with the stronger, tougher DID.

Some Excel rims are for racing ... very light but not that strong. Also, more expensive (maybe?) than some DID standard rims.

The best Rim/Wheels made (IMO) are the DID Dirt Star ones. Used by most Dakar teams ... but expensive.

Some of my Honda dirt bikes had Excel rims ... I dented them all. My Suzuki DR650 used DID wheels. Very strong, hard to bend or break. But I finally hit a rock in Baja (at 70 mph) that finally dented my DID rim. Still rides straight with no Hop! (someday I'll have it repaired!)

DID wheel on DR650 Suzuki ... still going like this!

just wanted to give an update:

sooo, repairing in Arequipa didn't go that well.
after the guy was finished with the rim it moved like a snake..
I don't know what happened, he had a few repaired rims lying arround.
they all looked fine.

My hostal owner was a biker himself and knew every shop in town, still it was impossible to find a new rim.
Decided to drive to Lima to fix the Problem there.
In Nasca i found a very friendly Mechanic while walking round the city and for the first time in a long time i had the feeling these guys really knew what they were doing

After seeing the rim he dissapeared and came back with a new one asking me if i want it.
i paid 45Dollar for 3hours of working, new led lights and a decent tippchug

If someone needs a Mechanic in Nasca:
I think the Shop was called Moto Italika
Adress is :355 Calle Lima, Nasca

That's good news ...! (I think!)
Are you sure the rim supplied is correct for your XT? It may be a 21" but is it spec'd for your relatively heavy bike?

Most bikes (AFAIK) in Peru' are little Chinese 125 imports or smaller. I know larger bikes are sold but pretty rare in general. So, check it out, make sure it's strong enough to handle the load.

I guess what happened to your original wheel was during the repair the mech knocked it crooked. A good wheel man should be able to "true" that wheel straight again.

Good luck, safe travels!

If you have a GPS location I'll make certain it is in OSM for future maps.

Even it the rim is not speckled for the weight of your bike it will get you going (in a straight line). Pay close attention to the rim to check for any stress fractures.

A friend is taking a new Excel Rim to Bogota, going to chance it there.
For the next 5000km it should be ok!


and already made a OSM entry

Good to hear you're back on the road and won't have to ship to Peru. I had to ship a part from Europe to Lima using FedEx years ago and it was held up with Lima (Peru) Customs for 3+ weeks. There were no taxes or duties as the shipper sent the part as a warranty item with a value of $10.