Serious Mag Wheel FAILURE.

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Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
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So today when I was messing around with my clutch and readjusting in I noticed my mag wheel kept binding up on my brakes which I though was odd because unlike a wheel with spokes these don't come out of true unless they break.

Well... When I finished working on my clutch I decided to look at the wheel, my heart sunk. It somehow cracked after spending nearly $200 dollars on mag wheels. I got them from gas bikes eBay page, there is less then 200 miles on these wheels and they already have had a serious failure.

If you look at the first and second page of this forum section (Wheels, Brakes and Suspension) you will see that I have started 3-4 different threads because I have had nothing but problems with rear wheels since I started working with motorized bikes. From 2 different hub adapters slipping and snapping spokes to wheels constantly coming untrue and then to this, diving in head first and spending a lot of money on wheels just to have one get destroyed...

I'm at a loss now because I've run out of options to beef up the wheel any further. I will be contacting gas bike to find out what they can help me with since the wheel is less then 6 months old and has hardly been used as its so cold up here. Will keep you updated with what they say.

Scary thought is I've been riding on it cracked like that for a bit because I could feel the rear of the bike hopping up and down and figured it was the chain but it wasn't it was the flat spot on that rim. Guess I'll keep riding it till the rear wheel breaks completely for now. Here is some pictures of the fail.


https://imgur.com/a/3Ngk4

I added a new link to the photos since photobucket removed all of my other pictures. It shows the crack and how I welded it. It did crack again and I will upload that when I get another camera that works.

It's a very sad day.
:-||
 

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Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
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Maine
Anyone know of any wheel out there that can hold up for 1+ year? I have yet to find one. Preferably spoke-less as those gave me the most grief because they warp and bend so much faster.

I'm starting to believe in what my Dad always used to tell me growing up when I used to race dirt bikes, "Son, you can F&*k up a steel ball with a rubber hammer!"



Time to mix some stiff drinks.
 
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Kioshk

Kioshk

Active Member
Oct 21, 2012
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Cylon said:
Guess I'll keep riding it till the rear wheel breaks completely for now.
Click to expand...
???


Anyway, how much weight are you putting on this thing? And what kind of terrain are you hitting? I weigh about 280 and regularly carry around about 50lbs on my back. Never had an issue like those you've been experiencing.
 
S

Slogger

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Sep 8, 2014
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nohio
Wow that's a real pain. $200 and it broke anyway. Sorry to hear that.
I would listen to Allen up there. A steel rim with heavy spokes is more durable than people think. Where a cast wheel (with questionable chinese alloy or casting) will transmit shocks to the frame, a good wire wheel helps absorb shock loads by flexing a bit, then you have the great strength of steel working for you. If spokes loosen you can true them right back up.
Cast wheels can't flex so they have to be really stout not to crack.
I would admit they usually don't break without some sort of big hits on them.
Good luck to ya, Cylon.
 
Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
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allen standley said:
Hey Cylon,
my experience is Big Spokes is the way to go. 5 years on 11 gauge Worksmans with a Shimano coaster brake. Husky has a Wheel 11g with a a variety of Hubs not just coaster brakes. I have 12g Huskys on all my recent builds and they seem to be holding up just as well. None the less here's a link http://www.huskybicycles.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Store_Code=hb&Screen=PROD&Product_Code=500-222
Click to expand...
Should have taken your advice last year Allen lol. Gas bikes is leaving me high and dry so I'll look into those rims this time. I might have to take out a loan to finance this because my frame is bent so a gt2 is needed. Do you remember the price of the rims front and rear? Also is there a way to avoid using a hub adapter with those wheels? They always slip on me.
 
allen standley

allen standley

Well-Known Member
Oct 22, 2011
1,126
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Bangor, Maine
Follow the link - prices are listed and depend on what you buy of course. That GT 2 is a good choice said from experiences of others on this forum. I'ld get one if I were to build another 2 stroke. I havn't had an adapter slip on any Shimano coaster brake hub - But I did wreck a multi speed hub, although I think it was my own fault not tightening well enough. I got pics of that you have probably seen. http://motorbicycling.com/album.php?albumid=1792&pictureid=10944I would still like to have the jackshaft parts you have. When can we catch up? PM me.
 
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Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
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Maine
Kioshk said:
???


Anyway, how much weight are you putting on this thing? And what kind of terrain are you hitting? I weigh about 280 and regularly carry around about 50lbs on my back. Never had an issue like those you've been experiencing.
Click to expand...
I'm about 230lbs I believe the rim broke the night I was trying to ride down a rock wall like you sometimes see under bridges on the interstate but these rocks were out in the woods it was a super steep hill and going down I flew over the handle bars because I hit a boulder, it was about 12am, very dark and my headlight wasn't helping much. The bike just kept going down the hill and it was about 30F outside so the metal was probably very brittle.

I've also hit some jumps (3+ feet in the air) where the back wheel came down first on flat land could have made that flat spot. I also ride on the railroad bed in Bangor at about 35 mph so the bike is constantly flying through the air.

My new favorite spot is clearing the speed bumps behind Bangor Airport Mall lol...

I know I should get an adventure bike but I don't want to pay for it or the registration/insurance. Plus the copers seem to harass the motorcycles more then they do me I've only been pulled over once on my bike for a series of illegal things I did but he let me go without a ticket because I have no registration and I could win in court and he knew it.
 
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Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
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Maine
So I went ahead and did all the prep work to begin TIG welding the wheels while I'm waiting around for money to get new ones. These new pictures will show in better detail the cracks.

Nothing worse then having a running bike stuck on the side lines because of wheel issues.

Im going to weld it over the weekend and I will post update pictures after its done. Hope I can heat treat it enough to remove the flat spot, aluminum sucks when it bends because to bend it back you risk more stress fractures and the rim is already compromised but I believe we can add enough material to make it safe enough for a month or so on the bicycle.







Here also is a GIF of how much the sprocket moves on the wheel after I removed it. They drilled the holes to big and I'm not sure if I will be able to re-tighten the bolts because I when I first got the rims blue locktite wasn't holding the bolts in they kept coming out. So I went ahead and red locktited them, worse come to worse the sprocket will sheer the bolts off unlikely tho.

http://imgur.com/a/V9Q2g

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/V9Q2g"><a href="//imgur.com/V9Q2g"></a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
 
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5

5-7HEAVEN

Well-Known Member
Aug 2, 2008
2,661
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Cylon said:
I'm about 230lbs I believe the rim broke the night I was trying to ride down a rock wall like you sometimes see under bridges on the interstate but these rocks were out in the woods it was a super steep hill and going down I flew over the handle bars because I hit a boulder, it was about 12am, very dark and my headlight wasn't helping much. The bike just kept going down the hill and it was about 30F outside so the metal was probably very brittle.

I've also hit some jumps (3+ feet in the air) where the back wheel came down first on flat land could have made that flat spot. I also ride on the railroad bed in Bangor at about 35 mph so the bike is constantly flying through the air.

My new favorite spot is clearing the speed bumps behind Bangor Airport Mall lol...

I know I should get an adventure bike but I don't want to pay for it or the registration/insurance. Plus the copers seem to harass the motorcycles more then they do me I've only been pulled over once on my bike for a series of illegal things I did but he let me go without a ticket because I have no registration and I could win in court and he knew it.
Click to expand...
From what you've shared, you abuse your motorized bicycle.
Your mag wheel(s) might not have failed under normal street use, and if you weighed less.
.
This is just my opinion.it's up to you how you want to ride. There are consequences I'm installing Teny mag wheels on my twin-engined project. I weigh 215lbs, but I'll be street riding in a gentle manner.
 
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Tyler6357

Tyler6357

Well-Known Member
Mar 15, 2012
1,293
294
83
Santa Barbara, CA
Cylon said:
I'm about 230lbs I believe the rim broke the night I was trying to ride down a rock wall like you sometimes see under bridges on the interstate but these rocks were out in the woods it was a super steep hill and going down I flew over the handle bars because I hit a boulder, it was about 12am, very dark and my headlight wasn't helping much. The bike just kept going down the hill and it was about 30F outside so the metal was probably very brittle.

I've also hit some jumps (3+ feet in the air) where the back wheel came down first on flat land could have made that flat spot. I also ride on the railroad bed in Bangor at about 35 mph so the bike is constantly flying through the air.

My new favorite spot is clearing the speed bumps behind Bangor Airport Mall lol...

I know I should get an adventure bike but I don't want to pay for it or the registration/insurance. Plus the copers seem to harass the motorcycles more then they do me I've only been pulled over once on my bike for a series of illegal things I did but he let me go without a ticket because I have no registration and I could win in court and he knew it.
Click to expand...
Wow, if you are going to go over that kind of rough terrain you should really get a full suspension bike, otherwise you will replace a million rims especially in freezing weather.
 
Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
9
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Maine
Got her back together for the weekend guys!!!!!!



I'll be able to hit some yard sales this weekend!

Still will be welding the old rim back together this weekend will post more pictures soon. I'll look into a full suspension bike soon but depending on how much it all adds up to it might be cheaper to buy a used XR650 at this point.
 
Cylon

Cylon

Member
Jun 26, 2015
346
9
18
Maine
So I went for a ride this morning and everything was good and lined up so I went to bed and then I took it out again and the rear wheel got all messed up again... Chain snapped, causing the wheel to warp wayyyy out of whack. Here is a picture of the damage....

One of these days I'll find a rear wheel that holds up!!!

 
maniac57

maniac57

Old, Fat, and still faster than you
Oct 8, 2011
4,484
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memphis Tn
Contact Ted Shell @ Pedestrian Power Sports.
He builds custom wheels with HD stuff. Expensive and worth it.
And NOTHING short of a tractor rim will live under that kind of abuse.
It's a motorbicycle, not a supercrosser or trials bike.
 
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P

Potato_In_Exhaust

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Feb 2, 2017
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California
I've always wondered about these mag wheels as I too have problems with spoke wheels going untrue and breaking apart! So.... is it because you over-abused these wheels that made them fail on you? Or do you think that they just don't hold up well overall?
 
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