Bent wheel rim?? What to do?

[Internet Annoyance]

Hey, I was looking for a second set of wheels to paint for one of my projects, and I think i screwed up, I bid on a ebay auction for a wheel, and I did NOT notice it until later, that apparently the wheel is bent,. The rim next to the tire is noticably bent over, I am wondering how hard this is to fix, or even if it should be attempted. Some alloys its okay, but on castings is generally NOT a good idea,

Anyone have any experience on working with a damaged XB wheel rim? Opinions?

The lister on Feebay is a forum member here, ive bought a lot of stuff in the past from him and seems an okay guy, never been a problem, was going to id on some other items he had listed, missed the rest of them because of our local snow and ice storm, went to go complete the payments and noticed the problem, Dont want to be a dick and stiff anyone, but id rather pay his listings costs so he is not out anything than try and fix a damaged wheel that cannot be fixed, If its no big deal, then fine, game on,

any help appreciated.

 

[rah7777777]

I've had a set of XB rims repaired. Came back perfect! I don't remember how much it was though. I'm thinking $160 for both but that was a few years ago.

So yes, they can be repaired.

 

[John422]

I dont know how bad the dent is but I know with aluminum you can throw it in the freezer and it should have memory and pop back into place. Wouldn't hurt it. Try the freezer. Haven't done it with my buell rims but my dirtbike rims. Fixed them in a night.

 

[Macbuell]

Hopefully the $ needed to fix is cheaper than a straight rim?

To be honest, the forum here gives people cred in my book. If someone accidentally bid on a buell part I listed, and contacted me through here or explained on ebay, I would probably say don't worry about it as long as my fees were paid. Best of luck. We Buell people are normally pretty nice people.

 

[wolfo68]

I'm going to assume you're talking about paul (since he lists a ton), if that's the guy, he's great to deal with and understands if that is the case. Those rims with bends still go for buku across the pond. Let him know sooner than later, he may still be able to sell to the runner up bidder.

I've also had a rim with a bend and I used a press to push it back into place without any problem

 

[Internet Annoyance]

Yes, thats who it is,,, I got ahold of him private email and explained the situ,, If its fixable then no problem, Ill keep it.
My only concern is that castings are not very forgiving of bends, and i dont want to risk having it fracture down the road (literally and figuratively). Im waiting on his response, He has always seemed fair to me, and bought a bunch of stuff before from him.

I have straightened steel rims (Triumph, BSA, Norton) and alloy rims (Borrani, Akront, Dunlops) for vintage bikes, but none of those are cast, Cast is a whole different animal.

There IS a place in Northern California that straightens rims, you ship them the rims, and if its fixable they call you with a price, if its not,, its free.... they scrap it. I know a lot of people who have used it, But then you are looking at shipping costs there and back. Buchannons USED to also do frame and rim straightening as well, but they got out of it for liability reasons, now they only sell rims and spokes.

So it sounds like at least some people have dealt with the Buell cast rims being bent, but im still less than 100% certain, I will try and look up that place in California (NorCal) and ask them as well whats their experience