Front wheel problem?? Please help

[miwok35]

Hello everybody,
Here's my predicament:
I am new to motorcycles, to Buell, and to the forum. Recently I purchased an xb9r from a board member in pretty decent shape. The first owner had gone down on the left side but there was only minor scratches on the swing arm, no damage on the frame. Anyways, needed new tires and the belt looked shot as a pebble got up underneath and started cracking. Bought new tires and new belt and rode the bike about 15 minutes over to a mechanic who came recommended by my uncle. Averaged about 50 mph and the bike seemed to ride great even with the bald tires.. Yesterday the mechanic calls me and tells me that yes the belt was shot, that he thinks the rear pulley/sprocket was damaged when the bike had gone down even though teeth are in good shape. He says that the belt is "skipping" and needs a new pulley. So no biggy found a used pulley on ebay for cheap to replace since he insists on it.
Now the main purpose of the post: the front wheel. He is telling me that the front wheel is bent. He said I definitely need a new front wheel, and also that there was nothing left to the bearings. He described the wheel not spinning freely while the bike is up. I am puzzled because although the wheel very well could be bent, the previous tire was holding air fine and did not wobble on my ride over, although I wasn't pushing extreme speeds. He also said that he would not recommend putting a new tire on a rim in such shape.Before forking out the cash for a new rim I want to know what fellow xb owners have to say and find out if anyone has had similar problems or if this a common occurrence. I guess my question is, should I tell the guy to put the new tire on and see if it holds air? The previous owner I have contacted and he recommended getting a second look. I ordered the new bearings since they are cheap.I don't think the guy would make any more money by telling me I need a new wheel. I just want the bike to be safe to ride, I don't plan on track riding or anything extreme. I plan on taking a ride to his shop tomorrow to see and maybe I can get a better description and maybe some pictures. Please help!

 

[anrkizm95]

trust your mechanic since your are supplying the parts it doesnt seem like he has anything to gain by lying.if you take it to another mechanic that wasnt recommend by a family member and he says everything is fine is it really fine or is he not as thorough.

 

[miwok35]

thanks anrkizm,
Anyone else have experience with this ??? or have input?
Feel free to chime in

 

[motoqueiro]

The only good advice I can give you on this one, is to replace the front and rear wheel bearings, they do go bad very quickly.
Go to the mechanic and see for yourself the wheel rolling on the jig, and ask him to put the rear one also, so you can see the pulley rolling
Not that big of help but… good luck

 

[miwok35]

Thanks motoqueiro, I am planning on going to check it out tomorrow. He says there is a "hop" in the front wheel when on the jig more pronounced as the wheel is spun faster.

 

[thrstrmech]

new bearings, may want to replace the bearing spacers too, they may be ok, but something else to consider since the bearings will be replaced

 

[motoqueiro]

new bearings, may want to replace the bearing spacers too, they may be ok, but something else to consider since the bearings will be replaced

Ya, that also, especially if they wore over torqued, they can deform and add load to the bearings
He says the wheel has a hop, if not too much of a hop you can try to fix it

 

[miwok35]

Ok I will definitely get the spacers as well. I did see that there are some places that repair rims. Its almost 150 bucks but guaranteed to be within spec. I may try one of them too, although they are about 150 per rim.
Thanks guys

 

[squidbuellie]

Replace the front wheel bearings then check the rim for run off.

I have ran rims that had road rash/curb marks on the lip of the rim. If your rim is that bad remove the tire and use a file to remove the burrs and then round it back over. You want to do this so you don't tear the inside of the bead of the tire when your putting your new tire on.