Post-Pothole Inspection?

 

Yesterday on the freeway at night while merging in an interchange (looking
out for traffic) I hit a pothole that I swear made me about an inch shorter
for life.  That thing hurt, especially when the rear tire hit it.  I'm not
sure I got it with the front tire.

The nasty bump occurred when the tire had sunk into the pothole and then the
tire struck the lip getting out of the pothole.

I was doing about 70.

My back still hurts a bit ...

That being said ...

I'm going to take it as a given that I don't need to check anything in the
rear suspension.  The bike was not overloaded (just me), I don't think I
bottomed out the suspension, and I'm convinced based on service
documentation and discussions here that the rear axle will deform but not
break in the worst case, and I don't think I'd get to the worst case because
the motorcycle is engineered for that.

But is there anything I should inspect for in the tires?  I've broken a belt
in a car tire before (don't know how), and the tire made an awful vibration.
It didn't fail (I had it replaced).

I should definitely visually inspect the tire, and I should definitely be
looking out for any vibration suggesting that the tire is no longer round or
has other troubles ...

But is there anything else in particular I should check?

Thanks, Datesfat

 

Datesfat Chicks wrote:

Look at the front and rear wheel rims for any evidence of deformation[1], it's
quite common to bend the lip of the rim.  If you didn't bend the rims you
probably didn't hurt the tires.  Even if the lip of the rim is bent it doesn't
necessarily mean the wheel is ruined, I've done it and other than a cosmetic
defect it didn't affect runout (radial or axial) in the bead seating area.

[1] Spin the wheels (by hand) and run your finger along the lip, while also
visually checking the rims and tires for runout.

 



Oh yeah. Done it myself.


--
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Suzuki TS250ER GN250  Damn, back to six bikes!
Try Googling before asking a damn silly question.
chateau dot murray at idnet dot com

 

wrote:

Check the sidewalls very carefully. Repeat the
inspection after you've ridden the bike a few days.

I got run up over a curb at ~30+ mph years ago and
found a large blister in the sidewall a day or two later.
The impact was enough to put a small dent in the rim
which got hammered out.

The tire initially looked undamaged. It apparently took
a day or two for the blister to develop. When it did, it
was accompanied by vibration.

I had a more recent experience where I hit a baseball
sized rock at ~60 mph and the tire was undamaged.
You're probably fine but check the sidewall a couple times.

 

wrote:

Thanks for your and Mark's advice.  Will check all the things you mentioned.

My concern is just sudden failure (as you know).  90% of the time, I'd be
able to handle a sudden rear tire failure with a change of underwear being
the only cost.  But there is that 10% of the time when it would turn ugly.
Like most motorcyclists, I might from time to time take a curve faster than
I should just for a little fun.  If I popped a rear tire at that time, it
could get ugly.  I might be able to keep the bike upright but be unable to
hold the curve radius.  What comes next would depend on the situation.  I
live in a rural area, so I might get lucky and take a slide through some
tall grass.  Or I might get unlucky and have a guardrail waiting for me (I
think those posts that hold them up are very unfriendly in a slide).  I also
suspect that direct contact between an upright motorcycle and a guardrail is
unfriendly.

So, I have good reasons for not wanting any tire to fail suddenly ...

Datesfat