Harley's cast wheels

1bcmc · 06-05-2009, 03:51 PM

Had a partner of mine hit an unkown metal object in the roadway the other night on his way home. Was probably doin 80 or so and never saw what he hit..Witnesses described it as a large piece of pipe or possibly an axle which fell off of a truck.

Whatever it was caused a very large chunk of the cast wheel to break off, the object hit the factory installed oil cooler and severed the lines sending a large stream of oil into the rear tire area.

The lack of a round front wheel and an oil slicked rear of course landed him on the pavement. Fortunately just some severe road rash and nothing broken. My question is this......Why use Cast wheels on a motorcycle when a forged wheel offers such superior strength?..Is the cost that different?

I am seriously considering ditching my factory wheels for something else...Maybe somethin in Billet and black to match the bike.

FL · 06-05-2009, 04:12 PM

Sorry to hear about your Buds mishap. I think the chances of that happening are about 2 million to one that it will ever happen to anyone else.

1bcmc · 06-05-2009, 04:57 PM

Hopefully not, I have hit many objects on the freeway on the way home from work but fotunately with forged wheels either on the Kawasaki or BMW. The wheels have bent but never broke......Still, gives me a reason to get some nice billets

sk8rod · 06-06-2009, 12:11 AM

cast wheels are way way cheaper to produce,, not just in material ( cast uses less metal ) but in machining costs..

and as your friend found out they are brittle,, hope the dude is ok

a hit like that would mess up a billet though,, but not as bad and maybe repairable,, the thing is a steel rim would take the impact better and you could beat it back into shape ..

they just aint trendy

greydog · 06-06-2009, 08:21 AM

With a strike of that magnitude, for continued safety, one would have to replace the front rim whether it was cast or forged. just from looking at the damage to the rim I think the fact that the tire still held pressure and didn't come off the rim is a statement of good quality material. Sure happy your friend suffered no really serious injuries......but hell, road rash ain't no picnic...he's gonna be plenty sore for a while.

1bcmc · 06-06-2009, 10:25 AM

Your right Dog..Of the accidents I've had, I think I'll take the broken bones over the severe roadrash anytime....Somethin about the nurse scrubbing the wound with a brush that curls my skin..The pain meds didnt even begin to help

.

FL · 06-06-2009, 04:45 PM

Them nurses can be real bitches

Panhead Paul · 06-06-2009, 05:03 PM

Ray was this a police bike? Was he running the "run flats"?

1bcmc · 06-06-2009, 05:38 PM

Yeah Paul, run flats on an 07 FLHP..He really did get lucky to suffer minimal damage to his body...The Harley held up remakably well in this collision too. very little damage other than the wheel, oil cooler and some light fairing damage.

Panhead Paul · 06-06-2009, 05:41 PM

I had a set of those run flats on my 2000 Ultra. Man I hated those tires. Talk about rough riding, but I guess when you need them it is nice to have. I wouldn't get any more of them though.

1bcmc · 06-06-2009, 06:11 PM

Yeah I am with you on them being a rough riding tire..I put the Elite 3 tires on my Roadking right before I sold it and loved them, great ride, quiet and great in the twisties. I will replace my ultra tires with them as well.