Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Just My Luck
I'd like to make a shout out to the City of Englewood and/or Denver for their stellar job of maintaining our public streets by resurfacing the potholes left by the series of blizzards that hit us back in January and February. While riding my motorcycle last evening to visit my friend, Jared, I hit a sizable pothole that was apparently neglected by either Englewood or Denver - I say this with uncertainty because the very street I was on divides the two cities - for about 2 months! The "accident" put a nice little dent in my front wheel and sent a jolt through my arm leaving my left wrist quite sore. I was fortunate there were no other cars around and that I kept the bike upright and stayed on. Luckily, my tire did not blow. But I don't know how safe it is to ride a motorcycle with a dented front wheel. Will riding for hours in the summer heat lead to a potential blowout or constant loss of pressure? I don't know and I don't think that's a chance I should take. I don't believe the handling has suffered, but then again this only happened last night and I haven't ridden since. Either way, I should probably look into getting it repaired or replaced. Yeah, that'll be cheap.So, this afternoon I called Bill, my insurance agent, to see if I should take it up with the City. He just laughed and said, "good luck." It was only after the call that I realized this - What else was he going to say? He's not able to give legal advice. Besides, it would be in his interest for me to file a claim. And my deductible? $500. Yeah, that's cheap.
After getting off the phone with my buddy, Bill, Jared called to share some good news. And the news? The City came out to fill the pothole today.
rrrr....
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Any guesses what a new front wheel costs? Think about it as you read this and see if you guess right. I called the BMW Parts department with a pen and paper before me. As I waited to hear the magic number, I had already written "$3__". Then I scratched that and wrote "$4__" so that I wouldn't be upset when the number came in higher. It was like a game of The Price Is Right. Well, the price was wrong! Did you guess that a new front wheel - not including mounting and balancing - would cost (drum roll, please)...$730? Didn't think so. I haven't told him yet, but I will be riding bitch on Peter's GT.
Since the "accident" a week ago, I've nervously ridden my motorcycle for a range of roughly 50 miles with various loads at speeds up to 100 mph to test the bike’s handling. Although my first impression of riding straight-a-ways was no different than before, I did feel that the bike became discernibly unstable when pushed into a turn. To be fair, I have always been paranoid about tire pressure loss and if I thought the bike’s handling had been adversely affected, it may very well have just been in my mind. If only TPM (tire pressure monitoring) were offered on the 2006 models! I will embarrassedly admit that I did not verify the air pressure immediately following the “accident” or prior to my test runs as I should have. Instead, I simply relied upon a manual and visual inspection of the wheel and the front Z6 Metzler Road Tec tire. It actually was not until after tacking on those 50 miles and riding two-up that I bothered to use a tire gauge. To my surprise, there was no pressure loss. I think I’m good to go. I just need to ride with confidence again and I should be fine.
On a related note, I called nationally-renowned Woody’s Wheel Works here in Denver to see about repair costs. If it turns out that I do, in fact, need to have the wheel repaired, they’ll be the ones I take it to. The estimate I was given was between $80 and $120. With removal, mounting and balancing, it’ll be closer to $200, but it's still much cheaper than the alternative!
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On a related note, I called nationally-renowned Woody’s Wheel Works here in Denver to see about repair costs. If it turns out that I do, in fact, need to have the wheel repaired, they’ll be the ones I take it to. The estimate I was given was between $80 and $120. With removal, mounting and balancing, it’ll be closer to $200, but it's still much cheaper than the alternative!
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