I have a friend with a honda rebel. All of a sudden the front wheel is rubbing on the fender. She just started riding again after it was sitting all winter in the garage. She doesn't think she hit a pot hole or anything recently. If I lift the bike and spin the wheel, it looks a little warped. It's only hitting the fender on about 1/3 of the tire. I checked the spokes, they all seem tight. For now, she took the fender off so it wouldn't scrape the tire anymore. How can I figure out exactly what the problem is? It seems like the rim, or maybe tire (but the tire was new last summer). I just want to be sure before she goes out and buys a new wheel. Thanks.
um, the easily over-looked has been looked at, tire pressure? how about something came crashing down on the fender over the winter and shortened the gap?
Tire pressure is good. Possible. She had a 5 year old standing on the fender over the winter. But the fender doesn't look bad. And the fender only hits the wheel in a certain area, not the whole wheel. I would think if it was the fender, it would rub the wheel the whole way around.
Prop it up so the front wheel is in the air and can spin. Use your finger or a pencil held against a fork tube just touching the rim and spin the wheel. That should let you know near enough if the rim is straight. (Did you tighten any spokes when you checked them?) If rim looks ok, do same thing with side of tire. If it sat with low pressure or flat all winter, tire might have set distorted. Or bead may have broken and it didn't reseat when it was aired up.
Thanks. I think that did the trick. Looks like the rim is messed up, not by much, but enough to rub the fender.
