Happy days indeed! Bonza! 
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Hi boys and girls! Watch this space!
Took my Mandello in for itās first MOT today. ā23 vintage with 5250 miles and acquired last October at just under 4000 miles. Thus with our āorrible Winter I have only added 1250 or thereabouts with no issues mechanically or handling.
Guess wot? MOT fail! The bike is immaculate in every way.
Findingā¦ āfront wheel on nearside excessively distorted. [5.2.2. (i)]
Also reported uneven tyre wear [5.2.3 (e)]
Front tyre close to legal limit at 2mm.
My weekend homework, not started yet, but first port of call is to Autogard Premium Warranty I got with the purchase. About to scrutinise to see if āroad damageā is covered??
Jeez! I hope so! Second, whether that is covered under my comp insurance with Hastings.
Next option, the dealer suggested a specialist wheel outfit in Maidenhead who have straightened wheels for them before successfully for somewhere around Ā£150 plus carriage. I need to look up their website and assess. Canāt remember the name right now.
Option three, see what the damage is for a replacement wheel. 
Mine are the lovely gold ones on the white Mandello. Almost afraid to ask!
As I said I have noticed zero handling/braking/shaking/tracking issues at all at any speed.
Only thing I would say I have been unhappy with has been āfeel/feedbackā from the front at slow roundabout speeds?? Iād put that down to the tyres which I knew are close to replacement and had Road 6ās planned in the next few weeks.
Will update in a few days with findings but any experiences/wisdom/suggestions welcomed. Feel free to chime in! Dave
Update First up the Autogard warranty specifically excludes wheels.
Found a new replacement complete wheel with bearings Ā£310 delivered from Netherlands. Mind you import tax likely. Not biting yet but better than expected! However my combo vol and mandatory excesses on my insurance nullify that!! May as well just order the new wheel!
Thinking I might demount the wheel myself and check what they claim to have seen or measured. There is literally nothing to see visually!! Note to self.. check run out!
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there is a place in the Midlands who repair/refurb wheels and they may be cheaper:
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There are a lot of companies that straighten car alloy wheels. Is the technology that much different to straighten a bike rim?
There are a few wheels for sale on eBay, not sure if this one is silver or gold? Of course the black ones are much cheaper as that is not what you are looking for.
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Cheers Sid and Don! Yeah I saw a used gold on fleabay but asking price not too different from the brand new plus maybe questionable quality or history? The Staffordshire guy looks impressive but seems predominantly for spoked rims.
I looked up a stack of wheel repairers/refurbishers but basically cosmetic refinishing and my rim shows no obvious external damage?? Thus far, if I go this way maybe Ā£350ish for an oem new one looks like the choice right now rather than an insurance claim where I would be more out of pocket once excesses applied. No point.
I am a wee bit suspicious/ skeptical I have to say? No visible signs of trauma. Beginning to question bearing damage or forks not exactly bang on length to each other. I think I am going to drop the wheel out and see if I can actually detect run out.
Is it likely or reasonable to imagine an allow wheel could get twisted?? Also, if so, not too confident what kind of intervention could reliably fix that. Think Iād rather trust a factory fresh new one honestly for peace of mind.
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Checking out! Decided āthe hell with itā! Found the correct OEM wheel Ā£251 delivered, maybe import tax to add? Thatās complete with bearings, spacers and inner sleeve. Ordered my Road6ās too. Hell, I could be dead in a year. Just āgitār doneā! 
So some work to do when that all arrives!
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But check the āout of trueā on the old one in case you need to forever-avoid that MOT shop
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Yeah! I intend to believe me. Iāll be interested to see what the state of the bearings are like for example? Anyway a good chance to check a few other odds and sods while I have it all apart. Little tlc to brake calipers, check those steering head bearings for grease, get the micrometer on the stanchions parity. I did check the ālift testā on the rear swingarm and no discernable play in that but will also pull the drive shaft for grease when I have the rear wheel out for tyre fitting. Busy few days coming up I guess!
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Nice looking bikeā¦.is that an Eldorado?
Youāre thinking of Maidstone Motoliner Ltd
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Ah thanks! 
However I have discarded a repair and ordered a brand new OEM wheel already. Decided that likely once postage both ways added the difference was not going to be very significant plus get new bearings/spacers etc already there. Now just getting itchy for it and new tyres to arrive!
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I have had 2 front wheels fixed by them now, one was a pothole on the M25 and the other was a tree.
All trued up and prompt service. (Maidstone moto liner)
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Good to know if it happens again or.. when I get the affected one off might consider getting it checked and straightened, I am aware I have taken it as true that that is actually the case. I just want a valid MOT right now so opted to go ahead with a new item. I will be checking the offending wheel though when I get it demounted.
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The cops are struggling with pothole damage to their bike tyres and wheels.
Not sure if we will ever see the UK-wide pothole menace ending as it appears to have gone beyond the point of no return and appears to be getting worse 
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Yeah, I am still pissed at the āall or nothingā box ticking of that MOT fault/fail. I was unaware of any effect of this distorted rim? No shakes or wobbles or loss of normal control. No air loss from the tyre. Nothing. Iād have thought an advisory should have been sufficient?
The tester also flagged a āpossibly noisy exhaustā?? This is a fully homologated E5 road use muffler by a quality maker. According to the .gov there is no direct dB test for bikes and relies on a āsubjectiveā evaluation by the tester. The system is complete to factory specs. One disgruntled citizen here!!
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Some MOT testers of bikes donāt even ride bikes and have no interest in them. They just do the MOT tester approvals.
Iāve met of few of them over the years who are frankly, afflicted with wrong attitudes
Iāve seen a failure sheet with an E4 exhaust fitted and recorded for being ā excessively noisyā.
Itās a bit of a lottery. I tend to take my bikes for an MOT on a Friday afternoon to avoid any grumpy/hang over tester Monday sessions as some do get out the wrong side of the bed on a Monday 
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Aye! Just depends who you get in what state of mind. I have to say Iāve used this dealership several times for MOTās without problems on a 10-13yr old bike. Also bought from them and I rate them for service and helpfulness.
The annoying thing about it is your bike essentailly becomes immediately illegal on questionable āactualā safety. No quarter given.
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What you can do is attach a tie wrap to the forks(aligned to the wheel rim) and trim it back so that the spare length is just touching the wheel rim.
With the bike on its centre stand you can spin the front wheel and check that the tie wrap stays in the exact same position on the rim during a rotation. If it does your wheel aināt buckled
As a double check you can do the same on the other side
If all ok - take it to another test centre or take a video of your simple test to the one that failed it and ask them for an explanation.
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Yup, I will give that a go just for self satisfaction.
In retrospect, yes, I could have questioned the finding on the spot but, honestly, I was so taken aback by it I immediately jumped to solutions/cost/legality in my head. Just so completely unexpected on a bike apparently in pristine condition.
The rub is that once I have replaced the wheel even riding it back to a test I am technically breaking the law even riding it sans MOT. The dealership is only about ten miles away so hopefully I donāt meet some ANPR bandit on the way!!
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