New tires - old rims

I just got my retro Avons installed on my HD wheels. They look great! When I went to the shop to pick them up, the owner told me that when they removed the old tire (5x16, rear) there was so much rust on the inside of the wheel that they had to spend a lot of time wire brushing it. Then they installed an extra wide rim strip to cover as much of the rusted area as possible. As they were pumping up the new tire & inner tube, it blew off the rim and injured the guy, hitting him in the chest. They had to put on a new inner tube and only pumped up the tire to 22 lbs. It's rated for 35. He said the rim was old and thought that was why the tire blew off. Now I'm afraid to pump it up to the recommended pressure. The front one seems okay.
I suspect that they put too much air in the tire to begin with, but they wouldn't say. Should I try pumping it up to 35?

Seems to me that if your wheels were in that bad of shape, the shop should have refused to mount the new tires, on account of safety issues.

The tire and wheel are both 5x16. It is true that the old tire stayed on the rim, and it was a 5x16 42 psi HD Dunlop. They said they trued the wheel and tightened the spokes. Maybe the extra wide rim strip could have caused the tire to come off somehow. I've got the wheel/tire mounted in the bike. I hate to have to take it off again; I hurt my back putting it on (twice) cause I had to remove the rotor and put an extra shim in so the caliper would allow the wheel to spin freely.
I think what I'm going to do is pump the tire up to 35 psi. If it blows off, it'll be in the frame and won't hurt me. If it stays on, I'm calling it good. What do ya'll think of that?

all I know is you don't want it blowing off while it is rolling,
I'd check it out or get it checked some other place, sounds like a safety thing to me.

If they were afraid to inflate that to 40 psi no way would I ride the bike. Either way they sound like they don't know what they are doing.

Okay, boys. When My back (and groin) are healed up a little better, I'll take the ol' thang back off and take it somewhere else. I'm gonna look around for a wheel builder and find out my options. Now that I think of it, I'm real disappointed in the shop I been using. I've spent a lot of money there over the past year and a half and I think they should have treated me better.

Here's a few pics of the bike and new tires.

I feel your pain!!!
I sure hate that the shop ain`t no better than that, especially since you`ve been a returning customer...
I picked up a screw or nail a couple weeks back and gotta "play" with that issue, I`m NOT looking forward to it...
I like working on my stuff, but tires are not my favorite thing...
Good Luck on this...

I did check out the size requirements of the Avon Speedmaster and it should fit the rear rim. I jacked the bike up and spun the rim around and it looks true on both sides. There is a little bump on each side right where the rim was welded together, but I've seen that on other rims. Still, I'm not going to take any chances; the wheel comes off and goes to another shop.

Joshbob, you said there was a lot of rust inside the bead. If rust gets started, the chrome will actually flake-off in places you can't even see the rust. The rubber tire bead is relying on sound metal to grab on and hold, and the flaking chrome could be causing the tire to slip around the bead.

Man, I wouldn't use that wheel again, as your life depends on it. Please get a new wheel.
P.S. The bike is gorgeous!