Pot hole Damage in Tacoma

I hit a pot hole on my motorcycle, it damaged my front tire and both rim causing $1,700.00 in damages, I filed the claim for damages and it was denied. They responded stating" Under Washington law the city of Tacoma can be held liable for damage caused by a pothole, only if the city had notice of the defect that allegedly caused the damage and a reasonable opportunity to fix it... " and that the pot hole was reported 9 hours before I hit it, however this is short notice and did not allow the city reasonable opportunity in which to fix the pot hole. Am I completely out of luck here? I feel the city should have to pay for it, they did know about the pot hole. What constitutes reasonable opportunity?