Ass End Collapse

[NinjaBoy]

This was sent to me today by Bill Watt, Vancouver BC Canada. He is not a member of the FJR Forum and thought this should be posted to the list.

watt(dot)bill(at)gmail(dot)com

NOTE: Bill Watt is now on this forum as "Bill 310". He will respond directly to any questions.

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The 2006 FJR has 170,000 km (105,600 miles) on it. The maintenance has been meticulous. FJR is equipped with Yamaha top box.

Last 7 digits of VIN: A000050

Prior to the trip there was a creaking in the rear end and some replacement parts were on back order.

My friend had just had lunch and was just leaving a traffic light when as he accelerated into the intersection, he heard a crack, was tossed from the bike and the ass end of the FJR collapsed.

It took 4 guys 30 minutes to man-handled the bike out on the intersection and to the curb.

My friend was unhurt AGATT and has almost 500,000 KM ridden. His riding style is smooth. 8/10 max. Skill level is high he has taken motor officers basic course managed a front wheel blowout at 75 mph a few years ago with no dumping the bike and rides with no auditory distractions , gps or v1.

Rider is 190 pounds. Gear worn was Darien jacket and pants, full face Schubert s1, Helimot gloves, BMW boots.

The bike has Race Tech aftermarket front and rear suspension that has maybe 30,000 miles on it.

Can you post this on the FJR forum for me please.

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The parts that failed was a stock part. Identified in the parts under "REAR ARM" Item 17, Part No.: 3P6-2217M-00-00, Description "ARM 1". A less than $10 part. I think this is commonly called "dog bones". Bike is at dealer. There are no stock dogbone's in the entire North America inventory.

Here are the attached photos Bill submitted.

https://lh4.ggpht.com/_WLgtLj_PR7s/TJtkXz0Z8MI/AAAAAAAAAA4/kXAkXH9G_Pw/s800/2010-09-21-%20001.jpg

https://lh6.ggpht.com/_WLgtLj_PR7s/TJtkYO_2eJI/AAAAAAAAAA8/JKEVNMajV0A/s800/2010-09-21-%20002.jpg

https://lh6.ggpht.com/_WLgtLj_PR7s/TJtkYHnC9zI/AAAAAAAAABA/9vx_PzkYgtE/s800/2010-09-21-%20005.jpg

https://lh3.ggpht.com/_WLgtLj_PR7s/TJtkYbzC2BI/AAAAAAAAABE/t4IRQeDquMk/s800/2010-09-21-%20006.jpg

 

[steel23]

Sounds real bad. Hope your friend is doing fine. Just for discussion sake, this dog bone should not breakup due to after market rear shocks. But then again with aftermarket parts don't think Yamaha will honour the failure. Not to mention that it had been 170 000 km on it. A critical note for all of us to take note though.

 

[2wheeldrift]

Err..Sorry about the double nothing posts. Just getting used to the new format!!!!

There has been some instances of rear end collapse in the UK. Problem was seized

bearings in the relay arm thus loading the arms [dogbones] to a point of breaking.

Probably due to lack of maintenance.

Since reading about that issue I made up a shield to protect the relay arm & the

bottom of the rear shock. Some 20k klms later, everything looks brand new. I

would post up a picture of the shield [ anyone can make this & it looks like

It's part of the bike] but don't know how.

If you or anyone else is interested I can email a picture of shield.

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

This was sent to me today by Bill Watt, Vancouver BC Canada. He is not a member of the FJR Forum and thought this should be posted to the list.watt(dot)bill(at)gmail(dot)com

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Prior to the trip there was a creaking in the rear end and some replacement parts were on back order

In the 'bad old days' of Honda ProLink single-shock rear suspension, it wasn't un-common to hear the un-maintained (un-lubed) rear suspension bearings "creak" -- just before they seized-up and failed to move altogether.

The FJR's "dog bones" are mainly under tension (normally being pulled-on) -- but, opposing forces will exist at times. Hard to imagine "pulling" those steel pieces apart -- but, pushing?...well...?

 

[RadioHowie]

There has been some instances of rear end collapse in the UK. Problem was seized

bearings in the relay arm thus loading the arms [dogbones] to a point of breaking.

Probably due to lack of maintenance.

Concur....

Read of several instances of same on the UK forum. Bearing maintenance in the dogbones is a MUST!

First case I'm familiar with of a North American based Feej doing the ass-flop.

WE must take better care of our bikes here in the colonies???

 

[Greb]

I wonder if the fact that the bike is in BC didn't help. I would assume since the hard winters lead to salt on the roads might have contributed to corrossion issues in that area.

 

[canucklehead-biker]

Sorry to hear about the accident, and glad he was wearing the gear and is none the worse for wear.

Random thoughts/lessons learned:

1) Certainly going to make sure that inspection/maintenance there is done more regularly along with the usual PM schedule (at least annual?). I think the area often gets neglected because it's a bit of a PITA to get to.

2) Wondering what outward signs of impending doom (besides obvious stress cracks) would lead one to want to replace the dogbones? Metal fatigue is hard to detect unless failure is imminent.

3) OP says the bike was 'meticulously maintained' - I wonder by who? If by dealer/tech, probably need to be having a wee chat with them methinks...

 

[zenwhipper]

The 2006 FJR has 170,000 km (10,500 miles) on it.

Wow, I first thought only 10,500 miles on the bike and the dog bones broke?! :blink:

But... 170,000 km is ~105,000 miles. Er... muz a bin a typo.



Scoot

 

[fjrrider]

No maintenance to be done on the dogbones, and good luck in spotting a stress cracks or signs of metal fatigue.

Makes me want to change out my stock dogbones and have some machined out of a high alloy steel or something. It would be easy to do!

This is the first I've heard of this problem, has it happened to anyone else before?

 

[Ignacio]

This is the first I've heard of this problem, has it happened to anyone else before?

See post #3 and #5.

Makes me want to change out my stock dogbones and have some machined out of a high alloy steel or something. It would be easy to do!

Why? The root cause in the one, two, or very small number we've heard about have supposedly been related to a bearing failure. The secondary issue is a dogbone that was probably not engineered for a seized bearing.....it's very possible a dogbone CNC'ed from unobtanium would still fail.

And this one was confirmed as having over 100,000 miles on it. Why not just listen for creaking at the bare minimum and consider inspecting, servicing and/or replace that bearing as the bike accumulates miles?

Thanks Dean for the post. This appears to be another one of those that remind us the FJR is really, really good...but not completely indestructible. Failures do occur with the bearing, the final drive, u-joints, and other parts of the drive train once in a great while.

 

[mferriter]

I just gotta ask since no one else has:

What the hell did he have for lunch?

 

[tmc]

This makes me VERY glad I lubed the living hell out of those sleeve bearings when I replaced my shock a few weeks ago!!!!!

:yahoo:

 

[FJRBluesman]

WOW!

Hope your friend is doing well. That could have been real ugly at speed, lucky for him he was just starting off from the light. All that torque at the end helped it launch.

I can't really get a good look but the Dog Bones (DB), they look pretty bad, like corrosion even where they broke. This could have been happening for some time and a simple periodic inspection may have first detected the cracks. Good tip from Ig to keep in mind that this is a RARE occurrence (even more rare than CCT issues) and you may want to start inspection the DBs periodically.

Thanks Dean, great info you shared.

 

[Ignacio]

ood tip from Ig to keep in mind that this is a RARE occurrence (even more rare than CCT issues) and you may want to start inspection the DBs periodically.

Just to be clear since it's a compound sentence, I'm NOT suggesting to inspect dog bones. I'm saying to inspect the bearing that is the underlying issue. Inspecting a dog bone is like checking to see if the ass of the FJR fell down...it doesn't address the real issue at all. The only reason I'd check the dog bones is if I found the bearing failed or not turning smoothly and quietly. And as another person mentioned you probably can't tell whether they have hairline cracks or not without special equipment...and if a crack were to be visible...I bet it will fail before you see it.

My bearing seems to be move freely and quietly. I'll have to decide whether to actually take it off or not.

And I'd classify the CCT issue is uncommon, but certainly not rare.

 

[fjrrider]

This is the first I've heard of this problem, has it happened to anyone else before?

See post #3 and #5.

Makes me want to change out my stock dogbones and have some machined out of a high alloy steel or something. It would be easy to do!

Why? The root cause in the one, two, or very small number we've heard about have supposedly been related to a bearing failure. The secondary issue is a dogbone that was probably not engineered for a seized bearing.....it's very possible a dogbone CNC'ed from unobtanium would still fail.

And this one was confirmed as having over 100,000 miles on it. Why not just listen for creaking at the bare minimum and consider inspecting, servicing and/or replace that bearing as the bike accumulates miles?

Thanks Dean for the post. This appears to be another one of those that remind us the FJR is really, really good...but not completely indestructible. Failures do occur with the bearing, the final drive, u-joints, and other parts of the drive train once in a great while.

Post 3 and 5 says nothing about riders on this forum.

Why? I didnt check but "no stock in North America" That may be downtime for awile. You can get a couple machined in a day, or you can wait for the backorder, just an option!

Supposedly? Not good enough. If the bearing did sieze up enough to cause those dogbones to fail, the ride/comfort of the bike would have been seriously compromised for awhile before the failure.

I'll assure you that no FJR dogbones are engineered for a seized bearing!

I hope this is an isolated incident!

 

[Ignacio]

Post 3 and 5 says nothing about riders on this forum.

I wholeheartedly agree with that statement! Too bad that wasn't the question you actually asked. Your question didn't ask about the forum only and #3 and #5 do answer it.

As for people on this forum....I doubt you'll get 15,000 people that say no in this thread. But I'll make a wager that nobody says yes....other than the person that was just added or the one or two in Europe from years back that might join in.

If the bearing did sieze up enough to cause those dogbones to fail, the ride/comfort of the bike would have been seriously compromised for awhile before the failure.

How do you know that? This last case mentioned hearing noise...not noticing a ride quality change. From memory the small number in Europe years ago didn't notice anything until it just snapped.

I'll assure you that no FJR dogbones are engineered for a seized bearing!

I hope this is an isolated incident!

I agree and hope so too.

 

[redcat]

I live in the UK and posted a warning that this rear ebd collapse was going to start happening on your side of the pond if people werent aware of the issue,I'm glad to see no serious injuries in this incident. We've had some serious accidents in the UK.

Basically the rear linkage bearings come with very little lube from the factory. In time they WILL seize, the rear suspension will stiffen up and the dogbones will take a bending motion. Then again after a period of time fatigue will break the bones, the rear of the bike comes down on the backwheel and locks it. If this happens at speed....you can guess the rest!

If the bearings are lubed annually or at 12,000 miles there is no problem. The only thing that has surprised me is that it hasn't happened more in the US. Maybe your dealers are better at dismantling the linkage and lubing than ours (it is a tricky job) also perhaps UK weather and salty winter roads play their part.

Anyway it is a dangerous issue to be very aware of. Stay safe and get the linkage checked if you haven't.

 

[Ignacio]

If the bearings are lubed annually or at 12,000 miles there is no problem.

There's the money quote. Thanks for reminding us too about that thing...back then.

Maybe, it's a Canadian/UK thing as I haven't heard yet of a specific U.S. occurrence.

 

[Peter Murray]

The linkage looks rather Crusty, Perhaps Zero service performed .. My 08 bearings at the front of the reaction link are toast at 17K,, Now 30 K I willl replace this winter.

These bikes are not LOW Maintenance..