Forks Collapsed!!!

[dustyrains]

Just a reminder DIY may be the best bet next time.
Edit: Since the shop that did the work is 200 miles away and the bike is not rideable, I packed the forks in a gun case and shipped them to the shop. The tech I spoke with will call me when he disassembles the forks to determine what happened.

Would this be a suttle hint iffen they dont come back right this time?

A cheap plastic gun case is pretty much the standard way to ship forks for repair.

 

[Intech]

I would hope if they have done the same work for anyone else that they would be making some contacts. I would rather be inconvenienced with additional fork work rather than a hospital, or even worse a morgue, stay!

 

[3dogs]

Here is what I think happened to cause your forks to collapse.

Pictured are the parts from the fork cap down. The cartridge is not shown and the spring is from Race Tech. The large washers at left are placed on top of the spring (right end of spring) the tube spacer comes next followed by the nut and fork cap. The damper rod goes up through the center of all these parts and holds everything together. The washer with the larger hole in it came from Race Tech and I used both it and the stock washer at both the top and bottom of the spring.

There are two identical washers located at the bottom of the spring (not shown). They are placed between the top of the cartridge and spring.

Aftermarket springs (my experience is with Race Tech) are larger in diameter than stock. Race Tech provided large flat washers with their kit and I used both these and the stock (smaller washers) to support the spring at each end. If the shop that did your installation did not use enough (one large, one small stock washer) (or strong enough) washers it could cause the forks to collapse. I think that the washers they used failed causing the spring to bypass the spacer and hit the bottom of the fork cap.

The washwers between the cartridge and spring could have failed as well and could have jamed the spring on to the cartridge assembly possibly damaging it???

If I were you I'd want pictures from the shop of how they are going to "repair" their mistake. Which, by the way is a real **** up and inexcuseable. They should be kissing your *** at this point becuase their installation could have caused your death/injury etc...

 

[feeger]

Here is what I think happened to cause your forks to collapse.

Pictured are the parts from the fork cap down. The cartridge is not shown and the spring is from Race Tech. The large washers at left are placed on top of the spring (right end of spring) the tube spacer comes next followed by the nut and fork cap. The damper rod goes up through the center of all these parts and holds everything together. The washer with the larger hole in it came from Race Tech and I used both it and the stock washer at both the top and bottom of the spring.

There are two identical washers located at the bottom of the spring (not shown). They are placed between the top of the cartridge and spring.

Aftermarket springs (my experience is with Race Tech) are larger in diameter than stock. Race Tech provided large flat washers with their kit and I used both these and the stock (smaller washers) to support the spring at each end. If the shop that did your installation did not use enough (one large, one small stock washer) (or strong enough) washers it could cause the forks to collapse. I think that the washers they used failed causing the spring to bypass the spacer and hit the bottom of the fork cap.

The washwers between the cartridge and spring could have failed as well and could have jamed the spring on to the cartridge assembly possibly damaging it???

If I were you I'd want pictures from the shop of how they are going to "repair" their mistake. Which, by the way is a real **** up and inexcuseable. They should be kissing your *** at this point becuase their installation could have caused your death/injury etc...

I just got off the phone with the shop. The tech pulled the caps off the forks and the springs are down in the fork tubes, so I think you're right.

I will have to wait for the owner (the one who rebuilt my forks) gets back on MONDAY before the forks get dissassembled and hopefully fixed. The tech agreed to take pics once the forks are dissasembled to show how they failed.

 

[BobbyBlue]

Odalay Holmes !!! You could start a trend here in South Texas !!! Seriously, that coulda hurt ya man ! I just had my forks rebuilt at 40K and my tech told me thr feejers forks are a bit difficult compared to smaller sport bikes. I asked how good a job he did and he told me to try em out...I promply pulled a 2nd gear wheelie in the large empty lot next door and dropped her hard....no troubles. I would think they are going to take care of you....suspension should be left to pros for sure...and I aint one for sure ! Glad you are alright...thanks for sharing too !!!

Blessings,

Bobby

 

[Silent]

Damn Al! And you were so happy with the work they did on your suspension too. Next time you need work done, bring it down and we'll git-r-done, regardless of what work needs to be done!

 

[RadioHowie]

That sucker right there is ready for the drag strip!

:yahoo:

 

[Bobcattoo]

If I were you I'd want pictures from the shop of how they are going to "repair" their mistake. Which, by the way is a real **** up and inexcuseable. They should be kissing your *** at this point becuase their installation could have caused your death/injury etc...

I agreed. You have some power in this matter just by posting the Facts. If they fail to adequately respond you just report the facts as you see them. It can't be good for their future business.

 

[feeger]

I just got off the phone with the shop. I waited since last Wednesday for the shop owner to come back from vacation and look at he forks.

He says that the spring worked its way over the collar. He remedied the problem by using a smaller diameter fork spring and "adding" a washer to the collar.

He is reimbursing me for the cost of shipping the forks to him and I should have them back tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thoughts??? The shop fixed the problem and even reimbursed me for shipping (before I could ask), but I still feel let down... When I think about it, what else could I expect from them? I didn't get hurt, my bike is okay and I got a free service. Should I expect anything more?

Here are the pictures he sent:

 

[Geezer]

SO, it looks like a large diameter in the end of the spring that worked past the brass nut under use. It should not have happened and would not have happened if he had installed the washer that is shown in the last picture. I assume that the cartridge is not damaged other than thos scratches and I further assume that those scratches are shallow and harmless.

The guy sort of, almost, king of, admitted that it was his fault. He repaired it at no cost to you. That's about all you can expect. Personally, I'd be happy with the fix but never trust his shop again.

 

[sin_loki]

I don't know, but that washer looks like it was MADE for that purpose. It fits soo well, like the shop forgot to install it

that ridge on that brass nut seems "small" to support that spring, and that fact the spring was hanging over when it was installed would me me warry

 

[dbvolfan]

Glad to hear that they kinda acknowledged the mistake. While I would have refunded you a portion of your fork rework because of the inconvenience the fact that they fixed it and reimbursed you for shipping is probably the bst place to leave it. I wouldnt return for that shop for any more work however.

 

[TruWrecks]

Good thing it didn't happen while running hard in the twisties. Good thing they are fixing it. I would offer you a discount, or store credit for some goodies, if I was the owner.

 

[Bustanut joker]

IIRC that washer is supposed to be there... I think somebody boner'd.

:jester:

 

[Auburn]

I just got off the phone with the shop. I waited since last Wednesday for the shop owner to come back from vacation and look at he forks.
He says that the spring worked its way over the collar. He remedied the problem by using a smaller diameter fork spring and "adding" a washer to the collar.

He is reimbursing me for the cost of shipping the forks to him and I should have them back tomorrow or Wednesday.

Thoughts??? The shop fixed the problem and even reimbursed me for shipping (before I could ask), but I still feel let down... When I think about it, what else could I expect from them? I didn't get hurt, my bike is okay and I got a free service. Should I expect anything more?

Here are the pictures he sent:

I posted this over on fjriders because quite a few over there were really bad mouthing the shop.

"So let's float another theory here. What if the forks came from momma yamma without the washers installed in the first place and the tech rebuilt them with the parts as they were when dissaembled?

I agree they should have caught it if Yammi forgot them. It is also my understanding that the shop uses OEM parts to rebuild them (i.e. worn sliders, seals, etc...). If they took pictures of the re-assembly process and sent them to me, I would be satisfied. They are going to run them on a shock dyno and send the the data sheet with them too, so you can see if they are working properly.

They are standing behind their work, attempting to make it right and supplied you with pictures that you can use to skewer them if you choose to (or let others do so for you) with the full knowledge the pictures will end up on one of two forums and who knows where else.

They didn't stone wall you, they didn't hide what appears to have happened, they didn't lie to you, they aren't charging you. They are trying to make it right and I am sure they are very embarassed and are doing the right thing and taking it on the chin. If anything, they just earned my repeat business again.

Think of how many dealers would have given you any line of **** just to get you out of the show room and try to pass it off as nothing.

I think that fact that they took it and you seriously should wiegh very heavily in their favor. I want to do business with a shop that will stand up and admit they made a mistake."

All that said, I say kudos to Dave for standing up and making it right. :clapping: He is the type of mechanic (and business owner) I can trust to tell me the truth no matter how bad it hurts.

 

[feeger]

AuburnFJR, thanks for being the voice of reason. I haven't been bad mouthing the shop because they treated me fairly and at no point tried to hide anything from me. Hell, the owner even sent pictures... I'm going to give them the benefit of doubt.

Even if the washer was there before he started and he made a mistake, his actions show his character. He didn’t try to blame the problem on anyone else, he installed a new set of springs (and washers) and had his office assistant call me to find out how I wanted to be reimbursed for the shipping charges ( I never asked to be reimbursed).

The shop is Kyle Racing and the owner Dan Kyle rebuilt the forks himself. Both he and the tech (Mike) were very concerned (and probably a little embarrassed) about what happened.

I met them in person when I first had the work done. I got the feeling from them that they really knew their stuff. I’m not sure if I can explain this correctly, but… Whenever I meet someone who is very good at what they do, they talk LESS. These guys were that way. They patiently answered my questions at a level I could understand, but didn’t try at all to impress me with what they knew.

I work in IT and have found that the people that throw out a bunch of technical terms to non-technical people to impress them are normally the one’s that don’t have a clue and try to compensate with BS.

So, while they may not be experts as far as the FJR forks are concerned (they mostly work on race bike and mine was only the second FJR that had ever been to their shop), I have nothing negative to say about them.

In fact, I you are considering upgrading your rear shock, I would recommend calling them. They have already demonstrated that if you have a problem, they will make it right with no fuss. Also, they have the best price on the Ohlins YA-707 that you will find $899.

I'm going to post this in the parallel forum...

 

[Bokerfork]

Am I missing something here?

WTF? Who has a spare rifle case that they can pack a set of forks in and what did you do with the rifle in the meantime?

After all, the Feej was unrideable. One would assume you went out and shot something. Details please.

 

[Thug]

I do like the slammed look though!

 

[JimLor]

I replaced my front springs with single rate Race Pro springs. Our (05) EOM springs are variable rate and they are smaller at either end. The springs came with larger washer to account for the difference. This guy just didn't put in the necessary washer - live and learn, too bad he learned at your expense.

One of the detours I took in my spring install was forgetting to install the washers. Springs didn't function and, just like in this case, I didn't have a front suspension. This stuff isn't rocket science, but simple mistakes can have pretty big consequences.

 

[Intech]

I think this has been a valuable lesson for everyone. Especially for those of us who do their own work. Whatever the reason for the mistake I will bet that it will not happen again. It sounds like the shop is a respectable business taking responsibility for their work. Still very happy that the mistake was discovered and repaired without injury or damage. thanks for sharing the experience.