Swing arm failure

[MysterG]

Soooo what I feared happening has happened!! Tonight at approx 19:00 after just overtaking 2 cars on the range road between Tidworth and Bulford Camp approx 80 mph ( I could be wrong as I wasn't looking at the speedo officer ) the swingarm snapped causing violent change of direction to the other side of the road and was unable to correct the direction of travel foooortunatly there was no oncoming traffic, the back wheel didn't lock up but thick blue rubber smoke filled the air , I didn't lose control and I managed to bring the bike to a halt. The back wheel is no longer behind the front wheel and is facing in a different direction . The righthand side of the swingarm is completely snapped and about 6" above where it should be so the bike has dropped in height and the side stand is now too long to be of any use. If anybody knows anyone who has a swingarm for sale please pass on my details or is aware of a interchangeable part from another bike

[MickeyMoto]

The bikes need a recall, like the Milanos.

Won't happen, though. I hope somebody isn't seriously hurt before somebody takes this seriously.

Glad you are ok.

[MysterG]

The break follows the weld exactly so it clearly is the welding process, I very much doubt the new owners of the company will tskd on any responsibility for the recall , I'm gutted as I've only had the bike since Feb n had nothing but problems I finally thought it sorted it I can imagine that if somebody has a good one then it's an awesome bike , me too mate I'm just relieved that could of been hurt but wasn't, I don't dwell on these things I just need to fix it n get back on the road

[72degrees]

The bikes need a recall, like the Milanos.

Won't happen, though. I hope somebody isn't seriously hurt before somebody takes this seriously.

Glad you are ok.

Looks like it depends on how the Italian enforcement of EU product safety directives is done. Complicated by change in ownership of the company I suspect. Hopefully at least someone is collating these incidents somehow.

"Under Articles 6 and 8, member states must put in place a system under national law that allows for appropriate action to be taken, including the recall of consumer products where necessary. Most EU member states have given enforcement authorities the power to compel a company to initiate a recall or even conduct the recall themselves. Therefore, much of the actual procedure governing the taking of appropriate action, including the recall of products, is established under national law."



Good to hear it didn't happen in even more awkward circumstances.

[Painter]

Hi
Very sorry to here this , you have been very unlucky in the failure and very lucky in the outcome. Good call on getting back on the road, they are without doubt one of the best bikes / adventure sport bikes but the hydro forming was an early application of this technique I believe. I am on my second GP in 8 years and now run my chain quite loose. I contacted the factory in Italy before they moved and they stated they where aware of the problem but considered at that time 2016 8 failures not enough to warrant any real concern or to take remedial action, given the very few failures recorded.....see previous lengthy thread.

I did look into getting a custom alloy arm made up, which might be worth looking into now, I am going to Ireland next weekend on my GP, so it will not be too far from my thoughts.... so I will be checking mine for any cracks etc, otherwise it’s just a case of ride and Hope.

Could you take some photos...

Did you adjust your chain to 20-30mm without sitting on the bike , if so the chain runs too tight which could be a factor, I read somewhere possibly here that the factory suggested running the chain with more free play determined by sitting on the bike and checking it., two person job!

[ogr1]

Glad you are OK.
Another reason why my faith in this bike is totally shattered. I don't use mine at all after lengthy intermittent problems.
Only recently I've done a radiator flush & refill.
This came about when checking the coolant level
in the rad, only to find about a litre in there & absolutely nothing in the expansion tank.
I fired it up this morning, but it struggled to turn
over & when it had eventually warmed up & gave it a blip & the engine just stopped dead like the plug had been pulled.
Now I saw briefly on the dash 'rc' whatever that means?
Damn thing is cursed.

[Painter]

Sorry to here your difficulties... lets not forget these are ageing bikes now and need tender loving care, they where never the equal of a Honda or early oil heads and need to be checked looked at each winter, being very small production hand built machines with a tiny development budget.
lets not forget...
part of my maintenance...
I take the tank off airbox etc and check the coolant pipes and clips each winter, I have fitted stainless clips and motul waterless coolant, another important tip I have been banging on about and no-one seems to have acknowledged is the front mudguard flings crap up and blocks the centre part of the rad.... which does not help an already under efficient cooling system, a fender extender cures this.Fitting a large oil cooler from a car helps.
they are still wonderful machines and worth all the effort, I am coming to the Morini from elefants/ Ducati 888/916/999 and a Ducati bevel 900ss which explains a lot.

best wishes to all and keep checking those welds

[Painter]

Hi Ogri
I have just had a dig around, you might have a thermostat malfunction, its staying closed and not allowing the full flow and consequently the correct fluid level /amount, there is a coolant sensor on the body which will still give you a temp reading but will shut the engine down if it gets too hot. Mine does it every time I hit London traffic, or at least I think this might be a the problem.
my engine restarts, but if you have low coolant then the block sensor and inline temp sensor would shut your motor down to protect your head gaskets etc.
Moto hub might know what the codes are as I have no diag software.
hope this helps.
Back to original thread

pics of my swinging arm, can we build up a gallery which might save someone a nasty crash..

[Painter]

my swinging arm

[MysterG]

I had the rc 2128 code which is now fixed due to sending the instrument cluster away I still get the " rc " come up now and again but no problems, ref over heating moto hub told me to keep the expansion tank empty as it will just overflow when it gets hot I've done this and not had any problems however I've had all the other problems associated with the gp that I expect that'll be my next one on the swingarm welding if your welds look concave then those are the ones tgat are likely to fail as the arm was not quote flush when weldred and the weld fell into the gap causing a weak spot my welds were concave and I regularly checked for cracks so I either missed one or it just failed when I was out I'll post photos of my swing arm

[MysterG]

20231007_152730.jpg (285.08 KiB) Viewed 6217 times

[MysterG]

20231007_152934.jpg (431.7 KiB) Viewed 6217 times

[MysterG]

20231007_153040.jpg (182.17 KiB) Viewed 6217 times

[MysterG]

I think what helped in my case was the luggage frame adding some regidty and strength

[Painter]

thanks for posting pics , looks like a catastrophic break as opposed to gradual , which is scary.
who is repairing your swinging arm, and how are they going to do it reliably, being a thin wall casting.
I did think about seeing if it is possible to add bracing to the pivot points on the arm, let me know if you have any joy.