2011 bmw g 650 gs fork failure

[bwalsh]

Originally Posted by slide

There isn't perfect communications in organizations

WOW! That's the understatement of the century!

Seriously though, sorry to hear of your accident antiquewidow. It's bad enough you have to watch out for the other guy(no, not the inmate) but it gets pretty ridiculous when you have to watch out for the bike too!
Hope you heal quickly, get this taken care of quickly and get back in the saddle soon!

[DanEngels]

Originally Posted by Ron90068

For AW: Mr. Engels, in post number 253, talks about the failure of your left fork, too. However, your photos don't show a broken left fork - it appears that the wheel is still on the bike but possibly only supported on the left side. I cannot recall any previous mention of the left fork. You previously listed the part numbers for your R&L forks but not (as I recall) their dates of manufacture as stamped on the castings. When were they made? BTW... thank you for keeping us updated.

Sorry for the confusion. I only showed the left-side image of the front fork as an example of how the other side of the fork looks like. Not to be confused with another failure.

[antiquewidow]

Originally Posted by Ron90068

For AW: Mr. Engels, in post number 253, talks about the failure of your left fork, too. However, your photos don't show a broken left fork - it appears that the wheel is still on the bike but possibly only supported on the left side. I cannot recall any previous mention of the left fork. You previously listed the part numbers for your R&L forks but not (as I recall) their dates of manufacture as stamped on the castings. When were they made? BTW... thank you for keeping us updated.

there is a number 10 within the dots , but i had a hard time counting the dots.

Only the RHS fork was broke as per photos

[Rte2Rider]

Yep... counting the dots is a challenge. You might try doing a "rubbing" of them - or, I found that a good light (and a magnifying glass!) worked well.

[JackJack]

Hope you are feeling better. Get an attorney, an aggressive one, not your friend Bob's frat buddy. If your insurance company plans on paying you on a claim, be ware that they may be able to subrogate the claim to BMW to get paid back any money they paid you. That may effectively "shut the case" as far as BMW is concerned and allow them to turn a blind eye to the problem. Or BMW could then sue you to get the money back or prove that the failure was due to their part. Like I said, get an attorney if you haven't already.

~been there, seen it happen.

[hardwaregrrl]

Hey AW, wondering how your physical being is doing. How are the bruises and abrasions, did you break your nose? Can you laugh with out your ribs hurting? I know your brain is still healing from this, and I can only say, it will get better. Still checking this thread daily for updates. And hoping to see you post a "smiley" face to some good news. Have a great weekend.!!

[antiquewidow]

Hanging in there & taking one day at a time.

Not to much to update - dealership called my emergency contact yesterday to follow up. Havent retouched base with them yet.

No, cant breathe without ribs being sore.
I can wiggle my nose though, so that isnt broke.

Other injuries status - only time will tell.

[Shocktower]

Originally Posted by antiquewidow

Hanging in there & taking one day at a time.

Not to much to update - dealership called my emergency contact yesterday to follow up. Havent retouched base with them yet.

No, cant breathe without ribs being sore.
I can wiggle my nose though, so that isnt broke.

Other injuries status - only time will tell.

Do not get the hiccups, what ever you do, with broken/bruised ribs they suck

[Packer]

Originally Posted by JDLuke

I suspect that the bent axle is a result of the broken fork and consequent crash. It's tough enough to get an axle into the forks when it's straight, I don't see how you'd actually get it into place if it had a bend in it. Besides, the axle is a substantial chunk of tough steel, whereas the fork slider castings are fairly thin pieces of aluminum.

Firstly I haven't looked into this thread for a while and not read all the posts so apologies if this is 205.

I originally pointed out that the axle appeared to be bent. I disagree with JDLukes comment above. I think that a good axle would not bend in such a low stress situation as the one relevent here. Look at how thin stub axles are on cars versus the load they tolerate. I suggest that the axle would be more likely to break the other fork if it wasn't for the fact that the slider would simply pivot around the stanchion.


IMHO if that axle is as out of true as it appears in the images this may be an axle failure which has caused the stress fracture on the slider which may have been faulty if the black patch at the bottom of the failure area is paint penetration of the alloy. Are the axles cast steel machined to finish? Could easliy be a brittle casting.

In the UK they built a road bridge across the river Clyde in Glasgow and doubtless to save a little money they used Chinese steel. Guess what? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clyde_Arc

[Fulldeck]

Originally Posted by Shocktower

Do not get the hiccups, what ever you do, with broken/bruised ribs they suck

Or a cold/flu - sneezing is a real killer for broken ribs as well - stay away from the pepper !

I hope your other injuries are improving and that the outcome with the BMW is resolved quickly and to your satisfaction.

[Max Kool]

An axle failure, sure... NOT

Either way you put it, that bent axle ( if it is bent anyway), is always the result of something else that failed. You woulnt even be able to fit that front wheel with a bent axle.


Bunch of Sherlock Holmes....

[lemieuxmc]

+1

The axle has nothing to do with it, and I guarantee you that BMW has had a top notch group of engineers on this since it first happened.

You can be sure that they did the math, calculated the failure rate vs the anticipated legal costs/liabilities vs the cost of putting better quality forks on the bike.

Antique Widow was the unfortunate loser on this latest episode of the new BMW reality show "Wheel Of Disaster".

If she plays well in the litigation round she may get some lovely parting gifts other than the ambulance ride with matching casts and bandages. Thanks for playing along!

You know... a years supply of Rice A Roni is looking better all the time.

[slide]

What's bothersome to me is that any failure of the front suspension or braking of bike is by far the scariest. I mean, there are many failures which will occur and have occurred which are upsetting (see final drives) but having your front wheel come undone from the bike is about as scary as anything which can occur.

So after a rash of these events having occurred in F models, for BMW to issue another bike with again those boss mounted wheels and again to experience this terrible sort of failure - well it boggles my mind. How can a company be so arrogant? This would be tantamount to a company like Airbus having engines fall off during descent on its model A airliner and then using the same design again on its model B airliner. Amazing.

[Purcell69]

I had been considering a BMW F/G series for longer distance riding, but after seeing this failure rear its ugly head again, I'll take my money elsewhere. AW, sorry you had to be the guinea pig in this one. I hope your recovery is coming along. I've had broken/bruised ribs twice before and have felt your pain. Hang in there and good luck.

-Joe

[antiquewidow]

Originally Posted by antiquewidow

there is a number 10 within the dots , but i had a hard time counting the dots.

Only the RHS fork was broke as per photos

I apologize in taking so long to get the dots counted. I think there are 7 outside the circle that has the 10 in it. . It was a challenge readin those damn dots. I even tried the ole' rub the pencil on paper trick.