As I rolled the bike out for pre ride inspection I noticed a spoke had come loose. It was attached at the rim but fell out of the hub. It damaged the rim and removed a nice chunk of metal out of my swingarm . The reason I am pissed is I check my spokes all the time. I have owned many BMW GSA's and know what to look for. I check my bike over everytime I ride. I give the bike a full check tire to tire at every oil change. Anyway I checked all the spokes, rim is straight and in perfect shape, is it safe to ride till tuesday. I have never been in this situation before, missing a spoke that is. My feeling is one spoke can not be that big a deal, but looking for info from someone that knows. Thank you for the help. PS Going to have it out with Yamaha Tuesday. ::010::
dumb ? Missing rear spoke, safe to ride ?
- Thread starter kraigd
- Start date
viewdvb
New Member
Did the spoke break or just come completely unscrewed at the hub end? I really don't think short term running with one missing spoke should be too worrying. After all, you rode it when it was missing for however long and I bet there are riders out there that have at least one spoke sufficiently slack that it might as well not be there and don't even know it. Back in the 70's, I finished an endurance race with 4 broken spokes on the rear and the wheel was still straight and solid.
I'd ride it, but at slower speeds and loads until I got it fixed. And with the offending spoke safely secured and out of the way, of course.
- Mark
- Mark
Was your bike damaged? if so what did yamaha offer you. My bike was in perfect cond. not one scratch in 16k miles. In 7 months of ownership I have made sure to take extra care of this bike because I want o keep it for 5 or so years. This is my first new bike, I have owned 63 and never kept one longer than 1 year, more often it was 3 months. I am going to ask them to fix my bike back to cond before this problem. The rim, swingarm and rear drive hub will coast $2500.00 or so I guess. Not sure if they will. Next I am going to call my insurance. If they offer nothing but a spoke I will be unhappy.
dcstrom said:I had the same problem early on - once the spoke was replaced I loosely wrapped spoke pairs with small cable ties, so that if one came loose it wouldn't get bent...
EricV
Riding, farkling, riding...
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Because of the loose spoke threads early on, I followed DC's actions and did the same loose tie wrap of my spokes. Haven't had one come loose, and I do check them every oil change, (5k for me).
I wouldn't worry about riding it with the missing spoke. (I assume you just removed it).
Sorry to hear of the damage too, but I suspect you're SOL on getting them to replace parts to bring it to "pre-incident condition". 16k and not a scratch is admirable, but for many, we take the bikes places and ride them in such ways that a few scratches are just battle scars and nothing to be upset about. Some things are beyond your control, and certainly beyond the dealers control. It's hard to document that you checked the spoke tension every 6k(?) per the manual unless you were paying the dealer to do it. If you were paying the dealer to do it, then I would say you had a case. Anything else, and they will likely tell you it was your responsibility as an owner to do the maintenance listed in the owner's manual, and prove that you did, before they will consider a claim.
I wouldn't worry about riding it with the missing spoke. (I assume you just removed it).
Sorry to hear of the damage too, but I suspect you're SOL on getting them to replace parts to bring it to "pre-incident condition". 16k and not a scratch is admirable, but for many, we take the bikes places and ride them in such ways that a few scratches are just battle scars and nothing to be upset about. Some things are beyond your control, and certainly beyond the dealers control. It's hard to document that you checked the spoke tension every 6k(?) per the manual unless you were paying the dealer to do it. If you were paying the dealer to do it, then I would say you had a case. Anything else, and they will likely tell you it was your responsibility as an owner to do the maintenance listed in the owner's manual, and prove that you did, before they will consider a claim.
cosmic
Member
I've got new rear wheel with new spokes. There's only a small scratch on FD so i didn't even mention it, but the wheel was damaged.
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The bike had a scratch on the inside of the swingarm - I figure it's minor compared to other damage that it's going to get over time, so didn't worry about it. I didn't even try for warranty, just replaced the spoke (thanks to a forum member who had a set they were willing to split). Yamaha only sells by the set. I guess if I hadn't had that option it would have been worth trying to get it replaced under warranty, rather than paying $90 for the set.kraigd said:
Jagermeister
Member
Yikes - need to go check mine tonight.
I'm planning to replace the OEMs with better stainless ones.
What sources of aftermarket spokes are out there? I know about Woody, but are other alternatives available?
I'm planning to replace the OEMs with better stainless ones.
What sources of aftermarket spokes are out there? I know about Woody, but are other alternatives available?
cosmic
Member
I would like to buy black ones, if there are any.
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Well looks like Yamaha is going to say SOL. I will find out more tomorrow. I asked my friend at Bmw what would they offer. He said without ? BMW would put my bike back to perfect. I have not talked to Yamaha dir as of yet but I will. My insurance agent said no problem and they will take of it. The damage is 3100.00 if you replace everypart that was damaged. I have a 250 ded so looks like I wil come out OK. I plan on taking this bike to 50 or 75,000 miles so it will be worth very little at this point with or without a few more scratches. Check goes in the bank and I guess I will check spokes more and more. Bmw had FD problems that will leave you parked, I can loose a few spokes and keep going. Still love the bike but not the customer support from Yamaha, they need to make a change in the spoke set up so it does not fall out like the bmw's set up.
EricV said:
Talk's cheap when the money is hypothetical. My bet is that BMW would say exactly what Yamaha is saying - that they are responsible for the failure and fixing it, but not ancillary damage caused by riding it after it failed.kraigd said:
As some of you may know, BMW has been forced to recall about 1500 2012 S1000RR's to have the connecting rod bolts replaced. This involves removing the engine, flipping it over in a special fixture, removing the lower case halve, and replacing the bolts. But get this: on the TSB BMW expects dealers to save and reuse the old oil and for the warranty reimbursement does not cover the cost of the oil; the customer has to pay if they want fresh oil. Does this sound like a company that is going to write $3K checks to cover scratches when a spoke comes loose?
In reality, I think all the mfgs are about the same - reasonable about these sorts of things but only up to a point.
- Mark
cosmic
Member
I've got to agree with Mark. From my experience it all depends on the local dealer. if they insist on something for their customer(reasonable), they will get it. My fuel pump on Tmax was replaced 2 years out of warranty, and now my wheel, which was bended off road due to the loose spokes. It took some verbal/written mini war, but i've got a new one, and that is why i stick with Yamaha and my dealer.
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Joe-JOE
Member
I'd be careful about making a insurance claim.
Next years renewal may be increased, since they paid out.
Next years renewal may be increased, since they paid out.
got to agree with JJ, the insurance company will get their money back from you in increased premiumsJoe-JOE said:
Cosmic
Thanks man. I was loosing hope. There is a lot of us out here with loose spokes & bent rims. I'm still waiting to hear from Yamaha HQ in Panama City, and it's been over a year. I guess they lost interest after attempting to get the rear rim repaired, when it came back worse than when I sent it to them. The guy that was so helpful in the beginning is no longer available, and now none of the rest speak English, & they refuse to understand my Spanish.
We still love our bike though. Motopan
Thanks man. I was loosing hope. There is a lot of us out here with loose spokes & bent rims. I'm still waiting to hear from Yamaha HQ in Panama City, and it's been over a year. I guess they lost interest after attempting to get the rear rim repaired, when it came back worse than when I sent it to them. The guy that was so helpful in the beginning is no longer available, and now none of the rest speak English, & they refuse to understand my Spanish.
We still love our bike though. Motopan
viewdvb
New Member
When I wrote my general assessment of the S10 after the first 3000 miles, I commented that the one thing I didn't like was the spoked wheels. Give me cast wheels any day, especially as I'm not going off road. This thread kind of confirms my view that, despite many claiming that spoked wheels are stronger or more resilient, they are just another unpredictable, high maintenance feature that apparently is as likely to let you down as any cast wheel. They may resist severe off road shocks but the rims won't so where's the benefit?
I agree there are some tradeoffs and cast is better in many applications. But the fact remains there there are a lot of hits which will bend the spoked wheel while it continues to function Okay, hold air, and get you out of the woods, whereas the cast will crack, lose air, and leave you completely stranded.viewdvb said:
- Mark
viewdvb
New Member
I have had some severe hits on cast wheels, enough to bend the rim and let out the air, just as it would have done on the alloy rim of a spoked wheel, but never had one crack. I'm not denying that they COULD crack but the wheelright who straightened my deformed cast wheels said he had never seen a cracked wheel from riding damage (excluding vehicle - vehicle collision damage) although he was careful to warn that it COULD crack when being straightened though they never did. Are the spokes supposed to be so shock absorbent that they prevent the rim being dented enough to leak air? If not, I still can't see why the alloy rim in a spoked wheel should survive and contain air any better than a cast one. As for cracking on cast wheels - my evidence is that it doesn't happen enough for it to be significant.markjenn said: