More dodgy GSXR frames, should be banned

[gav]

Bloody cheap crap, disgraceful.....
Someones gonna get hurt!!
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/9314629/detail.html

[Edbear]

Ouch! Why haven't we heard more about this? Has anyone heard reports from anywhere else?

[Matt Bleck]

haha, who'd want one of those.....

[Madness]

Nick says he and his dad started inspecting the bike. They spotted a hole drilled into the frame for his horn.

Sounds like an afterthought approach to design.

$7000 on medical bills already, lawyers bills to come. Only doing 25mph at the time too. Anyone want a new Suzuki?

[onearmedbandit]

When they tried to get the bike repaired, they say initially, Suzuki seemed cooperative. Jerard says after he raised that question, Suzuki officials refused to repair his bike

That sounds bad at first glance. But what if it is an aftermarket mod, then you could understand why Suzuki backed away. There is a whole lot of info that we are not seeing here.

[Insanity_rules]

Sounds like an afterthought approach to design.

$7000 on medical bills already, lawyers bills to come. Only doing 25mph at the time too. Anyone want a new Suzuki?

Hell no! Told ya all Suzuki's were bad for your health!

[Big Dave]

Hell no! Told ya all Suzuki's were bad for your health!


Did anyone else notice the effigy of Ronnie Reagan at the top right corner of the page - that's a worry!

[WINJA]

was this frame modified before it broke ,are they talking about a hole driled by the manufacurer or dealrship or backyard mechanic, its not a very good article , did any of dovers frames brake on impact?

[Edbear]

did any of dovers frames brake on impact?



Is Dover our resident frame tester...?:innocent:

[gav]

Depends....did he get to 25mph when he fell off? :innocent:

[WINJA]

Is Dover our resident frame tester...?:innocent:
3 TIMES K5/6 GSXR1000 AND COUNTING , YEAH ID SAY HES AN EXPERT

[Timber020]

I have read about simular faults in the UK, and its been attributed to faulty welds from the factory. Not good.

[Sensei]

Haven't heard of any K3 / K4 GSXR doing this , maybe in the quest to find a lighter bike the Frame is becoming their weak point ??

[imdying]

Assuming he left company with the bike in the middle of the road, which is where the scrapes were, did anyone notice how far he travelled after falling off? Looked a damn sight further than someone at 25mph would have travelled imho.

And yeah, where'd the hole come from? Factory? Ghey article. I'd find it hard to believe that with computer designed frames they wouldn't notice that the horn mount weakened it...

Looks more like a minga highspeed wheelie gone bad.

[Drew]

25 mph?????????

He slid a long bloody way for that speed, and when the bike bottomed out, it would have stopped pretty quick!

I reckon, the fucktard left the drive, gave it a fist full to impress the brother who was there, got it up too high, shut it down, and landed real hard.
Easy as fuck to do, but add that to the dodgy horn mount, (standard fiting is to the fairing sub frame), and disaster is iminant.


My thoughts only of course.

[RantyDave]

Looks more like a minga highspeed wheelie gone bad.
Or an aftermarket horn mounted with pop rivets.

Dave

[2much]

Yeap, my money's on a fucked up wheelie.... there's fuck all stress on a frame when just cruisin along at 25mph

[WINJA]

Yeap, my money's on a fucked up wheelie.... there's fuck all stress on a frame when just cruisin along at 25mph
UNLESS YOUR RIDING OVER CATS EYES , NOTICE HOW SOME SUSPENSION DONT KNOW HOW TO COPE WITH CATS EYES

[N4CR]

A guy I know did this to his 04 zx10r.. he wheelied everywhere high/low speed. Used to wheelie the road coming into ardmore alot, put it down for the corner and then put it back up agian. His frame broke big time around the front clamp part where it all pivots... needs a new one.

So yeah either a once off engineering fault or a wheelie. I'm picking wheelie.

[2much]

Yeah you're right, dunno if it's just fucked up rebound/compression or what, but not at under 50k's

[gav]

Oh, OK, so you're not suppose to wheelie 1000cc motorbikes then? How many Honda frames you seen breaking up? Huh?
And yeah, of course they can wheelie, friggen smartarse, yeah, you at the back, I heard ya...punk :nya:

[inlinefour]

this article reeks of another idiot on a bike who should not be then the media making something out of nothing...:yawn:

[onearmedbandit]

All we are saying is that there is more to this story then we are getting told. 25mph and and distance he travelled after falling off do not match up, that much is obvious. So if he's bullshitting there, what else is incorrect. Also the horn mount seems a little suspect, backed up by Suzuki losing all interest when this was pointed out. They can't be held to task if someone has modified the frame.

Surely if there was a serious problem it would be known worldwide, thank you forums. But it doesn't appear that way, even at some of the American sites I belong to.

[gav]

Oh, OK, so you're not suppose to wheelie 1000cc motorbikes then? How many Honda frames you seen breaking up? Huh?
And yeah, of course they can wheelie, friggen smartarse, yeah, you at the back, I heard ya...punk :nya:

[imdying]

There's a big difference between someone who can wheelie well and someone who's a bit hamfisted... always banging the front down in fright.

[gav]

All we are saying is that there is more to this story then we are getting told. 25mph and and distance he travelled after falling off do not match up, that much is obvious. So if he's bullshitting there, what else is incorrect. Also the horn mount seems a little suspect, backed up by Suzuki losing all interest when this was pointed out. They can't be held to task if someone has modified the frame.

Surely if there was a serious problem it would be known worldwide, thank you forums. But it doesn't appear that way, even at some of the American sites I belong to.
I thought Suzuki lost interest in doing something when he suggested they might like to pay his medical bills. It was after when they had the bike home they found the suspect horn mount. And what sort of Dad buys their 21 year old son a GSXR1000? Damn!!
I'm sure its a wheelie gone bad or something, but still not sure I'd expect to see a broken frame like that, and its not the first one either, is it?

[onearmedbandit]

Yeah, I think it has happened before. I remember one of the first reported incidents, 170mph trackbike hitting a curb.

Maybe they did lose interest when medical fees were mentioned, but in the land of litigation I think we'd all do the same. It is possible that the frame had been modified, and that would also be a reason for Suzuki to back away.

[imdying]

I don't believe his recollection of events, including the timing of Suzuki apparently opting out.

[wil]

we are all forgetting one thing!!! HE IS AMERICAN! that after all is where all the alien space craft land. frame still shouldnt snap like that american or not. didnt hayabusa frames have a front end to main spar problem and also the tl1000s had a problem with the rear shock mount on the frame cracking.
still love suzukis tho.

[Zed]

Yep agree Gav, I read about a couple of instances last year where K5 frames broke under medium impact. Not good for the Suzooki Gixxer image, not good at all!! :nono:

Now Hondas on the other hand...:cool:

[GB-Canada]

I have seen this video a few times now and there are a couple of things that stand out 1 ) no way the speed is correct
2 ) the break is not on a weld
3 ) the hole where the break appears to start from is on the
under side of the break (I mean the crack
opened from the hole to the top of the frame )
so this is what I make of it.....speed to high,failure due to excessive LOAD or vibration,the failure happened very quickly or the bike would have had a large amount of steering rake(very noticeable).THIS STINKS of bad lies and Suzuki knows it.(Many bad wheelies ?)
I just had an incident with a major manufacturer and they will try to stay out of court if possible.... but they wont take blame for things they are not responsible for.
BTW I am a mechanic at a two line dealership and I have seen things like things before.... just my take on it

[thehollowmen]

I remember a review of the bike last year said it would pull away in top gear from under 1000 rpm.. I think it has plenty power to continue moving even after he closes the throttle

but still I'm unsure as to how he got so much injury at so low speed, if he managed to stay upright.

then again I'm not an expert

[SARGE]

Bloody cheap crap, disgraceful.....
Someones gonna get hurt!!
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/9314629/detail.html



no way in hell he's gonna take out a mailbox and slide that far at only 25 mph (40 kph...)

i call bullshit

[Shaun]

no way in hell he's gonna take out a mailbox and slide that far at only 25 mph (40 kph...)

i call bullshit

True that, all any one had to do was read the story fully in the first place and they would have realised that this is a crock of shit. How many of these bikes have been racing world wide for the last 2 years, SHIT LOADS, how many did we see with frame trouble here in NZ, NONE!

[SARGE]

True that, all any one had to do was read the story fully in the first place and they would have realised that this is a crock of shit. How many of these bikes have been racing world wide for the last 2 years, SHIT LOADS, how many did we see with frame trouble here in NZ, NONE!



i see a few crashed Gixxers ( funny that ..)...


none.. including SPECTACULAR crashes have snapped on the main stress-bearing frame ..


subframes snap all the time though... but only when they loop or highside..


sounds like sparky fucked up a wheeliie and when Suzuki guessed right he decided to smear them in public

[imdying]

I remember a review of the bike last year said it would pull away in top gear from under 1000 rpm.. I think it has plenty power to continue moving even after he closes the throttle

but still I'm unsure as to how he got so much injury at so low speed, if he managed to stay upright.

then again I'm not an expertHow far he or the bike slid would be a product of momentum. 25mph wouldn't generate enough momentum to carry the bike that far. Regardless, it's how far he travelled, not the bike, that's in question here.

[Shaun]

i see a few crashed Gixxers ( funny that ..)...


none.. including SPECTACULAR crashes have snapped on the main stress-bearing frame ..


subframes snap all the time though... but only when they loop or highside..


sounds like sparky fucked up a wheeliie and when Suzuki guessed right he decided to smear them in public

One of my team bikes had a massive crash at Ruapuna last year, it completely broke the Tripple clamps into 3 pieces and bent one fork leg and destroyed the front wheel, to the point that there were no spokes left on the rim, wrecked the radiator and oil cooler along with destroying a Tie Yoshi exhaust system

Guess what, No frame damage! well bugger me

[The_Dover]

I think it's a crock of shit.

In both my crashes the frame would have been put under massive stress.

One was a head on at a closing speed of ~70 km/h and the other was "sunstrike" going a little quicker (which actually tore the front wheel off the forks..)

The frame on both bikes was straight and undamaged.

Looking at the break you can see that the lower half of it is a brittle or fast fracture whereas the top half looks more like a drawn fracture. This would indicate that the force was pushing the wheel forward and up, ie landing a wheelie too hard. If it had been cause under normal riding the wheel would be subjected to a rearward force, the fracture would begin at the top.

If it was a fatigue crack any engineer worth his salt could look at the metal break and determine the mode of failure. That was definitely a fast fracture.

Light alloys are brittle but tough, it would take a hell of a force to break it in that manner and when it goes it fails in an easily recognisable manner.

Typical litigous american scum.

[SARGE]

I think it's a crock of shit.

In both my crashes the frame would have been put under massive stress.

One was a head on at a closing speed of ~70 km/h and the other was "sunstrike" going a little quicker.

The frame on both bikes was straight and undamaged.

Looking at the break you can see that the lower half of it is a brittle or fast fracture whereas the top half looks more like a drawn fracture. This would indicate that the force was pushing the wheel forward and up, ie landing a wheelie too hard. If it had been cause under normal riding the wheel would be subjected to a rearward force, the fracture would begin at the top.

If it was a fatigue crack any engineer worth his salt could look at the metal break and determine the mode of failure. That was definitely a fast fracture.

Light alloys are brittle but tough, it would take a hell of a force to break it in that manner and when it goes it fails in an easily recognisable manner.

Typical litigous american scum.


wow.. an engineer with crashing experience...


im glad we have you here Ben. :nya:

[The_Dover]

The bill is in the mail.

[**R1**]

lol premo post Gav, id defend my bike to the end, just like all the gixer guys, you should all have a read of
http://www.micapeak.com/ its a great site for finding common problems with most models of bikes, my model R1 for example have shocking head set bearings, but if you want a laugh read the TL1000r reviews:nya:

[Fooman]

Looking at the break you can see that the lower half of it is a brittle or fast fracture whereas the top half looks more like a drawn fracture. This would indicate that the force was pushing the wheel forward and up, ie landing a wheelie too hard. If it had been cause under normal riding the wheel would be subjected to a rearward force, the fracture would begin at the top.

If it was a fatigue crack any engineer worth his salt could look at the metal break and determine the mode of failure. That was definitely a fast fracture.


I had a look at the video, and couldn't make that out. However, a intergranular fracture ("brittle" appearance) at the bottom could due to brittle (fast) crack growth or fatigue (slow) crack growth. If the top half is a ductile fracture surface, the lower half is more likely to be fatigue rather than a brittle failure, as with a brittle failure the plastic zone at the crack tip will always be at a higher stress than the surrounding material and will normally propagate along at close to the speed of sound in the material until it fractures right through (google "SS Schenectady" for an example)

A fatigue crack will induce overload (either brittle or ductile) in the remaining material once the crack grows large enough over a number of cycles - which could be a matter of weeks or months - a fatigue crack is not really a fast fracture, unless it is low cycle fatigue in something cycling very fast.

The fact that the crack is in a relatively thin section also suggests that it is a fatigue crack rather than a brittle fracture.




Light alloys are brittle but tough, it would take a hell of a force to break it in that manner and when it goes it fails in an easily recognisable manner.



I think you mean "low ductility, but strong", as by definition if a material has a low fracture toughness it is defined as being brittle! Also most aluminium castings have some ductility, and will fail in a ductile manner, rather than a brittle manner, albeit at low ductility.

If there was a hole in the frame at the point indicated, then it is likely that it caused a stress concentration, which probably initiated a fatigue crack which grew during "normal" use (i.e. the odd mono) until the final rupture. But I would want to see the fracture surface in more detail before sticking to that.

I too call shenanigans on 25 mph (he even said 20 on the original interview).

FM

[The_Dover]

I had a look at the video, and couldn't make that out. However, a transgranular fracture ("brittle" appearance) at the bottom could due to brittle (fast) crack growth or fatigue (slow) crack growth. If the top half is a ductile fracture surface, the lower half is more likely to be fatigue rather than a brittle failure, as with a brittle failure the plastic zone at the crack tip will always be at a higher stress than the surrounding material and will normally propagate along at close to the speed of sound in the material until it fractures right through (google "SS Schenectady" for an example)

A fatigue crack will induce overload (either brittle or ductile) in the remaining material once the crack grows large enough over a number of cycles - which could be a matter of weeks or months - a fatigue crack is not really a fast fracture, unless it is low cycle fatigue in something cycling very fast.

The fact that the crack is in a relatively thin section also suggests that it is a fatigue crack rather than a brittle fracture.



I think you mean "low ductility, but strong", as by definition if a material has a low fracture toughness it is defined as being brittle! Also most aluminium castings have some ductility, and will fail in a ductile manner, rather than a brittle manner, albeit at low ductility.

If there was a hole in the frame at the point indicated, then it is likely that it caused a stress concentration, which probably initiated a fatigue crack which grew during "normal" use (i.e. the odd mono) until the final rupture. But I would want to see the fracture surface in more detail before sticking to that.

I too call shenanigans on 25 mph (he even said 20 on the original interview).

FM

I'd like to see some clear, close ups of the frame to make a better judgement but it would be easy to identify whether it was caused by a fatigue failure or not.

[Crasherfromwayback]

And the fucking sifter should be 'outed' as a queer cunt.....unless you're run over by another vehicle, how do you get to stay 7 days in intensive care at 25kph?
Severely bruised ego?
At least it'll match his arse.....

[thehollowmen]

How far he or the bike slid would be a product of momentum. 25mph wouldn't generate enough momentum to carry the bike that far. Regardless, it's how far he travelled, not the bike, that's in question here.

Yes and no. We've also got to think that he wasn't traveling on tyres.. he was traveling on the exhast system. That's what caused the gouges in the road. Lot less friction there and that would just slide and skip. I've seen a trailer pulled upside down and that didn't look like it had much sticking it to the concrete. I think the bike could have travelled to the grass no problems.

If he was a trained rider he would have used the rear brake but... it looks like he was too green for it.

If he was doing wheelies previously I could expect that frame damage pattern, like Dover says. May have taken this long for it to fracture the whole way through. And that would explain his half of the story. And Suzuki's half of the story.

[thehollowmen]

And the fucking sifter should be 'outed' as a queer cunt.....unless you're run over by another vehicle, how do you get to stay 7 days in intensive care at 25kph?
Severely bruised ego?
At least it'll match his arse.....

If he did hit the gutter, riding on the exhast system, he'd tumble forward and the bike would follow him. Just like people who powerslide and hit the gutter.

Them is nasty crashes. I can see it happening, unlikely as it is.

[imdying]

I would've expected the bike travelling down tarseal on its side to have more friction than a bike travelling on it's tyres and wheel bearings, not less. No doubt he would tumble and travel some, no disagreement there, but that far if he was doing 25mph (or 20 mph according to him in the video clip), don't think so.

[thehollowmen]

I would've expected the bike travelling down tarseal on its side
Did it travel on its side?

Looking at the parallel groves I think the frount wheel lifted and the engine block just hit the road. I think it might have been upright until it hit the gutter.

[SARGE]

Did it travel on its side?

Looking at the parallel groves I think the frount wheel lifted and the engine block just hit the road. I think it might have been upright until it hit the gutter.


maybe the Tardis opened up suddenly and spat him out 30 feet from where he shoulda been..


ive seen it happen.......:doobey:

[imdying]

Did it travel on its side?The article and video said that the exhaust hit the road, so I guess yeah it was on its side.

[Blind spot]

I would like to offer my services as frame tester to all you lot with nice new bikes.
Just leave your bike with me for 2 weeks and i will ride it around and do some tests, no charge will apply.

[thehollowmen]

The article and video said that the exhaust hit the road, so I guess yeah it was on its side.

That's what I thought. But I didn't think the side looked damaged so I think they must mean the exhaust system. Then again they might have got a few facts wrong as they said 2005 was the first year of GSXR1000 production...

Who knows, without being there we can speculate all we want but not come to anything conclusive.

[imdying]

Beats working :yes: :lol:

[The_Dover]

Who knows, without being there we can speculate all we want but not come to anything conclusive.

Other than some fat american kid dropped a minger too hard, his gut hit the tank, overstressed the frame and the tubby bitch ended up in hospital cos he was only wearing his mums underwear and some stolen jandals.

Oh, then the cheeky little cunt tries to sue suzuki.

[gav]

Yeah, but OK Sarge and Shaun, with the accidents you've seen how did this frame snap like that? As you say you've seen huge accidents, how could this kid manage to break a frame like that? Regardless of bad wheelie form, wouldnt it break around the headstock if this was the cause?
Remeber the guy that hit the wall at 170 or what ever claimed the frame snapped which caused the crash? The crash at Ruapuna didnt do this much damage to the frame so how is it possible? I've seen at least 3 frames on the net with very similiar breaks, the other one is a guy that apparently hit a Harley Davidson head on at like 30mph, the bike has minimal damage apart from the frame snapping in two? Does not look good :nono:

[stanko]

7k in medical bills? intensive care?
I had a 20minute surgery last week cost $2500
he must have been in hospital for at least 2 hours.

starts with a little lie then it turns into a monster

[gav]

7k in medical bills? intensive care?
I had a 20minute surgery last week cost $2500
he must have been in hospital for at least 2 hours.

starts with a little lie then it turns into a monster
Thats $7K US, so thats like, umm, about......$295,642.89 NZ, maybe....:gob:

[NSR-Dan]

Thats $7K US, so thats like, umm, about......$295,642.89 NZ, maybe....:gob:

thats not that bad for exchange rate. did you know people in zimbabwee have to carry a shopping trolly of cash just to go buy a loaf of bread

[Darryboy]

One thought is that he said he was helping his brother move house.
Is it at all possible the idiot loaded heaps of stuff on his bike which could have caused the accident?

Still think a wheelie is the most likely scenario though.

[CPB]

poor bike, I'd fall apart too if my tard rider was dribbling along at 25mph...oooh crikey I'm going at 25mph I wonder if she's got any more in her captain, what happens if I twist this thing on the handle bars?? oh yeah like this is way faster than my honda/kawasaki/ducati/harley/yamaha/bmw/guzzi/mv/everyotherbikeontheplanet, now I have sympathy thrown my way for being a complete tard doctor making a dribble drop, yay, I tell you whaat I'll moan some more, reduce the speed I was going when I tell my story by about 100mph, forget that I was on party pills/drugs/alcohol and maybe someone will make a whole thread in my honour...well done to the spin doctors who started this one,...meo...freakin...yeow. purr pussy purr :-)
.:baby: very special. :whocares: