What caused this fault?

Hi there,

I recently got my Suzuki SV650s repaired by a garage. Amongst other things, they replaced the front wheel.

They checked it, double checked it and road tested the bike before returning it to me.

19 miles of riding on the way to work, travelling at around 55mph, suddenly the front of the bike started shaking... I managed to pull over to the side of the road just before the front wheel locked. (Had it of locked while I was doing 55mph, I would've been thrown over the front of the bike).

Judging by the attached photo's, what would you say caused the front wheel to lock?

[Spanner Man]

Good morning.

Lucky escape by the sound & look of it, glad you're ok.
My guess would be a snapped wheel spindle.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by Spanner Man

Good morning.

Lucky escape by the sound & look of it, glad you're ok.
My guess would be a snapped wheel spindle.

Cheers.

I'm glad I'm ok too. it scared the life out of me.

a snapped spindle? Would this be caused by something being too tight, or not being tight enough?

[Spanner Man]

Good morning.

If the spindle has snapped it could be from any number of causes.
If it were left loose, it would be more likely to undo before snapping, whereas it looks as if the head of the spindle is still against the right hand fork leg.

If overtightened it would be more likely that the thread in the left hand leg would strip first.

You don't say why the wheel was replaced, but if the bike has been involved in an accident, there's the distinct possibility that the spindle was weakened, or worse, possibly straightened having been bent.That, combined with being overtightened could cause it to snap.

When I do an insurance estimate that includes wheels, I always quote for a new spindle as well. A fact that many an assessor has argued over.

Cheers.

many thanks for your replies.

About 4 months ago I was knocked off my bike going around the roundabout which caused damage to the right hand side of the bike. The front wheel alloy was also damaged and so the garage replaced the front wheel.

I thought I'd post here to see what the verdict is as to how the front wheel would have locked. It sounds to me that it is definitely the garage's fault in not repairing the front wheel propery. I'm awaiting their official report.

[Spanner Man]

Sounds like there could have been damage to the spindle. Let us know how you get on.

Cheers.

Originally Posted by jinxed

It sounds to me that it is definitely the garage's fault in not repairing the front wheel propery. I'm awaiting their official report.

you may have a problem proving this?

good luck though

Originally Posted by hovis

you may have a problem proving this?

good luck though

+1

[jambo]

It may just be the angle on the pictures but from the left side of the bike the front wheel spindle thread seems to have come through the fork leg way more than I remember being possible leading me to go with Spannerman. However, the damage is to the right side, I'm not sure I can see the spacer that should go between the wheel and RHS fork leg, if missed out you could carry on turning the spindle too far before you got enough resistance for a torque wrench to click, this would allow the wheel to move on the spindle, possibly touching the RHS fork. It would quite possibly bend the fork too.

I may well be wrong, it's entirely possible my eyes are being rubbish or the pic's taken from an odd angle, but it would explain the grease that's come out from the hub perhaps?

Jambo

Originally Posted by jambo

It may just be the angle on the pictures but from the left side of the bike the front wheel spindle thread seems to have come through the fork leg way more than I remember being possible leading me to go with Spannerman. However, the damage is to the right side, I'm not sure I can see the spacer that should go between the wheel and RHS fork leg, if missed out you could carry on turning the spindle too far before you got enough resistance for a torque wrench to click, this would allow the wheel to move on the spindle, possibly touching the RHS fork. It would quite possibly bend the fork too.

I may well be wrong, it's entirely possible my eyes are being rubbish or the pic's taken from an odd angle, but it would explain the grease that's come out from the hub perhaps?

Jambo

This is pretty much the same opinion as what the man for the AA told me. He noticed that a spacer was definitely missing and should have been fitted when the wheel was replaced.

On the right side, the brake disk was approximately 1mm away from the fork.

On the left side I saw the "bit" sticking out which I assumed was where a nut was supposed to be to hold the wheel inbetween the forks.

Thanks again for all these comments. It's great to get other opinions so it prepares me for what the garage's official report is going to be. They better not blame me for any of this - it's them who replaced the front wheel. I trusted them that it was safe to ride the bike as they had "checked it, double checked it, and road tested it"