Well, thats a worry…

[Oceanrower]

Took my 2016 Bonneville in for an MOT on Saturday morning and the tester noticed some play in the swingarm.

On closer inspection, when he removed the right hand cover, the nut (with the thread inside) promptly hit the ground.

It turns out that the swingarm bolt had sheared clean off at the end of the thread! In 40 odd years of biking I’ve never seen anything like it!

I’m normally pretty good on tyres, chain etc. Never even thought to check something like this!

[Rubin215]

You know that strictly speaking he shouldn't have removed the cover...




Worrying though, and not something I have seen either.
Seen plenty of them either slightly loose or massively overtightened, but I have never actually come across one that had snapped.

[Darkslider]

Not what you expect in 5 years of use! Have Triumph anything to say on the matter?

[Oceanrower]

Rubin215 said:

You know that strictly speaking he shouldn't have removed the cover...

This was after it had failed and I asked him to…

[Seight_Returns]

Particularly worrying since I spent an hour at a Triumph Dealer yesterday coveting a new T100 Bonnie.

Conscious that Triumph almost certainly didn't make the bolt that sheared so shouldn't necessarily judge them too harshly.

Have there been any other quality related issues with your Bonneville?

[CAPP0]

Seight_Returns said:

Conscious that Triumph almost certainly didn't make the bolt that sheared so shouldn't necessarily judge them too harshly.

I'm also pretty certain that they would have signed off the QC on them - and then sold the bike, so it's 100% on them IMO.

[ChrisG C2S]

I've had a 2016 Thruxton from new and not had a single issue with it. Been thinking about changing it for something else but struggle to see what is better for the extra money.

[Seight_Returns]

CAPP0 said:

Seight_Returns said:

Conscious that Triumph almost certainly didn't make the bolt that sheared so shouldn't necessarily judge them too harshly.

I'm also pretty certain that they would have signed off the QC on them - and then sold the bike, so it's 100% on them IMO.

I don't question for a moment that it's 100% on them. They sold a bike with a wonky part that they sourced. That wasn't my point though.

Even with 6 Sigma QA you're going to get very occasions compenent failures. I was trying to get the OPs opinion whether this was an isolated component failure in the far right of the Gaussian tail - or if Triumph are systemically sourcing poor quality components.

[NITO]

That's a worry indeed, thanks for bringing it to the attention...

One wonders whether it's a material failure, or workmanship (overtightened bolt)! You'd like to think that they would be using torque wrenches with strict QA. If a material failure, they'd need to look at batches of bikes built with the same batch if they are controlling that element.

What a headache, very lucky it didn't fail while riding!

[Oceanrower]

Seight_Returns said:

Particularly worrying since I spent an hour at a Triumph Dealer yesterday coveting a new T100 Bonnie.

Conscious that Triumph almost certainly didn't make the bolt that sheared so shouldn't necessarily judge them too harshly.

Have there been any other quality related issues with your Bonneville?

Until now, very pleased with the bike. Had a problem with the wiring in the headstock but but was a known issue and fixed under warranty.

Unfortunately for me, my supplying dealer has closed the branch I bought from and it’s nearest one is about 50 miles away but I WILL be going for a “chat” with the offending bolt very shortly!