Anyone else break the swingarm on their trike?

[Dennis Murawski]

I was taking the trike to the shop for some maintenance and doing about 65 MPH in rush hour traffic when it instantly started doing a "death wobble." When the shop put it on the lift, the service manager came to the waiting room and exclaimed "You got to see this!" Both rails of the swingarm were broken clean through. One fracture had rust on it so it must have occurred during the return trip from Sturgis. The other was bright and shiny and must have just happened. No one at the shop had ever seen something like this. Just wondering if anyone else had this happen. The conversion has about 20,000 miles on it and while it's been ridden hard it's not been abused.

[SEAlaskan]

I was taking the trike to the shop for some maintenance and doing about 65 MPH in rush hour traffic when it instantly started doing a "death wobble." When the shop put it on the lift, the service manager came to the waiting room and exclaimed "You got to see this!" Both rails of the swingarm were broken clean through. One fracture had rust on it so it must have occurred during the return trip from Sturgis. The other was bright and shiny and must have just happened. No one at the shop had ever seen something like this. Just wondering if anyone else had this happen. The conversion has about 20,000 miles on it and while it's been ridden hard it's not been abused.

Boy' your darn lucky the ride didn't turn into something real bad, what model, year of trike and could we see a picture, please?

Butch

[Dennis Murawski]

Boy' your darn lucky

The service manager commented that I must have had an angel riding with me because I should have been bouncing down the highway. The bike is a 2007 Harley FLHT that was converted two years ago with a Champion IRS kit. The service manager took some pics. I'll see if I can post them.

[Texan]

My first question would be did you buy the bike new ? I saw a swing arm that was close to breaking a few years back on a bike that had been wrecked, totaled. The bike was run thru auction and was supposed to be sold "parts only" because of it's being totaled. The buyer washed the title and sold it as being like new.

8~\o

[Dennis Murawski]

My first question would be did you buy the bike new ?

I bought the bike new in 2007 right off the showroom floor. The conversion was done by an official Champion installer in 2013. The bike/trike has never been out of my hands and never been involved in an accident.

[Dennis Murawski]

My upload attempts of the jpg are failing. Not sure why.

[Texan]

I bought the bike new in 2007 right off the showroom floor. The conversion was done by an official Champion installer in 2013. The bike/trike has never been out of my hands and never been involved in an accident.

Hummmmmm.... Puts a bigger, brighter bulb on the subject since your mentioned "rust". Wonder why your "official" installer didn't notice it ? I'd love to see the pics myself....hope you figure out your file upload problem.

8~\o

[Dennis Murawski]

Hummmmmm.... Puts a bigger, brighter bulb on the subject since your mentioned "rust".

No, no, no. There was no rust problem here. There was a slight patina of rust on one of the fractures that indicated it didn't just happen. The other fracture did not have any surface rust on it. I repeat, this failure was not caused by rust.

[Dennis Murawski]

I guess the original file was too large, so I cropped it down.

[Texan]

No, no, no. There was no rust problem here. There was a slight patina of rust on one of the fractures that indicated it didn't just happen. The other fracture did not have any surface rust on it. I repeat, this failure was not caused by rust.

Yeah, I understood what you were saying.. Still I see patina (a $20.00 dollar word these days for what we use to call F*^g'n rush) on a suspension part I'm going in investigate and protect (paint) it. My opinion should have been caught.

Guess I need to educate myself here a little. I didn't realize any of the conversions utilized the swing arm.

8~\o

- - - Updated - - -

I guess the original file was too large, so I cropped it down.

Okay Lucy, you're going to have to splain this pic a little. Is that the swing are that has the clean break on it ?

The bottom of in hanging down ???

If so that has got to be the cleanest break I've ever seen. Looks like no fatigue at all.

8~\o

[Dennis Murawski]

Guess I need to educate myself here a little. I didn't realize any of the conversions utilized the swing arm.

Okay Lucy, you're going to have to splain this pic a little.

I belive the trike unit attaches to the frame where the swingarm was attached. You can see that with the bracket it no longer "swings." Hey Ricky, I'm just showing the pic the service manager sent me. I'll leave any splaining to the guys that know what they're doing.

[trikermutha]

Have you contacted Champion yet? That looks dangerous..Glad you made it to the shop safe.

[Dennis Murawski]

Have you contacted Champion yet?

Yes, and the unit is still under warranty. The shop is completing the paperwork to get the repair covered and completed.

[trikermutha]

Yes, and the unit is still under warranty. The shop is completing the paperwork to get the repair covered and completed.

I am wondering how it broke? Did they give you an explanation or idea how this happened?

[Dennis Murawski]

I am wondering how it broke? Did they give you an explanation or idea how this happened?

That's the $64,000 question. Because the strut is taller than wider, I'm thinking the forces had to be "right and left" rather than "up and down". If the installer didn't have the trike aligned correctly, could 20,000 miles of left/right "micro-shake" caused the metal to fatigue? One member failed first undoubtably putting more stress on the other one. The official installer is no longer in business and nowhere to be found. Suggestion -- choose your installer carefully.

[Sunman]

You need to buy a lottery ticket. You are one lucky person to make it to the shop! Never seen anything like that on a trike (or bike). Will be interesting to see what the dealer says. Looks like side to side flexing, not up and down flexing to me.

Sunman

[trikermutha]

That's the $64,000 question. Because the strut is taller than wider, I'm thinking the forces had to be "right and left" rather than "up and down". If the installer didn't have the trike aligned correctly, could 20,000 miles of left/right "micro-shake" caused the metal to fatigue? One member failed first undoubtably putting more stress on the other one. The official installer is no longer in business and nowhere to be found. Suggestion -- choose your installer carefully.

Hard to tell from the picture but the area that broke looked reinforced already. Did they put two pieces of metal together and weld a plate over the joint? Like I said the pictures only show one side and I am basing on the one picture?? Hope you get a answer..

[Rmitchell55]

Are those breaks at the 45 deg bends on the front half of the bottom frame? It looks like the two pieces of the frame wasn't welded just the stiffners. I don't have a Harley but I have a Champion kit and the rear frame is the same, only the attachment points are different.

[Lee H. Mann]

Scary Stuff there. That is caused by a twisting of the motorcycle frame. This seems to be a weak link in the IRS system. I would check the upper frame bracket and connections. Looks like a beef-up of the swingarm is in order.

I do have a question. Do you haul a trailer ?
Too much tongue weight could cause this too.

[Dennis Murawski]

I do have a question. Do you haul a trailer ?
Too much tongue weight could cause this too.

Yes, I did haul a Lees-ur-lite Excel motorcycle camper. The load was balanced (at least I thought so anyway) and the tongue weight, although I didn't weigh it, seemed to be within the specs. Hmmm, maybe next time I should get a scale. I had a tool kit in the trike box, but that was centered between the wheels. But still, one would hope the design would be a bit more robust than that.