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My 2009 Bonneville SE almost killed me yesterday.

76K views 462 replies 92 participants last post by  propforward 
#1 ·
Driving South on the 405 Freeway in Irvine California at about 70 MPH traffic started to slow, I stood up on the pegs to look for an opening ahead and bang!! My right foot was standing on nothing the left foot-peg fell off onto the freeway and I lost control of the bike.

It took a huge effort to keep my foot from hitting the ground at 70MPH and keeping the bike upright. I swerved across a few lanes before I could regain control and slow down and stop safely. Went back and retrieved the foot-peg from the roadway.


The bolt had sheared off right at the point where it extends from the clevis into the bike. There was no reason for it. Never dropped the bike, no sign of rust on the bolt, I did not hit a bump or jump up suddenly just stood up gradually like I usually do to look ahead when approaching slower traffic. I weigh less than 250 pounds. There was no reason other than a manufacturing failure. The sheared bolt is clean and shiny it just broke for no reason.

If I had not recovered from the bolt failure crashed and died the authorities would say another biker just went down on his own and overlooked the sheared off foot-peg as a symptom not the cause of the crash.

Dang, Triumph what kind of steel are you using for critical parts? There is no SAE stamp on the bolt, it may not be hardened or conform to any standard. This is a real issue for us riders and a liability issue for Triumph. I am going to contact Triumph what they say about the failure of this critical component. It should have been tested by Triumph prior to me riding on the freeway with my less than 3 year old bike. I will post the response on this site if I get any.
 
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#149 ·
FOR WHAT?!?!?! Yes a part failed. Yes it should not have. His bike is out of warranty and he needs to contact Triumph NA and file a complaint / claim for faulty equipment.


But unless you are going to help him pay his attorney's expenses, (and that of Triumph NA and Triumphs UK's since the case would be thrown out) I'd certainly advise against it. There is no case here as there was no injury, no provable conspiracy, malfeasance or negligence, and loss of property outside of the foot peg. I'm sorry but bullcrap "SUE!" solutions are more of a problem than a cure.

Contact Triumph NA, get someone on the phone and explain the situation. They'll probably get you squared away with the local dealer to replace the bolt (I would request both), and they'll probably send you a gift to keep you happy.


I am glad you were able to control your bike and made it to a stop safely. Get er fixed, get back out there and keep riding!
 
#6 · (Edited)
The drawing below is for the rear footpegs but it'll do for this question.

Did item 11 really shear off or did it come adrift from the "U" shaped bit?:



When I replaced my pegs for Oberons, I did find that the circlips the factory had fitted (item 6) were not tempered, just hardened. When I tried to replace them, one just shattered into 3 pieces...

See last photo on this post:

http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-technical-talk/166959-oberon-touring-footpegs-for-bonneville-se.html

Here's another near-identical case where the bolt has broken, worth reading Prop's advice on post 6:

http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/104282-broken-bonnie-footpeg.html

We've also had a fair few snapped the footpegs themselves, not surprising as they're made of some sort of monkey metal.
 
#9 ·
kj6tk
Thanks for sharing, im glad you were able to stay upright it could have easily ended up as a sad story. These sort of things are a concern for everybody. Cutting corners and putting peoples lives at risk for the sake of money is a problem with todays mind set, give them a stir for us all.
Cheers Klem :mad:
 
#10 ·
Seeing as I also have a 09 SE like the original poster, and I'm also in the habit of standing on the pegs (not at 70 mph like him though...:eek:) when travelling over humps or rough ground, I got a bit worried.

I've had a look at the footpegs fixings and, although they're not the world's finest, I can't see how a shear load sufficiently strong to break the stud can be applied.

The peg is held to the frame with an M8 stud and self-locking nut. The stud is welded by 3 spot welds to the U bracket. Shear loads should be taken care of by the two stamped 5mm dowels and the friction created by the tight stud on the two contact surfaces (0.81 sq Inch in area). The stud should be free from these shear forces unless the nut is loose and the stud threads have to bear the brunt of the riders weight.

Before this happens the rider with a bit of sensibility would notice the wobbly footpeg I would have thought, but you never know.

I'm including a couple of photos to encourage others to give us their opinions on this. They're for the passenger pegs, but the fixing method is the same.



 
#11 ·
A potential problem I see is Triumph used a screw (threaded the whole length) rather than a bolt (Part of the shank unthreaded) which would weaken the mount.

I stand (just getting the bum off the seat) on the pegs frequently at highway speeds over bumps. Lucky the Thruxton design is different and appears at least to be much stronger being a solid casting. Although the pegs themselves are still a bit of a worry as I'm using FZR type ebay ones. They seem to be solid enough so far.
 
#290 ·
I hope he's also contacted Triumph! Just as important, if not more so, than sharing his story here. And I'm really hoping for good follow-up on this thread......this is something that Triumph needs to address. Maybe a safety recall?

I often stand on the pegs of my BMW to cool off a bit, but I cannot do that as well with the Bonnie as the pegs are not quite positioned for my butt.....now I'm glad! I don't think I clear the seat by more than 8 inches on the Bonnie......but I think I'll forget about doing that for now......:eek:
 
#16 ·
My best guess would be that the nut was overtightened at the factory , thus putting the stud under high tension. When weight was applied it increased that tension enough to make it "pop". No need for a high tensile stud in this application; but if overtightened then this is what would happen.
 
#67 ·
The dull gray area that looks like a circle with a flat spot is the surface that developed when the fracture occurred. The flat spot on the circular cross section was either a notch from manufacturing or the result of a fatigue crack growing until it reached critical size. Normally, a fatigue crack front is not straight across. It looks to me like the threaded shaft was damaged at some time and was an accident waiting for just the right amount of loading.

I think that Triumph would be interested in looking at this to track down what caused this. A good metallurgist and a mechanical engineer with a background in fracture mechanics would be the ideal people to analyze this.

It does not appear to me that the incident was due to any flaw in the material or design. I suspect that a manufacturing error caused this.
 
#22 ·
The peg is held to the frame with an M8 stud and self-locking nut. The stud is welded by 3 spot welds to the U bracket. Shear loads should be taken care of by the two stamped 5mm dowels and the friction created by the tight stud on the two contact surfaces (0.81 sq Inch in area). The stud should be free from these shear forces unless the nut is loose and the stud threads have to bear the brunt of the riders weight. - Forchetto

That's assuming that the force is applied from a perfectly vertical direction. But on a footpeg the force/weight is normally applied far outside where the stamped dowels would have any effect on keeping the assembly in place.

Before this happens the rider with a bit of sensibility would notice the wobbly footpeg I would have thought, but you never know. - Forchetto

Things break instantly; I can easily see this separation occurring with the materials and design of this bolt. And, if overtightened, as pointed out previously here, it would even be more prone to instant failure.
 
#25 ·
That's assuming that the force is applied from a perfectly vertical direction. But on a footpeg the force/weight is normally applied far outside where the stamped dowels would have any effect on keeping the assembly in place.
I think you're right. It's just dawned on me. I'm seriously considering drilling out the two stamped dowels, tapping the holes in the frame to M6 and adding a couple of high-tensile M6 allen bolts.
 
#26 · (Edited)
It is also taught in Alabama MSF. This is disconcerting. I like standing up at speed to rest my rump and let a little air through. Does wonders for how far I can go at a shot.

I need to check this on the Scrambler.

Okay, from looking at bike bandit it appears to be a totally different setup on the Scrambler. Kinda figured it would be.
 
#27 ·
There was a video on youtube of a guy's bolt breaking on the right footpeg while he was riding through the mountains. Sorry I can't find the link. In fairness he said he'd dropped the bike on that side in his driveway. I think it was a T100. I tried to find the video just now, but no luck.
 
#29 ·
Standing up to cross over obstacles is also taught in the MSF class in VA. Which makes it even more odd that a buddy of mine was given a wreckless driving ticket because he stood up...

Anyways, we're all glad you're okay. Keep us posted on what you find out from Triumph. I'm buying a torque wrench to test all my bolts asap!
 
#30 ·
the stock pegs are kinda ugly anyway...:p but that's why i was looking...

quality control is extremely important...if the cause of an accident was known to be a peg, assuming that one were ok, insurance companies get involved, then they go after Triumph, then Triumph goes after the manufacturer, etc...

I had a stainless steel mesh washer hose bust and cause a lot of damage to my home...my insurance appraiser took detailed pics of the hose...he said they will go after the manufacturer
 
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