Triumphrat

20377

My bike has 7000km on it and I was riding it on the weekend when I thought I had a flat rear tire.On closer inspection I found I had a broken spoke which let the air out of the tubeless tire.This shouldn't happen on a near new bike!!Anyone had a similar experience??The bike is an 07 Bonneville Black.

ohiorider

Yes. Search the forum - You should be able to find several threads re spokes. NOTE - although the tires are tubeless type, there are tubes in the front and rear tires.

Bob

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2003 T100 (790cc) Lucifer Org and Silv: 122/42 jets, TORs, 17T, UNI filter, no AI, Polaris bellmouth, Metzeler ME880 tires, Progressive 440 shocks (105/150 springs),11-1126 fork springs, gaiters, MotoTwin low bars, 6024 lamp, htd grips, 12v outlet.

Thrux-ton-up

Here we go.

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John W.

• 04 Thruxton – Graphite & Opal
• 06 T100 – Black & Red
• 05 T100 - Black & Opal - Project Bike
• 51 T100 – Silver & Black

Cynr1023

hehehe. where have we seen this before. where did it break at the near the rim or the hub?

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2007 Bonnie Black
NB Drag Bars, Napoleon Bar-Ends, 19t Front Sproket, Bobbed front and rear fender, Lucas style taillight and bullet signal lights, blacked headers (hey, it's different than from when I got it), Matte Black Side Covers, and fenders, Red seat "embossing", Pazzo Racing Black anodized short levers, BC Predator exhaust, ARK & a rejet, AI removed
OTW: painted tank and headlight bucket w/ screen

Hedge

Dose anyone know if the new Bonneville's have any issues with the spokes?
I'm sorry, I have been on some heavy pain killing medication for the last 4 days and I think I forgot everything from the last 25000 posts so if you don't mind - can we just start all over?

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Proud to be an American Infidel!
http://www.thingsididilastnight.com/

whoa

I had the same question, so posted a poll. My spoke was replaced under warranty, but when I checked my rear wheel, several spokes were too loose. I attribute the problem to my failing to check tension.

Do the ping test on your wheels and see how many are off. I only had one spoke loose on the front. I doubt your got a flat from a broken spoke. The spoke may have been broken for a while, and this is the first you noticed.

blackbonny, that is one of the reasons I won't convert my rims to tubeless.

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05 Thruxton

johnyC

Blackbonny,

You didn't say which spoke broke on your bike, but the most commonly broken Bonnie spoke (the outer spoke on the left side of the wheel) is capable of causing a flat. Here's why:



See the proximity of the outer left spoke to the caliper? See the angle it presents and the direction of travel? Have you ever watched the Olympic pole vault event and seen the way the pole slams into the box and launches the vaulter? That's what a flailing, broken, outside left, rear Bonneville spoke does when it hits the brake caliper. Only it launches the spoke through the tube.

Never mind the cure, a totally different hub design isn't going to come from Triumph now. Prevention is a step in the right direction though. I checked the tension on my spokes after a hundred miles from new, six were slack and all on the left side of the rear wheel. I tensioned them up and safety wired them, so that even if the outer left spoke breaks it won't be able to collide with the caliper:



ps. I was out in the rain yesterday, bike parked overnight outside because I was replacing the steering head bearings on my son's Transalp. His bike was in the shed. Notice the rust on the rim.

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johny. the boy's happy, leave him alone.

road_dog

Actually, there are no true "outer" spokes. It's an all inner spoke configured hub... and that's the problem.

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Phil (road dog)

ohiorider

Road Dog - I think I finally got that 'all inner spoke' thing, reading your comment and looking at the photo Johny posted. Is this the problem (see link)

http://s115.photobucket.com/albums/n...elandnotes.jpg

Bob

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2003 T100 (790cc) Lucifer Org and Silv: 122/42 jets, TORs, 17T, UNI filter, no AI, Polaris bellmouth, Metzeler ME880 tires, Progressive 440 shocks (105/150 springs),11-1126 fork springs, gaiters, MotoTwin low bars, 6024 lamp, htd grips, 12v outlet.

road_dog

Bob, That is exactly the problem. Triumph designed our hubs to look good, thereby sacrificing the function. Granted the all inner spoke design looks cleaner, but causes the spokes to contact each other and placing abnormal side pressure on them.

Below is the picture of a Bonnie hub that jonnyc posted, and a picture of a properly designed hub with alternating inner and outer spokes.

Bonnie hub with only inner spokes (by jonnyc):


Correct hub with alternating inner and outer spokes:

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Phil (road dog)