[grebmrof]

My left footpeg snapped off this morning while standing on the pegs. I had just taken off from an intersection that had some bad seams in it from some incomplete repaving work, I stood up to soften the shock and the left peg snapped off and my foot hit the ground and I dropped to the seat. I was accelerating from a stop so I was probably only going 15 mph or so and was able to immediately pull over to a safe place. The peg was found in the road, but the threaded part & nut were not found. I am thankful that I was not riding at speed and standing up to stretch my legs when this happened…very thankful.

Recently, this thread (http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/210252-my-2009-bonneville-se-almost-killed-me-yesterday.html )was posted and it immediately came to mind as I was pulling to the side of the road.

I’ve attached photos for someone more knowledgeable than I to take a look at. The bike has 9700 miles on it, 7500 mine. The bike has never been dropped while I’ve had it, there is no sign of crash damage except for some light scuffs on the feeler (see photo). This looks to me as if the bike might have been set down in a gravel lot resulting in the scratches you can see. When the peg bolt broke, I believe the peg landed rubber side down as evidenced by the rubber scuffs on the top of the peg (see circled areas) with either my foot on top of it or being run over by the rear wheel. Perhaps the dirt that is seen in the pictures between the footpeg and the peg bracket on the bike could be a sign of a gap that opened up from a tip over. The two locating pegs show no sign of distortion or damage – so the footpeg was probably not moving around. However, as I think Propforward commented, we ought to be checking out our footpegs before every ride to see that they are tight and show no signs of any weakness – something I have not done in the past, but will going forward.

So, I think I would conclude that the peg bolt was weakened by a very minor tip over by the original owner, which resulted in what happened today. I think I will try to disassemble the peg, remove the original spot welded “stud” and replace it with an 8.8 bolt with washer and nylock nut. The stud is 8mm, but it appears that the hole in the footpeg holder is slightly oversized.

Appreciate any follow-on analysis of this…

Thanks, Tom

 

[Easy13]

I'd replace with grade 8 hardware. The tougher the better.

 

[1963wak]

its definately not the first, its a s**t design. theres an whole thread on it i think its called (today my t100 tried to kill me )

 

[Baltobonneville]

Yet another alarming report of footpeg failure. It makes me nervous, because I stand on the pegs sometimes too. It would be nice to see a more substantial upgrade made available for these pegs. I'd gladly buy it.

I wouldn't assume that anything was loose just from the dirt between the parts. They're not mating parts in the sense that they would be tight enough to keep out fine dust.

If you make the repair that you mention, post some pictures and a description.

 

[Wheelhorse]

I have to admit that these foot peg failures are a bit of a let down.

If this were Harley, I would shrug it off as being HD quality, but I was hoping the modern classics were better than this. I know, I know, proper torque is everything, however, I have never read about a footpeg failure on my classic Suzuki board and we are talking late seventies, early eighties Japanese stuff here.

I just looked up a picture on ebay of GS footpegs and now I can see why, they look to be of a better load bearing design. At least time has proven them to seem that way.

 

[grebmrof]

its definately not the first, its a s**t design. theres an whole thread on it i think its called (today my t100 tried to kill me )

Which is why I mentioned in the original posting:

Recently, this thread (http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/210252-my-2009-bonneville-se-almost-killed-me-yesterday.html )was posted and it immediately came to mind as I was pulling to the side of the road.

There have been even earlier reports of this happening I believe. For a fast temporary fix, I have an extra rear peg that I will bolt up - no more standing on the pegs for me. When I repair the broken left I'll use the highest quality bolt I can find - thanks for the comment on grade 8.
Tom

 

[LapinAgile]

Very glad you made it without catching your foot or otherwise risking injury. Not quite certain about your suspicion of an earlier lay-down, but regardless, all of us should plan on replacing that bolt a with grade 8 bolt NOT threaded through the point of attachment.
That repair, and checking for tightness frequently should help. But personally, I'd only stand on them as a last emergency resort. The KLR and GS guys are standing on an entirely different and better design.

 

[Slinky]

Those "scuffs" on the top of the peg look like normal wear, the compound is pretty soft.

 

[grebmrof]

Those "scuffs" on the top of the peg look like normal wear, the compound is pretty soft.

Your may be right, the left foot moves around a lot more than the right. Right side has no similar wear marks. I've always taken my right foot along with me whenever I've ridden anywhere...so I thought the left wear might have been from this incident. Good observation though.

P.S. The wear marks on the left peg rubber is exactly where I hang my boot while riding and shifting - so I think the scuffs are not from this incident but actually wear from my boot.

 

[fullplat1]

In the past the pegs have broken through the cast alloy portion rather than the bolt itself. Nasty fright for all concerned.
Phil

 

[Dodwell]

Wow. Another incident of this happening. I'm glad you are okay.

 

[BDKrivit]

Its time to make a DOT report, or whomever regulates production. Its impossible to know how many unreported peg failures have resulted in accidents. I am contacting Triumph USA in GA and DOT.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Motorcycle.com Free App

 

[dkreidel]

I'd replace with grade 8 hardware. The tougher the better.

Grade 8 bolts, although possessing a very high UTS (ultimate tensile strength) are also quite brittle and aren't ideal for this application. What I use are high strength bolts that respond well to alternate load cycling and have better yield properties.

Dick

 

[grebmrof]

Grade 8 bolts, although possessing a very high UTS (ultimate tensile strength) are also quite brittle and aren't ideal for this application. What I use are high strength bolts that respond well to alternate load cycling and have better yield properties.


Dick, Looking at the bracket and grabbing an 8mm bolt from my spares - the 8mm looks pretty darn small for this application. I am thinking that moving to a 10mm may be a better fix. However, if I head that way I don't want to damage the two pieces that need to be bolted together by changing their strength by heating them up improperly when drilling. Any ideas on sourcing high strength bolts and how to properly drill the pieces would be appreciated.
Thanks, Tom

 

[grebmrof]

Further Bolt Information

I found this information on bolt strength:

http://www.k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html

...go down the page to view the data on metric bolts. It looks like class 10.9 might be a better choice than 8.8. Class 8 is not mentioned.

I think I will utilize an 8mm, class 10.9 bolt with standard or coarse thread from this company:

http://www.boltdepot.com/Metric_hex_bolts_Zinc_plated_class_10.9_steel.aspx

These are zinc plated and hopefully will do the trick. I'll use one or more washers to take up the smooth "shoulder" of the bolt and then a 10.9 class nylock washer. I'll use blue locktite on the bolt threads.

I hope to be able to drill out the old broken bolt and then grind off the remaining bolt head that was spot welded into the footpeg U shaped stamping. Hopefully there will be enough clearance for the new bolt head to not interfere with the footpeg alloy casting.

Appreciate any other comments on this, before I destroy the evidence of the broken bolt. I'd like to hold on to this footpeg in case anyone wants to try to analyze what might have caused the problem here - so if anyone has an undamaged T100/std Bonnie left rider's footpeg that they'd like to sell me, please let me know.

Thanks,
Tom

 

[rbneil]

You guys should read the "my Bonneville almost killed me" thread before repeating everything here. There have been hundreds of posts over there on the same topic.

My opinion is that the design is strong enough, but the nut has to be tightened properly to get enough preload in the stud. You can't get a torque wrench on it, so I bet many assemblers tighten it with an open-end and say "that's good enough." That leads to fatigue failure of the stud.

There are lots more opinions over in the other thread.

 

[Dynamo '73]

... information on bolt strength:

http://www.k-tbolt.com/bolt_chart.html

Great bolt info, thanks.

Also agree that the original thread should be referenced first.

 

[grebmrof]

You guys should read the "my Bonneville almost killed me" thread before repeating everything here. There have been hundreds of posts over there on the same topic...
There are lots more opinions over in the other thread.

Neil, which is why in my original post I noted:

Recently, this thread (http://www.triumphrat.net/twins-talk/210252-my-2009-bonneville-se-almost-killed-me-yesterday.html )was posted and it immediately came to mind as I was pulling to the side of the road.

I've read that thread front to back, a lot of good information there and also a lot of dribble. As usual, Forchetto's responses are supurb - thanks!

 

[Cruzin1a]

I've read both threads and I can say I still don't feel like I know what path I should take to make sure my foot pegs are OK to stand on. I checked them after reading the other thread and found the left one so loose I could move it around. I tightened it back down but I did not use a torque wrench.

Once again I am not feeling to good about this and I am not quite sure what solution if any I should apply. I hear a lot of great iseas but...

 

[R0B]

Surely if you check and find then loose, some thread lock would give a secure cure?.......I understand that torquing is difficult?.

Rob