busted Crank!

Busted crank shaft

Last week I commented on "Lower timing Chain Blew up!!!!!" from av8er4fun titled Mine too!. I explained what had happened to me on my 2011 r3r last week and believed it to be the timing chain (once again I'm not all that Mechanically inclined but can do routine maintance).

Monday I recieved a call from the dealer telling me that it was not the timing chain, that the Crank Shaft was broken. They have ordered a new motor but asked me to gather my Maintnance Records since they Believe Triumph will want them. Sounds reasonable.

At the time this occurred I was just finishing a turn and was excellerating (Mildly) somewhere between 40 and 50 mph when this occured. As I stated earlier in my comment on av8er4fun thread, My bike was experiancing the rattle can noise and I had taken it to two separate Dealers the first had for three weeks and claimed they could not hear it. The second kept it one week and claimed they had repaired it. I left them with information from r3owners regarding a cause and cure. when I returned I found the noise awas still present. which they of course could not hear.

Has anyone had a simular experiance with the Crank on their rocket? I could definitly stand to hear from someone who knows more than I do. which from what I read would just about be 75% of you..

Thanks,

Rocketeer55

Sounds like a warranty war is pending. So sorry to hear of your malaise, Rocketeer55.

Which dealership are you working with specifically?

How many miles have you put on your Roadster. Have you had your splines greased with any rear wheel change since you've owned the bike? The source of your problem might be attributable to something that simple and, as it happens, it is something that Triumph fails to inform us or their dealership network as being a very necessary, regularly scheduled maintainance procedure (must be done every 10,000 miles +/-)!

I've seen broken cranks in automotive and heavy truck but not something you see very often with motorcycles. There are very few maintenance issues that could cause this problem in cars and trucks but because motorcycles have no external balancer and forged crankshafts normally these issues are eliminated, do give them your records though thats just normal warranty procedure. The only thing I can think that an operator could do to cause it would be to drastically advance the ignition timing or to put the wrong fuel in the bike causing detination knock, but barring that it could be a number of flaws in the crank that very hard to detect and cant be seen with the naked eye.

I hope that you get the problem fixed with little trouble and get many more years out of the rocket.

Broken crankshaft

I purchased the Bike in early 2011 I believe April From Southern California Motorcycles in Brea Ca.. I have been overall pleased with the Dealership, Other than the last service visit when they all became hearing impaired.

In the last four months I've probably rode less than two k thanks to my Job. The Splines have been greased with each Rear tire change twice the last about 1,000. miles ago. bike just turned 16k.

I dont know if this is an Issue I'm not that good of a mechanic, But literally since the day of delivery the bike has had an issue with a weird blow back through the air filter that is pretty dramatic (When shifting down through the gears). It actually delayed me leaving the dealership on the day of purchase for several hours. The Mechanic would go back and re-map the engine and ride the bike, this process was repeated several times. it took hours and the problem has never been completely remedied. also the fuel guage did not work. they have checked it a couple of times at my request when it was in for other work but it has never been completely remedied. My ownership of the Rocket started out a little Rocky, but the motors power is intoxicating. I have loved the bike and will continue too, as long as they Honor their warranty which I have confidence they will. The Owner of the dealership is a good man "Tom" and hopefully he can help with Triumph. I haven't spoke to him yet, No need to Panic yet.

Thanks for the Advice

Did the say where the crank was broken at? Front, back, inbetween a rod journal or main journel?

Not sure there's much a rider can do with what soundslike a newish stock bike to cause a crank to break. Warp would know more than most if it's possible to do something. Surely will be fixed/replaced under warrantee. Good luck with it and keep us posted.

Ouuuch!!!!!

hanso said:

Ouuuch!!!!!

Click to expand...

When I brought my bike to Carpenter for the build, I asked him about whether these hi comp pistons would play havoc with the trans or crankshaft. He showed me an r3 crank and said these are bullet proof and he had never encountered a problem.
Frankly, this is the very first time I've heard this problem.
Sorry for your troubles. I guess "Never" is really ALMOST never!

Fluke

It's a fluke thing. How many stock, low mileage R3's have you seen with a broken crank? I can't remember any. I'm still going to ride mine to the San Antonio Texas area this September. 1274 miles one way.