BMW's other failure

[GunMD]

Dear BMW apologists, this isn't personal:

My buddy just showed me some photos of the recent LA - Barstow - Vegas dual sport ride (District 37 AMA) from the Disrict37 Forum. Good stuff. One thing stands out to me. It seems BMW's failures during competitive events isn't limited to the final drive grenading events we've all become so familiar with. Check this out.

I don't know anything about how this happened or who owns this bike. I just know it looks bad. Perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation...

 

[Auburn]

WOW!!!! talk about failure.

I have thrown many a dirtbike down hard, flipped and gone off a few steep embankments. Most I ever had was a tweeked set of handle bars or a broken lever. But a broken swing are is pretty severe. Guess it ain't cheap to fix either...

 

[Bugnatr]

Holy broken swingarm Batman! How's the rider? Figure it had to be one hell of a bump/rock/cliff or whatever to was to do that.

 

[Crash Cash]

Wow. I don't think I've EVER seen a broken swingarm before! Daahaaaayyymmmnnnn! I'd love to hear the story about it.

 

[No One]

Dear BMW apologists, this isn't personal:

My buddy just showed me some photos of the recent LA - Barstow - Vegas dual sport ride (District 37 AMA) from the Disrict37 Forum. Good stuff. One thing stands out to me. It seems BMW's failures during competitive events isn't limited to the final drive grenading events we've all become so familiar with. Check this out.

I don't know anything about how this happened or who owns this bike. I just know it looks bad. Perhaps there is a perfectly reasonable explanation...

HOLY SMOKES ! IMOP, this is a casting defect, prolly not an engineering problem... Either way, WOW ! :blink:

 

[C&C]

The walls of that broken casting looks awful thin; not a place I would want any weight savings. Wow.

 

[RaYzerman19]

Judging by the shiny stuff around the break area, not a defect, just looks like it was too thin for the stresses. What model is this? It's not the 1200GS... Doesn't look like a single sided arm....?

 

[El Toro]

You can see the chain. It looks to me like one of the singles. Probably a 650. I've seen 450s and 650s where the idiot owner did not bother to adjust the chain, and they've ended up doing serious damage when the chain broke. If the swing arm bushing were never cleaned or lubed, you could easily seize it, and then bust the arm on the next jump.

An off road, or dual sport run to Barstow, no matter where it started, could easily wreak havoc on just about any bike. You can see this bike has been mired in dirt. The dirt is impregnated into every crevice.

Surely someone could have doused this one with lighter fluid and set it on fire for this picture, no? All you folks who are fixated on BMW as a nasty company and nastier bike would have had even bigger wood if it were flaming.

 

[08FJR4ME]

My guess is he or she came down a little to hard on a jump and ran out of suspension. Those walls do look mighty thin. Casting will crack and break. Rought aluminum tubing will most likely bend first. Something to consider when making the purchase. Yeh! castings will reduce weight but at a price.

Dave

 

[Hotboot]

Stress a casting enough times and the metal just has to give. Would like to know the details, especially the bikes load and mileage when she broke. Hope the rider is ok with just a mouyhful of sand.

 

[Peter Murray]

Perhaps the swingarm is made in china.

 

[dcarver]

Ahh geesh. All these BMW haters.

Why that swing arm is just the rear wheel quick disconnect allowing for rapid tire changes!

and where is BeemerDons and his illegit son Skooter-I-don't-own-an-FJR-cause-I-drank-the-koolaid-G?

 

[charismaticmegafauna]

Perhaps the swingarm is made in china.

The whole bike's made in China -- Beijing Motor Works...