Swing Arm Danger..

[theENIGMATIC]

Wow.....so I take my HSUN 200GY to my bros shop this morning to charge the battery elec starter wont work, I notice on my way there a mean slip kick out from the rear tire, should have pulled over but it sort of passed, so I took it on, wow had some major control issues on the way there, my brother was working so I just went ahead and charged the battery and he helped me tighten a few things and fix the license plate bracket, he took it for a little spin and I noticed the back tire wobble a bit, we checked tire pressure, decided it was good to go so off I went, man rear tire was shakin, anyways I pull to a red light and the guy behind me says your rear tire is not in line with your frame.shi7.so I pull over whoa the tire was way off to the right, the tire was on and did not wobble but I could turn it by hand when parked, I started thinking that the frame cracked, took it home when I got there I discovered the swingarm bolt that attaches it to the frame lost its nut and let the right side of the swingarm completely loose from the frame, Im lucky the bolt didnt completely fly out, anyways hammered it back and bolted it back on..something I will be checking before every ride! 8O

[DDG1976]

I'd use a whole tube off red loctite too! That's scary considering since my sprocket change I can get my GY-5 up to 80+.

[theENIGMATIC]

Nick put some loctite on too, Ill have to look into a whole tube myself.lol......seriously, I know to tighten it before every ride now and to keep an eye on it, on my vacation at the end of October Ill be down at my brothers shop to tighten what ever else might fly...we also re-hosed the emmissions system where the hose got so hot it blows, my bike seems to run smoother with it on!

[SpeedSouth]

I'm glad you got it home safely and fixed it with minimal effort.

Just be careful about tightening every bolt you can find. Unless you've replaced them all with stronger bolts, you may end up snapping something.

And I don't just say that for your benefit. Anyone who reads the thread needs to understand the risk.


I wish we could tighten that loose nut behind the wheel! :roll:

[tigertamer]

This problem seems to be cropping up way too frequently. :evil:

Since the failure is most definitely, CATASTROPHIC, I would suggest to the administration to make a sticky or start a safety related forum!

Thanks for listening,
Tigertamer

[katoranger]

It seems to be an issue with the HSUN bikes. Everyone should check there bolts. Espicially anyone with a HSUN bike.

Will make this a temp sticky for right now.

[tigertamer]

Hats Off, to Katoranger, for taking swift action to get the word out :!:

Thanks, Brother,
Tigertamer

[theENIGMATIC]

Absolutley be very cautious, my bike is a roughrider, but Im used to it, in fact the bolt probably loosened weeks ago as I was experiencing tire wobble for quite some time, I was constantly checking tire pressure assuming that the tires were loosing air, not the case so I wrote it off as a chain issue.I dont have the experience or money to attack at any problem the bike suffers right away so it persisted, I should have flagged it when I saw the tire wobble a bit when I saw my brother take off on it...the road to work has been under heavy construction for over a month.new pavement so the bike endured many miles on chewed up pavement, hard on any machine, my advice dont let a tire wobble go unfixed or yes catastrophe, although the swingarm bolt was over looked in my case and I should have kept my eye on it, very important!

[Brainsquishy]

Was there any grease on the bolt?
I know mine snapped a week and a half ago while doing 120km/hr and didn't have any grease on it. I believe that is a common finding among others.
I replaced it with a slightly bigger diameter and much stronger bolt that was machined down to match the originals size. Couldn't get a match at HD Supply here in Ontario.

[tigertamer]

Originally Posted by Brainsquishy

I know mine snapped a week and a half ago while doing 120km/hr and didn't have any grease on it. .

You're giving me GOOSEBUMPS :!:

TT

[theENIGMATIC]

Thanks for the tip Squish.there was very little grease on the bolt in fact!

[warrior91]

Originally Posted by theENIGMATIC

Absolutley be very cautious, my bike is a roughrider, but Im used to it, in fact the bolt probably loosened weeks ago as I was experiencing tire wobble for quite some time, I was constantly checking tire pressure assuming that the tires were loosing air, not the case so I wrote it off as a chain issue.I dont have the experience or money to attack at any problem the bike suffers right away so it persisted, I should have flagged it when I saw the tire wobble a bit when I saw my brother take off on it...the road to work has been under heavy construction for over a month.new pavement so the bike endured many miles on chewed up pavement, hard on any machine, my advice dont let a tire wobble go unfixed or yes catastrophe, although the swingarm bolt was over looked in my case and I should have kept my eye on it, very important!

wobbled weeks ago and just let it pass..... :oops:

[winwun]

I think I'll drill the end of my swing-arm bolt and put a castellated nut on w/cotter pin properly installed . . .

You guys dodged a BIG bullet, and I'm not feeling a bit bad about riding your coattails on this one . . .

[Switchtr3]

wow i'm gonna check that right away, i've been feeling the wobble for the better part of two weeks, i just figured it was nothing YIKES!

[elroyjetsn]

Been checking that nut every preride check for some time. Seems to be staying nice and snug on my HSUN Viva. Haven't changed the Zirc to get any grease in there. :oops:

Don't like time bombs either, better replace that bolt with a hi-strength one and a castlenut, too!! :wink: