Broken OE shock!

jetmechmarty

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This is the second time this has happened to me on this bike. The last was a Series 12 Progressive Suspension shock. It broke in the same way at the 2018 VYR. This is the OE KYB. It didn’t have near the miles that the bike does.
 
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This is the second time this has happened to me on this bike. The last was a Series 12 Progressive Suspension shock. It broke in the same way at the 2018 VYR. This is the OE KYB. It didn’t have near the miles that the bike does.
Frankly, I've never heard of such a breakage. I would say, "Shocking!" but that would be silly.;)

I think I've got the same shocks on my '82 and '83 Heritage Specials. Could you give us a photo of the other shock, the intact one?
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Ouch! If that had happened in the wrong place at the wrong time things could have gotten real nasty real fast. Glad you're OK, Marty. I have a couple of OE Kayabas from Specials in the barn, free to good home. Let me know if you want them.
 
Had the same thing happen to me, cept i wasn't ridding. Replaced the swing arm bushes and after reinstalling the swing arm i was daydreaming, (real intellectual thoughts), and absentmindedly holding onto the shock and giving it a wiggle........BANG.........the cap flew off and i'm holding whats left of the shock......actually i don't think i was still holding it:yikes:

As can be seen, it had been partially broken for a while and was just holding together........
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Don't think its your fault Marty.......nothing wrong checking to make sure it wasn't an error if the shocks have been changed or removed and reinstalled. .........but it does happen..........metal fatigue.
 
So the misplaced washer allowed the inner sleeve to protrude into the grab bar slot clamping the outer ring of the shock stopping free motion, until the flexing snapped the shaft?
 
see what you mean. Cant remember if mine was the same. A fairly new to me bike and it would have been a PO who/if work was done on the shocks
 
Okay, the board of inquiry says this is my fault. Failure to adhere to the IPC. Yes. It’s a good thing I didn’t kill myself!
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Thanks !
On my schedule tomorrow morning: Inspect mounting of all my shocks.
Glad you didn't suffer any physical consequences !
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Jus' checked mine with the aluminum grab bar.... washers are there.... and I don't work on airliners anymore either.
Saw Marty's IPC reference and it never dawned on me y'all didn't know the secret language... :sneaky:
 
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Okay, the board of inquiry says this is my fault. Failure to adhere to the IPC. Yes. It’s a good thing I didn’t kill myself!
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Marty, your post exemplifies that which is valuable about this forum:
We learn from each other, and because of that, we drive more happily and safely the next day :bike:

Thank you.
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I always lube the shock eyes before mounting them. I put grease or anti-seize on the ones with metal bushings, some sort of rubber lube on the ones that are just all rubber. I started doing this quite a few years back when I noticed rust all around and coming out of one of my shock's top eyes.

I'll also mention that I've always run shocks on my 650s with an offset bottom eye .....

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They seem to mount up just fine, nice and straight (vertical), not angled over as one might expect with an offset bottom eye. Funny thing is that while I step the left one out as shown above, I actually step the right one in. This would seem to indicate the swingarm is offset to the right a little bit? Stand behind your bike and look at the shocks. Do they mount straight up and down, not cocked over at an angle?
 
Is the an indication of your taste in women? Maybe you should pick up your date in your truck next time.;)
 
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