scooter tampered with!

[Lanesplitter]

I left work tonight and after block or two the car in front of me was making a lot of exhaust noise. Loud enough that even honkerman night not like it. I turned the corner away from that noisy car and realized it was me! My exhaust pipe was completely severed at the muffler. The swingarm looked like it was loose too. Well I got home about 4 miles later and indeed two of the bolts in the swingarm arm were missing. Only bolt remaining was in the wheel. Unfortunately the dealer closed about ten minutes before I saw the severed exhaust pipe. So I couldn't drop it off on the way home. Now I either chance riding it in tomorrow morning, or walking it about a mile to the dealer.

I've got the maintenance manual, but it doesn't seem to say what size bolts go on the swingarm or what torque to use.

I can't believe the bolts fell out from being bounced around for the past 8,000 miles. I think someone was trying to steal something off the right side of the bike. Or they were just really sick, to mess with the swingarm like that.

Mark

[honkerman]

you can find the parts off cheapcycleparts.com . I can't fathom why someone would remove the swing arm bolts or cut your tailpipe unless you had a chain through the rear wheel, in which case it would be easier to cut the chain. Some people piss me off with their stupidity.

I have the bolts I think you are talking about, and can measure them, but they are in my toolbox outside and I'm about to go to sleep. I can get you the measurement tomorrow, but can only give you length and width since I don't have thread pitch gauges. Sounds like you'll need a new tailpipe too.

I'm sorry this has happened to you. I can send you my bolts if you want, I have no use for them.

Heck, I have my old tailpipe too if you want it, name a fair price and that's yours too.

[honkerman]

Looks like these are the bolts. http://www.cheapcycleparts.com/oemparts ... ange-10x40

[Mel46]

If you need to look up any of the parts you might have to replace, Bikebandit.com has a parts look up that should help. Here is the link for the swingarm. The rest of the bolts and parts for the muffler would be under the one of the other headings.
http://www.bikebandit.com/oem-parts/201 ... #sch794094

[Lanesplitter]

Thanks guys. That's helpful and will allow me to safely ride it to the dealer. I decided to let it sit today and I rode the motorcycle.

Possibly, I'm wrong that it was somebody. Maybe the bolts, both of them? jiggled loose over the past 8,000 miles, some of it on some pretty rough and wash-boarded roads. Then the vibrations and slight torqueing of it worked the exhaust until it split. ???

[relic]

Your are right about rough road vibration
had many chances to walk a couple hundred meters and scope logging roads waiting for another truck
to clear. Amazing on the number of metal pieces I would find and they were originally all there for some purpose to hold something together -OK if they were part of another truck-not so much if they came from mine or ended up in my tire

[Mel46]

And yet most of us have ridden thousands of miles without losing much if any parts. If you have not taken that area apart it should not come loose. If you did have it taken apart then the question would be who worked on that area last. At 8,000 miles you might have had the rear tire replaced. As far as I know, that would involve those bolts. I have had the rear tires on both of my bikes replaced and the bike has not fallen apart yet. Something to think about.

[ScooteringAbout]

8,600 miles and rising, and not a single bolt has come loose.

[Oyabun]

Those bolts need a breaker bar to unscrew. Both because they use specially trained Gorillas in Thailand who finalize the bolts on the swingarm, and also because the zinc plated bolts and the alu swingarm develop a kind of white corrosion what essentially forms a thread lock. No way that those are just getting loose and lost.

[Lanesplitter]

Thanks Oyabun and Mel46. I did replace the tires about 600 miles ago. So the dealer may not have tightened enough or something? Maybe tomorrow night I'll get some bolts in there and take it to the dealer Saturday for a chat. Glad I've got another twowheeler to ride, but the motorcycle is just so wrong for this California urban/suburban commuting. Much less maneuverable.

Oh, and honkerman, is the exhaust you've got the complete pipe and muffler? My muffler is fine. But the break is within two inches of it. I've got a 2013. Yours same year?

[flyingzonker]

Where were you parked? was it in a neighborhood where nefarious deeds are common? If this was the work of a would-be thief, I wonder what his plan was.

Anyway. here is a story about what can happen when a mechanic slips up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQbKLwfiOiY

[Bash On!]

Tampering/part theft theory sounds implausible. If they wanted a part, they'd be more likely to take the whole bike and take the parts (all of them) off at their leisure in a safe spot. Likewise, I just don't see somebody randomly loosening swingarm bolts if they wanted to mess with you, as compared to, say, slashing tires which can be done quickly without attracting too much attention. Especially if one needs a breaker bar to do it.

[you you]

Stuff was loose and fell off. Walk round your bike before you ride it and kick a few things I say.