On Saturday, August 1st, I bought a leftover new '08 Super Duke. I couldn't take delivery of it because the dealer made an error in assembly and reversed two connectors such that the bike wouldn't start. I took delivery of it on Monday, August 3rd.
After riding it for a week, I realised something was wrong with the suspension. On August 7th, I pulled out the manual and checked the settings. Nothing was within spec. In fact, the left and right front shocks weren't even the same as each other. The bike had some weird wobbling tendencies when leaning right. All of the settings on that fork were set to full soft (or open). I set the bike up per the manual, however it still wobbled a little under braking. I chalked that up to one of two things: Either I needed to tinker with the suspension settings or I needed to install a steering damper. On Wednesday, August 12th, the phenomenon was worse, particularly at 70 MPH on the highway. it was very windy out and I thought that may have played into it.
The morning of Thursday, August 14th, it was still funky and I thought I should call the dealership when I got to work. I never made it to work. I crested a hill and there was a stoplight at the bottom with cars stopped. I was traveling at ~30 MPH and had plenty of room to brake. I pulled the front lever and the bike began to slow. Then the front of the bike dived. It took me a split second to realise that I had just heard a tyre sliding. My front brake had locked up.
There was no resistance from the front brake lever and I pumped it a few times to no avail. I was getting too close for comfort to a dump truck stopped in front of me and realised 'I've got to get off this thing'. That was very easy because the front wheel wasn't turning. I leaned left because there was no traffic in that lane and there was a guardrail to my right. As soon as I leaned, the bike went down and I pushed myself away from it. It slid and I rolled away from the dump truck. When I stopped, I had slid beyond the back of the truck and found myself next to the driver's door. I stood up and walked to the back of his truck to find my bike under his low-hanging box steel bumper.
I dragged the bike out and the driver helped me stand it up. We couldn't roll it because a front caliper was still seized so we lifted it up and carried it off the roadway.
The police arrived and the driver said he saw the whole thing in his mirror. When he heard the tyre screech, he looked to see my fighting to keep the bike up and watched me lay it down. The police didn't issue me a citation, which they could have done for any number of reasons such as failure to maintain control of the vehicle or defective equipment. Two of the three officers who showed up were riders and they were just as shocked as me to see that the front wouldn't budge. The officers had to help the tow truck driver drag the bike onto the flatbed.
The bike was towed to my house and still sits with the caliper seized. I've called my insurance company as well as KTM's corporate office. I explained to KTM my issues with the dealer's incompetence with respect to their failure to assemble the bike properly, set up the suspension within specs and failure to test-ride it before delivery. It had 0 miles on it and splash of fuel in the tank. He wants me to have the bike towed to the dealer so they can inspect it. That's not going to happen.
I'm sure it's a total loss. Both front forks are damaged, the handle bar is broken, the headlamp and cluster assembly is hanging off, the left controls are broken, the clutch cover is banged up, the radiator is dented, the front panels are gouged, the left exhaust cover is damaged and the frame is damaged.
I have a couple of strawberries on my left leg from the impact and I pulled a muscle in my calf, but I'm otherwise fine. Thank God for safety gear. It would be a completely different story if I went down with the bike and ended up under the dump truck.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to what could have caused this on a new bike with a couple hundred miles on it?
After riding it for a week, I realised something was wrong with the suspension. On August 7th, I pulled out the manual and checked the settings. Nothing was within spec. In fact, the left and right front shocks weren't even the same as each other. The bike had some weird wobbling tendencies when leaning right. All of the settings on that fork were set to full soft (or open). I set the bike up per the manual, however it still wobbled a little under braking. I chalked that up to one of two things: Either I needed to tinker with the suspension settings or I needed to install a steering damper. On Wednesday, August 12th, the phenomenon was worse, particularly at 70 MPH on the highway. it was very windy out and I thought that may have played into it.
The morning of Thursday, August 14th, it was still funky and I thought I should call the dealership when I got to work. I never made it to work. I crested a hill and there was a stoplight at the bottom with cars stopped. I was traveling at ~30 MPH and had plenty of room to brake. I pulled the front lever and the bike began to slow. Then the front of the bike dived. It took me a split second to realise that I had just heard a tyre sliding. My front brake had locked up.
There was no resistance from the front brake lever and I pumped it a few times to no avail. I was getting too close for comfort to a dump truck stopped in front of me and realised 'I've got to get off this thing'. That was very easy because the front wheel wasn't turning. I leaned left because there was no traffic in that lane and there was a guardrail to my right. As soon as I leaned, the bike went down and I pushed myself away from it. It slid and I rolled away from the dump truck. When I stopped, I had slid beyond the back of the truck and found myself next to the driver's door. I stood up and walked to the back of his truck to find my bike under his low-hanging box steel bumper.
I dragged the bike out and the driver helped me stand it up. We couldn't roll it because a front caliper was still seized so we lifted it up and carried it off the roadway.
The police arrived and the driver said he saw the whole thing in his mirror. When he heard the tyre screech, he looked to see my fighting to keep the bike up and watched me lay it down. The police didn't issue me a citation, which they could have done for any number of reasons such as failure to maintain control of the vehicle or defective equipment. Two of the three officers who showed up were riders and they were just as shocked as me to see that the front wouldn't budge. The officers had to help the tow truck driver drag the bike onto the flatbed.
The bike was towed to my house and still sits with the caliper seized. I've called my insurance company as well as KTM's corporate office. I explained to KTM my issues with the dealer's incompetence with respect to their failure to assemble the bike properly, set up the suspension within specs and failure to test-ride it before delivery. It had 0 miles on it and splash of fuel in the tank. He wants me to have the bike towed to the dealer so they can inspect it. That's not going to happen.
I'm sure it's a total loss. Both front forks are damaged, the handle bar is broken, the headlamp and cluster assembly is hanging off, the left controls are broken, the clutch cover is banged up, the radiator is dented, the front panels are gouged, the left exhaust cover is damaged and the frame is damaged.
I have a couple of strawberries on my left leg from the impact and I pulled a muscle in my calf, but I'm otherwise fine. Thank God for safety gear. It would be a completely different story if I went down with the bike and ended up under the dump truck.
Does anyone have any thoughts as to what could have caused this on a new bike with a couple hundred miles on it?