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Buell Forum » Knowledge Vault (tech, parts, apparel, & accessories topics) » Chassis » Suspension - Forks, Isolators, Shocks, and Swingarm » Archive through December 11, 2006 » BAD fork seals on BRAN NEW XB12R - Beware! « Previous Next »

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Tiggirl
Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 05:42 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Tiggirl
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Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 05:37 pm:
Be AWARE! Be CAREFUL! Check Your FRONT ENDS NOW!
My son bought a new XB12R on Saturday (8-11-06) from the Manchester NH dealership with plans to ride from NH to Texas (home) BUT the fork seals blew in a curve and he went down. The dealership in Tennessee (nearest one to the accident location) has admitted that the fork seals were bad, but refuse to take care of the rest of the damage to the bike.
Needless to say, I am absolutely LIVID that Buell would so blatantly put my son's life in danger and then add insult to injury, act like the accident was his fault AFTER ADMITTING that the seals were bad.
I will be feeding this story to the press - just as much as I can, and since I am a member of the media, I plan on plastering it EVERYWHERE! Buyer BEWARE!
Your life is in grave danger and HD/Buell doesn't give a (insert expletive)!

How dare HD/Buell treat my son's life as so much fodder.
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Rocketman
Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 06:24 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Rebecca, coming to the BadWeB with such sentiment probably won't do you any good, other than provide (sadly) a place for you to vent.

I will offer this much though, but accept I don't consider myself an expert by any means. That said, I have spent many younger years as a trained motorcycle technician, then later progressing to automotive technician. There's more but I'll not bore you with the details. So you were told your sons new Buell fork seals failed. Both seals or just one? Either way I doubt in any instance there exists a scenario that could lead to an accident occurring from fork seal failure. The mechanics of such an actuality are nigh on impossible to attribute any blame to such an event or component on any motorcycle.

To be clear, it's highly unlikely that two fork seals, one in either fork leg, could fail simultaneously, more so given this is a new bike. Even if it did happen the fork seals could only leak in such a way that instant loss of fork oil would not happen unless the seal came clean out of the seat. And on both legs, again simultaneously? Let's assume you are right then, and the fork seals did blow in such a devastating manner. I think any capable motorcyclist would have to be doing some form of dramatic manoeuvre to not be able to control the bike to a stop. The only instance where you might make sense with what you say, or what you have been told is if somehow fork oil leaked onto the front brake rotor and the subsequent lack of stopping power caused by lubricant coming into contact with the brake caused your son to not be able to bring the bike to a halt when needing to do so, unaware of what had happened mechanically. Well if any fork seals on a motorcycle blew out in such a way as to cause an accident I doubt any rider would not notice such a thing before needing to administer the brakes. Yes there's one at the rear too, just in case the front one might not work.

Frankly I think you should look a lot further into your sons accident, and the bike, and report ALL the facts before you go any further. You might avoid a rather expensive law suit too.

Rocket
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Asdf
Posted on Saturday, August 19, 2006 - 09:29 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

I'll bet that Spiderman's "Spidey Sense" is tingling right now....

Buell is knowingly covering up for Showa???

Got'ta stay tuned for "The Rest of the Story"!
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Brucelee
Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 10:19 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

This is a bogus post or this boy is hosing his momma big time.

yeah, dad , ah, my bike was bad, yeah, that's it!

It wasn't me, it was the bike.
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Asdf
Posted on Sunday, August 20, 2006 - 09:50 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Triple Post...

http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/8/8.html?1156026086#POST723764

http://www.badweatherbikers.com/buell/messages/6/3609.html?1156079977

Any more?

Rebecca, it helps to keep everything in just one Thread.

As you investigate your son's allegation further, it will make it easier for everyone, if everything is kept to just one chronological Thread.

I would expect that as a member of the Media, you will do a proper in-depth and unbiased investigation, correct?

I will be most interested in your findings. I am sure that everyone will want to know your sources for any facts that you discover during your investigation.

It does seem that at this point, based on what you have stated in your Post, that this matter is not yet substantiated or corroborated. It appears that your story is "Single Sourced".

More follow up investigation needs to be done. More Sources need to be cited. The physical evidence needs to be examined by unbiased experts and technicians. The expert findings need to be documented.

I hope that your son is OK.

Best Regards,
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Mikej
Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 08:49 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

The poster's posted homepage:
http://scootertramps.net/

So, he bought a new bike in NH to ride home to TX on. Well, okay, people have bought bikes from Daves to then ride them home hundreds or thousands of miles away.

My first question would be how many miles were on the bike prior to the crash? Were the tires still new-slick, or scrubbed in?

My next question would be what sort of rider the son is, did he do some wheelies followed up with a power-slam bringing the front end back down?

My final question would be did he hit some huge pothole in the road when the seals blew out?

Objectivity carries a whole lot more credence to a journalist's story than a mother's blind rage. Blind rage belongs on the editorial page or elsewhere.

I did a quick search and came up with the following:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/viewpoint/vp_hughes/20050622.html

quote:

While it is true that "citizen journalists" and their blogs have helped blow open a few major stories, I believe there is a reason more journalists aren't wholeheartedly embracing the so-called Blogosphere.

Easy access and anonymity, those very same aspects of blogging that make it a great tool for publishing dangerous information, make it an excellent tool for publishing mis-information. It is difficult to confirm a blogger's identity and check the validity of his/her information. Those tricky PR people have caught onto the blogging trend, and powerful companies and institutions now pay bloggers to write spin-heavy prose.

Journalists, like hapless term-paper writing students, must be much more than technology-literate. They must be technology-savvy, and adapt traditional, solid journalistic practices to the on-line world.

Becky Cunningham | North York, Ontario




I have no idea if this Becky Cunningham is the same person as the Rebecca Cunningham who's posted three times so far, but there is some truth to the words of Becky that I've linked and quoted here.
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Court
Posted on Monday, August 21, 2006 - 10:57 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

>>>I have no idea if this Becky Cunningham is the same person as the Rebecca Cunningham

It's not.
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Eboos
Posted on Saturday, September 02, 2006 - 08:21 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Careful, do not drive on public roads. Last year I got a nail in my tire. After about a hundred miles, I could have had a deflated tire. How dare the department of transportation not sweep every road hourly to prevent such a tragity. Dunlop should be sued for not puncture proofing their tires.

Needless to say, I am absolutely LIVID that I would so blatantly put my own life in danger and then add insult to injury, act like the accident was my own AFTER ADMITTING that I am a moron.
I will be feeding this story to the press - just as much as I can, and since I am unemployed, I plan on plastering it EVERYWHERE! Rider BEWARE!
Your credibility is in grave danger and nobody gives a (insert expletive)!

(Message edited by eboos on September 02, 2006)
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M2nc
Posted on Sunday, September 03, 2006 - 10:12 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Your credibility is in grave danger and nobody gives a (insert expletive)!

Eboos - You took the works right out of my mouth.

It sounds to me that we are short a few facts to put this story together. A son explaining to his mom why he lost it. That much I understand, but the rest is missing information. How much experience did the son have? How fast was he going? In this country we do not have progressive motorcycle licenses like England does. There is nothing that prevents a person with limited experience from buying a bike that is too fast for there level of experience.

I have heard of fork seals leaking on just about any maker of motorcycle (actually the fork manufacturer) but never just blowing out. I have never heard of someone losing it because of the fork seal but hey stranger things have happened. I can just give you my personal experience with Buells. I bought a used 99 M2 in May of 2004 with 26,000 miles and two years later it has 44,000 miles on it. No fork seal problems. I purchased a new '06 Ulysses that is about to roll over 13,000 miles. No fork seal problems. I have read just about every kind of complaint about Buells fair and unfair amount these threads and others. I have not heard this complaint before. It is a first, so to me the burden of proof is with the claimant here, and for this juror, more evidence is needed for a conviction.

A footnote and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I hope your son is okay. The bike can be fixed, no matter who pays for it, your son is more important.
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Ulendo
Posted on Sunday, September 10, 2006 - 03:11 pm:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

kind of funny - due to the on/off road nature of my riding, I HAVE had fork seals go on a number of bikes, including lop-sided blowouts where one, rather than both seals go. From experience ( and common sense) seals dont blow out when the bikes not moving, ergo, if/when they do give way, the oil gets blown backwards by airflow: pretty easy to check a downed XB for used fork oil all over the front cylinder...and if the seals were going prior to blowing out, the oil will show that its been overheating.

never dropped a bike in a corner because of blown seals though...
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Joey
Posted on Tuesday, January 22, 2008 - 11:19 am:   Edit Post Delete Post View Post/Check IP Print Post    Move Post (Custodian/Admin Only) Ban Poster IP (Custodian/Admin only)

Last time I blew a seal, the darn thing followed me around for days! Sorry. I couldn't resist.
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