Scotty wrote:Morning all, work's a little quiet so I checked "new posts" on the forum and found this little odyssey and read through all 15 pages...
I have to say that I'm staggered at KTM's attitude to this issue, stating that "1mm of play is acceptable" - what a load of crap! I don't know about elsewhere in the world but in the UK any vehicle (bike or car) requires an annual vehicle test once it reaches three years of age, and a bike with 1mm of play (or less) in the rear wheel would be failed by any tester as "having excessive play in the wheel bearing". As mentioned many times, other marques with single-sided swingarms (Triumph, Ducati, Honda, BMW) manage to achieve this design without any play, surely KTM stripped a few of those bikes during the design phase to see how it should be done?
I'm a Mechanical Engineer and this issue screams one thing to me: Design Fault - replacing a faulty part with another of the same design will just perpetuate the issue. I think it was Einstein who described Insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.
I used to work for Caterpillar who, being a US company, are extremely litigation-conscious and with this in mind I find it incredible that of all the KTM importers, the ones being the least receptive to customer complaints about an obvious design flaw are the North American ones! I don't know what the latest situation regarding wheel hub play is as the thread side-tracked onto the issue of water captive within the hub towards the later posts, but KTM should have done the honourable thing and redesigned the hub to eliminate the play and then issued a recall for all previously-manufactured bikes.
If the issue persists, I'd urge any owner of a new 1290 with the problem to take the bike to an independent garage that does vehicle tests (or find an independent vehicle Engineer somewhere) and get them to evaluate it and then ask them to put it in writing that the amount of play present would constitute a vehicle test failure and then find a friendly lawyer to write to the importer and threaten a lawsuit on behalf of all the aggrieved owners - that would certainly make KTM NA sit up and take notice.
I spend a lot of my spare time working for an Endurance racing team and I've done a couple of years looking after wheels, tyres and brakes and believe me, any wheel bearing showing detectable play is immediately replaced, long before there's 1mm of measurable movement at the wheel rim. You guys have been fobbed off by tossers in Marketing telling you that play is acceptable. That's just bollocks.
Fortunately for me, my 990 has a normal swingarm, not a fashion victim single-sided jobbie. When I see them on MotoGP bikes is when I'll be convinced that they're anything other than a style accessory. Form should follow function, not the other way round.
iannowi wrote:i had my rear hub re-torqued during its first service last year. It now has approx 6k miles on the clock. Its been ok since, until last week when i noticed knocking noises coming from the rear hub.
i removed the chain off the rear sprocket and rolled the bike around on the drive, thinking it could possibly be a tight spot on the chain. I still get the knocking noise from the hub. Could it be the bearing?
Wa2fst wrote:Just turned mine in for the wobbly hub. It has been tight but i noticed after a wash then ride there were heavy grease flings across the wheel and what i thought was excessive brake dust. But after riding and feeling the wheel feel a little squirrely i checked the wheel and its cleatly rocking back n forth. Even cooled down not as much but very noticeable. I believe that its not brake dust but metal parts giving each other a rub down. We will see what the outcome is.
ilmothefinn wrote:My 2014 had it - even I didn't notice anything - and dealer replaced the hub. Seems ok now.
Wife's 2015 is ok.
REDTALE2000 wrote:Don't pay any attention to the apparent motion since, even with zero play, there will be a lot of motion with tyre and swingarm flex.
Roja wrote:Fwiw, SDR GT 2016 swingarm has a drain hole in it!!!
Wa2fst wrote:So dealer told me i had a loose nut. They checked everything out put back torqued back to spec...i have no idea about a loose nut.but that was the call
chrisRR wrote:So, what is experienced while riding an affected bike? Is there something obvious to look for, e.g. weirdness while cornering etc? I can feel a little play in my rear wheel if I grab it at 1 O'clock and give it a good shake but the play is minor, certainly no clunking etc (2014 bike).
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