MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

Question

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE: While screaming down a severely bumpy, whooped-out, pot-holed track it appears that I hammered the rear shock hard enough to dislodge the steel keeper ring and associated lower spring mounting ring. I'm only guessing from analysis of the damage, but it appears that this caused the spring to cock sideways. The next big hit snapped off the end of the shock shaft in the lower clevis resulting in further damage to the swing arm before I realized the problem and stopped to take a look. Wow–a mangled mess! We had recently replaced a leaking shock seal and may not have gotten it back together perfectly, but this happened on the third day of an extreme, fast ride over lots of rocks, roots, sand, mud, whoops, etc. that could've / should've caused it to fail much sooner if it was an assembly mistake. 2018 model with 4370 kilometers, 148 hours, regular maintenance including regressing all bearings, fork oil, new piston/rings, etc. Anyone else have something like this happen to the stock Olle R16V shock?

 

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

MAJOR SHOCK FAILURE

3 years 0 Answers 997 views 0

Answers ( No )

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    Mine did that. This is a well documented problem… see if Beta will warranty this for you. Your dealer is your friend here.

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    To get the bike home my riding buddy removed the spring, re-inserted the shock shaft in the clevis and strapped the swing arm to the frame to keep the shock shaft in place. We got on the pavement and rode it home with only the shock rubber bumper for suspension. He called it Easy Rider Reborn – LOL!

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    ready to roll

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    Gene Carbonell

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    Dennis, I had the same thing happen. I certainly wouldn’t classify it as well documented, but I have seen a few in the last year, mostly on the 2018 model years.
    I have no doubt your dealer will take care of you.

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    Jimmy Donahugh

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    Beta USA recently replaced one of those, check with your dealer.

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    Been there

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    Wow. Main failure bearing now this I’m starting to get worried

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    Does your linkage and swingarm pivot/move freely, no binding?

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    Broke my L4 with that shock going full bottom in a nano second.
    Junk

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    Your first mistake is screaming down a severely whopped out bumpy track, not really designed for thatud83dude09

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    Ron Rivenburgh brings up a good point. We who own XTrainers don’t always trailer our bikes to the gnarly, technical stuff (and have moved beyond the "beginner" phase in our riding) that these bikes are primarily designed for. Also, we know that Beta saved us money on the initial purchase price by putting a lower quality suspension on this little mountain goat. I know and understand most of the limitations of this bike. And, as an aggressive B rider I need to connect my brain to my need for speed and slow down where needed. Still, I just found an unknown (to me) limitation of this bike and expected more from it. My bad!

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    So, who has a better shock assembly available for sale?

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    Mine’s a 2017 and did the same. It’s a known fault and fairly common.

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    Col Williams

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    Beta struggle in quality some times…

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    Throw out this junk, and install something that can be rideable.

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    Put one of these stickers on it

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    pairing that engine with that suspension ought to be illegal

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    I was fortunate enough to track down the Ohlins rear end from New Zealand and the forks from the USA. Had my local suspension tuner spring and tune them for me and it’s something special to ride compared to the stocker. I’m moving into adventure bikes now so some other lucky bugger will enjoy it soon. Not sure weather to part it out and sell it stock or find a buyer as it is. Only 50hrs on it. It was a project I wanted to build and it’s awesome in the tight stuff and smashes out the fast whoops as well.

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    It happyto my Cross Trainer with so few hours on it! It was like a new bike. BetaUSA/Tim did replace the shock even though it wasn’t covered under warranty but I sold the bike due to potential suspension failure as well as engine issues. We all know the bikes fun, but if it can’t handle a few bumps and/or the engine fails, why buy a Beta? There are s lot of other great bike brands that simply don’t have these issues…ever!!!

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    UPDATE: I got word from my importer that Beta Italy is sending a replacement stock Olle shock. Planning to upgrade anyway.

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