[ebonho]

Originally Posted by DrvSafe

In rural parts of our country two wheelers are abused like anything, still they hold up somehow.

Also there are thousands of INT 650's and Himalayan running without any issue also.

Wondering what is the root cause of this issue. Is it happening to only some batches or is it random?. Hope there will be some clarity soon.

To be honest, I do not buy this statistical argument to lessen the impact of chassis failures at all.

Say a chassis fails at highway speeds. And the rider dies. God forbid.

Is it any consolation or even a remotely acceptable rationale to his surviving family that 30 or 40,000 other riders did not die?

These chassis are breaking without impact or undue abnormal stress.

Let us call a spade a spade. A chassis is a bridge of metal connecting two wheels. With you sitting in the middle on it. All of you joined together hurtling forward at speed.

Do you want that bridge breaking? Is it acceptable even one case in a million?

Cheers, Doc

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by ambarkhan

There are missing bolts which were supposed to provide strength to the double cradle.
Which looks like the cause of the failure. (This is just my observation from the video; please correct me if my observation is incorrect )

In the comments, he's replied to this point saying the bolts were loose AFTER the chassis was broken and he removed it and gave it to the service center.

No idea what's the real truth - (is he lying and) did the missing bolts cause the failure or were the bolts really loose & came off causing the chassis to fail? Don't think we'll get an answer.

Originally Posted by DrvSafe

Is this cause for concern?. I will be buying a new two wheeler mid of this year and INT 650 is top in my list. News like this is scary. Is this one off cases which happens rarely?

Himalayan definitely had a chassis problem which IIRC was resolved (or was it?). This seems to be a one-off case - could be any reason including mis-use of the vehicle which seems to be the more probable reason here (till we get more details).

I'd focus on forum feedback on the INT/GT common as well individual ownership threads as a much more reliable feedback than these random one-off videos.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

If there were more cases from the riding community, it would have been highlighted here, as well as outside the forum, a long time back.

Also as surjaonwheelz rightly pointed out, over 38K in just over a year is very unusual. Let us try to find out more if possible, before jumping to conclusions and speculation.

+1 to this.

Plus so far we have observed a variety of niggling issues/problems with the Twins on the forum, none wrt to chassis so far. I'd hardly worry about it till we get more detailed information. Or the very unfortunate situation of getting to see more such cases popping up in the near future.

[jomson13]

Initially I thought that the chassis is breaking off at the welded joints but this does not seem to be the case.

I don't get it how the frame can just snap like this!
The breakage under the tank is just plain un-imaginable.

Even if the number of failures are not statistically significant RE needs to come clean on this. I'm sure the bikes would have been tested under much more adverse conditions but there is definitely something that is going wrong here.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

38,859 km in one year! Means he had 4 services/oil change in one year? Something is fishy, as the video has comments disabled and is the only video on his channel.

The standard warranty is of what 40k kms?

None of the above justifies a chassis break but I'm speculating the amount of maintenance required for such heavy usage!

He's probably disabled the comments on an agreement with the company based on their reassurance that everything would be taken care of without any hassle.

If you guys recall, Harley used to handle each customer individually in the same manner till the chorus got out of hand.

[naj]

Originally Posted by CarManMotorcycl

Hi Naj, congrats on your new GT 650 . When I had been to the Jawa showroom they had Bar end mirrors which were better than the RE mirrors(Even the expensive bar end mirrors) by having a wider FOV, may be you can try those. The cause of the heat from the bike is probably the stop go traffic as you know the engine is not liquid cooled. It seems you live in Pune, would love to meet up one day so we can become GT 650 buddies .

Hello,
Thanks for the input . Actually I have fitted the Jawa bar end mirrors after seeing some YouTube videos and for the stepped protrusion on fitting face , one has to machine it out . The issue is however the handle has a spool on to which the end finishers are screwed and the spool keeps on rotating . Hence the mirrors also rotate . Will try avenger or the RE touring mirrors .
Thanks - Naj .

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

38,859 km in one year! Means he had 4 services/oil change in one year? Something is fishy, as the video has comments disabled and is the only video on his channel.

The standard warranty is of what 40k kms?

None of the above justifies a chassis break but I'm speculating the amount of maintenance required for such heavy usage!

Just went back to the video on YouTube to forward it to some biker friends of mine.

All old school Bulleteers.

The video has comments now. 100 odd and counting.

Cheers, Doc

[2StrokeJunkie]

Worrying to see this happen. Have heard of such incidents before from RE ranging from the Thunderbird to the Himalayan, some were media bikes, i'm assuming these vehicles were put through alot of abuse.

Motorcycle chassis of various manufacturers which were subjected to modifications and abuse beyond their intended use and design have broken down in the past too before the advent of social media could make such incidents go viral. The quality of the 650 twins are alot better than their lower models with these machines giving the rider a solid metal feel with respectable build quality for the price.

Now that it has gone viral it would help if RE does an investigation into this incident, shares details and probably pushes out marketing material that shows how much abuse and stress their motorcycle chassis can take. Dont forget, despite all the stories of Himalayan chassis cracking, they are still the prefered motorcycle for off-roaders as well as people exploring the Himalayas.

While such incidents do create fear in minds of both existing and potential owners, the video snippet is short, does not give us a detailed history of use/ abuse nor does it tell us REs side of the story. Maybe it is also in REs interest not to play this up for fear of the product adopting a negative reputation/stereotype incidents like this can bring which can jinx the success of this long awaited, brilliant model whose success has already been badly affected and undermined by the pandemic.

Hoping for the best and hope to not see more incidents like this - on a side note, with what i have observed with automotive incidents like this in the past in this country, this could become a trending template with more such stories being uploaded by users amd influenzas as part of the trend of going viral on social media. In the meantime, im not going to let this prevent me from enjoying my ride or the machine.

[ebonho]

https://youtu.be/rierCjsooxM

Another 650 chassis, from Kolkata this time, breaking in two, essentially from the same place/s.

Coincidence?

I think not. This is harmonics at play. That big engine is literally breaking itself free.

It's spine is broken in two.

And it's engine double cradle is broken in two.

Wonder whats left holding the front and the rear of the bike together ...

Cheers, Doc

[2StrokeJunkie]

Originally Posted by LazyGunner

I don't think the company has plans to launch alloy wheels for the current 650 twins at all. There was hope when they rolled out the bikes from the factory with tubeless tyres. RE launched the motorcycles at an unbelievable price and they needed to recoup that initial loss. Of course, we have all seen the gradual price hike which goes a long way in achieving it. But what most people missed is how much money RE saved when they moved from Pirellis to Ceat. Back in 2019, for us, a set of Pirellis used to cost anywhere between 15k to 18k depending on where we bought, but a set of Ceats are less than 7k. Clearly, RE saved a lot of money due to restrictions on tyre import. But this did not result in a price reduction on the motorcycle. If RE launches alloy wheels, they also need to supply tubeless tyres as they do for the Meteor. It's not going to help them in any way. Of course, they can launch it as an accessory and leave the customer to deal with tubeless tyres. But then, let's say, RE launches the alloy wheels at 15-16k a set (it is around 12k for the much slower and comparatively lighter UCE Classic series). If somebody plans to get it, they also need to spend another 15k on a decent set of tubeless tyres, if available. (Timsuns are always out of stock and I have seen Pirellis sold for as high as 29k a set!!) At these crazy prices of 30-45k in total, there won't be a lot of people going for alloy wheels.

Clearly, economics isn't working out for the alloy wheels launch and I don't expect to see it happening ever.

Posted by PowerDrift today. This is the SG650.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by Sarvodaya

Chasis breaking incidence of 650 cc twin. The bike also had aftermarket alloy wheels. Could this have caused the chasis to crack or quality issues?

Originally Posted by ebonho

Another 650 chassis, from Kolkata this time, breaking in two, essentially from the same place/s.

Doc, the video that you shared is of the first case that TBHPian Sarvodaya posted on page 220 (Ridden: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Continental GT 650 Twin) of this thread. Its the exact same footage and the registration number also matches. Now all the YT influencers are going to keep sharing the same footage on their channels for precious views. Soon, we will have tens of Youtube videos of the same WB registered bike with titles like "Chassis Breaking?? Dont buy your Interceptor 650 before watching this honest review ! Not Clickbait"

As things stand, the count is still 2 so far, in apparently unrelated cases. That is 2 too many but lets see if we can get more details on them before pronouncing a guilty verdict.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

Doc, the video that you shared is of the first case that TBHPian Sarvodaya posted on page 220 (Ridden: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Continental GT 650 Twin) of this thread. Its the exact same footage and the registration number also matches. Now all the YT influencers are going to keep sharing the same footage on their channels for precious views. Soon, we will have tens of Youtube videos of the same WB registered bike with titles like "Chassis Breaking?? Dont buy your Interceptor 650 before watching this honest review ! Not Clickbait"

As things stand, the count is still 2 so far, in apparently unrelated cases. That is 2 too many but lets see if we can get more details on them before pronouncing a guilty verdict.

Yes bro, for me though it was news as I am not a fan of the current crop of RE bikes and do not frequent their threads. When this latest videeo (of the Gujarat plate) I saw, I did a simple search on YouTube typing Royal Enfield 650 Chassis and this was the first result shown. I thought it was the same case. So I came back here to check the bike color and saw its a white and blue one. And the video was a white and red bike. Also the tanks were different. So I assumed it was two different cases. I looked closely and saw the breaks were exactly the same ... same location and same clean circumferential breaks.

That leads me to the conclusion that this is a design issue and not a material or manufacturing one. If the latter, the breaks would not necessarily be in the same location. It would be too much of a coincidence.

To all old Bulleteers, from the turn of the millennium, this is uncannily similar to the breaks we used to experience in a certain wraparound design of crash guard. Which used to crack and break at exactly the same point, left or right of the top U clamp that attached the crash guard to the downtube of the Bullet.

There used to be (still are I guess) three main manufacturers of these crash guards. Quality Madras, Swastik, and Turnrite (Pune based).

I changed this guard thrice from the dealer (Dhone) each time trying out a different manufacturer. Same design. Each time after varying lengths of time the guard would crack and break from the same point.

Finally I changed to a diamond shaped butterfly guard. I've dropped my bike, and it's skidded on that guard for some distance too. Aside from scratches on the chrome and the guard shifting inder the weight of the bike (kicked back in place), that guard neither bent nor broke and is still on Doppie more than 17 years on. Perfect.

It's harmonics. It's a design issue and a mismatch with the motor. And it's going to keep happening. Maybe not to all bikes. Maybe not at the same time. All depends on how the bikes are ridden and at which harmonics.

I'd hate to be owning one and riding it and wondering if it's going to break.

When it's going to break ....

Cheers, Doc

P.S. As with the breaking Himalayan, I know exactly what RE engineering is going to do. Because they have been doing the same for decades, and that's what we call institutional DNA.

They are going to throw more metal at the problem. The result is that a heavy bike is going to get even heavier as they truss up the chassis at what they believe are the weak stress points. But the end result (like for the current heavier Himalayans) is going to be even heavier bikes still breaking. Maybe from different places. Whack-a-mole RE engineering style.

[LazyGunner]

Originally Posted by 2StrokeJunkie

Posted by PowerDrift today. This is the SG650.

Sure, the new model which will come with tubeless tyres while rolling out of the factory. My observations are purely for the current 650 twins as I specify in the beginning. Also, the new models are expected to have tyres of "normal" sizes where we will have a lot of options to choose from.

[ebonho]

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

As things stand, the count is still 2 so far

3 now?

https://youtu.be/oNHwHb8Rz_g

Cheers, Doc

[nasirkaka]

Looks like another chassis break for RE

Damn! This is concerning.
I thought the 650 twins to be a good platform to convert it on the lines of a scrambler. A bike that could be ridden a bit hard over broken roads without much worries. With that intent i had bought my interceptor and made some mods to suit the intent.

Earlier i had one worry where the footrest holding bracket could break while saddling. (Had come across an image of broken bracket, which plays on mind whenever i stand and ride. sharing below).




Now this chassis breaking is an added worry and a big one.

TO me, it looks like a case of sub-standard material. The wall thickness of the tube on both the videos look wafer thin. Old bullets with single down-tube had solid feel with generous thickness. May be RE did their home work on the thickness to keep the weight in check, but somewhere down the line, the quality/ composition of material was compromised.
Like when 390 duke was launched, they did stress on the trellis being made of chrome molybdenum, a tough composite, to handle the stress/strain of higher speed and resulting dynamics.
Visually, the RE twins dual cradle is very similar to pre 2017 triumph bonnies, including the double bolt system of attaching chassis assembly. so its a tried and tested type of frame.

But we have also come across chassis of BMW 1200gs breaking, and we do not have complete and genuine information on these two incidents on 650 twins.

And then we also have people throwing and jumping the 650 twins all over the place, like in the video below, and the bike withstanding the torture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqUva2PoZBg

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by nasirkaka

And then we also have people throwing and jumping the 650 twins all over the place, like in the video below, and the bike withstanding the torture.

Unbelievable! Are these folks mad.
If the chassis broke on the bike shown in the video, I ain't gonna fault the bike or the manufacturer. No motorcycle is designed to be abused like that. These clowns needs to be banned for sharing content like this. I mean, what are they trying to prove, I don't get it.