TVS Ntorq: Broken axle foundation due to pothole leads to an accident

I had an accident while cornering where the rear wheel caught me off guard due to its unpredictable movement.

BHPian Pandu1564 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

TVS Ntorq Foundation Axle Broke at 29k KMS after hitting pothole

Hi everyone this is my first post on Team-BHP, so please suggest to me anything you would like to be shared.

My father owns a TVS Ntorq Race Edition BS4 (a rare combo, in my opinion). The story started when my dad got a new job and had to leave a job which gave him free bus service to reach the office. But his new job gave him a reason to buy a scooter because his need was to store his jacket and helmet after reaching there rather than locking it on grab rail or fitting a side box for a bike.

So the time came to show my Automobile Opinion Prowess in my own family .

Our daily running was nearly 40 km and purely highway, so I suggested he go with a scooter with wide tyres and 12-inch rims for utmost stability and control.

We were then in the midst of the sporty scooter segment which was not that crowded back then. I was honestly considering the Access 125 for fuel efficiency and loving the extremely good ride quality so we were about to make a decision until a Ntorq rolled by with its gurgling exhaust that made me think again.

So, due to some workload, the decision got further delayed, and one day after returning from college, my dad called me and said he saw a new article on Ntorq new model and sent me the link.

I was in utter shock as my Dad was not an aesthetic seeker in terms of vehicle design and more of a function-over-form kind of person. I saw his other side of having a scooter, which sounds and looks sporty.

I made no further delay and asked my grandfather to accompany me to the showroom as I didn't have a driving licence yet. After we reached the showroom, I asked the salesperson to give me the details about the new Ntorq Race Edition, and he was clueless as it had just been announced, and dealers weren't even stocking it since we live in a small town. So he made some enquiries up top and promised us the first delivery of our city if we made the booking today itself ( a usual dealership trait).My grandfather took the test drive and gave it a thumbs up for its engine smoothness and comfortable suspension.

On the same day in the evening, my Dad went ahead and booked the bike with 500 rupees, and we waited for the delivery for nearly 20 days & on an Auspicious day i.e 8th October 2019 we got it delivered, and voila, it has been with us since then. My Dad recently bought an OLA Scooter in April 2022 and the Ntorq has been my daily driver since.

I just loved everything about it until the 2022 September 5th ride where I nearly hit a pothole at very high speed (sorry Dad ), and the vehicle has been misbehaving with its handling characteristics since then.

The handling became very loose ( which is not the case for Ntorq), and the rear wheel used to hop on even smaller undulations, making it lose power by not being able to keep the wheel on the surface and I was having a real nightmare of sorts.

But then the real culprit wasn't any loose bearing or broken bushings; it was a broken foundation axle, which our Family Mechanic insists to be the weakest link as he has already repaired the same kind of issue 6th time on Ntorq.

After we changed the foundation axle and bushings, the handling has been good, but we have yet to test it as it was replaced today. If you may ask what it was doing so long, I had an accident while cornering where the rear wheel caught me off guard due to its unpredictable movement, and I lost control and crashed at very low speeds ( no worries). That's when I took the issue very seriously and got it repaired.

So has there been the same case with any of you?

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