[gotfondue]

Hey guys so this last Thursday I was riding home from work when out of no where my rear tire locked up after my engine seized up on me. This caused me to fishtail down the highway for about half a mile until I was able to fully stop and keep the bike from laying down.

Just had the 15k mile service done about a month or so ago. I had laid the bike down right after this due to a drive making an illegal u-turn in front of me while I was splitting lanes (I live in CA). Well I took the bike to the shop they fixed her and released the bike to me.

I just have no idea what to do with this thing. I purchased the extended warranty when I bought the bike back in December 2009 brand new. I really trust the shop I go to and really trust the guys working on it but I just wanted to see what other options I may be able to take down the road if push comes to shove.

Little side note, I use the bike to commute to work about 30 miles each way all highway. After the bike went down and I got it back from service I noticed it was running a little hotter than normal, by about 20 to 30 degrees. I informed my insurance that it wasn't running exactly the same and I was planning on taking it back to the shop. I just didn't have time until Saturday. I work Monday-Saturday and Saturday I am off by 2 so I can make it before they close.

I just hate driving a cage.

[Smeegle]

20-30 degrees hotter than normal? How much coolant is in the rad or resorvior?

[DragonRider1]

If you managed to fishtail for a half a mile with the rear tire locked up (didn't pull in the clutch or use the front brake?) then you were doing something on the high side of about 500 mph which, I'm pretty sure, would void the warranty on physics for your bike.

Extended warranty or not, they did the repair and it was running hot subsequent to that repair. did you contact that office and document it? If so, then it should be covered by the shop regardless of whatever extended warranty you should have.

[gotfondue]

Originally Posted by DragonRider1

If you managed to fishtail for a half a mile with the rear tire locked up (didn't pull in the clutch or use the front brake?) then you were doing something on the high side of about 500 mph which, I'm pretty sure, would void the warranty on physics for your bike.

Extended warranty or not, they did the repair and it was running hot subsequent to that repair. did you contact that office and document it? If so, then it should be covered by the shop regardless of whatever extended warranty you should have.

No I pulled the clutch and I did slow it down it was something like 1/8 or so of a mile I drove past the skid marks today.

I was able to rock the transmission loose once I got home but it took a little nudging.

[zx10guy]

If it was running 20 to 30 degrees hotter, you shouldn't have even rode it any further after noticing it. I had the exact same thing happen to mine. I picked it up from the dealership (due to failed head gasket) and after a few miles of riding noticed the coolant temp running way hotter than normal at highway speeds. I rode it back home and contacted the dealership. They said to bring it back in. I told them no as I wasn't comfortable with running it any further with what was happening. The service manager agreed and sent a truck to get it from my house.

This is what you should have done to limit your liability. You can argue that they did something to cause this issue but they can push back and say you were negligent in purposely running the bike knowing there was a problem. Hopefully, the dealership won't give you any grief.

In my case, they had to do some more burping of the coolant system as there was air still trapped in the engine.

[DragonRider1]

1/8th mile = 660 ft (as you said you measured) or about 125-130mph on an engine that you said was running too hot? I was off on the above. A mile would be just a tick over 350mph... Forgot my old conversion tables... and that's calculated without using the front brake...

I'm wondering if they pulled the scan off of the ECU what rev range and gear it would have been in at the time of seizure and how that might affect any warranty claims.

[gotfondue]

Originally Posted by DragonRider1

1/8th mile = 660 ft (as you said you measured) or about 125-130mph on an engine that you said was running too hot? I was off on the above. A mile would be just a tick over 350mph... Forgot my old conversion tables... and that's calculated without using the front brake...

I'm wondering if they pulled the scan off of the ECU what rev range and gear it would have been in at the time of seizure and how that might affect any warranty claims.

I really dont think that matters since if I was running on the track in nonperformance practice and this issue arrose wouldn't the same circumstances take precident? The only differnce I was on the highway ridding a steady speed for 30 miles straight. Also. I wasnt able to measure the distance just a rough estimate while I drove past.

Also I really didnt think 20-30 degrees above normal warrented an immediate stop ridding since the hottest temps ive seen are 230 in super hot weather. 180 while ridding was out of normal but I didnt think it was a catastrophic event precursor.

[garrettjkubiak]

What coefficient of drag were you using in your conversion? I looked online everywhere but couldn't find an average for used tires, random asphalt, and a seized engine in order to accurately forecast the speed at which he was going to leave that skid mark.

[DragonRider1]

Garrett, in general, unless you have a very high friction surface, once the tires are locked a bike, car, or bus will have about the same stopping distance. (strange but true) Welcome to forensics. There are some factors that come into play but they would generally change the distance about 10-20' unless it was raining, oiled, etc.

[garrettjkubiak]

I was only half being a smart ass, I really was wondering what coefficient you used so I could try and do the math myself! lol. Wondered if I could dust off my old physics skills from college. I wouldn't know where to find that considering stopping forces from the size of the rubber contact patch would greatly influence the amount of speed needed to slide that far. A bus for example would require far more speed than a bike because of sheer weight and amount of rubber on the road.