Frame cracking

[06_ZZR_600]

oh yeah, now Im pissed. Wasnt like this a week ago. I have never blew out the fork seals but the damn frame is cracking! This is the best pic I could do tonight, but it looks way worse when actually looking at it. Its right under the 'I' in Kawasaki. So, my question to all is.....since its a 2006 but out of warranty, do you think Kawi will want to make this right? some sort of recall even? no way a frame should break on a sportbike without the fork seals even blowing. Anyway, I need advice on what I should do. I was actually going to have a buddy of mine tig it back right, but another friend of mine says that he thought Kawi might want to fix this on a 'good faith' sort of thing.

[mandrex]

I'd call Kawi and see what they say. I would probably not try going through a dealer. Glad you caught it, guess we should all check ours out as well.

[Ozy]

Light weight twin spar aluminium frames = disposable bikes


hope u can get it fixed, replaced ...

[moose05]

does this happen very often Obviously you didnt do anything to crack it?

[mandrex]

Originally Posted by Ozy

Light weight twin spar aluminium frames = disposable bikes

On a 1 year old bike? Really should not be that "disposable" - and its not like Kawi just came up with this particular frame either...

[Ozy]

Originally Posted by mandrex

On a 1 year old bike? Really should not be that "disposable" - and its not like Kawi just came up with this particular frame either...

dont get defensive...u should see some of the Welds on the latest Suzukis...

ever heard the term 'they just dont make em like they used to' ...well, it applies here.

[06_ZZR_600]

Originally Posted by moose05

does this happen very often Obviously you didnt do anything to crack it?

I didnt do anything that would cause THAT kind of crap.

[mandrex]

I'm not defensive at all, I just find the notion of a 1 year bike to be a bit of a stretch - even if their marketing and engineering departments were that stupid their legal department would not be.
Point is that there was likely a "birth defect" on that particular frame or something that happened along the way that made this frame poop itself. They have been making this same bike since 2000 so if there was a common issue we probably would have seen quite a bit of info on it by now.
The gixer issue pretty well documented with consistent failures on a "new" product. That does not apply here (or necessarily to sport bikes as a whole). I'll still look mine over a bit more carefully next time I ride.

[06_ZZR_600]

Originally Posted by Ozy

Light weight twin spar aluminium frames = disposable bikes


hope u can get it fixed, replaced ...

didnt one of these bikes win the gp one year? I didnt know that could be done on a disposable bike! haha, and Im not getting offensive, just seems odd to me you call them disposable.

[Ozy]

Originally Posted by 06_ZZR_600

didnt one of these bikes win the gp one year? I didnt know that could be done on a disposable bike! haha, and Im not getting offensive, just seems odd to me you call them disposable.

Why do they win races? increased power to weight ratios, win a race, rebuild / upgrade...if a race team keeps a bike for 1 season, its getting old...

our bikes are GP influenced, but you cant compare a GP bike to a road bike, yet the manufacturers insist we need lighter weight frames on the road.

and people wonder why we get cracks? - riding on a smooth, graded race track, vs public roads? you've gotta be kidding me.

[06_ZZR_600]

Originally Posted by Ozy

Why do they win races? increased power to weight ratios, win a race, rebuild / upgrade...if a race team keeps a bike for 1 season, its getting old...

our bikes are GP influenced, but you cant compare a GP bike to a road bike, yet the manufacturers insist we need lighter weight frames on the road.

and people wonder why we get cracks? - riding on a smooth, graded race track, vs public roads? you've gotta be kidding me.

first of all, chill man! I was just kidding around. But I do stick with the fact they are not disposable. Shit happens, I just hate it that it happens to me.

[Ozy]

Originally Posted by 06_ZZR_600

first of all, chill man! I was just kidding around. But I do stick with the fact they are not disposable. Shit happens, I just hate it that it happens to me.

this is me chilled, i'm just a little passionate about the direction motorcycles are taking.

Manufacturers see the way we roll our bikes over, chasing the latest and greatest technologies...they started with Mufflers...hell they said, the people buying our bikes are going to change that straight out of the showroom so why bother...

then we wanted more power, less weight.... oh yeah they figured, these new light weight aluminium frames are the shiz, lets get them in there.

Keeping a bike because you love it will be a thing of the past, selling it because its cracked, perished, or simply on its used by date will become the current trend.

[06_ZZR_600]

Originally Posted by Ozy

this is me chilled, i'm just a little passionate about the direction motorcycles are taking.

Manufacturers see the way we roll our bikes over, chasing the latest and greatest technologies...they started with Mufflers...hell they said, the people buying our bikes are going to change that straight out of the showroom so why bother...

then we wanted more power, less weight.... oh yeah they figured, these new light weight aluminium frames are the shiz, lets get them in there.

Keeping a bike because you love it will be a thing of the past, selling it because its cracked, perished, or simply on its used by date will become the current trend.

Ill agree with most of that. But its not like these bikes are common for frames cracking. Had it not been for this I can honestly say I love my bike. Its not fast by no means, but its not slow either. I like the way it rides, handles, and it is just all around fun for me. My friend has a 2000 zx6r, and put it through ALOT of abuse, has like 50k miles on it, and he hasnt even had a single issue yet, and its the same exact bike. So I know these arent by any means 'bad' bikes.

[OreoGaborio]

Ozy, please... my bike's been through over 25k miles of country and city street and ROUGH track hell and a couple of crashes. No cracks in the frame. This bike is now a 7 year old UNCHANGED design and I've never heard of this happening. The ZX600J is a tough bitch, the frame should NOT be cracking.

I would ABSOLUTELY talk to a certified kawi dealership and at least see what they say.

[Ozy]

I totally agree

but still - we have a cracked frame, and a rider who says they've never thrashed it.

The evidence speaks for itself, the simple fact that it CAN happen, means that it WILL.