NHTSA Complaint #10631050 — 2007 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 675

THIS REPORT WAS PREPARED BY DRIVER'S ATTORNEY. PLEASE CONTACT ATTORNEY AT NUMBER/ADDRESS BELOW TO OBTAIN DRIVER'S CONTACT INFORMATION OR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION. ON FEB 1, 2014, DRIVER WAS TRAVELING ON HIGHWAY IN THE COUNTY OF SAN MATEO, CA AT 60-65 MPH IN CLEAR, DRY CONDITIONS. COMPANION TRAVELING ON ANOTHER MOTORCYCLE IMMEDIATELY BEHIND DRIVER OBSERVED DRIVER GOING OVER A BUMP IN THE ROAD AND OBSERVED THE REAR OF DRIVER'S MOTORCYCLE COLLAPSING ONTO THE REAR WHEEL. THIS CAUSED THE WHEEL TO LOCK UP, WHICH IN TURN CAUSED DRIVER TO LOSE CONTROL OF THE MOTORCYCLE AND BE EJECTED ONTO THE ROADSIDE. DRIVER SUSTAINED INJURIES AND SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO MOTORCYCLE. SUBSEQUENT INSPECTION OF THE MOTORCYCLE REVEALED THAT THE CAUSE OF THE ACCIDENT WAS FAILURE OF THE DROP LINKAGE PLATES, WHICH CAUSED THE SUSPENSION TO FAIL AND THE MOTORCYCLE TO COLLAPSE ONTO ITS REAR WHEEL. INSPECTION OF THE PLATES SUGGESTS THAT THEY SUFFER FROM A SAFETY DEFECT THAT CAUSES THEM TO ELONGATE AND FRACTURE UNDER ORDINARY DRIVING CONDITIONS, WHICH IN TURN CAUSES CATASTROPHIC LOCKING/FAILURE OF THE AFFECTED MOTORCYCLES' REAR WHEELS. FACTUAL INVESTIGATION AND FURTHER RESEARCH INDICATES THAT NUMEROUS DRIVERS OF OTHER TRIUMPH MOTORCYCLES HAVE EXPERIENCED CRASHES AS A RESULT OF THE SAME DEFECT. AFFECTED MODELS APPEAR TO BE, BUT MAY NOT BE LIMITED TO: 2006, 2007, 2008, AND CERTAIN 2009 TRIUMPH DAYTONA 675 AND STREET TRIPLE 675 MOTORCYCLES. TRIUMPH APPEARS TO HAVE CHANGED THE MATERIAL USED TO MANUFACTURE THIS PART FROM ALUMINUM TO STEEL AT SOME POINT IN 2009, BUT FULL DETAILS ARE NOT KNOWN AT THIS TIME. *TR