I noticed this morning that the right-side slider on my M900 was AWOL. Upon closer inspection, it seems that the mounting bolt sheared right off:
(http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii181/Staggerlee101/Ducati/C66CAAFB-4A6E-4013-ACAA-15AD8CD464D9_zpslu76xfaq.jpg) (http://s264.photobucket.com/user/Staggerlee101/media/Ducati/C66CAAFB-4A6E-4013-ACAA-15AD8CD464D9_zpslu76xfaq.jpg.html)
The sliders are about three years old, and I've never had the opportunity to test them out so I'm a little stumped as to what might have caused this. Has anybody else had this happen? I followed all the torque specs when I installed them, so I don't think it's operator error...weak metal maybe? ???
Ouch. So the long through-bolt snapped at the threaded section? What torque + thread treatment did you use, and was the long bolt centered R/L during install? Ever check the tension after initial install? Seems like the bolt was defective or too brittle or over stretched. Good that you caught it without too much drama.
BK
That is scary! I would send the part back to Speedymoto. Their fault? Defective? Dunno.
Did you ever re-torque them?
Can you get a closer pic of the broken end?
Yep; snapped right off at the threads. I installed 'em exactly per Speedymoto's instructions so I'm assuming the torque settings were good. I didn't think to ever re-check the torque; I figured it was a set and forget type thing.
I ended up swinging by my local dealer and just picked up a new kit. The parts guy said that it's not unheard of, but uncommon for them to fail like that. Dunno, could just be one of those things.
I work down the street from SM so I'll pop in next week and see what they think. It looks like they've improved the design a bit so maybe it was just time for an upgrade.
I check all my engine mounts about once a year. Honestly I don't always back off the nut and re-torque, sometimes I just make sure the tightened bolt clicks my torque wrench at the spec, so in those cases it's just a check and not a re-torque.
Don't want to question your skills or tools, but it's not uncommon to mix up ft/lbs and n/m, or end up with a torque wrench that's either way out of whack from abuse or used at its extreme end where the error goes way up.
Type of thread treatment affects the tension (threadlocker, antisieze, moly grease, etc.). Don't recall what SM specifies.
You'll want to be extra careful the second time around. Normally install is as easy as a bag of rocks.
Smells like a material defect in your case. Will be interesting to hear what SM has to say about it.
BK
They specify 37ft lbs with thread locker (I used blue) on the puck mounts and 18 on the puck retainer bolts. My torque wrench is dead-nuts on, so I don't think it was installation error. I'll keep an eye on them from now on.
To follow up on Speeddog's question, can you post a close-up photo of the broken end?
To follow up on bothy Speeddog's and Langanobob' request, photo. We may be able to take at least an educated guess at the type of failure and cause.
Best that I could do on my way out the door this morning:
(http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii181/Staggerlee101/Ducati/D4592EEF-9681-4C8D-A074-4D34C38E87D6_zpsdrxwc43h.jpg)
Any possibility someone knocked your bike over? Went "oh shit, better pick this up. What's this piece here? I'll just take it with me"...
I'd say a fatigue fracture due to vibration.