rsv4 super duper bike recall

[Guest]

[mphcycles]

Only cuz it may kill ya


The bulletin on the NHTSA site (not found on the Aprilia USA site):

Vehicle Make / Model: Model Year(s):
APRILLA / RSV4 2010
Manufacturer: PIAGGIO USA, INC. Mfr's Report Date: JAN 25, 2010
NHTSA CAMPAIGN ID Number: 10V029000
N/A
NHTSA Action Number: N/A
Component: ENGINE AND ENGINE COOLING:ENGINE
Potential Number of Units Affected: 335
Summary:

PIAGGIO IS RECALLING CERTAIN MODEL YEAR 2010 APRILIA RSV4 "FACTORY¿ AND RSV4 "R" MOTORCYCLES MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JULY 2, 2009, AND OCTOBER 30, 2009. IN MANUFACTURING THE CONNECTING RODS, A PROCESS WAS USED TO STRAIGHTEN THE ROD IN ORDER TO MEET SPECIFICATIONS. THIS PROCESS INTRODUCED STRESSES INTO THE RODS WHICH GREATLY AFFECTED STRENGTH AND RELIABILITY.

Consequence:

CONNECTING RODS IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES COULD FAIL AND CAUSE ENGINE FAILURE THAT COULD LEAD TO A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL, RESULTING IN A CRASH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR DEATH.
Remedy:

PIAGGIO WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE ENGINES FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR ABOUT FEBRUARY 28, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT PIAGGIO AT 1-212-380-4431.
Notes:

OWNERS MAY ALSO CONTACT THE NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION'S VEHICLE SAFETY HOTLINE AT 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153), OR GO TO http://HTTP://WWW.SAFERCAR.GOV .

[screamday]

Consequence:

CONNECTING RODS IN THE AFFECTED VEHICLES COULD FAIL AND CAUSE ENGINE FAILURE THAT COULD LEAD TO A LOSS OF VEHICLE CONTROL, RESULTING IN A CRASH, PERSONAL INJURY, OR DEATH.
Remedy:

PIAGGIO WILL NOTIFY OWNERS AND REPLACE THE ENGINES FREE OF CHARGE. THE SAFETY RECALL IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN ON OR ABOUT FEBRUARY 28, 2010. OWNERS MAY CONTACT PIAGGIO AT 1-212-380-4431.
Notes:

  That's an expensive recall.

[pebra]

Wow  -  replace whole engines!  
Sounds like Piaggio's motorcycling arm's ability to channel funds to Guzzi will be reduced somewhat ....
How many bikes affected?

[beardog]

335

[pete roper]

This apparently became very public when 3 of the 4 RSV-4's they had at a press launch put a leg out of bed while journos were flogging them around a track. They probably tweaked the maps a bit too for extra power, (The factory clain 185HP in 'Track' mode but my pal Brett dyno'd the Oz demos and they were only puting out 135 at the RW.) serves 'em right.

Pete

[mphcycles]

This apparently became very public when 3 of the 4 RSV-4's they had at a press launch put a leg out of bed while journos were flogging them around a track. They probably tweaked the maps a bit too for extra power, (The factory clain 185HP in 'Track' mode but my pal Brett dyno'd the Oz demos and they were only puting out 135 at the RW.) serves 'em right.

Pete

 Thoroughly researched and developed , top of class superbike. " You mean it blows up if you ride it hard?? That's the first time one did that. Must be rider  error"
 Wonder how long the owners will have to wait to get 335 engines into the country and installed.

[waspp]

Sounds like the BMW S1000RR will get an extra boost in sales! With all the talk about the RSV-4's this has got to hurt Aprilia, talk about bad timing. The BMW is the real deal 190hp. 455lbs wet, traction control and priced at $13800.

[pete roper]

The BMW is the real deal 190hp. 455lbs wet, traction control and priced at $13800.

190 HP. yup, right, and there goes another huge squadron of flying pigs! Who cares anyway? That sort of power to weight ratio and output is just insane on any road going motorbike.

pete

[Catweasel]

Sounds like the BMW S1000RR will get an extra boost in sales! With all the talk about the RSV-4's this has got to hurt Aprilia, talk about bad timing. The BMW is the real deal 190hp. 455lbs wet, traction control and priced at $13800.

185 for the BMW, not 190...and it's butt fugly compared to the RSV4R and bugger! I wanted one..the RS that is..not the Beemer.

[maineroads]

traction control and priced at $13800.

More like 17K. 13.8 is the base.

[waspp]

The BMW is the real deal 190hp. 455lbs wet, traction control and priced at $13800.

190 HP. yup, right, and there goes another huge squadron of flying pigs! Who cares anyway? That sort of power to weight ratio and output is just insane on any road going motorbike.

pete

Track bike, possibly the best one out there and many riding schools are looking to get them. Some people like a fast ride and playing around the race track its up to them to handle it wisely.

[Terry Reedy]

I never heard of straightening a connecting rod, no doubt a trade secret, I wonder if the process is patented  ?
And it had to happen to Piaggio's darling  

[AJ Huff]

probably straightened after heat treat, not that uncommon.

[pete roper]

I never heard of straightening a connecting rod, no doubt a trade secret, I wonder if the process is patented  ?
And it had to happen to Piaggio's darling  

When rebuilding an engine I always have the rods checked for straightness, parallelism and out of round and if anything is dodgy they are fixed or binned. Common practice.

pete

[Terry Reedy]

I thought rods are either cast, hardened then machined or forged then machined or machined out of billet, machining  as the last process, if you were going to straighten a rod you sure as h''ll wouldn't put it in my motor.
now checking for straightness and parallel is different. if it's out of spec it goes in the scrap bin not a rod straightener.
But I could be wrong

I'm going to assume they screwed up and this was their economical fix  

[AJ Huff]

pretty sure straightening is common, especially after heat treat, it was probably just done wrong.

[Spaceclam]

well, typically for our motorcycles, the rods are aluminum. Machining un-heat treated aluminum is like trying to machine bread dough. It's innacurate because it tends to gall, and it gums up tools and breakes them.

For aluminum, typically, something of that nature would be forged, then hardened, then machined. Forging creates the grain, and must be done prior to heat treatment because the heat would anneal the material. Machining is typically done last, on the "hard" material. Usually, machining is only done on the necessary surfaces, IE the bearing journals where the brass fits in.

This would lead me to believe that some rods came out of heat treatment too bent to be accurately held and machined, and so were straightened. I would imagine that a SLIGHT correction wouldn't be an issue, (as aluminum doesnt become crystalline like steel, it remains a mixture) but that it was probably taken overboard. A fine example of italian quality control

[pete roper]

well, typically for our motorcycles, the rods are aluminum.

Umm.

No.

Sorry Andrew. Both Guzzi rods and 'Prilla ones are forged steel. Last bike rods I can think of that were aluminium were Triumph ones and they snapped like rotten carrots if you over revved them.

Pete

[Spaceclam]

I thought they had moved on from steel rods a while back. My mistake. My neighbor's 12 liter dragster uses aluminum con rods no problem.

In that case, after heat treatment, steel becomes martensitic, meaning it has a crystalline structure of iron and carbon. This structure itself is extremely brittle and doesnt bend much before it just snaps, (low elastic modulus) but typically, you dont treat things to full hardness, and the material is an aggregate of crystals in a ferrite substrate. Typically, it would be forged, machined, hardened, then ground if necessary. Machining of hardened steel is expensive due to the required cutting time, and expensive, coated carbide and ceramic tools


Pete, do you know how hard they make the rods? I'd be curious. Guessing about R30c?

[pete roper]

Offhand I've got no idea. I can find a boogered rod in the munt mountain and get it tested if you like. It'd be an old one though.

Pete

[Guzzimundi]

Too bad for Aprillia; they make a good bike (or used to, right?). I wish them luck in dealing with this crisis. If Toyota can recall 270.000 cars and be considered a responsible manufacturer then maybe Aprillia can deal with this nightmare and protect this image.     

[Spaceclam]

no need to test, im just curious cause i cant see it being much harder than 30c, in which case, a little bit of correctional bend shouldn't hurt anything.

As before, i suspect they went a little overboard with straightening parts that were too far out of spec.

[Carlos The Jacker]

When they say straightening, do they mean like this illustration from the Loop Manual?

[Terry Reedy]

Thanks spaceclam, that was well explained,as I thought, I knew machining was done after hardening because of minor warping, that is if it's cooled right minor!
Also I beat the ever living dog snot out of a few triumphs and never threw a rod, My personal opinion is they were self destructing , they had no oil filters ( except the tridents) , so in the wrong hands they didn't last long.

[sbaker]

Hmmmmm Mad Max didn't seem to have any problems last season...... But then again he didn't podium...!

[bad Chad]

I assume your being facetious about Max.   He was on the podium several times and one once.

The RSV4 blew the Bmw into the weeds all season.

[Che]

I learnt along time ago not to mess around with conrods. We had to shrink a rod once to fit a stroker crank. Process went correctly but rod broke after reving the single over 5,000RPM!

[AJ Huff]

I thought they had moved on from steel rods a while back. My mistake. My neighbor's 12 liter dragster uses aluminum con rods no problem.

In that case, after heat treatment, steel becomes martensitic, meaning it has a crystalline structure of iron and carbon. This structure itself is extremely brittle and doesnt bend much before it just snaps, (low elastic modulus) but typically, you dont treat things to full hardness, and the material is an aggregate of crystals in a ferrite substrate. Typically, it would be forged, machined, hardened, then ground if necessary. Machining of hardened steel is expensive due to the required cutting time, and expensive, coated carbide and ceramic tools


Pete, do you know how hard they make the rods? I'd be curious. Guessing about R30c?

All depends on the heat treat cycle and steel. Quenching would result in martensite, quench and temper would not. Nor would normalizing.  And there are also steels out there that precipitation harden which is a different mechanism all together.  PH steels are machined first then hardened.

-AJ