Listening to: Model Citizens – NYC 1978-1979
Riding along Main Street in Vancouver on a new 2003 Moto Guzzi. Sun was out, traffic was light. My clutch pedal assembly fell off into the road.
I’m sure there have been previous lessons. Bits that have gone wrong on the “bathtub curve” of product reliability. This refers to a graph in which computer hard drives either fail immediately (the straight bit with the tap 😉 or fail gradually later in life. It seems to apply to many products, especially vehicles of all sorts.
The second example is a Brodie Romulus bicycle. Got a sweet deal on it and paid extra for a optional “setup charge” to tune it to “rideaway” condition. The gears would not shift properly on either end of the range. The dealer said “that’s normal, just don’t use those”. Ummm..
Taking the bike to a small reputable local shop I again paid to have it “setup”. And it all worked perfectly from there on. I saw them check over simply everything.
There have been lessons with electric scooter brakes and myriad car repairs.
Check it all over yourself (if qualified) or get a second opinion from a pro.
And if you buy a new motorcycle which shakes a lot, consider using something like blue threadlocker on everything vital to keeping yourself alive.
Having bits fall off within a week is just embarrassing.