[nitro1636]

ok so today im out im my back yard working on a wood table top thats made out of a bunch of junk in my garage and i stop to look down at my bike and i see that the rear shock mount is bent so bad that if i bunny hopped it would have snapped in 2. i went inside to look at the papers i got when i bought the bike and find out that the warenty is for five years and i bought the bike in july of 2002. so i was wondering what steps i nead to take to get this all worked out. the bike is a 2002 K2 launch 4.0 and they dont make them anymore. am i gonna get the replacement model or are they gonna leave me bikeless? Now after all that my question is what to do???

 

[---Matt---]

Take it straight back to the dealer that you bought it from, show them the damage, they'll ring K2 and they'll tell you everything you want to know. It's totally up to K2 to decide what they'll do. I definately think it'll be a warranty claim... you can't exactly do that on purpose... it's a manufacturing defect.

---Matt---

 

[zedro]

It's totally up to K2 to decide what they'll do. I definately think it'll be a warranty claim... you can't exactly do that on purpose... it's a manufacturing defect.

---Matt---

well, unless you are bottoming the suspension out and it bent because it was overstressed, then its not a defect....that would be my initial impression. Typically bending something doesnt equal a defect, although there are rare instances where it could be.

 

[nitro1636]

i dont beat on the thing like it owes me child suport or anything like that and i really dont think that it bottomed out cuz for the past month all ive been doing is working on my bunny hops and small stuff like that. the spring is a 750lb one so i think it can handle that kind of stuff and i have heard of this happening before with other people that have this bike. so i contact REI and they will talk to K2 for me or should i also email K2 and talk to them about it?

 

[DJrider04]

My friend cracked his.....just welded it right back together. K2 is usually pretty good....try and get hooked up with a Tirade.

 

[zedro]

perhaps a severe design flaw then; guess they specced it way too thin.

 

[Master_Jako]

perhaps a severe design flaw then; guess they specced it way too thin.

thats what i was thinking...looked like it bent way to easily...

 

[DJrider04]

Too thin, shock bottomed really easily, crappy shock, and was harsh. Couldnt get any other shocks for it....no company but stratos made them. The tirades are much nicer for FR....

 

[Mike627]

its hard to say from the pictures, but i would guess that at sometime druing compression the rear wheel got off-center. i dont know how the linkage is setup, but because both shock mounts are bent in the same fassion it would suggest that a force came from one side in addition to foward, instead of just striaght foward (towards the headtube).

 

[nitro1636]

yeah im gonna see if they will let me the tirade cuz its got a vanilla RC and a sherman. tomorrow im gonna go to REI and talk to one of them and see if they know what K2 can do to help

 

[Master_Jako]

yeah im gonna see if they will let me the tirade cuz its got a vanilla RC and a sherman. tomorrow im gonna go to REI and talk to one of them and see if they know what K2 can do to help

i think if you just broke the frame, all you gonna get is another frame...the suspension is up to you. but who cares?!

 

[nitro1636]

well the thing is they dont make the same bike anymore they have a replacement but if this one broke from a few bumps then i dont see how getting the same thing would help

 

[Beau]

Totally agree......

well, unless you are bottoming the suspension out and it bent because it was overstressed, then its not a defect.....

To me it looks like somone landed a bit hard!?!?! Hopefully you support your LBS good enough for them to do a little pursuading with the rep. so you can get a new one. IMO, that would be rider abuse, even if I did it. But, I would still try to get it replaced

Good Luck

Beau

 

[nitro1636]

i weigh 120 pounds so i dont really think that it was landing to hard but im sure K2 will think up some reason to make it sound like that and get out of giving me anything

 

[Beau]

they usaually call it a.........

i weigh 120 pounds so i dont really think that it was landing to hard but im sure K2 will think up some reason to make it sound like that and get out of giving me anything

JRA (Just riding along) problem. Unfortunitly, a lot of people pull this **** on companies, then when a real problem comes up, you also may get treated like this. But, by the sounds of it other people have had the problem, so it should be all good.

Beau

 

[madmax]

man that sucks,whatever u get i hope it works out.

 

[DJrider04]

It looks like you didnt have it setup right if it broke on a "few bumps". My friend did a few DH races on his, drops 3-4 to flat, few others to tranny. I can see why his broke on him, but it looks as if as said earlier, you put some serious side loadage on them. Think my friend weighs about 125-135...theyll prolly give you the low end tirade frame, not the sherman or new bike.

 

[tlg]

its hard to say from the pictures, but i would guess that at sometime druing compression the rear wheel got off-center. i dont know how the linkage is setup, but because both shock mounts are bent in the same fassion it would suggest that a force came from one side in addition to foward, instead of just striaght foward (towards the headtube).

The wheel couldn't have gotten that far off center without destroying the entire linkage. What ever force caused the damage came straight through the shock, the bracket (which I think is way under designed) needed to bend. It is stronger longitudinally with the bike than laterally, so it bent laterally. The fact that they bend in the same direction is most likely coincedence.

 

[tlg]

ok so today im out im my back yard working on a wood table top thats made out of a bunch of junk in my garage and i stop to look down at my bike and i see that the rear shock mount is bent so bad that if i bunny hopped it would have snapped in 2. i went inside to look at the papers i got when i bought the bike and find out that the warenty is for five years and i bought the bike in july of 2002. so i was wondering what steps i nead to take to get this all worked out. the bike is a 2002 K2 launch 4.0 and they dont make them anymore. am i gonna get the replacement model or are they gonna leave me bikeless? Now after all that my question is what to do???

I don't believe that the damage is caused by a manufacturing defect. No welds broke, and the metal bent, but didn't break. What you have is a poorly designed bracket. And warranties usually don't cover poor designs. When I looked at your pics, the first thing I thought was wow, that bracket is really Mickey Mouse. The thickness of the triangle should have been at least twice as thick.

Try to get it warrantied. Even though they don't make them anymore for sale as new bikes, they may still have or make them as warranty items. Or maybe they'll upgrade you to a newer frame. At the very least, I would argue to get them to pro rate it or something. Maybe charge you 1/2 price for a new frame.

If you can't get a new frame, you could fix it rather easily if it's steel. Straighten the brackets. Obviously they should bend rather easily. Get 2 pieces of steel (1/8" thick) cut slightly larger than the triangle shaped hole. Then get them welded over the holes. It'll be 10x stronger.