Hope they are OK

    Quote from Live-a-Little!

    Oh my. Those pictures show serious, direct impact. The distance between the vehicles looks a hundred feet or more. Prayers for sure.

    While, yes, there is quite a bit of distance between the vehicles, it is not uncommon for some drivers to pin the gas following a collision rather than the brake simply because they are shook up and don't realize what's happening.


    I once had a patient T-bone a car travelling at highway speeds, drive through the ditch, continue behind a building and circle behind it in a field, then keep driving another 1/4 mile, all while missing the driver's front wheel.


    People react so interesting sometimes.


    Thoughts & prayers sent out to those involved.

    I would like to see this swing arm failure discussed a little further. In these photos I see two points of interest that possibly contributed to this failure.

    • I would like to know if the scuff marks on the tire was caused by the failure or were they the result of spinning donuts on a hard surface. If they resulted from high "G" maneuvers, that could have contributed to the swing arm failure.
    • On the lower photo think I see a flaw in the casting of the swing arm. If, indeed, that is a flaw I see, that would be the primary cause of the failure in my opinion.

    I sure would like to get the opinion of some of the more knowledgeable members here.

    If you look closely at the swing arm where this one failed, there is a seam in that area. I was in the garage yesterday and thought I saw a crack in that area but realized it was a seam from the manufacturing process.

    Quote from Buzzard

    I would like to see this swing arm failure discussed a little further. In these photos I see two points of interest that possibly contributed to this failure.

    • I would like to know if the scuff marks on the tire was caused by the failure or were they the result of spinning donuts on a hard surface. If they resulted from high "G" maneuvers, that could have contributed to the swing arm failure.
    • On the lower photo think I see a flaw in the casting of the swing arm. If, indeed, that is a flaw I see, that would be the primary cause of the failure in my opinion.

    I sure would like to get the opinion of some of the more knowledgeable members here.

    I don't think the G-force would break the swing arm, the rear tire breaks traction first unless something was struck from the side. The 2015 Sl models had break away wheels :) .


    I see the same area you mentioned which does look like a flaw. It will be a while to hear the final take on this as Polaris will take at least month to resolve.

    Quote from mniron

    I don't think the G-force would break the swing arm, the rear tire breaks traction first unless something was struck from the side. The 2015 Sl models had break away wheels :) .
    I see the same area you mentioned which does look like a flaw. It will be a while to hear the final take on this as Polaris will take at least month to resolve.

    I'm just speculating on whether the scuff marks could have resulted from the failure of the swing arm or from under inflated tires, but it seems to me their location is unusual. I rode a VTX1800 for years with an automobile rear tire and I would get similar scuffs when my tires were a little under inflated and I would really get into the curves.


    On what appears to be a casting issue, we could tell a little more if we could see the fracture more closely. If the failure started at the void, the stress indicators on this metal would be fairly obvious.

    A little late to the conversation, but in regards to the accident pictured above, my niece was in a terrible car wreck in Feb, she is still recovering from, she was ejected and slid down the highway in jeans and t shirt and suffered ..... the worst road burn, or burn of any kind i have ever seen from her upper back to her lower bottom... it looked as if she had been skinned alive. Before her accident, it rarely crossed my mind of bike riders who wear next to nothing riding.. however now, even in the slingshot, I sometimes get scared (like on the dragons tail group ride).. and I pray a bit more for safety. I know we are safer on a slingshot than on a street bike, and @Bill Martin is right, the cockpits seem to maintain their shape mostly, but the helmets, the seat belts.... are not going to save us in anything more than a fender bender. we wear the seat belts, but dont wear helmets.


    EDITED FOR MISINFORMATION... :cursing:

    All statements, posts, and general discussions made on this forum by me purposely reflect my opinions and personal experiences. 8)

    Edited once, last by Guardian_Angel ().