suspension failure on 2006-09 Triumph Daytona 675s / Street Triples

Early last year, the drop link plates on my 2007 Daytona 675 failed in the same manner as numerous other people have described, under normal riding conditions, on a straight road, at constant speed, on a clear, dry day.

For people who might not know what they are, the drop link plates are basically a pair of triangular metal brackets that connect the rear shock to the rear swingarm. When there's a load on the bike, they're in tension, and after breaking, they look like in the first two attached pics (on and off the bike). Their failure causes the bike to collapse as shown in the third pic.

A friend riding behind me actually witnessed the collapse of the suspension _prior_ to the ensuing crash, and I have a lot of evidence to suggest that the part is fundamentally flawed, including the opinion of an engineer that Triumph themselves hired to inspect my bike after the accident.

Triumph has almost certainly been aware of the issue for a long time because they quietly changed the part from aluminum to milled steel sometime in 2009, but they nonetheless refuse to reimburse me for damages or more importantly, recall and replace the defective part on all the other 675s that are still on the road.

I'm seriously concerned that if the failure of this part has not already seriously injured (or killed) someone, it's just a matter of time before it does. I'm trying to coerce Triumph to recall the part before this happens, and would really appreciate hearing from anyone else who has experienced a similar failure or knows anyone else who has experienced a similar failure on either a Daytona or Street Triple. If you have any information at all about this issue, _please_ contact me, either by PM or directly by email at [email protected]. Any information you can provide would give me more leverage to make Triumph stop ignoring this!

Thanks very much in advance!

 

@SteveJ: Thanks, and no worries. Sorry that I got confused and submitted it twice.

 

Thanks, all, for the welcomes.

 

Alas, it seems I cannot report it to the DVSA because they don't allow reports from outside the UK. (Their form rejects my zip code.) It has, however, been reported to the NTSB (our equivalent of the DVSA).

 

BTW... if anyone bought a new 2007, 2008, or 2009 Daytona 675 after April 2008 (in the United States) and would be willing to help me try to force Triumph to recall the defective plates, please PM me as soon as possible (legal deadline is coming up). Your help would be tremendously appreciated and might save someone else a serious injury (or worse :/ )

Thanks in advance!