TDSU or output shaft bearing problems

[Big Sexy]

Hello R3Owners

I am new to the forum. I am preparing to purchase my first ever Triumph Motorcycle, and have picked the R3 to be that motorcycle. This thread has put a damper only intentions. I have located a phenomenal deal on an 07 R3 close to home, but now I fear I will be buying a bike and inheriting some issues. The bike only has 11K miles and the owner possibly doesn't even know about this issue?

My understanding from talking with Triumph people is that the bearing problem has been corrected by Triumph? My question is when was it corrected in manufacturing? Is there any chance this particular 07 Triumph R3 may NOT have the bearing issue? Could they have fixed the problem during the model year assembly and have made some 07's with the correctly installed bearing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[leigh_m_gardner]

Hello R3Owners

I am new to the forum. I am preparing to purchase my first ever Triumph Motorcycle, and have picked the R3 to be that motorcycle. This thread has put a damper only intentions. I have located a phenomenal deal on an 07 R3 close to home, but now I fear I will be buying a bike and inheriting some issues. The bike only has 11K miles and the owner possibly doesn't even know about this issue?

My understanding from talking with Triumph people is that the bearing problem has been corrected by Triumph? My question is when was it corrected in manufacturing? Is there any chance this particular 07 Triumph R3 may NOT have the bearing issue? Could they have fixed the problem during the model year assembly and have made some 07's with the correctly installed bearing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

The issue(s) as I understand them are that you can can have an 04 05 06 07 08 Rocket3 and you may or may not have the TDSU bearing problem. Its the luck of the draw as how the bearing was installed at the time of assembly. I have a 2005 (silver engined rocket3) whose bearing was correctly installed and a 2006 (black engined rocket3) whose bearing was incorrectly installed.

I have a couple of friends with 07 (black engine rocket3s) who have have the tdsu bearing issues AND a couple of the other known issues. Triumph have refused to do anything for them.

The question for you is this - do you want a Rocket3? If you do, then you will have to take a gamble on whether the bike has this issue or not, and if it does, fix it if anything happens. Unless you get the dealer (if your buying it from a dealer) to sign that the bike will be covered by them if this issue arises.

If the thought of technical issues is going to put you off buying a Rocket3, then the Rocket isnt a bike for you - your just dabbling at the Rocket3. Most bikes have problems - even the BMW GS bike (in its 30th year) has final drive issues (although BMW sorts the problems out no questions asked). The RIII - Its a bike which you either love or hate. Much like a wife, if you love it, then you will put up with its quirks and problems, and much like a mother-in-law, you will learn hate Triumph the company for its lack of aftersales service and its total absence at standing by its product.

 

[UNCLE JESSE]

I have the silver engine 07 I had the bearing problem have a friend with a 06 black and a friend with a silver 07 neither one of them had the trouble just me the mechanic at dealership told me said it was about a 5% just my luck, but mine is now fixed and I love it.

 

[Ugarte]

Hello R3Owners

I am new to the forum. I am preparing to purchase my first ever Triumph Motorcycle, and have picked the R3 to be that motorcycle. This thread has put a damper only intentions. I have located a phenomenal deal on an 07 R3 close to home, but now I fear I will be buying a bike and inheriting some issues. The bike only has 11K miles and the owner possibly doesn't even know about this issue?

My understanding from talking with Triumph people is that the bearing problem has been corrected by Triumph? My question is when was it corrected in manufacturing? Is there any chance this particular 07 Triumph R3 may NOT have the bearing issue? Could they have fixed the problem during the model year assembly and have made some 07's with the correctly installed bearing?

Thanks in advance for your help!

My 05 has 86k miles with no tdsu, cam chain, or transmission problems. The only one of the known problems it has had is the ignition switch and the recall idle issue which was fixed with a new tune. As Leigh said, its a bit of a crapshoot when you buy an 04-07 r3, but I would say the odds are far more in your favor than against. In any case, if you do buy just be prepared to accept that risk and fix any problems that might arise.

 

[fastfreight]

Too much risk to ask someone to take

I just finished the torsional damper shaft bearing replacement on my '07 R3 with less than 10K miles on it. They literally had to tear the bike apart to do it. I have pictures of the bike hanging from safety straps with nothing but the fork and the handlebars still attached to the frame. Triumph provided the part for free (whoop de doo!) but the labor was on me. Fortunately, I bought an extended warranty from another company when I bought the bike in '08 and they covered the labor. I installed the updates for the other failure prone tranny parts right away, which was less than $100 additional since everything was in pieces anyway. If I had had to pay it all myself it would have been in the neighborhood of $3500. My advice to anyone thinking of buying a used Rocket is don't buy one with low mileage earlier than an '08 unless you can get documentation that the tds bearing replacement has been done. Otherwise you are better off spending more for a later model and avoiding the risk.

 

[Big Sexy]

Thank You All

Thanks to all of you who responded to my question. You provided exactly what I needed to know. Certainly I expect issues to arise with any mechanical product, but after reading several pages of this thread, the info was intimidating. I guess what I liked hearing the most is that many of you R3 owners have add no problems with the bearing. I'm willing to roll the dice on an R3 because it appears to be a fabulous motorcycle

I look forward to hearing more from all of you about your R3 experiences!

Big Sexy

 

[UNCLE JESSE]

you will be doing all types of mods before long especially after you buzz a couple of your old Harley buddies keep us informed

 

[andym]

Hi Leigh,
Can not see the pictures, any change you could e-mails these at andym@designfiltration.com. It normally does not snow here until mid November, but worried my bearings may not last till then. No chance then to ride until end of March, so may order the parts now and have a few weeks to test before she is put away. Miss the days of riding all year round when i lived in Somerset UK.
Thanks
Andy

 

[seeya]

I checked with dealer in Windber Pa, they have replaced them and weree doing one when I called. I asked pricing to do the job, about 150.00 for parts and 800.00 for labor. I'll most likely replace myself,

 

[Doc Roc]

The photos are bigern's.

He gives detailed notes with each photo.

What Triumph calls the torsional damper shaft, bigern calls the output shaft. However in the manual there is an input and output shaft as well as the torsional damper shaft. So the question is does the torsional damper shaft not carry a load and just remove drive line slack OR is it the link between the tranny output shaft and the driveshaft OR are the dampers simply part of the output shaft???

Does anyone know how I can get access to these Photos?