As soon as I saw the original Triumph Street Triple 675 back in the day when I was just a lad, I knew I had to own one. Over the past decade or so I’ve racked up 77,000 miles on this bike. It’s been everywhere and done everything from commuting, Sunday runs to the seaside, to lapping the Nürburgring. It has not missed a beat. I’ve also got somewhat of a reputation among my mates for being the ‘wheelie king’. I suspect it may explain why I wear out the rear tyres a lot faster than the front ones.
However, the Triumph is looking somewhat sorry for itself after I fell off it last week. I went to exit a pub car park when it suddenly felt as if I caught the ground and fell off. I suffered a cut knee. The frame had cracked and the engine had dropped downwards. I couldn’t believe it and I am absolutely gutted.
I’m now wondering who I can bring a claim against. I am thinking of suing the pub for its poor car park – it has a very patchy surface, and I suspect I can argue the uneven surface caused vibrations and the frame to crack. The bike really was in mint condition; I’m gutted to be writing this. Do you think I have a case?
Answer
Having looked at the photographs of the pub car park, I have to say that while it’s not the smoothest surface in the world, I’m struggling to see how that patchy/bumpy car park was the cause of the frame cracking.
So, if we take that out the equation and work backwards, I think there are potentially only two possibilities for the frame cracking. The first is that there was a problem with the frame at the time of manufacturing, perhaps with the welding or casting.
We have run and won cases in the past against various manufacturers where we have been able to prove there was a fault when the bike was made. I recall one case where the casting in a swingarm was full of bubbles, and that caused it to break. I also recall another case where we were able to establish a gearbox casting was faulty and that caused it to disintegrate and lock up the engine, and the rider to crash.
However, both of those examples required very expensive, specialist, forensic expert evidence to prove the fault was related to the manufacturing process. In your case, I suspect you would need to spend £8000-£12,000 for an initial report. Before you spend your cash on that, consider the second possibility as to why the frame cracked, and that is the use and abuse you have given the bike over 77,000 miles.
In short, as you are the ‘wheelie king’ and have done a lot of miles, I do wonder if you have damaged the frame over the years/miles and it has ultimately given up the ghost and broken (thankfully only resulting in a cut knee). If that is the reason for the accident, then I’m afraid you have no claim against anyone.
All in all, please think carefully before spending money on an expert report that may not give you the answer you want, and will likely cost you a lot more than your whole case is worth. I suspect the second possibility is the reason the frame has cracked.
Andrew `Chef` Prendergast
RiDE Magazine November 2026
