Have Twinwalls? Please Read!!!

[yz250roost]

Hey guys,
I just wanted to warn all of you Renthal Twinwall users to check your bars as soon as possible. The Twinwalls seem to be cracking on the larger bar, right at the bend above the crossbar clamp, it will most likely on the side facing the rider. I have seen lots of these bars coming in over the last two months, and most of the cracks are very small hairline cracks that you wouldn't notice right away, you have to really examine the bar. If you find that your bar is cracking please send it to Renthal America as soon as possible for a replacement.
Jeff

 

[Casper250]

I had that exact thing happen on the last set I had. Renthal replaced them for free! :thumb:

 

[yz250roost]

Yep, Renthal is a great company. I hate to say it, but you might want to consider replacing them with fatbars, we keep having these bars coming back with cracks in them, I don't get any fatbars back, except for one pair from Ty Davis that looked like they had been through a nasty spill, and they didn't even break or crack, they just bent. I bought fatbars for my bike the other day.

 

[marcusgunby]

roost im not so sure i would be happy with them just replacing them,on any product that has a significant failure rate they should issue a recall, i have heard of this problem for over a year and no one has ever published a recall as far as i know.Ive not heard of one snapping yet but it cant be a good thing to have crack in the outer bar.

 

[yz250roost]

Marcus, I know exactly what you are talking about, I've seen some so bad that they have over a 1/2" gap between the pieces of torn metal, I too have not seen one that has been broken all the way through. If anyone has any questions about where to return them to or how to go about returning them, you can e-mail me or pm me. The easiest way is to get an RA Number issued from Renthal for replacement, that way they have knowledge of the product you are returning.]

And if you do send a pair in, send a little note to me with the bars saying you're from DRN.

 

[JTT]

I've been hearing about numerous catastrophic failures of Renthal bars over in the Trials world too (these aren't Twinwalls, but standard Renthals). Seems like an odd coincidence. Have they changed suppliers, or alloys recently?

 

[TheJunkMan]

hmmm. I better check the ones on my JTX maybe I will switch to the HEBO's

 

[DPW]

What was Renthal's response to this supposed problem, new bars? The twinwalls have been around for awhile, is this a new problem?

 

[KawieKX125]

I had the problem on 2 sets of bars. It took about a year for each set to start cracking, but once it began it spread like a forest fire! To keep from having downtimel, I bought another set from the dealer then sent mine to renthal. When I got the new ones from renthal I returned them to the dealer (yes the dealer knew what i was doing). I still think they are an amazing bar. In the past 3 and a half years I have not had to buy one set of bars. What a great 130 dollar investment.

 

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[elf]

I Have a couple sets of fat bars any problems with them or is it just the twinwalls?

 

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[yz250roost]

IT's just the twinwalls, fatbars don't seem to be coming back at all, must be a good bar.

 

[elf]

Good news for me I guess.

 

[TM-Frank]

Is it all Twinwalls or just those produced in a certain time frame? I have one that was installed by the previous owner of my bike in early 2002. I even used it for a while without the crossbar and so far nothing happened to it. Seems like an extremely good handlebar to me. I'll check it this weekend.

 

[yz250roost]

I'm not sure which bars and which years, but I can tell you that is seems the TG bars are coming back mostly, those are the ones that are Tanium (grey) larger bar and the gold smaller bar. I havn't gotten the black bars back yet, so I assume it's just the titanium color, like I said, I'm not sure which year model, but I'll look into it, just make sure to check anyways.

 

[TM-Frank]

It is just the natural alluminium color (both tubes). No crack visible, even at close inspection.

 

[motodr9]

Thanks for the heads-up I have a set on my yz250. I will check them.

 

[placelast]

YZ250Roost: please e-mail me - millenniumdsj"remove to send"@hotmail.com

 

[SND]

What was Renthal's response to this supposed problem, new bars? The twinwalls have been around for awhile, is this a new problem?

Hey guys, Shawn Norfolk from Renthal here. I got wind of this thread, so I came right over.

Here's the skinny on the Twinwalls. The Twinwall came out in 1998. The bars that were produced PRIOR to 2002, had the problem of which you speak. Having said that, let me explain. It is a very simple problem and a very simple solution. Understand that even the bars that developed cracks were not deemed 'unsafe'. I know, I know...that sounds ridiculous, but allow me to explain further. The strenght of the Twinwall comes from the inner wall (a standard Renthal bar) that is surrounded (like a suit of armour) by the outter tube. The outter tube developed a crack because the balls that we used in the peening process were too large. As they put the compressive load on the outter surface, they thinned the material and the cracks would develop. Now, it didn't happen to all of the bars...just a few (probably 130-150 bars total out of the more than 100,000 that have been produced. Also, it only occurs in the area between the crossbrace clamp and the end of the outter tube. Why? This is where the material steps down from 1 1/8" to 1". That particular part of the handlebar is the thinnest part of the outter tube. NOT of the bar itself (as a whole) just of the otter wall. Now...You may ask yourself...How can a cracked bar be safe?

Here you go. On the Twinwall, the outter tube acts as an exoskeleton. It is made to take all of the abuse from the clamps, rocks, tie downs etc. All of these things abuse aluminum. The Twinwall is not going to have a fatigue failure (the number 1 cause of broken bars...with #2 being crashes). This simple fact makes it the safest bar in the world. The outter wall can be cut, cracked, notched etc...all the while the inner tube remains 100% perfect and as strong as it ever was. This is why no recall was done. The bar was not a safety issue. Had it been...we would have recalled them. We would NEVER put our customers at risk.

Now, How can you tell if your Twinwall was made prior to 2002?

simple. On the bars, between the clamps, there is a series of numbers. If it is not between the barmount/clamp area...it is out on the left grip end of the bar. The numbers look as follows:

918 59401801.

the FIFTH number (the 9 in this case) is the number that you need to look for. Your bar will either have a 9 or a 6. 6 was made before 2002, and 9 was made after 2002. Please understand again that just because you don't have a (9) bar...doesn't mean that your bar will crack. Again, only 1% of the bars developed cracks. However, if you crack your bar, send it to us and we will replace it.

The TwinWall is the strongest and the safest bar that is available. THAT is why all of our team riders use this bar. It is stronger, safer, less likely to bend, and more likely to make it through a crash. I hope that this makes it easier to understand for you guys/gals. :thumb:

 

[Senior KX Rider]

Thanx for the info Shawn. I am a happy customer and would buy the Twinwalls again. Great product IMO :thumb:

 

[TM-Frank]

Now there is a crack! Definetley wasn't there last week, but I had a 4th gear crash when I rode last time, maybe that caused the crack to open.
It is right where Shawn predicted it would be.

 

[TM-Frank]

Cool! The German importer, Zupin Motorsport gives me a new Twinwall, when I send them the cracked one.