Broken Spoke At 2600 Miles?

[MTVP49]

Upon my return from my morning ride. I was less than five hundred feet from my home. I was taking off from a stop sign and heard a sound like a broken gear tooth in the transmission. I knew it was not because the first gear was working just fine. I pulled over on this rural road and found that the plastic chain guard had broken from the two tabs that hold it on. A young kid that was playing outside ran up to me with the chain guard that had fallen off at the stop sign. I figured that it was ok to go on to my home. As always I walked the bike backwards into the garage and put it up on the center stand. In the driveway, I found the broken spoke. Still in one piece but had somehow pulled through the outer rim and hub, bent but intact. Spinning the wheel it looks to be straight, but I will check it with a straight edge to see if it is no longer true. It is hard to tell if the hub and rim a damaged. it looks alright. Maybe a slight egg shaping of the hub hole. I can't tell because it looks like there is an angle to it for the spoke.
The dealer said he never heard of such a thing. Ordered me a new spoke for $12 US. He said I should be okay. More advice and knowledge are needed for me to understand what is at hand.

 

[rodhotter]

more info like what bike helps. triumph had those issues in the past + hopefully NOT on my 19 street scram!!

 

[ManInTheJar]

Upon my return from my morning ride. I was less than five hundred feet from my home. I was taking off from a stop sign and heard a sound like a broken gear tooth in the transmission. I knew it was not because the first gear was working just fine. I pulled over on this rural road and found that the plastic chain guard had broken from the two tabs that hold it on. A young kid that was playing outside ran up to me with the chain guard that had fallen off at the stop sign. I figured that it was ok to go on to my home. As always I walked the bike backwards into the garage and put it up on the center stand. In the driveway, I found the broken spoke. Still in one piece but had somehow pulled through the outer rim and hub, bent but intact. Spinning the wheel it looks to be straight, but I will check it with a straight edge to see if it is no longer true. It is hard to tell if the hub and rim a damaged. it looks alright. Maybe a slight egg shaping of the hub hole. I can't tell because it looks like there is an angle to it for the spoke.
The dealer said he never heard of such a thing. Ordered me a new spoke for $12 US. He said I should be okay. More advice and knowledge are needed for me to understand what is at hand.

Spoked wheels, unlike cast ones, require regular checks/maintenance to ensure they are safe and functional. If not maintained they can and do fail, regardless of manufacturer. I found this out the hard way when I had a spoked wheel on a Honda collapse on me back in the seventies.

One loose or broken spoke puts extra strain on the others and can lead to a domino failure effect. I wouldn't ride it until the spoke is replaced and all the others are checked for damage and tension as well as runout (axial and radial) on the rim. Best checking the other wheel whilst you are at it.

Through necessity I taught myself years ago how to build spoke wheels. I would recommend that as a minimum you learn how to do a quick tension check by listening to the spokes or get them checked regularly by a proper wheel specialist.