Thought I'd get some opinions in the forum, since we have a mix of do it yourselfers and professional builders. We do a lot of custom work at my shop and started aproject on a 2007 SG back in January (bike is done). The customer choose the product and it was all from a well known bike builder.Well the problems started with the wheel order that was suppose to take two weeks.Here's what we ran into, the rims took 2 1/2 months to come in, rear pulley was wrong and still not in(not noticed until installed on rim wrong belt size), Ape hangers would not fit, risers had to be modified(was advised by builder after installedon bike and they hit the fairing) and last but not least was the rims. The front rim had to be shimmed (not a real big deal to make spacers) and the rear rim when bolted on was an1/8 of an inch off. This was causing the belt to be off andalso rub on the belt guard. These wre sold as direct replacement also.

Here's what really got my goat, if you measure the direct replacement rear rimthe hub is 1/8 off. I called the builder and he said his fit fine(which in his picture were not the exact same), but he did mail me out the spacer that I required. Because ofall the BS we went through and what I feel to be over poor design I expressed my concerns. He stood firmly on thefact thathe could do no wrong. Hesaid if I could send him pictures with it being measured, which I did, he said he might believe me. Well we did, his response was themicrometer was crooked (never wrong), I said, if the rim doesn't fitlike the stock hub/wheel and his hub measures an 1/8 off, I would say the picture would support my findings?

I feel, I have or my shop has been used as an R&D department so he can sell his product that was never actually built to the correct specifications. If an average Joe was going to do this project on his bike, he would have been down for god knows how long? I can't charge the customer for all the extra time (however he didrequest his product) because you would beway over your qoute! Sorry for the long post....guess I had to vent!! It just pisses me off that these so calledexperts get away with this BS !!

 

Sounds ta me like ya should name names....we need ta know who screws stuff up this badly!

 

If it's sold as "direct replacement" but isn't, that's on the vendor and he should make it "right" by you with some cash, or more likely, some significant credit or product. Give him a chance to do the right thing or post the vendor's name and products.

 

Inquiring minds want to know.

 

+1 with Redneck, I sure don't want any of his products to be working on while he get paid for screwing up. I have enough screw up of my own to pay for. Why don't you send him a bill for the back charges, he might not pay it but it will get his attention and when he calls let him know you now charge for R&D of his products or at least till he can manufacture a product you can sell without having to rework to make right, that you have an obligation to your customers to turn out a quality product not just anything.
By sending him a bill for the back charges itemized to the nth degree, you have a leg to stand on in case you decide to take him to small claims court.
As far as the picture tell him the micrometer is straight it's the crook that'scrooked.

 

Happens all the time. 1/8 inch isa world of difference when it comes to wheels, but I have seen more then that just walking around the dealer floors. I don't thinkit is as much the vendors fault as it is the tolerances of the bikes that we are working with. What I don't agree with is the vendor is the vendor taking a hands off approach, but it did sound like he sent you the spacers you needed.

Take a deep breath and move on I know exactly how you feel I have been there done that on my bikes I can on imagine how you must feel with a customer breathing down you neck as well. Makes you feel like an A$$. Just learn from this and build the time into your next job and let the customer know what may happen the next time you deal with this vendor.

Just my .02 cents worth.

Jeff

 

Thanks for the replys and listing to my rant. Like I said, what pisses me off the most is he's having extreme difficulties understanding that his product does not fit. If you make a rim that is suppose to fit,the measurements must be exact. 1/8 can be a huge problem when trying to fit a rim or anything else.IF HD can do it then why can't an aftermarket supplier do it, the spec is the spec. Close only counts in horse shoes andhand granades!Same as theMonkey bars..... why would you wait to tell the person that just bought your product that there's a fix for a problem that the builders aware of? No directions (not that we need them to put bars on) but the average guy would be chasing his tail on what the hell happended and why doesn't it fit. Yet the manufactures making me off to be the A$$ hole. As far as money back...lol I asked him for a deep deal on a set of rims for my demo bike, that fell on deaf ears.I have the answer and it's right here and it's with every customer that walks in my door and wants a 18" or 21"/18" conversion and asked for my suggestion.

 

PS I've spoke to some other people that have done HD rims, Hog Pro rims and I would say 95% of them were direct fits. Now if I was doing a custom scratch built, then I agree 100% that you have to fit rims,engine and trans etc.

 

If you build custom bikes and modify HD's for a living this CANT POSSIBLY be the first time directreplacementaftermarket parts didnt fit!!!! I've worked with MAJOR aftermarket mfg's whose parts dont fit their own parts let alone a factory bike. If it comes out of a catalog that doesnt say Harley Davidson on the cover there is a high possibility that it is gonna have to be modified to fit a factory bike and 100% probability if its one aftermarket brand to another aftermarket brand! Its part of life in this world and needs to be figured into your billing! Just my .02 but then again I also do this for a living and and have been working on Harleys since 1991 so take it for what its worth!

 

Your 100% right ...90% of the time it don't fit. But something as simple as making sure a hub has thecorrect tolerances, when you have an example in my book there is no excuse.Then saying it's close enough...doesn't fly. There are companies that are making the stuff correct.