Safety alert. Heads Up, Classic and Vintage owners, or anyone who has installed wire wheels

8103 Views 48 Replies 27 Participants Last post by Kitulu, May 18, 2017

WhizzbangK.C.

Discussion Starter · Apr 2, 2016

4

I was replacing my front tire today and found this

and this

Deep pitting inside the rim, right at the bead area. Some of these pits are visibly half way through the metal. The larges area is as big as then end of my finger. I took the wheel to the dealer, they are submitting a warranty claim and ordering a new one. When the service manager saw it he replied "that's not even safe to mount a tire on". It looks like they got a bad batch of metal when this rim was made. The entire rim is effectively perforated, and ready to come apart. Not bashing, it can happen to anyone, just make sure that when you have your tires replaced to inspect this area thoroughly to make sure you don't have a similar issue.

Bike is a 2014, bought new July 14. 38000 miles. Just as a point of reference, I have H-D and Honda wheels on my Shovel and in the shed that are well over 20 years old and do not have this type of rust issue. A little surface rust, but no real pitting.

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21 - 40 of 49 Posts

Americal23

· #21 · Apr 4, 2016

Big Daddy said:
The United States labor force is the best in the world...bar none.
"Not yet ready to adapt the Chinese labor model" makes my blood boil.
I can't EVEN go there.

Most Americans do shop for a deal. Just look at Walmart. However, given a choice, most Americans would buy American, given the chance. There is a guy out there that really might be able to "Make America great again". Re-shoring our industrial base and putting real jobs back in America assures a quality product. As for the wheel problem - This needs to be reported to NHS, if ignored, someone will get killed. and if Polaris is really listening, EMAIL THEM WITH PICTURES!!!!!
Pat

Old Skool

· #22 · Apr 4, 2016

Never happen ! You know you pay an arm and a leg for quality piece and this comes out ?
Hey that is fine,but we are talking about someone's life riding a bike that could be unsafe.

WhizzbangK.C.

Discussion Starter · #23 · Apr 4, 2016

NorthernProducer said:
Hey Whizzbang...if the wheels look so bad, how do your hubs and bearings look? I suspect the hubs/bearings might be at the same "quality" level as the rims.

To each his own, but when looking at your pic's, I would probably be replacing the wheel assemblies and bearings with some known high quality pieces. I would especially be concerned about the metalology in the OEM assemblies and not just the plating...As your thread title says...Safety Alert!

BTW...a general question about seeing more overall citations on this forum reflecting on Polaris using parts that are not holding up or just don't measure up? Seeing more posts here (and another forum) with bad batteries, cables, electrical issues in addition to batteries, paint, plating, Scout tires and suspension components and factory assembly issues. These bikes have now been around long enough to start showing issues and trends...bar hopping bikes notwithstanding.

Hubs and bearings look fine. I replaced the bearings in the rear as a preventative measure, and have new ones on hand for the front, was going to replace them after the tire was on the rim. All Balls bearings and seals, BTW.

I'm not really seeing this as reflecting badly on Polaris at this point. I work for an OEM myself, and we do occasionally see batches of parts made with sub-standard materials, out of spec dimensions, improper heat treat or surface treatments, etc. These things happen, on a mass produced consumer item there is no margin to pay for 100% QC checks on every single stage of every single part so some things can make it to the consumer that really shouldn't. Just the way it is. The real test is how the company deals with it. If they dig in and resolve the issue promptly, and take steps to isolate the cause and correct any others that made it to the road, then there is no problem. On the other hand, if they try to avoid, obfuscate, and deny I for one would consider that a real issue.

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Shuje Sunge

· #24 · Apr 4, 2016

Big Daddy said:
Based strictly on what I'm seeing on the outer surface of my chrome rims?
There is not a doubt in my mind that this is a very major REAL concern.

Granted, I'm not doing a state of the art job on keeping my wheels clean but there is a big difference from wiping off road grit and polishing out surface rust and corrosion pitting...which is what I find myself doing now.

Cleaning the chrome spoke rims is a REAL pain in the arse and I most likely don't do it as often as I should but I haven't run across a rust, bubbling or pitting on my rims yet. Of course #37 doesn't get the mileage and conditions as the Cajun Queen does but DAMN!

.

Darren guy

· #25 · Apr 7, 2016

WhizzbangK.C. said:
I was replacing my front tire today and found this

and this

Deep pitting inside the rim, right at the bead area. Some of these pits are visibly half way through the metal. The larges area is as big as then end of my finger. I took the wheel to the dealer, they are submitting a warranty claim and ordering a new one. When the service manager saw it he replied "that's not even safe to mount a tire on". It looks like they got a bad batch of metal when this rim was made. The entire rim is effectively perforated, and ready to come apart. Not bashing, it can happen to anyone, just make sure that when you have your tires replaced to inspect this area thoroughly to make sure you don't have a similar issue.

Bike is a 2014, bought new July 14. 38000 miles. Just as a point of reference, I have H-D and Honda wheels on my Shovel and in the shed that are well over 20 years old and do not have this type of rust issue. A little surface rust, but no real pitting.

Sorry to hear about the wheels are they off a scout

denochs

· #26 · Apr 7, 2016

Big Daddy said:
The United States labor force is the best in the world...bar none.
"Not yet ready to adapt the Chinese labor model" makes my blood boil.
I can't EVEN go there.

Thanks for posting that video of Merle. Gonna really miss his music. Been listening to him all morning.

MasterBlaster

· #27 · Apr 7, 2016

Darren guy said:
Sorry to hear about the wheels are they off a scout

The OP = "Classic and Vintage owners". I don't think Scouts come with wire rims.

Marcus

· #28 · Apr 7, 2016

The Chinese/American labor is a real problem. One reason American labor is so high is of all of the rules and regulations we have in America. But these same regulations tend to prevent problems such as this thread has brought up. Doing business with Chinese manufacturers requires extreme close attention. You can get a great deal on the price, but they will use poor quality ingredients when they can. I don't think they understand the problems it causes. They only look at the cost savings. I think many American companies get rolling with a Chinese factory and sit back and get lazy. If you have a factory in the US, someone is walking the floor every day looking for problems. You can't allow a foreign factory to go unattended for months at a time. We all buy cheap Walmart stuff and it falls apart in less than a year. But if a shirt loses a button and shrinks a little, we just throw it away and "no big deal". Since a bike rolls on two wheels, I want both of them to be safe. I am very impressed with what Polaris has done with our incredible bikes. But once you give birth to a baby, you need to spend the next 18 years taking care of it. I hope they take this serious. It is important that WhizzbangK.C.'s dealer makes Polaris very aware of this.

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Kriss

· #29 · Apr 7, 2016

We can blame other contrys for there bad quality control! But who is putting the bikes together? And why are they letting it through?

.3578

· #30 · Apr 7, 2016

You can't see a poor plating job at initial assembly. It rears its ugly head after exposure to the elements. QC on these rims has to be done during the plating process starting with the bare steel hoops all the way through final polishing. An assembler is seeing it as a finished product with no way of seeing what's underneath.

Shortline

· #31 · Apr 7, 2016

Can't recall where but heard of exactly the same problem on another vintage a few months ago. Pics looked similar-might have been on an Indian riders Facebook page. I understood Polaris declined the warranty on that one, as I recall....guess I probably need to lift the bike and take a look at the wheels on mine....

WhizzbangK.C.

Discussion Starter · #32 · Apr 9, 2016

Well, Polaris stepped right up and replaced the wheel under the extended warranty, just got the new one today and got it mounted, so I'm back on the road. I'm still calling for everyone to inspect their wheels at the next tire change to make sure this isn't a wide spread issue. It may be a very small number that were affected by a poor batch of metal, or it might be a major issue. The only way to know is to inspect them and see what's found.

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PakRat

· #33 · Apr 9, 2016

MasterBlaster said:
The OP = "Classic and Vintage owners". I don't think Scouts come with wire rims.

No but Indian does offer spokes for the Scout. If this is represents the quality I would shop elsewhere if swapping Scout rims. Of course, this may not be limited to spoked rims....

Blackhoof

· #34 · Apr 10, 2016

WhizzbangK.C. said:
Well, Polaris stepped right up and replaced the wheel under the extended warranty

Good to hear.

Gande

· #35 · Dec 31, 2016

Every time someone buys a foreign car they should think of this!

TigerGA

· #36 · Jan 1, 2017

Gande said:
Every time someone buys a foreign car they should think of this!

Huh?

Bwana6

· #37 · Jan 1, 2017

Question .................. has this bike been subject to wet weather riding conditions? If so, how much ?

Americal23

· #38 · Jan 1, 2017

Could be that when first mounted by manufactuer, the tech used copious amounts of soapy water to mount the tire. Trapped water in rim. That water could gave been contaminated somehow with sodium chloride. Just a thought

WhizzbangK.C.

Discussion Starter · #39 · Jan 2, 2017

Bwana6 said:
Question .................. has this bike been subject to wet weather riding conditions? If so, how much ?

Absolutely it has been ridden in wet conditions, as well as winter road conditions. I've also washed it a few times. I don't see how that could have any legitimate bearing on the case though. My '79 Shovelhead front wheel is a steel rim laced with chromed spokes. I put it on there about 20 years ago, and it's been ridden in exactly the same conditions it's entire life, well over 200,000 miles on that front wheel. There is a little surface corrosion on the rim, but no pitting comparable to this at all. The only way this could happen is defective material.

Kriss

· #40 · Jan 2, 2017

Had the back wheel replaced on my 2015 CV (4,000 miles)due to the chrome bubbling up.

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