Broken spokes!!!!! Help

[welderdude]

Im hoping someone out there can give me some insight. I just built a Champion trike out of my fathers 2010 Softail Deluxe and we have had a serious problem. We ordered the complete champion kit with the wire wheel option,($600 worth). After building the trike with the help from my dealer I kept the bike for a couple of weeks and put about 200 miles on it before handing it over to dear old Dad(problem free). Who after the first couple of times on it complained of a certain "wobble" he got at low speeds. I inniatly passed it off and just told him he would have to get used to the new feel of the trike but the problem seemed to persist and get worse every time I talked to him. Then monday he brought it to the dealer who helped me install it and thats when we noticed that on the right rear wheel ALL but 2 of the inside spokes were BROKEN!!! 400 miles and he dam near lost the wheel! My dealer and I both called Champion Sidecars and after being treated like we were abussing the bike,(im 38 and dad is 71, not big on wheelies and corner surfing) finally they agreed to send us new wheels only after inspecting our old ones first. So my father has a $18,000 Harley with a $13,000 upgrade and the dam thing is on blocks!! The wheels are made by Ride Right. Has anyone heard of anything like this. If anyone is thinking of buying a champion kit, be warned, the kit itself was a joy to install,service after the sale has truly SUCKED!Champions warranty guy(Joe Smith) even threatend my mechanic!! WTF?

[Gorilla]

Welcome aboard. Glad you joined us. Yours is not what the majority of us have experienced from Champion. Maybe they were having a bad day. Hope it goes well for you.

[meredog]

I took my trike to dealer in Little Rock Arkansas the first part of April and they found a defective rear pinion seal.
Apparently Champion has had several issus with defective seals--i was told that they had a new design seal that they had just started using as a replacment.
Unfortunatley, they had none in stock so i traveled home to Michigan and found a local dealer who ordered a seal for me (warranty item).
Received an e mail today saying they had received the part and wants me to bring it in SUNDAY to get it replaced.
3 months to get a seal ?

[TechOps]

What is your wheel stud pattern? I got my wire wheels from Pete Paulsen, hand made and trued, though on a standard 5 * 4.5" pattern. If you get no joy from Champion, try an outsourced wheel from them.

[Dwight]

Welderdude,
I have to say that the after sale attitude of Champion sucks! Major and minor problems that they don't want to deal with. I'm still waiting on a refund for the light bar I sent back (15% restocking fee on a $600 part) and a trailer hitch I ordered. It's been several months. Like you I'm happy with the kit, totally unhappy with Champion. My dealer says he is considering dropping Champion because even he can't get any service from them. It doesn't seem like anyone is in charge, they don't return phone calls or emails. It's a sad situation, I'm a trike installer and will not recomend the kit to customers because of their poor after sale service.

Dwight

[welderdude]

My feelings exactly Dwight, My dealer actually became a dealer just to do this bike for us. He is fed up with them already and after telling the warranty dept that he no longer wanted to be a dealer they told him that was fine!!! If that guy worked for me he would be out the door. Champion actually called today and said they would send a set of alloy wheels that we could use till they got the spoke situation straight. Problly wont see alloys for a week and lord knows when the spokes will show up. Thanks to all of you good guys for your replys and i will try to post some pics of the bike shortly.

[screwball]

I heard the same about Lehman Conversions. Parts distribution seem to be a big problem with the kit manufacturers. Friend with a Lehman / Honda conversion has had nothing but problems getting parts, or even finding a dealer or Independent to work on the machine.