Stallion Question

[Papa Zook]

Russell- I had a guy stop by Saturday who had bought a Candy Red Stallion from you a few months back like about March 2007. Hes from Thomasville, Ga. Its getting some pretty serious bearing noise from the front wheel axle shaft. It gets louder as he applies the front brakes, I assume since its under more load at that time. Everything is tight and I see no visible problem other than its just got a bearing failure noise. Hes gonna call you tomorrow.

PS Hows the VTX1300R looking?
Randy

[Mattel]

The factory has a fix for this. Call your dealer.

[Papa Zook]

I AM a Stallion dealer. Just haven't run into this particular problem before nor has TMS forwarded any information or bulletin concerning this issue. The noise level on this trike concerned me and I really didn't want to see him drive it 150 miles home on Saturday. No one was available at the factory on Saturday to run it by thats why I posted it here.

[Papa Zook]

Talked to Nick from TMS this AM and got the answers.

[Gorilla]

Okay Zook what did NICK say?

MJ has terrible brake pad drag in reverse that we put up with, besides the daily air bag pumping. It's just to far to drive 350 miles to Russel's for these minor issues, but I would like to fix them myself if people would give us the resolutions and access to get the parts. Saves the factory money in the long run.

[Papa Zook]

Okay Zook what did NICK say?

MJ has terrible brake pad drag in reverse that we put up with, besides the daily air bag pumping. It's just to far to drive 350 miles to Russel's for these minor issues, but I would like to fix them myself if people would give us the resolutions and access to get the parts. Saves the factory money in the long run.

Front hub bearing. To tell the whole story the fellow who came by my shop said he had heard the noise since shortly after he bought it but kept driving it (had 4500 miles on it) and it gradually got more noticeable. Like everything else on the Stallion its way overbuilt but anything mechanical can fail. Ive not heard of any other reports of noisy bearings.

[WildBillH]

Hi Zook, I think he wants to try replacing the brake pads to get rid of the noise when backing, But i'm not sure if its front or rear thats making the noise, or both... If he goes to an auto parts store what would he ask for? What are the disk Brakes from or can the just match them up based on the size of the disk?

Is this a Dealer only item?

Personally i put ceramic disks on my truck because they are much cleaner. I kind of like them but have no idea how they would perform on a trike.

[Gorilla]

HI Zook, I'm with WildBillH on the ceramic pads. Do you know what fits the calipers in the front? I heard they are suppose to be FUSION or is it FOCUS calipers on the rear?

I would also love to purchase a maintenance and repair manual and a parts manual if we can get them.

Ted

[Mattel]

Re: Bearing - I had a bad bearing on my bike from day one. I brought up the noise I heard and my dealer ended up replacing it. It sounds like a wine-wine-wine..... Especially when you hit the breaks. It almost sounded to me like a break drag in the front of my bike. This is a small part but to fix it right is a lot of work. I watched what was involved, and you don't want to do it your self. I would not worry about driving on bad bearings, I drove on them for 5 thousand miles. But when they do go, you will have a bear of a time driving. TBMS knows about this issue and they are on it when they recognize your bearings in the front have gone. After they fixed my trike, it was like a new trike! :o

RE: ceramic break pads - I am in agreement with everyone else, duhh how did the engineers miss this one. How many dirty wheels do you need to clean day in and day out to figure this one out???? I have them on my cars and they work like a champ with no black dust dirt. I was told by a TBMS dealer that you cannot get that break pad in ceramic, but.... I have been told that before and I am not sure if that is true. I think it may have to do with a concern over liability as the ceramic pads do perform a bit differently. If anyone can find the correct parts that fit PLEASE POST IT ON THIS THREAD because I would like very much to cut the time I spend cleaning my dam front wheels and spend that time riding or doing something better.

TIMIGALA- Good luck getting a parts or repair manual. I am not sure if they even exist. If they do exist ,someone at TBMS would surely pull a Charlton Heston, exclaiming you would have to pry their cold dead fingers from that manual before you will get it Almost all the Stallions are under full warranty, and with the FORD dealers doing service now, who needs either one? Gone are the days when you had to consider taking a vacation day to ride for 7 hours to get a repair done. (I have done that several times) I have not heard anything negative about TBMS not wanting to fix or cover anything that they should cover under the warranty.

[Gorilla]

Mattel, I hope the fact that TBMS has now got the Ford Company involved will free up the manuals. They need to supply them to the dealers from Ford so their mechanics know where to start from. Also it would be to TBMS benefit to make them available. If I repair it myself with help from a manual that I had to purchase, it doesn't cost them anything. If I take my wife's trike into the Ford dealer 60 miles away or to TBMS dealer 365 miles away it costs them money for the warranty work. Seems like a no brainier to me. TBMS has been very good repairing what I have had to be done, but I just like to have the ability to fix it myself if I can or it is necessary. Ted

[Fortsand]

I was at the factory in November with Zook and at that time no manual was available. I would like to have one also. On my previous Gold Wing, I had the Honda shop manual + same on cd + a 17 DVD set of maintenance procedures on the Gold Wing produced by Fred Harmon, the Gold Wing Guru. The DVD's were the best money I spent on the Gold Wing.

[adventurer]

Bazooka,

I had my front bearings replaced by the factory last fall. If I remember correctly they said that they got a bad batch of bearings and my stallion was one of them. I have #215.

No front end problems since.


Adventurer

[Papa Zook]

There have been no service or parts manual released yet. Its a little frustrating because its impossible to answer simple questions like what brake pads to use etc. The Ford dealers are in the same boat we are. TMS probably has a reason for this but I dont understand what it is. Im sure they read these threads and I want to say that as a Stallion dealer I am an advocate for the company and the machine but we really do need a replacement parts list and service manuals or service bulletins.

[3-togo]

Hooray,
Zook ,you are absolutely correct about parts ect.I've written emails,talked to my dealer and still have no idea what the numbers are for replacement lamps /bulbs.Actually,the front bearing is somewhat common and my front end is somewhat noisy compared to other i've looked at.Since I live in Oregon and ride the outback,would love to have spare lights. However,I love the trike and service from the factory is erratic but so far have honored the warranty.I haven't had anything major wrong and hope Ford/stallion survive.The service at Ford has improved a great deal in my area and wish that stallion will commit to timely email and telephone responses. We are entering a new economic era,but commonsense business practices will never go out of fashion. Long live america.But we are close to meltdown,time to wake up.

[Mattel]

Hooray,
Zook ,you are absolutely correct about parts ect.I've written emails,talked to my dealer and still have no idea what the numbers are for replacement lamps /bulbs.Actually,the front bearing is somewhat common and my front end is somewhat noisy compared to other i've looked at.Since I live in Oregon and ride the outback,would love to have spare lights. However,I love the trike and service from the factory is erratic but so far have honored the warranty.I haven't had anything major wrong and hope Ford/stallion survive.The service at Ford has improved a great deal in my area and wish that stallion will commit to timely email and telephone responses. We are entering a new economic era,but commonsense business practices will never go out of fashion. Long live america.But we are close to meltdown,time to wake up.

3togo,
I have been calling TBMS recently and they just changed their contact person. I have been dealing with Nick and he not only returns your calls but he knows the trikes and can get things done! He seems to be a nice guy too. I am very happy with this vast improvement in customer service..... Keep going TBMS!!!

[Gorilla]

Hi Mattel Do you have an e-mail address for Nick at TBMS? Ted

[Papa Zook]

3togo,
I have been calling TBMS recently and they just changed their contact person. I have been dealing with Nick and he not only returns your calls but he knows the trikes and can get things done! He seems to be a nice guy too. I am very happy with this vast improvement in customer service..... Keep going TBMS!!!

I completely agree with you on this Mattel. Nick is a good contact and will help you. I don't think he'd mind me giving some background on him: He is a retired auto mechanic and a long time auto mechanics school teacher so hes very mechanically knowledgeable (stallion is basically a 3-wheeled car). He built trikes for Motor Trike so he also knows trikes. And yes hes a real nice guy and does follow up calls. Email contact: InfoTM@Thoroughbred-Motorsports.com subject line: Attention Nick

I'm sure they would prefer your primary contact be your selling dealer.