Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[the O`Fender]

JUST A LITTLE HEADS UP!!!
I spoke with a ridin' buddy who had this ride-str8 installed on his 02 SERK, in less that 2 weeks time he BUSTED his transmission case (boy was he pissed). He called me to ask about my experience with the TRUE TRACK. He then called the true track people to order a unit and they told him that his experience was not an isolated incident, so I called them myself and was told that they had 10 years of development into this thing and then nicely explained to me why the ride-str8 failed. You guys might want to give them a call yourself to avoid a similar issue.[smiley=1syellow1.gif]

[Twolanerider]

JUST A LITTLE HEADS UP!!!
I spoke with a ridin' buddy who had this ride-str8 installed and.... BUSTED his transmission case

When this thread first began the conversation was very centered on the True Track.  During that phase of the conversation a few public and several PM comments about its problems seemed were the order of the day.  After the center of attention turned to the Ride Str8 those with negative experiences or suggestions surrounding it have very unselfishly shared those experiences or ideas with us as well.

This is appreciated as we want and need to know of issues on things we might be buying.  Especially if we're buying them collectively.  And my thanks go out to those that let us know when they really know.

I think the one thing we can all agree on is that not being the design engineers responsible for either product we're all only basing positive or negative suppositions on the very limited number of experiences that might get reported back to us.  Having said that, the possibility of broken tranny cases or oil bags is not to be dismissed out of hand.

That being so I just sent Dan Semmere of Ride Str8 the following in an email.  Before we start going round and round about things we don't really know, however, let's wait and see what the response is.  

I'll be the first to admit that patience is often more difficult then stirring things up.  Patience is often less fun too.   Right now, however, this directly only impacts those members that have spent the money to buy the parts.  So let's not muddy the waters until some information gets back that can be posted for those members and everyone else to look at and comment on.

For what it's worth I'll forewarn everyone that until we get some information back that is pertinent to commentary I will be somewhat more aggressive in monitoring this thread and editing or deleting things that stir things up only for the sake of stirring things up.  We've got guys with about $5000.00 sent off to this manfacturer right now.  I want to make sure those guys get an opportunity for a clean look at whatever we find out.

If you "know" something please be sure and post it.  That is nothing but a help.  If you're just reiterating a fear or adding smoke, however, please hold your fire until we know more.

Here's the email I sent to Ride Str8:
_______________________________________________

Dan,

Got a question from the group members that had not come up previously.  An incident or incidents has been reported among them of transmission cases or pans breaking with (and possibly as a result of the stresses of) the Ride Str8 being installed.  In some cases apparently the reports are of this occurring literally within a couple of weeks of the Ride Str8 being installed.

We all understand that any story is only a story until it is verified.  But the ramifications of this potential issue are bad enough to make people legitimately worry.  Please advise what your confirmable experiences are relative to this issue and if there is any specific guidance or advice you would suggest for installation, maintenance or use of the Ride Str8 that might lessen the possibility of any such thing happening.

I'll be posting a copy of this email to the membership so everyone will be up to speed on the communications here.  Will also promptly post your reply for them to see as well.

Thank you,
Don Carey

[110tHunDer]

O'Fender, any chance of getting photos?

[110tHunDer]

Torque (on the pan bolts) was my first thought, too for any problem such as this.  7 - 9 ft-lbs is really light torque.  I confirmed in my service manual just now that those are, indeed, the factory specs, however, they actually list them in inch-lbs, which is 84 - 108 (sounds even lighter that way!).  Unless we wrench for a livin', I doubt if any of our human torque wrenches (right or left arms) are calibrated that lightly.  Glad I have my Craftsman torque wrenches!

[110tHunDer]

I think it's reasonable that the guy who initiated the contact for the group buy make the contact and represent us on this issue.  I'm not sure what purpose bombarding Ride-Str8 with the same question from more than one of us will serve. [smiley=nixweiss.gif]

[Twolanerider]

Ok Gentlemen, here is the response I received from Dan at Ride Str8.  My response to him will be in the next post (so everyone is kept fully informed).  A bit of discussion about the issue will be in the post after that

__________________________________________________

Dear Donald

No such incident has ever been reported to me from any of my customers.

I keep close contact with many of my oldest customers and friends who have installed the stabilizer over two years ago and have only accolades in regards to my product performance.

I know of customers that have taken my units three consecutive years to Sturgis from California and back and these are power riders and daily commuters, two of them are coworkers of mine and have had no problems whatsoever.

My product was engineered to be sized accordingly to the stresses generated in the area where is located, however my transmission bracket is much weaker then the massive transmission casting/oil pan assembly. In any case, if something was to break, it will be the Ride-Str8 bracket, or the fasteners that hold it in place, and none of them have ever broke or even shown signs of wear or damage.

Extensive testing was conducted prior marketing and no failure was ever detected.

My personal 2001 Road King is equipped with unit #1 and is periodically removed for assessment and is in perfect condition after over 22.000 miles of hard riding.  

I wonder who has made such claim. This is totally new for me and I will have to believe this is totally unfounded negative propaganda.

Do you have or know who may have any physical prove that such incident has occurred?

I will be all over it.

As an engineer I assure you that it is impossible for the casting to be damaged by the modest loads generated in the area, unless the casting was defective from factory.

A common known defect of casting is porosity and if that is the case, it was destine to fail, regardless of my unit being installed or not.


Thanks,

Dan Semmere

[Twolanerider]

My response to Dan:

_________________________________________

Thanks very much for the quick response Dan.  Some of our members have requested photos or some other more direct evidence of the things we've been now been forced to be concerned about.  No such response has been forthcoming as of yet.  I promise if we get something that is firm and direct evidence of a real problem I will pass it along to you as it can only help you to be aware of potential issues.  Both from a customer service perspective and from a liability perspective those are things you would want to know.

I'm sure you understand why we had to ask the question and felt it necessary to do whatever research we could.  After all, we're getting a few and each and every one of us wants to know the butt underneath us is as secure and protected as it can be.  Your quick response here is a real help.

Thank you,
Don Carey

[Twolanerider]

And here's what we know:

Obviously just because we were told a product is great by its manufacturer and owner doesn't mean that we can absolutely trust that.  We simply don't know the person.  That he's been selling the unit for quite some time suggests something positive though.  That he's been generally forthcoming does as well.  None of that absolutely means, however, that we "know" everything there is to know or everything that might need to be worthy of concern.

That being so the next thing we can do is further research and see what, if anything, is corroborated.  In that vein Brian (103Thunder) and I have independently googled the hardware, searched through user's groups and otherwise wandered the net looking for bad product reports or discussions thereof.  Everyone is, of course, welcome to do the same thing.  After all, the Net is a big place and we certainly could have missed something.  But in several hours effort neither of us found anything mentioning the type of failure being discussed here.

Please understand that we are not dismissing this failure.  And the rider's circumstance is unfortunate.  It was also worrisome enough in its report that we contacted the manufacture to see if his response would ring true and we did the product research just described.

Unless further confirming evidence comes to light of a systemic failure to be concerned about it seems our research and the manufacturer's response all seem to suggest the failure discussed earlier in the thread to be an isolated one.  Perhaps a failure tied to the type of installation error that Chip so insightfully suggested in his earlier post.

In any case please do not hesitate to supply any firm evidence that might be important in further reviewing this matter.  As it stands right now, however, I personally feel comfortable moving ahead with the purchase and installation of the parts.  103 has written me that he'll be installing his as well.

Should anyone have a question they don't feel comfortable posting here in the public thread please feel free to PM me.  I don't want anyone who is spending money here to have any worry that might be otherwise satisfied.

Thanks for everyone's patience as we gathered information here.  It was appreciated and made collecting that information an easier task for everyone.

Thanks again,
Don

[naitram]

don, brian,

when you guys do your install's could you do some photo documentation of the experience for us

[Twolanerider]

don, brian,

when you guys do your install's could you do some photo documentation of the experience for us

Sure thing Neal.  Given what we're concerned about here it seems a good idea to document everything we can.  The trusty digital camera will get a workout.

[110tHunDer]

don, brian,

when you guys do your install's could you do some photo documentation of the experience for us

Oh yeah, no sweat! [smiley=beerchug.gif]

[naitram]

ive never had the wobbles on the RK but have considered getting one just to be safe, be curious what you guys think

[Twolanerider]

ive never had the wobbles on the RK but have considered getting one just to be safe, be curious what you guys think

That's kind of why I was getting this one.  The red bike has never had the wobbles.  I had a Road King that would under certain specific circumstances.  But it was never quite a tank slapper.

I'm getting it for the red bike though purely for prophylactic reasons.  It's seem cheap enough insurance to stop what might be a problem before the swing arm assembly wears in enough that the problem might ever start.

[TB]

My SERK never exhibited the wobbles, but I did have a bad case of rear steer when aggressively attacking a corner.  The rear wheel would have a mind of its own and make the bike drift badly.  I just couldn't hold a tight line thru the twisties.

The Tru-Trak corrected this issue.

TB

[Twolanerider]

My SERK never exhibited the wobbles, but I did have a bad case of rear steer when aggressively attacking a corner.  The rear wheel would have a mind of its own and make the bike drift badly.  I just couldn't hold a tight line thru the twisties.

The Tru-Trak corrected this issue.

TB

TB, it's good to read that one of these rear stabilizing devices straightened out just the type of problem that is one of the concerns we're all hoping they will address.  Thanks.