Big Bear Choppers 2004/2005 SLED, Venom, and Devils Advocate Frame Recall

[zfloorgod]

I called a dealer in Temecula today, and he had a list of all the vin numbers of the bikes that were affected. I am, of course, one of them on the list. All he said I have to do is bring the bike down, and the welds should be fixed that day by installing a new gusset and rewelding the neck. It's kinda a pain in the ass, but after hearing that my bike was in fact on the recall list, I made the appoinment . BBC is doing everything they should be doing, and though it sucks to have to go thru all of this, is better that eating asphault. Keep on mobbin'

[Concrete Guy]

Hey Larry............ You should be about through that bottle by now. Are you cutting it up????

[Lightnin'Larry]

The recall is now up on the NHTSA website

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm and entering
"NHTSA Campaign ID Number" 08V129000.

[Lightnin'Larry]

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION!

I strongly encourage everyone with an effected bike to go the NHTSA website listed below and look up this recall. In the lower left-hand side of the notice is a button called "Document Search" click on this and it brings up another window with three documents listed. I strongly suggest that everyone read these documents carefully especially the third document titled "Defect Notice" the file number is RCDNN-08V129-1984.pdf. You will need Adobe Reader to open the files. There is quite a bit of detailed information in the Defect Notice including what BBC did as their internal investigation. Yes, they are still trying to stick some of the responsibility on me (so what else is new) but if you read the whole thing I think you will see what the truth of the matter really is. In one section it says the following "Approximate percentage of the total number of vehicles estimated to actually contain the defect. 41%" Yep, that's right people 41% that's really high in my humble opinion. And in section 3 "Describe the Defect of Noncompliance" there is this statement "Describe the cause(s) of the defect or noncompliance. The primary cause is insufficient penetration of the weld joint where tubes (B and C connect to the Neck A) as identified in illustration #1." Everyone needs to read this document, read and understand it. Also in the second document titled Recall Acknowledgement file number RCAK-08V129-7986.pdf. At the end of the letter it gives direct contact information for the people at the NHTSA who are handling the recall.

Originally Posted by Lightnin'Larry

The recall is now up on the NHTSA website

http://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/recalls/recallsearch.cfm and entering
"NHTSA Campaign ID Number" 08V129000.

[PBR1970]

..hey Larry ..i read some of that and it seems to me that bbc does the investigation on what was affected and what was not....the cut off is determined by there improvement or upgrade in design..so that determined what years..did i get that rite ?...

[sdicato]

Originally Posted by Dirrty Leg Inc.

this is bullsh@T, Not anywhere near acceptable. What am I supposed to ride while my bike is being completely rebuilt. I spent 35k for what? What about my ride plans? My laughlin trip. My powdercoated frame? The resale value of my bike? Any damage done to parts or painted sheetmetal during the process? Why not a new frame? I got a million of these questions, why dosen't some one from big bear give me a call with some answers.

there is no resale value you own it for life

[zfloorgod]

I can see they talk about the recall and the affected bikes, and the why, how and what. But all that does is give me information on my f'd up bike. Nothing i can do right?? Just go ahead and get it fixed. BBC knows they made a mistake, and they are doing what they can do short of redoing everyones bike. It is a major inconvienience, but so is eating asphault. Can't complain too much, as long as they are making the arrangments to get the bad bikes fixed, and letting everyone know that should know .

Thats just my 2.....

[Sean Maguire]

you know a couple of days ago I took the time to read that thread about mid west choppers and the dis-respect the owner /employee/whatever pulled on the fine members of CC now I'm sitting hear going shit I mean bbc isnt even on top of keeping there dealerships [if thats what you want to call them] notified ! But and I apologize for this but some if not all these rides have custom paint or powder coat or even chrome. are all you folks affected by this straight up out on the cost of redoing these rides paint. I mean let me grab some vasoline cause It sounds like your fucked . And please Im real short on the cost implications to bbc . They have a customer base that sounds like might start getting smaller and smaller as this goes on . Thanks for letting me vent This site has time and time again helped me on matters that mean most to me ,,,,,,,,,,My BIKE .I HOPE IT WORKS OUT FOR YOU

[zfloorgod]

BBC is taking a huge hit in this. I do have questions for them. Is the paint going to be flawless? Who is going to pay for the trailor I have to rent, and the gas i have to spend to get it to their dealer? What about the day I'll have to miss work to get this done. The way I see it, we are still out of pocket, which ain't right. When i have been to dealer ships, I don't rmember seeing a whole bike building shop there. A service department maybe, but do they have the skills to cut and reweld the frame, and then paint it like it was before? Everytime I walk in my garage, I get more and more pissed. I think we need comensation for all the troubles we have to go thru.

[PBR1970]

Originally Posted by zfloorgod

BBC is taking a huge hit in this. I do have questions for them. Is the paint going to be flawless? Who is going to pay for the trailor I have to rent, and the gas i have to spend to get it to their dealer? What about the day I'll have to miss work to get this done. The way I see it, we are still out of pocket, which ain't right. When i have been to dealer ships, I don't rmember seeing a whole bike building shop there. A service department maybe, but do they have the skills to cut and reweld the frame, and then paint it like it was before? Everytime I walk in my garage, I get more and more pissed. I think we need comensation for all the troubles we have to go thru.

...your rite...but in order to achieve proper compensation , no one should accept their so called fix ...everyone affected should get together and come up with something , i dont think anyone wants to rob bbc but they just want something fair......there will probably be some out of pocket expenses which are expected .....but their "fix" is wrong ..come on $300 for paint on a 30k chopper not to mention blending it in ...what the f**k is that ? no way would i go for that , even if i have to sacrifice riding ..and i think that is where bbc has leverage , they know you guys wanna ride...think about that !

[zfloorgod]

I would hate to have to get all legal about this and get a lawyer involved, but i think that their solution to the problem leaves alot to be desired. How do you fix the problem and make everyone happy, or satisfied??? Good question, but BBC needs to come up with something that will keep their customers happy, and also not put them in a worse light they are in now. I willing to do whatever it takes to get on the road faster, but i want to be taken care of. Anyone else looking to go forward for full compensation, just let me know. But lets move on this quick.


Live like you mean it...................

[Lightnin'Larry]

If you really do a careful analysis of that document you will see major inconsistencies through out it. They continually try and say that the failure was due to a loose top motor mount (of which they have NO evidence whatsoever of) and a hole in the backbone (also of which they have NO evidence that it was in the least bit contributory and there may even be some evidence to the contrary) and/or a low speed tip over which only damaged an air filter and scraped some paint off a fender. But then down in Section 3 where they are required to give the evaluation of their own investigation they put that the "PRIMARY" cause of the defect or noncompliance is "INSUFFICIENT PENETRATION OF THE WELD JOINT WHERE IT JOINS THE TUBES (B and C connect to the Neck A) AS IDENTIFIED IN ILLUSTRATION #1" Even the spin doctors can't get away from the root cause as hard as they try and make me the scapegoat for just plain bad welding and poor manufacturing. Ain't it funny that the first frame they find to do their evaluation on has the defect! Oh, they also state that ALL the effected frames were made in house by BBC so I guess that finally settles the question of whether or not it was a third party vendor who made the frames.

[Winston_Wolf]

... After much research, I've come to the conclusion that I am not going to do anything to my '04 Venom chopper. I built the kit myself and was absolutely, meticulously anal about it.

... Was a welder 30 years ago and I've been an aerospace engineer for the past 20. I'm not concerned in the least riding her @ +75mph on the roughest highways in America. There is nothing wrong with the design; maybe someone got a poor weld - I didn't.

... Can you say "knee jerk reaction"? Well, that's what we have here.
One guy fucks up his build, poorly rigs a 124, drills the frame, and fails to bolt the motor up properly and now everyone is supposed to weld gussets that aren't needed - fuck that and fuck idiots

[Lightnin'Larry]

Ride her hard buddy, ride her hard. I do hope your right cause BBC itself says that 41% of the frames have bad penetration on the neck welds. Go for it!

Originally Posted by Winston_Wolf

... After much research, I've come to the conclusion that I am not going to do anything to my '04 Venom chopper. I built the kit myself and was absolutely, meticulously anal about it.

... Was a welder 30 years ago and I've been an aerospace engineer for the past 20. I'm not concerned in the least riding her @ +75mph on the roughest highways in America. There is nothing wrong with the design; maybe someone got a poor weld - I didn't.

... Can you say "knee jerk reaction"? Well, that's what we have here.
One guy fucks up his build, poorly rigs a 124, drills the frame, and fails to bolt the motor up properly and now everyone is supposed to weld gussets that aren't needed - fuck that and fuck idiots

[PBR1970]

...wouldnt wanna fly on any of those planes !