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

[PBR1970]

Originally Posted by fairwaymike

Merc07, dont sweat cenjims comments. he has been defending and promoting BBC from the start. I dont think he would be pissed if all his welds on his bike were bad.

If i had a BBC bike, any year, id be checking the welds. I wouldnt trust BBC considering the posts they have made recently.

thanks bro........you just said a million

[Freedom1]

Originally Posted by fairwaymike

Merc07, dont sweat cenjims comments. he has been defending and promoting BBC from the start. I dont think he would be pissed if all his welds on his bike were bad.

If i had a BBC bike, any year, id be checking the welds. I wouldnt trust BBC considering the posts they have made recently.

Fairwaymike, How would you check the welds to see if there are ok?

[PBR1970]

Originally Posted by RRSA

No one is going to beat Cenjim in an argument of reasoning. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, but damn he’s sure got the art of reasoning down to art form.

yep .. i know alot of ppl who have that art ( art of bullshitting ) ..like lawyers , cops , management , used car salesmen , junkyard counterpeople , insurance saleman and telemarketers.....

[PBR1970]

Originally Posted by Freedom1

Fairwaymike, How would you check the welds to see if there are ok?

i did some research...x-ray..they use this to inspect bridges along with other shit...

[Freedom1]

Originally Posted by merc07

i did some research...x-ray..they use this to inspect bridges along with other shit...

Cool, I know of a company that does this for my shop on our structual steel products out here, I'm going to give them a call see if they will x ray the bike

[fairwaymike]

Originally Posted by Freedom1

Fairwaymike, How would you check the welds to see if there are ok?

your x-ray method would be the best.

A visual inspection may give you some way of checking, but that becomes difficult when the frame is painted or powdercoated. Plus the visual inspection would have to come from a trained tig welder (i say tig not to start a tig vs mig argument but because the BBC frames appear to be tig welded.)

i would also think that you will have to break the bike down to just the frame to get it x-rayed.

[Poop]

Originally Posted by fairwaymike

your x-ray method would be the best.

A visual inspection may give you some way of checking, but that becomes difficult when the frame is painted or powdercoated. Plus the visual inspection would have to come from a trained tig welder (i say tig not to start a tig vs mig argument but because the BBC frames appear to be tig welded.)

i would also think that you will have to break the bike down to just the frame to get it x-rayed.

not to mention that a trained tig welder--make that certified instructor--already told your dumb ass that even x-rays couldn't fully assure proper welds.

[CENJIM]

Originally Posted by RRSA

No one is going to beat Cenjim in an argument of reasoning. I don’t necessarily agree with everything he says, but damn he’s sure got the art of reasoning down to art form.

No one should just agree with anything I say. We all express opinions, try to reason things the best we can and go with our decisions.

I really enjoy finding out what others believe and why they believe it. That's one of the ways we all learn.

[fairwaymike]

Originally Posted by Poop

not to mention that a trained tig welder--make that certified instructor--already told your dumb ass that even x-rays couldn't fully assure proper welds.

here we go with the name calling

what is this, kindergarten???

[CENJIM]

Originally Posted by merc07

...ok..all your assumptions about me are wrong....i did not take out a loan..paid cash ..cash is king....im not a yuppie rider who doesnt care about 30k cause their rich to begin with......and i do ride my 07 every chance i have .....if you ck the dates when i have been posting you will see i dont spend alot of time on the computer...i just came back here when i got my mtr mt letter....i respect everyones opinion here...seems like you just want ppl to belive the same you do...not happening here ..this is a forum and everyone should respect each others opinion...i respect yours and i dont make presumptions about your decision on buying a chopper or your finances..so try to understand everyone has their own opinion here........i am a very proud owner of this chop...i brag about all the time especially when i own it outrite but this recall troubles me...i dont like corps and what they do to the little guy and i will speak up everytime and not make excuses for them..... but their is a down side to the company that just happened and many ppl feel there being treated unfairly.....arent you reading the other posts ?......ohh btw can you give me written proof that 07 models were welded differnently and by whom ? or explain the difference that one year made , bcause my frame was made in 06 ( at least i was told that ) ....i dont want your opinion on this just facts.....

I never implied or said you took out a loan. I said it looks like a lot of people take out loans today for things that should be paid for in cash. Sorry that you took it that way. But a lot of other guys on the forum have borrowed considerable amounts of money to pay for their builds.
So for them having to sit back and make payments it's kinda like being upside down on their loans.

I've got a Venom, partially assembled, that even if it were finished shouldn't be on the road. Fully paid for, but not rideable.

So when I mentioned about if I had a Merc (or any other bike by any other mfr that's not on a recall list) that I'd be out riding instead of typing here, that applied to me. You see, I can't even go out in the garage to work on the bike right now. Still waiting to see what's gonna come next.
If I had another model not affected, I wouldn't be concerned.

For your other questions about the specifics of the construction of your frame, etc., you'd have to get that right from the horse's mouth. You'd have to go to the source. I'm just an end user, just like you and almost everyone else here. But I don't think anyone is ever gonna get a written statement guaranteeing their bike is "safe". I would be very, very surprised if any manufacturer would issue anyone a document like that.
You get your MSO, warranty cards, etc. and that's it.
BBC sent out the do not ride letters. They will put together their resolution plan and offer it to the owners of the affected bikes.
Once the "resolution" has been effected, they would probably consider the problem "corrected". Who knows, maybe they will issue a document vouching for the "safety" of the repair? I'm thinking the completion of the recall process for each individual will bring to a close their responsibility on the matter for each individual--subject to any applicable legal action.

But I'm just a guy typing here putting my thoughts out on the Internet. No inside information, no legal training, just something for others to read, consider, and toss where they want it.

I can understand your being concerned about the safety of your model BBC. Your questions are valid and you do deserve an answer to each and every one of them.

Suppose you've got an RC Components frame or a frame from any of the host of other manufacturers who have experienced recalls due to structural issues, but your particular frame wasn't on that list what would you do? Would you ride your bike? Would you get the welds inspected?

If you're not riding a Harley, Yamaha, Honda, or any other major mfr's product, there's probably more risk involved?
I dunno? Just throwing it out there.

[RRSA]

Originally Posted by CENJIM

No one should just agree with anything I say. We all express opinions, try to reason things the best we can and go with our decisions.

I really enjoy finding out what others believe and why they believe it. That's one of the ways we all learn.

Wasn't knocking your craft....just admiring.

[rastoy]

Originally Posted by Poop

not to mention that a trained tig welder--make that certified instructor--already told your dumb ass that even x-rays couldn't fully assure proper welds.

One of my clients manufactures stuff under a govt. contract and each weld has to be x-rayed and/or ultra-sound certified. Not that our govt. knows shit but they require it so I assume someone told them it was better than a visual inspection.

[fleafly]

Jim, how do you feel about BBC only repairing the "affected area" of the frame, and not any other welds? Seems to me that this recall is only covering what happened to Larry's bike. The structural intregrity of the whole frame should be in question here, unless of course BBC had the Henry Ford assembly line going, which I seriously doubt! BBC seems to be in love with the phrase "customer safety comes first", seems to be a dollar and cents instance here. I guys you guys are finding out what that lifetime warranty really means, I feel for all of ya!

[Poop]

Originally Posted by fairwaymike

here we go with the name calling

what is this, kindergarten???

and what name would that be? if you'd made it past kindergarten, you might be able to ascertain* that i indeed called you no name.

*to discover, as perhaps by reading**.

**look that one up yourself, dipshit.

[RRSA]

Now we got the makings of a "real thread". Carry on.