New Tire Installed by HD - now wicked vibration

[RD HOG]

On my 2003 Ultra i had a new rear tire installed at the local HD dealer, half way through the wait time, fella comes and reports that my spoked rim is bent. Strange i said, no wobbles or vibrations in the bike, and no bent/missing spokes as i just detailed her last week. No major pot holes hit, nada. He says, well, not us for sure, but will balance best we can. Long story short, i take the bike for a ride and i now have a wicked vibration from the rear of the bike at all speeds.

I called them back the next day and have been politely arguing with them over this. They say "we told you about it" and balanced it even though it was over spec per my direction.

My question to you folks, is it possible to have a bent rim as described, and not know it or feel it?, put a new tire on and voila - instant bad vibration? Thats the line the HD fella gave me, says a new tire will reveal things a worn tire wont. Am i being fed a line and they are most likely trying to cover for a shop accident? Is there any recourse should we reach an impass with HD?

Any input would be truely appreciated.

Mike

 

[Bud White]

no they bent it or did something else wrong plain and simple

 

[whatyardwork]

Spoked wheels can come loose.The process of swapping out a tire on a questionable spoked wheel can tweek it even further.You may look into having the wheel truede.

 

[HDDon]

How many miles on your bike? Have you had tires changed at this dealer before? Hard to believe that you had no problems going in and came out with one. Loose spokes can happen but a bent rim. Hard not to notice when your detailing the bike. Sounds to me like something got under the rim when they had it on the machine that is used to dismount and mount the tire. I'm not an expert but this seems to be a problem that could only be caused by hydraulic or pnumatic equipment. If you had hit something hard enough to bend the rim you would have felt it.

 

[Bud White]

you will even feel loose spokes

 

[glider]

If you had no problems before and know that the rin was straight when you detailed it and now have a bad vibe, my money is on the guy that changed the tire did the damage and looking to get out from under. Talk to the owner of the shop.

 

[NEWHD74FAN]

Agree with Glider, the rim could easily be damaged when removing and/or installing a new tire, think of the spokes tensioning "evenly" a true wheel, then installer comes along and "spoons it out in a hurry, not evenly and stressing the rim..." Changing a motorcycle tire is a bit more tricky than a bicycle tire that you can roll off with the heel of your hand.

You may want to watch the way they dismount that new tire, and under the new rim band, they inspect that rim and see if there is evidence of indentations from a spoon/lever that may have tweaked it, also "clink" the spokes listening for even tension on them, a dull thud means it is loose and also when they had tire off, they should have inspected spokes and rim for rust, stripped threads and such, spoked wheels are NOT low maintenance in the long term.

 

[RD HOG]

Thats pretty much where im at right now, just happens to be a rep from HD USA working at this new location in Edmonton making sure things go well, not a new dealer, just a new location. Last word from him was " going to speak with the ownership group" and then get back to me.

I'm 80% positive the rim was good, like i said, detailed and checked spokes not a week prior, and all appeared good as i cleaning and polishing them, but i wasnt checking to see if there was a wobble or anything. But the bike rode very well right up until it went in the shop.

Dont know how im going to beat the "his word against my word" thing.

Wish me luck, will post results as they develop

Thanks
Mike

 

[Chopper]

Your butt dosen't lie, dealers do. If the bike rode better before the tire was installed, something happen during the install, plain & simple. I would call Harley Davidson customer service (1-414-343-4056) and file a complaint, it goes on their record. It might help the next guy in your shoes, or maybe you. The dealership should give you a new rim if it's bent, did they show you the bent rim before they mounted the tire??? They can customer good will it to you with out it costing them a penny. Loyal customers are earned, they don't come with the franchise.

 

[RD HOG]

Hey Chopper, thanks for the number, will definitely do my part good or bad, and make the call to HD....is that number good in Canada as well?

Appreciate the feedback and tips...ps, bike has about 40K miles, 72K kilometers on it.