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Service your bearings and check tire pressure

two year ago I was hit by a cage and my scoot sustained damage to the front end. My local indy was tasked to repair the bike. While there I noticed my Metzler front tire had cupped even though it only had about 5k on it. I had it replaced as part of the repairs. The mechanic had to put a new front end on the bike. Or said he did. After another 8k my new Metzler is cupped again. I took the bike to the local dealer and asked him to put on some Dunlops. I received a call telling me my front bearings were shot. Now if he had put on a new front end, why after 8k were my bearing shot? I have no idea ! They kept the bearings for my inspection and sure enough, even I would have caught them.

The tech said that bearings and incorrect inflation were the two biggest culprits of premature tire damage he had seen. So please don't make the mistake I did. make sure your bearings are up to snuff and serviced and your airt pressure is what is recommended by HD for your application. It cost me $629 for two tires, mount balance and new bearings front and rear. Please check your pressures
weekly.

PS I don't believe the Metzlers were to blame and would run them again.

Ride safe

Bubbaglide
 
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Excellent advice!
I've gotten in the habit of checking the TP weekly and when I replace the tire, cleaning, inspecting and repacking bearings is a not-so-bad Saturday job which saves me money that I can spend on chrome :D.
 
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Biggest problem is good customer service is hard to find. If you want good service you have to ask for it...and the common problem is many INDY's only do what you ask, or go specifically what you ask for, not what is recommended or what would be good through work, steering or wheel bearings is just such a service. Another is doing a brake job, only changing the pads and not do those things like cleaning the calipers, lubing the pins, surfacing the pads and rotors, and a final bleeding of the brakes to prevent later callbacks.

If you are hesitant of doing service yourself, and use an Indy OR HD dealer, at least read your manual and make a short checklist of what are your expectations, have them put the list on the work order as line items with check box and signature of tech who completed the work as a minimum. You should also receive a phone call if there are additional things to be done while they are in the diagnostic phase when they have your machine apart.

AND always ask for the old parts (in many states it is the law) or at least be able to inspect them before they "core" the rebuildable item for rebuild market or toss it away before you can confirm you saw it.
 
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No problem remembering to check air pressure on my 09 Ultra. If the front tire even gets 3 lbs low it develops a slight low speed wobble. As a result I keep a close eye on it. Outside temperature seems to be the biggest culprit of pressure changes.
 
Biggest problem is good customer service is hard to find. If you want good service you have to ask for it...and the common problem is many INDY's only do what you ask, or go specifically what you ask for, not what is recommended or what would be good through work, steering or wheel bearings is just such a service. Another is doing a brake job, only changing the pads and not do those things like cleaning the calipers, lubing the pins, surfacing the pads and rotors, and a final bleeding of the brakes to prevent later callbacks.

If you are hesitant of doing service yourself, and use an Indy OR HD dealer, at least read your manual and make a short checklist of what are your expectations, have them put the list on the work order as line items with check box and signature of tech who completed the work as a minimum. You should also receive a phone call if there are additional things to be done while they are in the diagnostic phase when they have your machine apart.

AND always ask for the old parts (in many states it is the law) or at least be able to inspect them before they "core" the rebuildable item for rebuild market or toss it away before you can confirm you saw it.

This makes sense to me. In this day of caveat emptor (buyer beware) we should do every thing we can to make sure our wishes are clear. In my case, the Indy was paid very well to put on a new front end and I would think a new one would mean new bearings too but evidentally I was wrong. I did ask the service manager what would be done during the tire change and it included checking and repacking the bearings as well as balancing the tire and wheel. They did a good job for me and I'll use them again when I don't want to do the work myself. In this case much eassier on me for them to change the tires and balance them.

Ride safe

Bubba
 
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