Jim’s MC-95 Delivery Problems (read from the bottom upwards)

 

Sent: Saturday, June 18, 2011 10:52 AM
Subject: MC-95 Update

Hey Kevin,

I thought that I would just give you an update and something you may want to post. Any buyer needs to be very careful about the warranty and the conditions under which it applies. This trike only has a 30 day warranty from the date of delivery on everything except the engine and frame. My warranty claims started on 6/8, day of delivery. So I have until July 7 to get things covered.

I think the selling dealer purposely drags things out to get out of the 30 day warranty period (my personal guess). My trike came through with broken off front turn signals. With that condition, the trike can not be legally driven. I put them back together with RTV as a temporary fix to get it past inspection and a tag so that I could drive it. My registration is probably going to bounce back from the state as the certificate of origin was in the shipping container and contained the manufacturer information but nothing about the completion of the sale. The local tag processing facility is not a state owned facility and they issued the registration with the caveat that the state may come back for more detail before granting a title. At least I have a tag on it and can drive it to get the bugs out before warranty expiration.

County imports requires you to request the documentation for titling after you receive the trike and state that it can take 3 to 21 days for the buyer to receive the necessary documentation to get the trike registered properly.... remember that 30 day warranty ticking away. I requested my documentation around 6/10 and am now in a waiting period. The question becomes, if you can't get it licensed to drive, how do you know what is going to fail before the 30 day warranty expires?

I have now turned over 200 miles on the trike and outside of the severe vibration issues, it runs good.

Dealer Support ???? what is that?

I finally got an email from the warranty dept of countyimports.com, subsidiary of Buggy World, on 6/15. As I think you know, I put in about 6 warranty claims between 6/8 and 6/11. The response is below.

"Warranty is effective only if: 

(1) The product is completely and correctly assembled by a certified automotive or motorcycle technician with documented proof of completion and PDI. (pre-delivery inspection)"

So, unless you have the initial assembly done by a certified  mechanic, there is no warranty. In their warranty description, they say specifically that this must be a none related party. My son is a certified ASE Master Tech and is also licensed to do state inspections, but I won't address that here.

I was out of town and did not get back until 6/16 and sent off the required paper work and did get back an immediate email response the same day.

"I will update you on your claim soon as I hear something.

 

Tamy"


Nothing else has happened so far... and the warranty period keeps ticking away. I have no idea as to what she means about she will update me on my claim when she hears something.

In the mean time, I filed a dispute with the credit card company and claimed that the product was not fit for intended use due to the severe vibration.  This is more than just a minor warranty issue as the manufacturer's quality control should have found this when the trike was built. The motorcycle repair facility said that I needed to take it to an automotive machine shop for proper diagnosis. Too many things are out of spec and any one or combination of the issues can be the cause of the problem.

Issues
Rear wheel out of round 3/32", tire tread area wobbles back and forth 1/8", rear wheel binds when rotated out of gear causing the chain tension to get very tight then loose as the sprocket moves forward and back when rotating, rear sprocket and hub wobble when rotated.

One last thing, if you will recall, the battery was not charging and it left me stranded. I put in a claim for a new voltage regulator as it was not charging the battery and this is the response.

"battery dead-- jumped on the CAR BATTERY ( I hope not) if so as per claim form this can void warranty

     wants instructions and electrical part to fix the charging unit."

More typical garbage. Jumping a 12 volt system from a 12 volt battery is a none issue as long as the connections are proper.


Jim

 

 

Thursday, June 9, 2011

 

Kevin,

I just wanted to thank you ever so much. I got my MC-95 yesterday and for 2 days, I have been trying to find out where to put the gear oil. Call to the selling dealer are useless as the only thing you get it a message voice mail and obviously no return calls.

My unit is also yellow. When I took it out of the crate, and started to remove the protective foam over the front two fenders, I found both turn signal lights broken off. The protective wrap is still over the lens.
left front turn signal lamp sitting on bike Right front turn signal lamp

These were overtightened by the manufacturer and the black plastic mounting portion of the molding are broken in about a dozen places. I have requested replacement lamps  under warranty. In the meantime, I used thick RTV to put them in place to get the bike through inspection.

Delivery was also an issue. YRC trucking brought the unit in to eastern PA from CA. They were supposed to deliver it to a residence but could not unload it off by using the tail gate as the create was about 5 x 8 feet long and the fork lift slots are on either end, not the long sides. Consequently, after two days of nonsense, I had the trucking company take it to a friend of mine who has a business about 30 miles away in DE where a forklift was available.

Some typical assembly issue were encountered. One of the rear fender bolts that was welded to the frame, was filled from the top side with weld splatter.  The assembler knew this as they put the bolt in to the nut from the tire side. Of course you could not bolt the fender on and I had to run to a hardware store to get a metric tape to re-thread the nut.

Once assembled, I could only guess that there was no coolant in the radiator, so I bought a gallon and mixed a 50/50 mixture to put in. It only took about 4 ounces.

I had to take it from DE to Oxford, PA to get it inspected, a trip of about 25 miles. Two thirds of the way there, the bike quit running with no electrical power. I was traveling at about 35 mph when it lost power. I did not have any tools with me as there is no storage compartment on these bikes. I had my wife bring some tools and a V-O-M to test the battery and connections. After removing the front windshield assembly and checking all of the connections, everything seemed to be OK. I went back to where the battery is located under the seat and looked more closely at the solenoid next to the battery. There was a spare 25 amp fuse stored there. I then pull the end off of the solenoid and there it was... a blown fuse.

I had been riding with the headlights on for safety. After replacing the fuse, I was able to start the engine. The next thing that I did was just stupid. I turned on the headlights again and immediately blew the second fuse. I was sitting on a desolate road about 8 miles from my destination. After thinking about this for awhile, I spotted a soda can that someone had thrown on to the side of the road. I removed the pull tab, broke off a portion so that what I had left looked like the letter U. I plugged this in to the fuse terminal, restarted the engine, but did not turn on the lights. I was able to drive it to the inspection facility where I left it until tomorrow.

I will go back and start to trouble shoot why the headlights are blowing the fuse.

The bike is unstable at this point. I really did not want to run over 40 for two reasons, break-in and odd handling characteristics. I read the article on toe-in and will check that first. At ~35 MPH, the bike rides like a tire is out of balance with a vibration. So, I will check the toe-in t see if that is the problem.

My bike was manufactured in May of 2010 and I will also see if it has the torsion bar assembly.

Anyway, thanks again.

Jim

 

 

Rear Wheel is out of round

Kevin,

I just spent another hour fooling around to try to see what was out that could be causing the problem. The drive sprocket on the engine looks good as there is no wobble in it and it is centered on the drive shaft as there is no movement from front to back when it is rotating. The rear set up is different and there are lots of things that are not true. None seem to be excessive, but maybe it is a combination of issues that is causing the problem.

I made a rig with 6 inch C clamp and a hacksaw blade and placed it next to the pins on the chain on the rear sprocket. I found the high spot (outboard direction from the center line of the trike) and then rotated the rear tire until I go the maximum clearance. It measures about 3/32". I don't think that the chain is the problem as it does not vary when rotating over the drive sprocket.  The width or off set of the rear sprocket teeth may introduce the back and forth movement when the wheel rotates.

On the end of the chain (chain centerline to the rear of the trike at the centerline of the sprocket), there is nearly a 3/32 inch movement toward the rear as the sprocket rotates. That would cause the chain to tighten and then relax as the sprocket turns. Since the center shaft hub that the sprocket mounts on is true (no deviation), that means the sprocket could have different issues. It could be cut off center, the mounting holes could be drilled off center or it could be slightly bent.

I rechecked the rear tire at the middle of the tread and it also moves in and out a full 1/8". In addition, the rim is not true and that is out 3/32" across the diameter of the rim. Finally, the tire tread moves left and right about 1/8".

There are just so many things that are out, that the real cause of the vibration could result from a number of these issues.

I think I need a new tire so that tread does not wobble, a true rim so that it is not oval in shape and a new sprocket that is true.

Will keep you advised as to where this goes. I did dispute the charge this morning as that is the only way that I can get the attention of the seller. Maybe the will wake up and give me a call and tell me how to fix this thing.

Jim

On 6/14/2011 11:00 AM, Kevin Rutland wrote:

Jim

 

I'm sorry to hear that you have the bad problem with the rear transmission system.  Sounds like you got a bad one.  Maybe it got dropped in transit.  I'd agree with putting a hold on the card and getting a replacement trike.

 

Sounds like the regulator was a bad connection/wire somewhere - possibly intermittent.

 

I hate it when companies don't respond to a problem! They should step up and take responsibility.  They should also adjust their claim for 85mph+ in their advert- mine does 52mph (GPS real speed not speedo)

 

 

 

Subject: Re: MC-95 Rear Wheel is out of round

Well Kevin... I am baffled. I left the slow rate charger on all night and made a 17 mile run the post office. When I got back, I decided to check the battery to see what the level of charge was.. SURPRISE... 13.56 volts. The darn thing is now working and I have no idea as to why. I also made another 15 mile jaunt later in the day, with headlights on and the battery is still fully charged.

Now for more bad news. The last thing that I have to get fixed is the ump, ump, ump sound as the rear wheel rotates and get rid of that awful vibration that I have had since the first ride. Everything was so strange, that I did not concentrate on all of the vibration coming from the rear wheel. I told you that I had all of the wheel balanced to try to fix the problem, but that did not work.

I made an appointment with a motorcycle shop to see if they could tell me what was going on. They confirmed what I said about the rim being slightly out and the wiggle in the tire tread of about 1/8" but they said that would not cause what I am feeling and hearing. They jacked up the trike and turned the rear wheel by hand. It binds as it rotates.. easy, stiff, easy stiff. The next thing they checked was the tension on the chain. It was way too tight, no give at all when pressing downward on the chain between the two sprockets. They loosened up the tension until it had between 1/4 and 3/8 inch flex with downward pressure between the two sprockets. They then turned the rotor (wheel was off) by had and it still was binding. The chain would have a little slack and then get tight as the rotor was turned.

Both the drive sprocket and the driven sprocket appear to be OK by just looking at a spot and rotating the shafts. When they were working on the chain, I noticed that the chain on the bottom between the two sprockets was moving from left to right and back about 1/2 inch. There should be no lateral travel. After spending about 1 and 1/2 hours on this thing, they had to quit and get other jobs finished. I had called and asked if they could squeeze me in just to take a look at it and two guys wound up spending all of this time. One has been a motorcycle mechanic for 27 years and the other one was a motorcycle mechanic for 14 years.

They concluded that the two shafts (drive shaft coming out of the engine housing and the rear wheel shaft were not parallel and that I might have to take it to a frame shop to get the frame adjusted. They also suggested that I order new sprockets and chain as there was just too much strain on these parts and they may be damaged or slightly bent.

I called countyimports.com again and listened to their menu of prompts. One by one I called back and punched them in sequence. No one bother to answer the phone, just a request to leave another message (I have left calls since 6/8 and none have been returned). I finally called the sales line as that is the only one with a live body. The guy said that Tammy was in charge of warranty and that she was away from her desk right now but should be back in 15 minutes and that he would make certain that she would call me to get the matter resolved. Well, after 6 hours of waiting, I never got a call.

I think that I am calling my credit card company tomorrow to put the charge in dispute. That is about the only thing that I can think of to do.

Jim

On 6/13/2011 8:41 PM, Kevin Rutland wrote:

Jim'

 

My battery/regulator readings:

 

Chargerd battery  13.3v

Engine idle running  14.2v

Lights on engine off 12.5v and dropping

lights on engine on 13.8v and dropping slowly

Lights on on engine idling 13.5v and dropping   holding with revs up

 

Hope that helps

 

Kevin

 

Sent: Sunday, June 12, 2011 9:48 AM
Subject: Re: MC-95 Rear Wheel is out of round

Good Morning Kevin. I rechecked all of the connections including the green wire going in to the connector at the solenoid next to the battery. All are tight and have good connections.

I am still not reading any increase in voltage when the engine is running to charge the battery. I am able to measure ~27 volts AC coming out of the alternator on two separate lines that go in to the regulator. If I disconnect the connector coming out of the regulator, the engine will not run. I wanted to see if I had any voltage coming from the regulator. The only line that is hot is the red lead that goes to the ignition key. That voltage is the same as the battery.

Did you measure the output from the regulator? If you did, you take the measurements?

I also spent about an hour trying to get the steering wheel straight while maintaining the toe in. It is difficult trying to get an accurate measurement with only one person. Attempting to thread the ruler through the frame to a spot on the tire is difficult with no one to hold the other end of the ruler. I get about 1/8" toe in about 1 1/2 inches below the center line of the tires. Because of the body structure, I could not make the measurement at the center line. 

Thanks

Jim

On 6/11/2011 4:35 PM, Kevin Rutland wrote:

Try pressing on the green wire at the solenoid connection!  It seems to be where Dean's problem is!

 

Kevin

 

Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2011
Subject: Re: MC-95 Rear Wheel is out of round

Kevin,

In an earlier email, you asked about the battery rating. My battery is clearly marked 12 volts 12 AH. It is sealed.

Jim

On 6/11/2011, Kevin Rutland wrote:

Thanks for the info Jim.  Saving me some time.  I'm suspecting the regulator too.

 

I'll keep checking and get back to you if I find anything else.

 

 

 

Kevin

 

Sent: Saturday, June 11, 2011
Subject: Re: MC-95 Rear Wheel is out of round

Kevin,

I found that and I think it is a rectifier. There are 3 yellow wires coming from the engine case on the right middle front of the engine inboard of the water hose connection. I believe that the alternator is inside the housing. With the engine off, all three yellow wires show no voltage. With the engine running, two of the yellow wires are putting out 26 to 27 volts AC. I tried reading them on DC and got a zero reading. These wires go to a connector that then goes to the ZTXZ1004 module that you are talking about. There are 3 additional wires coming from the module, Red, Green and Black as I recall. These 3 wires go to the ignition key.

The red wire will read 12 + volts (same as battery) but that voltage is coming from the ignition key switch. I suspect that this red wire is the wire that is supposed to carry the charging voltage back to the battery.  It reads the same voltage with the engine off or on and did not respond to increased rpm.

I am willing to bet that this is the module that is bad.

Jim

On 6/11/2011 3:04 PM, Kevin Rutland wrote:

Jim

 

That is a spare connector. at the front end.  Just tie it out of the way.,

 

I'm outside working on Dean's Trike, with the same charging problem.

 

The Regulator is located behind the left engine panel - two bolts to remove and them pull sharply downwards to release the panel.  Check the connectors on the regulator.  I'm about to check output voltages.

 

I'll continue faultfinding and get back to you.

 

Kevin

 

Saturday 11th June 2011

Kevin,

The unending saga of trying to get this beast to run and handle properly. I now have 62 miles on the trike and yes, you can post this.

Since I am new to riding something like this, I was not sure what to expect. At all speeds I get a vibration through the whole bike and could not figure out what was causing it. By the time you are at 35 MPH the vibration is very noticeable and with other control issues, it is hard to figure out what is going on. I took the trike up to an auto repair shop and had them balance all three wheels. One wheel did not have any weights and needed a small weight. Another wheel had a weight but it was totally loose. This did not solve the problems that I am having.

1) I jacked up the rear of the trike and started the engine in gear so that the back wheel would rotate. I used a fixed post to move close to the left side of the tire from the rear and it had a variation in distance from the fixed post to the tire wall of about 1/32 inch when the tire rotated. I then moved it to the right side and the variation was closer to 1/8 inch. Next, I put the fixed post at the back of the tire and fixed the position at one of the deepest grooves in the tread so that I could see how much wobble was on the tread. This measured about 1/16 inch.

I did not think that this would cause the amount of vibration that I am getting, so I decided to check the rim for being out of round. Low and behold, when I put the fixed post at the edge of the rim, I got 3/32" of distance out of round. I think this is what is causing the vibration of the rear wheel. I neglected to mention that there is an audible hum, hum, hum not continuous, but all of the  time like a  throbbing. The fast you go, the  faster  the  throbbing noise.

My son was following me in a car and watched the wheel and he said that the fender and  license plate vibrate severely.

2) I initially adjusted the tire pressure to 40 psi and since have dropped it to 37 psi to see if there were any handling differences. The result is inconclusive.
3) I changed the setting on the back shock from the middle position to the softest position (spring not compressed as much). This did remove the jarring in the buttocks every time you hit even a small bump.
4) There is a male electrical connector in the front that is disconnected. It consists of three wires, gray, blue and orange. The gray wire is hot at all times even with the key off. I used a multimeter and put the positive probe on the gray wire and the negative on the blue and orange alternatively. Both sets of connections show battery voltage. I have no idea where this goes as I cannot find a female connector to plug it in to.

I have no idea as to what this is for. Is it possible that this is why the battery is not charging? The voltage does not increase on this line when you rev up the engine.

Jim