P1000 Broken Bolt mount to A-Arm. 2018 Pioneer 1000-LE

[jp_holy]

All pictures of damage are attached!

So I bought a Pioneer 1000-LE Just 3 weeks ago June 12, 2020. I live in Kenton, Ohio. I drove all the way to Southern Honda Powersports in Tennessee to get this machine. Southern Honda is Awesome BTW. Had a great buying experience & was well worth the drive!! So the Machine I purchased was the dealership demo model. It had 437 miles on it when I bought it. So I got a pretty good deal on the machine, and the 1 year factory warranty would start the day I purchased the Pioneer. I also purchased the 5 year Compass platinum protection package from the dealer just to be safe & to cover any surprise costly repairs.

So I am driving in my freshly mowed field the other day June 25, 2020, I had just turned around and started to go again. Hit a small rut in the field and I then heard the tire rubbing, so I brought the machine to a stop. I thought I had blown a tire until I got out to check the damage. From the pictures you can see that I broke the bolt attachment that connects to the A-Arm.The attached pictures shows the tiny rut that I hit, and the exact spot that the machine came to a stop after hitting it. I was pretty bummed to see that the bolt mount had failed. I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but it doesn't look like there is a whole lot of meat on the part the bolt attaches to. This Machine has the Fox suspension, and I had it on level 2. I was the only rider at the time, and this should not have happened. I was just getting ready to go on a trip to Kentucky with my son and do some riding.

So the first thing I do is contact the dealer where I bought it. The General Manager of The Dealership assures me. "This will be covered under warranty, even at another dealership"

I then take it to my local dealership in Marysville, Ohio the morning after the damage June 26, 2020. The Service Manager was very friendly, and took care of me as soon as I arrived. He takes a look at it, and immediately starts to tell me, "I don't know if Honda will cover this" He said it will need a whole new frame or a new Machine. I dropped it off over a week ago now, and have not heard anything back from them. I called the other day & they said they were waiting to here back from the regional service manager & that they would let me know soon. I hope to hear something soon!

In the mean time I called Honda Costumer Support In California, and filled them in on the entire situation with pictures. They were friendly & said that they could not do anything until the dealer started the process. I live in Honda community, and have had all sorts of Honda Motorcycles, Cars, etc. my whole life. My Dad retired from Honda, and they have been good to my family & community! I am confident that Honda will take care of this & get me back in my Machine, with a new frame, or an entirely new machine all together! It's just a bummer that I only got to enjoy it for a total of 58 miles

Hoping to be back riding soon! Stay Safe!!

This is what I saw when I got out of the machine to check the damage.

This is the small rut that I hit & exact spot where I came to a stop after hitting it.

Here you can clearly see where the failure happened on the bolt mount that is attached to the frame.

It also bent the other side of the A-Arm mounting bolt location

Only 112 hours

only 495 miles !!

 

[Admin]

 

[DDDonkey]

Sorry for your luck, interesting that the tab broke in half, I have only every heard of them ripping off. Hope Honda gets you fixed up quick!

 

[JenElio]

First of all welcome from South FL!!
That sucks man, I agree 100% it shouldn't have happened at all. I've hit worse stuff and I have stock shocks. Hopefully they come through and take care of you like they should. Good luck and keep us posted

#NTC!!

 

[Russ989]

I’ve never seen this happen.

 

[ohanacreek]

@100Acre had it tear from the frame.

it’s a weak spot should be thicker metal

hopefully the OP has full coverage.

 

[CID]

I've seen that area reinforced on this site but I don't remember what model it was done on - so you're not the first. Insurance doesn't want to repair frame damage like that for liability reasons and will total a unit with nothing more than a bent tab.

A fab shop familiar with SxSs can make it better than it was new if you have someone in the area but I think it's Honda's responsibility to make you whole, at no cost to you - in a perfect world.

 

[Neohio]

Only seeing one half of the ripped steel. I doubt it will be covered under warranty.
That is a clean break, if it were a material defect, there would be evidence of a crack or other failure starting in the fracture.
The one picture does look like elongation of the bolt hole prior to fracture. But I still doubt they would claim that under manufacturing defect.

 

[jp_holy]

Yeah, I appreciate the support from everyone. I'm confident Honda will make it right.

Here is a better picture of where it failed.

 

[HondaTech]

This wouldn't be as big a deal of Honda would sell the 3 piece frame separately.

You could just replace the front half and be done in no time. But they refuse to separate the 3 pieces.

 

[ToddACimer]

I'd be prepared to call insurance. As clean as the break is, I'd weld repair it and beef it up.

 

[0860silverado]

Like others have posted, I've never seen one break at that spot. They usually rip out at the weld. For that piece of steel to just break like that, it seems certain that it was defective from the factory. I can't imagine Honda not honoring a warranty claim on that. Interestingly, they won't cut the remaining piece off and re-weld another due to liability issues. They'll change the entire frame. Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Haldog77]

Yeah, I appreciate the support from everyone. I'm confident Honda will make it right.

Here is a better picture of where it failed.
View attachment 211277

I just went out and checked mine to make sure. I have almost the same machine. Mine was all good. Good luck to ya.

 

[TxDoc]

jp_holy
I'm very sorry to see that happened to you as you were doing nothing wrong.

Considering your expenditure level for protection, SURELY, someone will do what's right and get you fixed up. Stay positive and report back.


Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk

 

[Cuoutdoors]

Wow that definitely shouldn't have torn off. I have the exact same machine and just passed 2000 miles. I can say i've gone over plenty of extremely rough obstacles and not had an issue.

In a perfect world Honda should put on a new front frame assembly and have it back like brand new.

In reality that spot needs a washer welded to it to make it stronger. Any decent fab shop with 30 minutes to spare could have it fixed up and it would be even stronger than it was new. Unfortunately the lawyers run the world and Honda can't weld a washer on and send it back out. If you wrecked it and died a lawyer would find a way to blame that washer.

I would call the dealer daily until the issue is resolved. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.

 

[jp_holy]

Called Honda Marysville this morning. Didn't speak with the service manager but spoke with another guy that works in service department. He pulled it up, and said. Well, it looks like we need $2,800 in parts, and we don't have the labor amount figured out yet. I asked, "does that mean Honda is going to cover it under the warranty?" He said he was not sure on that either, and that he would talk to the service manager & get back to me. I don't know if he has to talk to the service manager there or the district service manager ?? Either way, not a lot of info is being relayed to the ME, the customer that just paid $18K for the machine less than a month ago 🤷‍♂️ If I don't here back from anyone by close of business today, I will call them back again before the service department closes. Still hopeful, but I knew this process was not going to be an easy one

 

[TxDoc]

If they are paying, why would they need to tell you the amount? I would expect them to say that they need to order the parts and get you in for installation.

I may be wrong, but they sound like they are preparing you for the shock.

Let's hope not, though. Be positive

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[CID]

I'd give Honda a chance but I'd also have a back up plan. First, yes I'd be pissed if they dropped the ball but that's just a waste of your energy. I'd make a reinforcing piece, get it welded on and get back to my life. The common repair seems to be welding a thick washer onto the frame but I think that requires finding a longer bolt? Custom fitting a reinforcement like below can use the stock bolt, will only take 30 minutes to shape and it will be stronger than stock.

 

[Neohio]

If you choose to fix yourself, I do have weld washers and longer bolts to fix it yourself. You will need to straighten out the rear upper mount though.

 

[ToddACimer]

If you choose to fix yourself, I do have weld washers and longer bolts to fix it yourself. You will need to straighten out the rear upper mount though.

The washers are a great upgrade even if Honda fixes it.

I did the washers and tab gussets on mine with a longer bolt

Not the first one to do this but I did it a bit different. After welding washers on @Plumber32 machine a few weeks back I figured it was time to do my own. I really like the added beef on the A-arm tab but I didn't like the Allen head screw. I spent a lot of time surfing eBay for bolts and found a Polaris M10x1.5 230mm (7518472) OEM zinc plated grade 10.9 flange head bolt. It's a sportsman upper control arm bolt. @Neohio sent me a few of his weld washers and I turned 2 of them to fit the flange bolt rather than the McMaster bolt he recommended. What I ended up with was a snug fitting bolt and nut flange inside the weld washer.

Comparison picture of the OEM bolt vs new. Now before someone says the rear a-arm tab is on the thread, keep in mind we still need a weak link somewhere. With the snug fit of the nut flange in the weld washer Im already load sharing the portion of the bolt that's threaded and if something had to break replacing the bolt is cheap and easy, in reality the tight fit on the bushings in the a-arm tabs drives any side to side load into the inner face of the a-arm tabs anyway.
View attachment 199120
Test fit
View attachment 199121

Front welded
View attachment 199122
Rear welded. Note that I used the OEM bolt for set up rather than my new bolts so I didn't get weld spatter on the new threads
View attachment 199123

New bolt test fit and perfect fit at that

View attachment 199124
Painted and back together
View attachment 199125

 

[ToddACimer]

This thread was a good reminder to order a pair of replacement a-arm bolts. Just in case.