BOX1

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

jp_holy

jp_holy

Member
Jul 6, 2020
13
44
13
Kenton, Ohio
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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.
IMG 3609


This is the small rut that I hit & exact spot where I came to a stop after hitting it.
IMG 3612



Here you can clearly see where the failure happened on the bolt mount that is attached to the frame.
IMG 3618



It also bent the other side of the A-Arm mounting bolt location
IMG 3621



Only 112 hours
IMG 3614



only 495 miles !!
IMG 3617
 
JenElio

JenElio

NTC's NoMo Chupacabra Caliente!!....
Lifetime Member
Oct 31, 2019
62,444
588,861
113
Loxahatchee, florida
Ownership

  1. Other Brand

  2. 1000-5
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!!
 
CID

CID

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Oct 27, 2019
4,975
22,071
113
SE Denver-ish
Ownership

  1. Talon R
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

Neohio

Beast of the East
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Club Contributor
Dec 22, 2016
13,241
63,622
113
Painesville Ohio
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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.
 
0

0860silverado

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 25, 2017
943
1,800
93
louisiana
Ownership

  1. 1000-3
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.
 
TxDoc

TxDoc

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 19, 2019
1,566
5,309
113
TEXAS 🇨🇱
photos.app.goo.gl
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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

Cuoutdoors

Executive Member
Lifetime Member
Sep 12, 2016
4,229
15,539
113
Central Iowa
Ownership

  1. 1000-3
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

jp_holy

Member
Jul 6, 2020
13
44
13
Kenton, Ohio
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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 :confused:
 
TxDoc

TxDoc

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
May 19, 2019
1,566
5,309
113
TEXAS 🇨🇱
photos.app.goo.gl
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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

Sent from my moto z4 using Tapatalk
 
CID

CID

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
Supporting Member
Oct 27, 2019
4,975
22,071
113
SE Denver-ish
Ownership

  1. Talon R
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.

I HtxkxCK L
 
ToddACimer

ToddACimer

Pioneer 1005-2
Lifetime Member
Oct 7, 2016
3,526
14,422
113
Oshkosh, Wi
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
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

ToddACimer

Pioneer 1005-2
Lifetime Member
Oct 7, 2016
3,526
14,422
113
Oshkosh, Wi
Ownership

  1. 1000-5
This thread was a good reminder to order a pair of replacement a-arm bolts. Just in case.
 
BOX2
box3

About us

  • Our community has been around for many years and pride ourselves on offering unbiased, critical discussion among people of all different backgrounds. We are working every day to make sure our community is one of the best.

User Menu

Buy us a beer!

  • Lots of time and money has gone into making sure the community is running the best software, best designs, and all the other bells and whistles. Care to buy us a beer? We'd really appreciate it!

    Beer Fund!

    Club Membership!