NHTSA Complaint #10078662 — 1999 VICTORY V92

COMPLAINT TYPE: INFERIOR/DEFECTIVE/FAULTY ENGINEERING/SOURCE OF A CRITICAL INTERNAL ENGINE COMPONANT, RESULTING IN PREMATURE FAILURE AND EXTENSIVE, AND POTENTIALLY UNNECESSARY COSTLY REPAIR.*AK VEHICLE: 1999 VICTORY V92C MOTORCYCLE COMPONANT: COUNTER-BALANCER BEARING COMPLAINT: A POST FAILURE EVALUATION LEADS TO REASONABLE CONCLUSIONS: 1.) THE BEARING, QUITE STANDARDIZED, WITH MULTIPLE APPLICATIONS, WAS INCORRECTLY CONFIGURED FOR THE SPECIFIC USE IN THE BOTTOM END OF THE V92C ENGINE: A.) METAL NOT HARDENED, THUS NOT SUITED FOR HEAT AND VIBRATION COMMONPLACE FOR THIS PARTICULAR COMPONANT. B.) THIS FAILURE TO PROPERLY SCALE/ENGINEER THIS COMPONANT RESULTS IN AN EXTENSIVE REPAIR. AN $18 REPLACEMENT PART, REQUIRING A FULL BREAKDOWN OF THE V92C ENGINE. C.) FURTHER, AS THE REQUIRED ENGINE BREAKDOWN AND RE-ASSEMBLY IS CONDUCTED, VIRTUALLY ALL ENGINE GASKETS ARE REQUIRED TO BE REPLACED AT SUBSTANTIAL ADDITIONAL EXPENSE. CONCLUSION: THE MANUFACTURER'S ENGINE ENGINEERING TEAM SHOULD CONSIDER THE RAMIFICATIONS OF SIGNIFICANT PROBLEMS FOR CURRENT OWNERS, AS WELL AS FUTURE OWNERS EXPERIENCING FAILURES UNLESS THIS SPECIFIC COMPONANT/ SPECIFICATIONS ARE REVISITED AND REEVALUATED WITH FAILURE FREQUENCY DATA CONSIDERED. IT IS MY CONSIDERED OPINION THAT THE MANUFACTURER HAS AN OBLIGATION TO INVESTIGATE, COLLECT DATA AND ISSUE A RECALL IF THIS FAILURE FREQUENCY FALLS OUTSIDE THE PARAMETERS OF MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURE TO BE EXPECTED FROM AN INTERNAL COMPONANT SUCH AS THIS, REQUIRING SUCH AN EXTENSIVE AND COSTLY REPAIR PROCEDURE.