And you think the LT has rear bearing issues?!

[messenger13]

A friend of mine on the Ninja forum created this thread today...


I took this picture of a brand new 2005 ZX-12 a few months ago. The customer had his wheels chromed (always a big mistake) and wanted me to check out the internals. Several of his friends had discovered problems with their wheel bearings after chrome plating. After looking at the carnage for a few minutes I've come up with the probable sequence of events. First the bearings had to be removed prior to plating. Then the bearings could not be re-inserted. Then the mechanic (butcher) used his trusty Dremmal tool to grind out the offending chrome plating from inside the hubs. Then he discovered that he went too far and the bearings fell in and out. Then he took his biggest ball-peen hammer and proceeded to beat the living daylights out of the center hub hoping to smash it down to a reduced inside diameter. When didn't work he used shim stock to hold the bearings in place. Then he re-used the Dremmal and attempted to smooth out (if you can call that smooth) the damage he'd done. Neat huh?

http://pic10.picturetrail.com/VOL326/697109/1163801/95888552.jpg


Reason enough to never have your wheels chromed. In fact, makes you wonder if you should ever have anyone touch any part of your bike if you don't know them and/or trust their work. I can't imagine riding on the above bearing. That is way to scary!

[S2DOG]

OMG.... The word "Idiot" just doesn't seem to describe this with enough accuracy. Perhaps "Moron" would better serve?

[eljeffe]

And the person who did this (owner who chromed it in the first place, and the mechanic that beat it to submission) are still members of the gene pool?

I mean, I've done some stupid shit in my life, but geez!

[airborneod]

Scary and several of his friends as well.

[rdtebeau]

You don't suppose this was an ex BMW assembly worker..... nah.

Kinda gives a new meaning to "Chrome want get you home"

[petepeterson]

Oh, come on,,, admit it, this is a joke right????..........Regards Pete

[omurphy]

the chrome shop should have known better than to have plated a bearing fit. it don't work that way. i've had wheel hubs plated before and they didn't plate the bearing areas. i think what must be done is to put some type of insulation (insulation that can be painted on and is impervious to the plating solution) on the areas that are not to be plated. omurphy

[meese]

Yes it can be done well, if you take the time to. In my industry, we make some complicated aluminum pieces with very tight tolerances between areas of hard anodization, bare aluminum, and nickel plating, all to Mil-spec standards.

But it's much easier to just prep and dip the whole piece, then let the customer or mechanic sort it out later. Sounds like simply a bad plating job, followed by an inept mechanic, and a customer who didn't really know what he was letting himself in for.

I wonder if Kawasaki would warranty that part? :)

[Dezrae]

It could have been worse, they could have plated the rim with the bearings still in it!!:eek: