jayzx10r Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 (edited) I just received my Brand New Skat-Trak 21x12x8 8 paddle haulers from RMATV today. I ripped open the packaging and right away it iwas obvious that the paddles are NOT evenly spaced.... Measurements taken from the center top to top of each cup. Wheel 1: 8-15/16", 7-3/8", 8-1/2", 8-1/2", 8-3/4", 8", 8-7/8", 8-9/16". Max variance 1-5/8". Wheel 2: 8-5/8", 7-5/8", 8-3/8", 8-5/8", 7-7/8", 8-7/8", 7-3/4", 8-9/16". Max variance 1-1/4" This appears to be really crappy workmanship to me . On tire 1, how out of balance is the tire going to be with the nearly 9" gap next to a 7.3" gap, etc, etc, etc when I'm rolling wound out up the hill?? The same with tire 2? I think this is weak. Am I being overly picky or do you think I'm gonna have significant out of balance issues too? I've balanced a lot of street bike tires, and balance is really important...not to mention easier on the machine. My last set of Haulers were evenly spaced and they were great!! I'm not feeling that here. What'cha think?? Is this gonna be a return item to RMATV? Jay From SanD. Edited September 26, 2007 by jayzx750 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
okbeast Posted September 26, 2007 Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 Hm, I've never measured any of mine, I just line 'em up when I put 'em on and go on my way. When it's spinning at 10,000 rpm it doesn't bother me :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayzx10r Posted September 26, 2007 Author Report Share Posted September 26, 2007 I called Skat-Trak today. They told me the paddles should be spaced within 1/4" typically, unusable over 1/2" so back to RMATV they go!! I have nothing but good things to say about RMATV. Quick shipping and no hassles on my return RMA# and covering the return shipping. AAA+!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rubberneck Posted September 28, 2007 Report Share Posted September 28, 2007 That set must have been glued up on a monday after a long hard weekend. LOL I have a set that one paddle is crooked. Doesn't seem to affect the performance, but it has always annoyed me. They came with the bike. They are 20/10/10 10 paddle. I will probably replace them with some 21/12/8 or 22/11/8 8 paddles anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FireHead Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 I called Skat-Trak today. They told me the paddles should be spaced within 1/4" typically, unusable over 1/2" so back to RMATV they go!! I have nothing but good things to say about RMATV. Quick shipping and no hassles on my return RMA# and covering the return shipping. AAA+!! RMATV is usually good about that stuff. Custome tire manufacturing suchas what Skat Trak does could be viewed as an art form, thus I suspect they reject alot of tires internally, however it sounds like one of your tires got by them. :geek: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClimbAnyHill Posted September 30, 2007 Report Share Posted September 30, 2007 Wow... I didn't really want to hear that. I'm waiting for Skat Trak to return some Haulers that I sent in for repair. So let's hope they come back looking good. Skat Trak isn't that far from you Jay, would ST honor the return and replacement straight thru them? Just a thought... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
locogato11283 Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 send them back!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesw Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 to each their own but i think your putting way to much thought into it. as long as there are same number of paddles and they are somewhat close spaced who cares. its not going to make your bike run bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91banshee Posted October 1, 2007 Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 to each their own but i think your putting way to much thought into it. as long as there are same number of paddles and they are somewhat close spaced who cares. its not going to make your bike run bad. for real !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayzx10r Posted October 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 1, 2007 to each their own but i think your putting way to much thought into it. as long as there are same number of paddles and they are somewhat close spaced who cares. its not going to make your bike run bad. I called Scat-Trak tech (talked to Larry--nice guy) and before I told him how far off the paddles were, I asked him what the company considered nominal spec for symmetrical paddle placement. He told me that the tires are all made by hand, so absolute perfection is impossible. Then he said that they shoot for 1/8" between paddle deviation, but 1/4" is as far off as they like to see them. So I said that something over 1/2" would be out of the question and he replied that "anything over 1/2" off would be unridable at speed." So I told him I had just received a brand new set of 21x12x8 8 paddle haulers that one tire was 1 5/8" off and the other tire was off by 1 1/4" on paddle placement...he said they should have never left the building!! Here is a tidbit for thought: :geek: At 63MPH, the rear wheel of this 66" rollout wheel is pulling 1008 RPM at speed...or 16.8 RPM per second. 1200RPM@75MPH is 20 RPM per second. I don't know what those individual paddles weigh, but relative to the buffed tire carcass, they are significant. But I do know that non-symmetrical centrifugal forces increase exponentially to the square of the speed and so only magnifies those imperfections.... Or maybe it doesn't matter... :shrug: Looking forward to my new tires!! :thumbsup: Jay From SanD. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishwater Posted October 2, 2007 Report Share Posted October 2, 2007 I agree with you 100% there is no way that it would NOT affect your bike. I think it would cause the tire to almost run "egg shaped" in a sense. Think about it,when you are balancing a tire you are trying to offset the additional material in the tire with a weight so the tire is as round as it can be at speed. Those paddles are a lot of weight, they are designed to be evenly spaced across the diameter of the tire. Plus you are talking about a high reving two stroke with some serious wheel speed. For sure you did the right thing by sending them back & it is awesome to hear the Scat-Trak is concerned about their quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jayzx10r Posted October 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 8, 2007 The Drama Continues.... First, let me state that RMATV has GREAT customer service and I will be a returning customer in the future.... I don't blame them for any of this. That being said, my replacement set of tires were nearly as bad.... On this set, one tire has cups that appear to have had some casting issues. They look like the molds were unclean when they cast the cups before they were glued on. Picture this: when you peel away the paper from a cupcake...some cake sticks to the paper and there is a coarse, rough, irregular coating of cake on some parts of the paper, and some places where the caked didn't stick---That is how the cups looked on this tire!! It most probably would function fine, but as people spend thousands of dollars on appearance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigboybanshee Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 I'm sorry to hear you're having these problems, but I have to agree with a few of the others, the paddles being off a little bit isn't going to affect the performance. One of my paddles on my 14 paddle extremes is WAY out of line as far as distance between blades, and I run my bike over and over again at 70+mph every weekend, and they perform as expected, no problems at all. This is also with a rigid rear suspension, so if the back end was "out of balance" I would definitely feel it. Just my .02 :shrug: Hope everything works out for you, but I feel like you're going to be going through this again with the next set you receive! :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClimbAnyHill Posted October 9, 2007 Report Share Posted October 9, 2007 I got my haulers back from Skat Trak & looked really neat & cups were placed on correctly. There were no slop jobs or misplacements. Larry & Kim over there are great... When originally sent them out Larry said it was a two week turnaround. I told him it was an incovinience since I had a Dumont trip planned out & need it them fast. One week later Kim calls to confirm my repairs were completed, she called me the next day with a tracking number and a few hours later the Haulers arrived. I'm very happy with their service. What sucks is I missed out on Dumont! But Skat Trak did their part to make me happy. I saw good deals on the Haulers over at the Sand Sports Super Show, half the tire was coated with the adhesive used for the cups, looked like paddles rolled thru tar... Those might be part of their quality controll flaw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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