Stallion Info

[Mattel]

Please use this thread to post issues that you have had with your Stallion and how you fixed it. This thread is meant to help you see what other owners have used to fix small issues that may not need a trip to the dealer to fix. For me a trip to the dealer will result in 6 hours of drive time! If you are having a serious issue with your Stallion, bring it to the dealer to fix under warrantee, and you may want to share your experence on this thread if you think it will help others to know what the issues were.

 

[Mattel]

Front end vibration at speeds over 75mph

I had a vibration in my front end when I exceeded 75mph. I discovered that it may have been due to the front axel being too loose. This problem has been greatly reduced by the dealer tightening the front axel.

This is also good information to know if you have a flat front tire and you need to remove the front wheel (See your owners manual).

At first I almost did not what to get it fixed, to cut down on my speeding, but I gave in, and had it repaired.

 

[Mattel]

Wobble

I have heard this issue called a wobble by another Stallion owner. After the first tighning of the wheel, it is still wobbling at 80 and above, however it is greatly diminished. The front cotter pin did break and I had to repalce it, while I had it off I went ahead and tightened it, and replaced the cotter pins. The wobble seems to be reduced further.

 

[Mattel]

Adjusting Stallion Headlight

You would think adjusting the Strallion headlight would be easy, but it is a bit tricky. You need a 4mm socket with a short extention, a flashlight, and a very thin screwdriver.

There are three long adjustment threaded rod type screws on the headlight mounting plate. To adjust the light up or down you will need to move the top screw while holding the black plastic slotted piece that looks like a cone with slots in it. You will need to hold that slotted piece to keep it from spinning with the adjustment screw (this was the part that took me a while to figure out for myself). If you turn the adjustment screws without holding that plastic slotted cone like piece you will be just spinning the screw and scratching your head. Once you master that move, you will have an easy time making any adjustment you need to make. I found the left right bottom two adjustment screws can be adjusted with the hood down just sitting on the floor, but the top adjustment screw can only be adjusted with the hood up. I parked it in front of a brick wall and counted the bricks to see which way it was moving.

Good luck, let me know if you found this usefull.

 

[Scooter]

Hi Speed Wobble

I to had a high speed wobble, it started at 70 mph and got real scarry at 80.
On the advice of Mattel, I tightened the front axle nuts and the wobble has gone away. Thoroughbred Motor Sports told my dealer the same thing.

I drove around for about 50 miles and checked the front bearings to see if they were getting hot and they were fine.

 

[Papa Zook]

Thanks for the posts Mattel. The Stallions are so new it will be great to hear from other Stallion owners in case something comes up that we dont know exactly what to do with.

 

[Mattel]

Hot air coming out of the vent when driving with the ac on or off

Warm air is coming through my front vent when I am driving. I pulled the vent cover off and put my hand into the supply vent while I was driving and the air was not coming from inside the supply vent, but rather it was coming from inside the cowling and through a gap that was about an inch between the rear of the vent cover and the supply duct work for the ac and heat. Most of the year this would not be a problem, but when is it hot outside and I am not using my AC it bothers me. It also can be felt on hot days with the AC on as the air coming out of the top of the vent while driving will be hot and the air coming out of the rest of the vent is cold.

The Fix:
You will need: (1) roll of Metal suretape, (1) roll of black duct tape, a knife

I used metal duct tape made by suretape. This stuff is not cheap, it is worth the money as it is a thick metal with super sticky tape. It will hold it's shape even under a wind load.
I removed the vent and put the metal sure tape on the inside of the duct work and lapped it up as high as I could get to the back side of the plastic cover below the steering wheel. I tried to keep the tape a finger width up and away from the opening for the vent to allow the vent to move freely once I put it back in, and to allow the tape enough surface to fully adhere to the back side of the plastic cover below the steering wheel. (See the pictures) Once I went around the entire inside of the vent, I then closed all the gaps around the inside with small pieces of metal tape. I used a new carpet knife to cut along the edge of the plastic opening where the vent goes in. Then to finish it off and to prevent the silver from showing through the holes in the vent I covered the inside of the vent with the black sure tape. I then snapped back the vent cover into place and checked to make sure it moved without binding on any of the tape.

I know most of you ride with your ac on, or just close the vent. Let me know if you try this on your bike. Be carefully removing the vent as to not break the plastic pieces around the opening. You can remove the cup holders and remove the screws to the bottom piece to allow you to get at the back of the vent to remove it easer.

Sorry I took picture to upload but they were too large.

 

[Scooter]

Brake light switch problem

My brake lights quit working after one day. I went back to the dealer (Blackburns in Medina, Ohio) the next day and we took off the brake switch which is under the trike on the left side near the brake booster. We opened the switch, it was packed with dielectric grease and the contacts were spread apart too much. We bent them closer and it worked for a week.

Blackburns was great to deal with. Wayne and Gloria are great to work with. They go out of their way to help and made sure I was happy.

When the switch quit working the second time I took it off at home and played with the contacts, bent them some more, and got it working again. I called Wayne at Blackburns the next day, he had TMS in Texas overnight a new switch. When it arrived we took it apart, it just snaps together, to see if anything was different between the old and new. The new switch contained no dielectric grease. We put it on and so far it is still working, although it has only been a week. I think the grease may have caused enough interference to keep the contacts from making up.

I now check the brake lights every day before I open the garage door, so I can see their reflection on the door.

While it was on the lift I got a chance to really examine it from the bottom. This thing is really put together nice. Everything is top notch and well designed,

 

[Mattel]

Nice looking bottom

Scooter,
You are right on with how well the Stallion looks from the bottom! I was very impressed with the quality of the parts and how this bike is put together! I even use a sweat shirt under the frame when I jack it up to not chip the paint. You can see the CNC machine marks on some of the aluminum parts, and I love the minor imperfections in the hand laid fiberglass body that mark each bike like finger prints.

 

[Papa Zook]

I had mine on an auto lift today. Im changing the muffler (I want mine quieter) and converting it to dual exhaust with two tuner-type high end stainless exhaust tips, one on either side. I was beyond impressed with the underside. Did you guys notice the chromed (or stainless) radiator return pipes that run front to back on the right hand side? That was a surprise. The thing seriously looks like it was put together at the Ford factory, its that tight. Everything is overbuilt, powder coated frame, really impressive.

 

[Big Dog]

Exhaust Changes

Zook, let us know how the new exhaust works out. I to feel that it needs to be alittle quieter.

 

[Papa Zook]

Big Dog- Im going to take a bunch of pictures of what we are doing with the exhaust system and I will post them here. The space is pretty tight. Im not altering anything from the rear catalytic converter back. (there are TWO of them) The existing muffler is a short, round, straight-flow through type muffler and Im installing one thats a little quieter and making it exit as duals on either side.

 

[Scooter]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

After riding harleys for as long as I have, this thing is quiet. It sounds like a sports car. I enjoy the rumble. You Gold Wingers wouldn't understand. To each his own.

I don't think any Ford is built this nice. The radiator pipes are Stainless Steel.

 

[Big Dog]

Electrical Issues

My bike has had issues with blowing turn signal and brake light fuses. Had it in a Motor Trike dealer in Sarasota, they tried. What they did find was alot of splatter in the harness connections. Cleaned them out, worked in the parking lot, the fuses blew by the time I got home.
After talking with my dealer Cycles and Trikes, in Maryland, and Suzie in the Stallion factory I have to take it to Russel in Daytona Beach. Had to buy a trailer, oh well. I'll be there in the morning, no time frame on repair time.

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Yea! My rear end finally came in. Boy that sounds bad LOL. So I get the white beast back tonight. Been having bad withdraws over the last 5 weeks. Get it back so I can take it apart LOL.

Got to hit the Led light’s replacement and get it under way. After the tail lights project, will be checking on possible headlight replacements and ground effects lighting.

Waterproof speakers are on the way to add front speakers but may change my mind on the styles after I take some plastic off.

Some place I have to through in auxiliary power spots. Trying to figure out away to convince the wife and work to let me goto see Bazooka for the exhaust.

 

[Big Dog]

Re: Electrical Issues

Spent the day with Russel in Daytona. Found a problem with the light socket on the right front turn signal, trouble shot the brake lines. All the lights were working, Russel went for test ride and only blew the problem fuses three times! Back to square one, only thing to do with electrical problems. Eight hours down, many more to go.

 

[katfish16]

Re: Electrical Issues

Big Dog, I have a Goldwing trike and when I got it I had the same problem in blowing fuses. I isolated the problem to the left rear tail light. when I put on the brakes the fuse would blow. after I took everything apart I found the bulb had a small wire coming out of it that was coming in contact with the socket and when I applied the brakes the bulb would short out the fuse. Stupid problem and I could not pull out any hair because I am already bald . But now it is fixed. The only way to fix a electrical problem is to isolate the area it is in by pulling fuses one at a time. Good luck.

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Big Dog I just got mine back last night. I had problems with my Right Driving light also. They replaced it. But the root of most of the problems that was blowing fuses and effecting other problems. They replaced the Braking switch in front of the left rear tire. The fuses quit blowing. Have them try that. Because it effects a lot of other items on the trike that you wouldn’t think it would.

 

[Big Dog]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Just heard from Russel, he found the problem. The harness was pinched by the body along the frame. He rearrange the harness, put in 5amp fuses and rode for ten miles no blown fuses. I'll be driving back over and picking it up tomorrow, yeah baby.

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Great glad the problem was found.

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Has anyone had problems with the mirrors being too low to see out of? They (my dealer) tried to raise them up but they had very little to play with. Was wandering if someone had a work around.

The stallion has been back 2 days and stuff is going down hill already and my dealer is closed till OCT.

Does anyone have the phone number for TBMS? I haven’t been able to get on their web site in the last 2 days.

 

[Russel with one L]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

The phone # for Thoroughbred is 1-888-783-3348. Their email and the web page has been down due to their internet server being down because of hurricane Ike. Please be patient when you call as they have been getting alot of extra calls because of the internet being down.

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Thanks Russel, I bet they are busy. I don't normally get too excited unless they give me a major run arround. I always have belived sometimes you just have to let folks try a few times.

I am just wanting some info that the my dealer did know. I was hoping to get some informatin on spec's so I didn't have to remove or disassimble just to get a few numbers or run a few device checks.

Thanks Again.

 

[Papa Zook]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

BenO - You can contact them at : MotorTrike@gmail.com
This is their temporary email address until their server is back up. In the subject line type in "Attention Suzi Crim - Stallion" and it will be forwarded directly to her. She heads up the Stallion Dept until Christie get back to full steam from her maternity leave. Suzi is very helpful and should be able to assist you. Also let me know if there is anything I can help you with. Call Randy (334)792-7444

 

[Gorilla]

Re: Brake light switch problem

Scooter What is your vehicle # ? My wife has unit 175 and today her brake lights quit. I could not find a blown fuse, so I am thinking the same problem you had. Also does anyone know what the replacement at NAPA might be? Thanks, Ted and MJ

 

[ben721364]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

I get the impression that most if not all of the problems reported here have to do with assembly and that as more are built, such problems will go away. I haven't seen anything to indicate a design or materials flaw beyond what one would expect with a new product.

 

[kippyg]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

i think ben is right when i got mine number 314 had a bad noise in the front end brakes this is brand new i put 1200 miles on it noise geting bad i called tbms the guy told me the front bearing for the brakes where put in wrong this did not happen to all stallions sent new parts all set that guy did not have to tell me anything thats how good it is to deal with them thay back us up i will allways buy from them just wanted to let the forum know how grate tbms are thanks kippy

 

[Gorilla]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Russel worked on the brake light problem today. It is in fact the switch problem. When the trike was at the factory in Aug they packed in switch with dielectric grease. They did this for the gear shift lever problem. Russel called them today and they said that the grease now needs to be put around where the plug from the harness connects. The grease is not necessary inside the switch as orginally thought. After Russel did his magic the stop lights worked. Well they worked until tonight. Now they only flicker. I am thinking that because of the previous attempts at a fix the damage is done and the switch needs replacement as Scooter has had done. I will be doing this myself, because I am now about 4 hours from Russel.

In response to BEN 721364 I was very aware when I purchased this trike for my wife MJ that I would be encountering teething problems and they really are not serious. We have unit 175. With approx the first 100 going to DEMO's we have APPROX the 75th delivery. As with any very new product unanticapated problems occur. We knew this and accept it. I hear quite a bit of changes that are occuring are to resolve these issues. Thoroughbred is fixing everything and all the problems that I have heard of are not serious issues.

Just a note if someone runs across the Shift lever being locked in Park issue. Until you get it fixed, just leave the lever in (N) and apply the parking brake. To get it out of Park: if you open the front hood, look at the backside of the gear selection mechanism on the inside, side of the mechanism you should see a plunger type part. Push this in while reaching around and move the lever out of Park to (R). NOTE PLEASE NOT DO THIS WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING. You will need the key in the ON position, but DO NOT START the trike, until you are on it and can have the brake applied after you have it out of (P). This will get you going and keep you going until it gets repaired. This is related to the stop light problem also, but not the same. The stop light switch does multiple funchions, light the lights and also allow the gear lever to move.

Ted

 

[BenO]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

Well I got my stallion back tonight from the dealer and I am on my 3rd brake switch replacement.

I have a little better work arround for when it wont come out of park because I dont like leaving it in Neutral.

Go to a hardware store or wla-mart or K-Mart or dollar store and buy a plastic putty knife 2.5 inches wide and vise grips ( smaller the better 5" or less).

When You have used the above instructions on getting it in to neutral you can slide the putty knife between the trip plunger and the frame work and it will wedge behing the white plastic piece.

It will stay there for a good while but it can faal out after a while depends on the road conditions, so I use the small vise grips to clamp it to the frame work and then it wont fall out.

This will allow you to shift it in and out of park. It will only keep the steering wheel from locking in place.

This will hold up for how ever long you need to be able to get to the dealer. It wont cause any damage to any thing doing this.

I am 3 hours away, as some are even farther. I am now carring the putty knife and vise grips in the trunk all the time.

Ben

(P.S. Mattel I will be swapping out the headlights tomorrow night I hope and I will post pics on the front speakers as I will starting that next. The plexiglass has came in for my own version wing which is much diffrent from the cleax ones epect more area will be covered.)

 

[Gorilla]

Re: Stallion Repairs & Trouble Shooting

BenO Please let us all know how the lights turn out. If it is successful we will need a parts breakdown. I really need to improve the lighting.

MJ and TED