Baja Designs Hassle

Paul_Pitzonka
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693
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Location
Grand Terrace, CA, USA
Edited Date/Time 5/23/2019 1:25pm
I Recently just completed building a Baja/ desert bike for the upcoming 500 and had quite the negative experience with Baja designs... purchased a dual XL Pro light set (mounts/lights/ all ready pre-wired to a set of switches) l,and upon installation discovered one didn’t function ( ok no big deal things happen). This occurred last Thursday May 16... So I contact them; explain what’s happening... to which they say, “ya sounds like you have a faulty light and it needs to be sent back for repair...” I explain to them this bike is racing the 500 can you guarantee me a date these will be done by? Their response was, “well by the time we send you the return label you won’t be able to ship them out until Friday...” I think ok no big deal should be plenty of time... then I ask them can you give me a turn around time or return date? they reply with “well maybe towards the end of next week”... I then reiterated the fact that this bike had to leave in roughly 12 days and I really don’t want to be installing a set of lights the Day before... same deal no sense of urgency( guy just says well I don’t know what else to tell you)... so I decide forget it they’re only 2 hrs from me I’ll drive them down... I drive the lights down, they instantly test them and say ya the one light doesn’t work but it’s due to the wiring not the light... I say ok so can we just swap them for a working set the guy goes no we have to repair these, I say ok as long as you can get them back to me relatively soon... he said should be no problem And to except them delivered to me by Tuesday at the latest... So Tuesday evening rolls around and all the deliveries for the day had been made to me, I decide to contact Baja designs again and they say “oh our wiring technician was out yesterday, but your lights were shipped this afternoon”... I think cool! say thanks, and go on my day... I received the lights today May 22 and plug them in they work; at this point I’m thrilled... so I go about finishing installation... this is where things go bad again... none of the crimp connections were tight the wires fell right out of them, and the main ground for the lights was half crimped together with the worst butt-connector I have ever seen in my life... one connection was soldered (and poorly at that), the wire that feeds the dimmer switch (not a very important wire)... so naturally, I had to rewire and solder the entire setup not a big deal it’s only a few wires... But what I can’t stop thinking about is the lack of quality control, I had to wait an extra day because their “wiring technician” was out and this is the return results? You pride yourself on building lights for Baja, but the product they delivered was so subpar it’s actually dangerous... sorry for the long rant not normally one to do this but I felt this is something that needs to be addressed...
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5/23/2019 3:29am
While it does suck that you got a faulty set of lights, it sounds like the biggest issue is that you waited until the last minute to build a bike for the Baja 500. If I entered a 500 mile race in a third world country, I’d sure want to have my equipment dialed in a lot sooner than a couple weeks before I was leaving for the race.
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Paul_Pitzonka
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Grand Terrace, CA, USA
5/23/2019 4:36am Edited Date/Time 5/23/2019 4:39am
While it does suck that you got a faulty set of lights, it sounds like the biggest issue is that you waited until the last minute...
While it does suck that you got a faulty set of lights, it sounds like the biggest issue is that you waited until the last minute to build a bike for the Baja 500. If I entered a 500 mile race in a third world country, I’d sure want to have my equipment dialed in a lot sooner than a couple weeks before I was leaving for the race.
Practice and theory are two different things... with all due respect, I’m not a rich man and please don’t comment on a subject which you have no idea the amount of hours I have dedicated to making sure every piece of this bike is 100 percent ready... the logistics for this race are flat insane; I have months of my life dedicated to this... I didn’t go purchase some used bike on Craigslist and decide to throw a set of headlights on it... Also I fail to see how that even relates to the fact that They delivered to me a rather poor work of craftsmanship...
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5/23/2019 5:33am
Had a buddy have a weird experience with Baja about a month or so ago. Sent in a stator to be rewound for 100w that they do. His stator was destroyed while there. A machine tool feel on it and crushed it, damaging it beyond repair. It was not a common stator and it took them a while to locate a replacement. The quality once we got it back looked good, but it was a while before we got it.

I say give these guys a try next time if you're looking at lighting a bike in the future. They have good product too.

www.taskracing.com

Good luck in the 500, it's a mother!

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The Shop

ns503
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4/1/2008
Location
NS Toolies, CA
5/23/2019 5:41am
Did you send these pics to them?
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BAMX
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2898
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1/22/2012
Location
Fallbrook, CA, USA
5/23/2019 6:10am
Looking at those crimps, I would be concerned about the rest of the work not just what has broken already.
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KennyT
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4403
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8/16/2006
Location
Vista, CA, USA
Fantasy
5/23/2019 7:17am Edited Date/Time 5/23/2019 7:18am
They are a few miles away from me. The guys doing the wiring are not exactly “techs”

They r hired help being told what to do and make sure you get it down quickly. Doesn’t surprise me at all to see the shoddy craftsmanship. Considering the circumstances they should have sent you out a new set, one that worked
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CivBars
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1472
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4/13/2019
Location
USA
5/23/2019 7:52am
As much of a bummer that this is and I'm sure you didn't want to post anything negative about anyone, it sounds like you did everything you could on your end to make sure that you had a safe and functional rig.. I don't know much about lighting or electrical so if I ran into something like this while trying to get my bikes dialed in I wouldn't even know what to look for or how to fix it like you did. Luckily you know enough to get it up to par even if it's not something that you're responsible for. I'm glad you posted this as I'll take this into consideration while looking for lighting solutions for us in the future. I hope you're able to get everything in working order. Have fun, be safe and good luck in Baja!
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outerlimits
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272
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9/23/2016
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
5/23/2019 8:32am
Baja Designs is known for their quality so this is really surprising, especially seeing those pictures. I'm far from an electronics/wiring expert, but do all my own wiring and make sure it's rock solid by the time I'm done. You obviously know a little about how connectors should be when it's all done so I get how frustrating it can be to get something back that looks like that. The butt splice connector looks horrible for sure. Not sure if you pulled it back, but it also should have been covered with heat shrink so it doesn't come in contact with something metal and short out. Also, I like to see that on the ring connectors that there is heat shrink that completely covers the crimp section and ends right where the ring starts to widen to help hold both pieces together. It looks like those were barely crimped at all. As to riding/racing in Baja, you can have the bike where you feel it's "complete" a year before, but it's a guarantee you'll be doing things last minute. There are just so many things that can go wrong and getting stuck out there in bfe, especially at night, will humble you for sure. I've never been in a place as dark as a moonless night in baja.
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Paul_Pitzonka
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Location
Grand Terrace, CA, USA
5/23/2019 9:50am
I know Baja designs is know for their quality that’s why I found it surprising too! But, someone correct me if I’m wrong, I believe they were sold to a new owner 2-3 years ago... Also yes, I have contacted them and brought this to their attention as I definitely feel the company has the right to know... Thanks for the good wishes in Baja! should be fun Or something along those line haha
FWYT
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5/25/2014
Location
San Diego, CA, USA
5/23/2019 9:53am
I know Baja designs is know for their quality that’s why I found it surprising too! But, someone correct me if I’m wrong, I believe they...
I know Baja designs is know for their quality that’s why I found it surprising too! But, someone correct me if I’m wrong, I believe they were sold to a new owner 2-3 years ago... Also yes, I have contacted them and brought this to their attention as I definitely feel the company has the right to know... Thanks for the good wishes in Baja! should be fun Or something along those line haha
Yes, the guy that started it, Alan Roach, sold it a couple years ago.
Drtbykr
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2058
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10/29/2006
Location
Fredericton, CA
5/23/2019 9:58am
Have backup. Experiences like that sure are frustrating.
byke
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3105
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8/12/2015
Location
Auburn, CA, USA
5/23/2019 12:56pm
Hard to find good techs these days, even harder to make them.
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Paul_Pitzonka
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693
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5/1/2018
Location
Grand Terrace, CA, USA
5/23/2019 1:26pm
byke wrote:
Hard to find good techs these days, even harder to make them.
Isn’t that the sad truth...
Jharper
Posts
778
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7/13/2011
Location
Tampa Bay, FL, USA
5/23/2019 1:29pm
I work for a company that manufactures outdoor lighting. You should get your hands on some Wago clamp style connectors. They are gas tight connections and super strong. You can use them and tape around them and you're back in the game. No need to solder or hope the twist ties work. Here's a link to what I'm talking about.

Wago Connectors on Amazon

We use them in direct burial applications inside grease filled housings. That's another option, but I imagine it'd be ugly. Also these make for a quick check when testing where a failure may be. Just a thought. Sorry about your Baja troubles.


SCAM124
Posts
177
Joined
10/7/2014
Location
Northville, MI, USA
5/24/2019 4:31am
I am a connector and terminals expert! And I stayed at Holiday Inn express last night...
That butt splice looks like it was made of aluminum foil.
No doubt the crimps were done with the wrong die or a weak hand. Surprised they are not also soldered considering the intended usage.

Looks like tooling operator error and poor material selection for the splice.
ob
Posts
1751
Joined
3/14/2010
Location
Cardiff, CA, USA
5/24/2019 7:49am
That kind of work is in no way acceptable for something as important as lights on a race bike! I wouldn't trust my race to that setup, no way.
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Evoracer
Posts
262
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12/12/2013
Location
Anaheim, CA, USA
5/24/2019 8:19am
Solder, heat shrink, and move on. IMO
BAMX
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2898
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1/22/2012
Location
Fallbrook, CA, USA
5/24/2019 9:18am
SCAM124 wrote:
I am a connector and terminals expert! And I stayed at Holiday Inn express last night... That butt splice looks like it was made of aluminum...
I am a connector and terminals expert! And I stayed at Holiday Inn express last night...
That butt splice looks like it was made of aluminum foil.
No doubt the crimps were done with the wrong die or a weak hand. Surprised they are not also soldered considering the intended usage.

Looks like tooling operator error and poor material selection for the splice.
Crimping is one of those things where there is a right way and a wrong way to do it. If you are sell looms, you can and should buy a pull tester to verify that your crimpers are crimping properly. The wrong way usual works for a while then fails at the worst possible time, like doing 60 in the dark down in baja. I would expect a company like Baja to be doing it properly. That being said, it isn't the same company that it was. They were sold. Obviously, it has affected the product.

Proper crimp:

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Paul_Pitzonka
Posts
693
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Location
Grand Terrace, CA, USA
6/2/2019 11:05am
Just an update on the situation Baja designs has contacted me and is working with me to remedy the situation (which is good to see a company stand behind their product)... also as far as the 500 my teammate fell and destroyed his shoulder so by the time I was able to get to him there was no way possible to finish on time... be back next year to finish what we started...
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