Licence Plate Bracket (Disaster)

[Charley Davidson]

I get myself into some bad deals sometimes and this is one of those times.
I traded some work for a car that I wanted the motor out of, part of the work was making a steel side mount license plate bracket for a Harley. The guy had bought a cheap aluminum one off Ebay and it kept cracking and after several repairs it broke off and was forever lost. I made him a steel one per his request but due to too much heat from welding it wanted to warp and twist a bit so I made him this real beefy aluminum one. Unbeknown to me he took it home out of my shop Fri. night and was trying it on his bike. He laid it down in his driveway and went inside and his GF drove over it actually parking on top of it. It proved my design was better but did mangle it a bit. The guy is beyond a PIA and I want him gone, thinking about giving the car back and sending him on his way.

Here are some picks of the process of machining and the damage.

 

[Old Iron]

You could do what I did to a guy after I finished the job I told him to never come back and I wasn't very nice about it.

I cussed this guy up one side and down the other it was really bad. The guy in the shop next to mine was watching what was going on through the whole deal

After the man left he came over and said do you know who that guy was? I said no and I don't care then he told me that the man was the Revenue Officer for the State sales tax.

I looked over my shoulder for awhile but he never came back.:bitingnails: So you never know who your dealing with.

Paul

 

[ScrapMetal]

Is he going to give you another car/engine to cover the cost of re-working/re-building it? :banghead: Seriously, does he expect you do fix/make it good pro bono after that kind of stunt? Guy sounds like a "real piece of work".

Interesting design you put together there. I'm curious about a number of things with it. Do you know what model/year of bike it's going on? I can't seem to figure out just how/where it is mounted so need to ask, where? I've got two "Harleys" and a "Harley chopper" of various ages (mostly older) but I can't see where that would be mountable on one of mine. Finally, what are those holes for on the end of the base, some way to "index" it on the bike? Thanks.

Always curious,

-Ron

 

[Charley Davidson]

Is he going to give you another car/engine to cover the cost of re-working/re-building it? :banghead: Seriously, does he expect you do fix/make it good pro bono after that kind of stunt? Guy sounds like a "real piece of work".

Interesting design you put together there. I'm curious about a number of things with it. Do you know what model/year of bike it's going on? I can't seem to figure out just how/where it is mounted so need to ask, where? I've got two "Harleys" and a "Harley chopper" of various ages (mostly older) but I can't see where that would be mountable on one of mine. Finally, what are those holes for on the end of the base, some way to "index" it on the bike? Thanks.

Always curious,

-Ron

Going on a "Deluxe" The holes are for indexing, I put a pin in the original mounting bracket he has. It will mount on the lower leg of the swing arm (Softail)

 

[road]

I would give him a complete itemized quote / bill of sale for a new one

I would tell him the deal was as stated, this rebuild has no relation to the original deal ..

either he runs off or you get paid ..

 

[David]

Real nice machine work you did Charley. I've been there, that's a bad feeling to do a lot of work and then have some guy screw it up and then expect you to fix it. If you have the motor in hand walking away may be a good thing for you.

David

 

[churchjw]

Those are cool little angle plates your using. I need to make me some of them.

Jeff

 

[samthedog]

I would give him a complete itemized quote / bill of sale for a new one

I would tell him the deal was as stated, this rebuild has no relation to the original deal ..

either he runs off or you get paid ..

This. I have started using a different response once I noticed sympathy and empathy for some folks is a sign of weakness. It goes something like this, "Oh - I'm sorry. I thought your problems were YOUR problems".

Sometimes the occasional miscreant can sour even the sweetest of deals.

Paul.

 

[Bill C.]

I get myself into some bad deals sometimes and this is one of those times.
I traded some work for a car that I wanted the motor out of, part of the work was making a steel side mount license plate bracket for a Harley. The guy had bought a cheap aluminum one off Ebay and it kept cracking and after several repairs it broke off and was forever lost. I made him a steel one per his request but due to too much heat from welding it wanted to warp and twist a bit so I made him this real beefy aluminum one. Unbeknown to me he took it home out of my shop Fri. night and was trying it on his bike. He laid it down in his driveway and went inside and his GF drove over it actually parking on top of it. It proved my design was better but did mangle it a bit. The guy is beyond a PIA and I want him gone, thinking about giving the car back and sending him on his way.

Here are some picks of the process of machining and the damage.

Your replacement part looked beefy enough same his mounting plate wasn't stronger. Its a shame some people don't appreciate all the work and re-engineering you did.

 

[Walt]

Although you did nothing to deserve this, in your shoes I would return the car to him just so I'd never have to deal with him again.

Walt