Are SMC lt a-arms any good?

[450R#72]

Smc a-arms are cheap a-arms , but im wondering if there good or not? if you have any advise please help me out . And if you know of any std a-arms or lt a-arms that are cheap and good let me know. Thanks for your help

http://www.smcfabrication.com/ thats their website

[duke416ex]

I just installed a set on my 450 last week. I haven't ridden much, just one race on them so far. I did slam a tree fairly hard and hit some good rocks and no damage yet. They have a good look to them and installed very well. I will be putting them to the test over teh last few races of the season. I run A class in Mid South series, so they will be tested.

[honda63]

i race a class and ran smc a arms with motowoz shocks. i ran these arms almost all of last season until i broke my wrist, these arms held up awesome, they worked great, and they are alot cheaper than alot of the other aftermarket companies out there. i would definetly recomend them

[300ex mxracer]

X2. ive has smc fab. a-arms on my R for about a year and a half and theyve been great even through a few tumbles.

[bart_t]

This was my comment on another board.


I would have to argue that Steve is not a top notch dude and the customer service I had was horrible! I bought a set of these for my wife’s 400ex and was told that he would have them done in 2-3 weeks. Then it was delayed a week because he was training for a new job. Then another week because of another reason. BTW he never made an effort to let me know what was going on I had to chase Ken at KB to have him call and find out what was going on. So I finally received the a-arms and tie rods but he did a poor job of packaging them and they where all dinged up. Also you should know I was having a set of Motowoz shocks built for my YFZ around the SMC. So I called Ken he called Steve I am mad as heck at this point been put off then packaging was poor scathed up out of the box. Ken calls me back tells me Steve is willing to have me ship them back to him then he will have them re PC’ed. So now I have to take my time box them back up ship them back to him on my dime and my time. Wait for him to PC them, oh that was one of the reasons I waited an extra week because I had to wait until he had enough to send out for PC. I told Ken heck now I want some money back for PCing because I could do it local for much less or take money off of the ones I was going to buy for the YFZ. Steve’s answer was NO. So I called Ken he found me JD Performance a-arms for a little more and then called Jim at Motowoz and Jim stepped up and re valved and sprung for the a-arms at no cost. Dave at JD got my arms out quick and they where perfect. Packaged much better then just a little news paper in an old box from Rocky MT. ATV. They come with some cool billet caps chrome tie rods and the lower arms are gusted like the other top names. I would spend the extra little money for a better product if I was you.

[mx1791]

i ran there ST a arms last season, and one of my neighbors has the LT +3s, i have no complaints about them..

[schulte_85]

sounds like some one is on their period. Great A-arms. I have ran three sets of them. Two hard years in A class MX, and three years of GNCC and XC. I can understand that you were upset about poor packaging but I don't think you realize how much damage is from UPS and Fedex. SMC is a great company. Steve will always stand behind his products. A-arms get beat to crap. The powdercoat is going to get chipped anyways, unless you don't ride and act like p*ssy on your bike.:)

[ZSK]

Originally posted by bart_t
This was my comment on another board.


I would have to argue that Steve is not a top notch dude and the customer service I had was horrible! I bought a set of these for my wife’s 400ex and was told that he would have them done in 2-3 weeks. Then it was delayed a week because he was training for a new job. Then another week because of another reason. BTW he never made an effort to let me know what was going on I had to chase Ken at KB to have him call and find out what was going on. So I finally received the a-arms and tie rods but he did a poor job of packaging them and they where all dinged up. Also you should know I was having a set of Motowoz shocks built for my YFZ around the SMC. So I called Ken he called Steve I am mad as heck at this point been put off then packaging was poor scathed up out of the box. Ken calls me back tells me Steve is willing to have me ship them back to him then he will have them re PC’ed. So now I have to take my time box them back up ship them back to him on my dime and my time. Wait for him to PC them, oh that was one of the reasons I waited an extra week because I had to wait until he had enough to send out for PC. I told Ken heck now I want some money back for PCing because I could do it local for much less or take money off of the ones I was going to buy for the YFZ. Steve’s answer was NO. So I called Ken he found me JD Performance a-arms for a little more and then called Jim at Motowoz and Jim stepped up and re valved and sprung for the a-arms at no cost. Dave at JD got my arms out quick and they where perfect. Packaged much better then just a little news paper in an old box from Rocky MT. ATV. They come with some cool billet caps chrome tie rods and the lower arms are gusted like the other top names. I would spend the extra little money for a better product if I was you.

If you think that's bad service you've never purchased anything from Burgard. Steve is a great guy and is dediated to the sport. You should have been dealing directly with him. You can order the arms bare and then you can PC or paint them yourself.

I can vouch for schulte_85's riding style and I'm quite impressed the arms held up to what he throw's at a machine.

[bart_t]

Originally posted by schulte_85
sounds like some one is on their period. Great A-arms. I have ran three sets of them. Two hard years in A class MX, and three years of GNCC and XC. I can understand that you were upset about poor packaging but I don't think you realize how much damage is from UPS and Fedex. SMC is a great company. Steve will always stand behind his products. A-arms get beat to crap. The powdercoat is going to get chipped anyways, unless you don't ride and act like p*ssy on your bike.:)




How old are you? LOL

I see service obviously completely different then you. Are the arms going to get chipped, of course they are. It should not happen because of poor effort by the manufacture shipping them out. BTW Steve did not stand behind anything in my mind, but opinions vary. I am sorry I do understand everything about shipping with the different carriers. I use to own a computer mail order company. This had nothing to do with the carrier. It was as little effort as you could put into shipping something. Do you think my shocks from Motowoz where shipped with packaging so poor? Or how about my JD a-arms or anything else I have purchased. To top it all off they where a gift, yet they should not matter. I expect when I buy something that it will be perfect. But hey that is how I am. I expect to get something that is done right becuase that is what I paid for. So I still don’t see SMC as a great company.

Late shipping for weeks, told many different times they are going out in two weeks next week, sorry had to train for a new job, next week, vacation, waiting on ball joints but they are done, then a week later they are done just need to be PCed ship in a couple days……. Come on you know this is coming a week later they ship. Not packaged well and they come all dinged up. So if you call that good customer services hey it’s all you. I called and spoke with him many times. Had Ken call him then after I found the damage I let Ken do all the talking because I had nothing good to say and I would have been more then happy to send them back to him and get my money back. Ken did offer to take them back and refund my but I did not think it was fair for him to get the shaft because of that guy.

[300ex mxracer]

you must have caught him at a bad time or something. me and everyone i talked to had great products and service

[korniev]

Well I had a pretty good experience with both Motowoz and SMC. I must admit those are both small companies that are starting to grow vert fast and that is why they are NOT working VERY fast, however my first arms that I got was Laegers and believe it or not I had to wait for my +3s from them for literally 4 month! Can you imagine! 4 month and more than 900$ for 4 pieces of metal!!!
They only charge for their name! They did not even have the bushings! SMC came in 3 weeks looking prefectly and I am more than happy with these arms. I will never pay more than 600-650$ for a set of arms because it is just a fair price..... Those famous comanies just organized a kind of a monopoly and so SMC is here to finally make both ends meet......

[BlaineKaiser450]

I ordered my Motowox/SMC front end in november (towrds the end of the month) and got them mid December. My a arms had one little chip on the front but i didnt care because after the first roost they got more chips in them. For every quad i buy from now on, im getting Motowoz/SMC suspension unless its gonna be a screw around bike or something. O and Steve was a pleasure to deal with :macho

[tar]

Yeah Steve is a really cool guy. I have had mine on for about 6 minths now and havn't had one complaint! PC is still perfect and they lasted through a pretty nasty wreck too. My shipping was a little slow so I called and he told me they would be there monday..sure enough there was the neatly packaged box.

[schulte_85]

bart-t,

I am 22 years old. I have dealt with Steve for a long time now. I have never had any packaging problems with him. He will fix anything. He is a very small company and is just starting out, and I have never had to wait longer than 3 weeks for any custom part made for my race bikes. I have dealt with many other companies and have had poor service sometimes, but most of the time it is the way you treat them back. If your going to be an a** towards them they are going to dish it back. Customer satisfaction is huge, but keeping one customer who is a pain, is not worth it.:)

[bart_t]

Had it only taken 3 weeks and his package things right for me, I would have the same thoughts as you. That is not what happen and he did not offer the CS you speak of in my case. You would like to put the fault on me when in fact it was all him. It is nice you're loyal to him and I hope that it works out for you. Sorry you did not like what I had to say but it is all true. I have not bashed anyone that likes him or had a good story. That is just what happened to me.

I would like to know how you think I was the problem, your thoughts on that might be interesting. Just so you have the facts 5+ weeks to ship started at 2 and a different reason each time and packaged poorly pick up cost to ship back to him will not take back will re PC but who knows how long that would have taken. So please tell me how I am the pain.



BTW asking you your age was just a rhetorical question.

[mx4christ]

Originally posted by bart_t
Had it only taken 3 weeks and his package things right for me, I would have the same thoughts as you. That is not what happen and he did not offer the CS you speak of in my case. You would like to put the fault on me when in fact it was all him. It is nice you're loyal to him and I hope that it works out for you. Sorry you did not like what I had to say but it is all true. I have not bashed anyone that likes him or had a good story. That is just what happened to me.

I would like to know how you think I was the problem, your thoughts on that might be interesting. Just so you have the facts 5+ weeks to ship started at 2 and a different reason each time and packaged poorly pick up cost to ship back to him will not take back will re PC but who knows how long that would have taken. So please tell me how I am the pain.



BTW asking you your age was just a rhetorical question.

I agree... How is he being a pain. To me it sounds like SMC has an overall good rep but dropped the ball on this one. SMC should offer a partial refund. If I had a company bothch my order and take 2x as long as they originally claimed why would I send the product back to them. If SMC had taken the time to properly bubble wrap the a arms then regaurdless of what Fed Ex or UPS did to the package the paint would not have chipped.