Complaint Review: Arias Industries - Gardena California

I ordered a custom made set of pistons for my Harley from Arias Pistons of Gardena, California.  This was not a racing application. The kit cost close to a thousand dollars landed in Canada.  They were forged from a special aluminum that was said to expand minimally, and the instructions said they could be fitted with .002 clearance.    A reputable machine shop bored the cylinders to the supplied specs and the pistons were installed. 

They seized on first start-up and were ruined.  The Arias rep called the machine shop and confirmed they were fit as per the specs provided by Arias, however he was rude and sarcastic and would not replace the pistons. I should have quit there, however as starting from scratch with another company would have been more time consuming I ordered another set of pistons and rings one size larger, as the cylinders now had to be re-bored. 

I paid full price again.  The new pistons were installed with more clearance and the engine ran fine, but it blew oil out of every fitting.  The reason was not immediately clear. Over time the engine was torn down several times.  A new oil pump was purchased and installed, and I spent in the vicinity of a thousand dollars trying to correct that problem. 

The bike sat for a couple of years. I tore it down again and decided to try replacing the piston rings.  I called Nick at Arias. He sold me a replacement ring set identical to the rings they had supplied with the pistons.  When I went to install them I found the gap on the old and new rings was so excessive the rings were not serviceable for that piston and bore size. 

I called Nick about this and was referred to his co-worker Elmer.  Elmer said that rings in that size do not work for that bore. Together Elmer and I figured out that when Arias sold me the custom made pistons, they could not and did not supply rings in the correct size so they supplied under sized rings.  The oil leaks were due to the ill fitting rings. 

I returned the replacement set of ill-fitting rings they had sold me and was actually charged a re-stocking fee.  They still could not obtain rings to ft the pistons they made for me, and Elmer put me on hold for more than ten minutes.  To add insult to injury, during that time I had to listen to a recorded message assuring me that: "We won't sell you a kit that's just close enough.  Now don't hang up.  We know your time is valuable..." etc. 

Finally Elmer came back on the line and told me that Nick Arias would call me back, however he never did.  A local machine shop measured the pistons and cylinders and ordered a custom made set of rings that fit the bore for around a hundred dollars.  For the first time in several years the engine runs without spewing oil out of every fitting.  On both purchases Arias Pistons did not supply a workable kit, and would not stand behind their product. 

I spent approximately two thousand dollars for junk and probably another thousand in costs resulting from their unworkable kits. They do not not stand behind their product, and attempting to deal with them is an abominable waste of time. Arias Pistons have a lot of expertise however it wasn't evident in the products they sold me.  They are quite willing to let that be the customer's loss.