hppants
Well-known member
Over the past few days, I have learned four undeniable lessons and if your attention permits you to read this rather lengthy post, you too may come to the same revelations.
I bought the YES warranty for my brand new 2014 FJR just last week. I thought about it a little after the sale, and in the end, decided to pay for the peace of mind. Last week, I also performed the 600 mile break in service myself on the bike, including the replacement of the rear end differential fluid. In my own thread, I resurrected the incredibly expensive Yamaha rear end oil debate. I opted to purchase the whale **** - again for peace of mind.
On Sunday, I set up a nice day trip to Natchez, Mississippi with 3 other friends, including G-Squared (Gary). You may recall that Gary sold me my motorcycle at Friendly Yamaha, and indeed rides a ’14A model as well. Over the past month (and certainly the past few days), Gary and I have gone from a Salesman/Customer relationship to friends with similar interest and EXCELLENT taste in motorcycles. We all had a great time riding the 225-ish miles to Natchez, and enjoyed some world class BBQ for lunch. After lunch, I typically lead this ride south on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River along the levee road. The first stretch is about 60 miles and it is a joy to ride. Picture wide open completely visible high speed sweeping curves with virtually no traffic.
Lesson #1 – The Yamaha FJR is one tough motorcycle – tough as nails.
I stop in the fishing community of Simmsport,Louisiana traditionally for an ice cream sandwich or a candy bar after lunch. Pants has an insatiable sweet tooth. I pulled into the gas station and parked under the shade. I get off the bike and Gary, who was riding right behind me, starts a conversation:
(Gary) “I can’t believe you didn’t get a flat tire back there.”
(Pants) “What are you talking about?”
(Gary) “About 30 miles back, you kicked up something shiny that looked like a big bolt and it flew right toward my face. I moved my head at the last instant and it hit me in the chest. I’m surprised that you didn’t get a flat tire from that.”
(Pants, looking down on his rear tire) “Well as you can see, the tire is perfectly fine and….what the heck is all of this oil all over the place?”
Well, it didn’t take long for us to realize that the drain plug from my rear end was the “bolt” that hit Gary in the chest. There was oil everywhere. The left side of my tire was coated in it. I just spent 30 miles running 75-85 mph with no oil in the rear end!!! Imagine the stress being placed on those parts in the 95 degree south Louisiana heat!!! I can’t believe this thing didn’t lock up and kill me. I can’t believe the oil that is all over the left side of my rear tire didn’t cause me to lose control and fall. A feeling of guilt comes as I realize that I could have killed Gary several ways too. The bolt could have hurt him, or he could have slipped on my oil.
Lesson #2 - Performing maintenance on even the simplest and most common task requires undivided attention.
I’m immediately reminded of my state of mind when I was doing the 600 mile service. I was rushed. I had plenty to do that afternoon. My wife was wanting to go out to eat. I was already sweating bullets from cutting the lawn earlier and I was a little tired. None of this is meant to be an excuse. Obviously, I didn’t tighten the drain plug carefully (I know I didn’t torque it down). It took a while, but eventually the plug worked its way loose and fell out. Of course I should have been paying closer attention to what I was doing when maintaining my motorcycle. I’ve been changing oil in things for 40 years. But even the simple tasks require concentration (and perhaps a torque wrench).
Lesson #3 - The Yamaha “Whale ****” rear end oil debate is now settled for eternity.
A small wave of panic came over me, but we all started putting our heads together to come up with a plan. I put the bike on the center stand and learned that the rear wheel was not locked up and it wasn’t making any unusual noises. I pulled on the wheel in all directions to see if there was any noticeable slop or play in the drive line and none was noted. I then realized that the filler plug is the same size and pitch bolt, so I planned to use that as a temporary drain plug.
As we are scratching our heads, a nice gentleman came over to ask if we needed help. It turns out he is a heavy truck mechanic. He mentioned that there was a gas station and fishing store about ¼ mile up the road that has a lot of stuff. I asked him if he would mind giving me a ride over there, to which he happily obliged.
(Side note – when I told my wife this story, she thought I was NUTS for getting into a pickup truck in the swamp with a stranger, but truthfully I didn’t think anything about it.)
We went to the store and headed straight to the “oils” selection – the entire 1/10th of a shelf! No whale **** in stock there but I learned that “Outboard Boat Motor Lower Unit Oil” in the generic brand, is in fact GL-5 rated gear oil. Then I looked around for something to use as a filler plug and found a nice sized fishing cork that I thought would work. SCORE!!!!! I picked up a roll of paper towels and for $7.56, I’m on my way.
Back at the ranch, we learned that Byron picked up a nail in his rear tire. While we were gone, he grabbed a plug from my kit and fixed it. Good to know that that they are being productive in my absence. I tightened the filler plug turned drain plug (tightened it GOOD), and filled her up with the generic GL-5. The fishing cork fit like a glove. I wiped off as much excess oil as I could and we decided to give it a shot. I stopped once about 5 miles down the road to look at it, but with no noise, no slop, and all systems apparently go, we continued. I rode the 100-ish miles back to my house without incident. I washed my bike and examined everything carefully. No noise, no slop, no leaks – nothing. So the GL-5 rear end oil works perfectly fine in the gen III fjr. The whale **** is ******** – plain and simple.
Lesson #4 - There are times in every man’s life when he gets to define who he really is.
The next morning, I went into my shop and drained the rear end oil to look at it. Not surprisingly, it had metal in it. Not chunks or even slivers of metal, but lots of very fine and shiny dust. I know that this shiny dust is bearing metal. One doesn’t have to be an expert mechanic to realize that the gears and shafts are hardened throughout, but the bearings are only coated with hardened metal. When they got hot, the hardened coating starts to flake off and it’s only a matter of time then. I’ve seen bearing failures of many kinds in the past. Sometimes (usually) they fail gradually. You start to hear noise, grinding or whining, and you know it’s coming. I would likely never hear that from under the helmet. Of course, sometimes bearings fail instantaneously. The bearing seizes on the shaft and on the bike when that happens, I’m going to get hurt. I’ve talked to several trusted mechanic friends and coincidentally each of them suggest that I just watch it and see. But I just bought a brand new bike and I sure as heck don’t want to be band aiding and worrying about something mechanical from the get go. I imagine dealing with this while we are camping in the mountains, far away from help and ruining other people’s vacations in addition to my own. Most importantly, I don’t want to be constantly wondering in my mind if the next curve is going to be my last.
So the first decision is that this **** is going to get fixed now.
I went online and discovered that the cost to replace the entire pumpkin assembly is around $600.00 including shipping. I then itemized all of the bearings and the oil seals, which of course is the minimum items that one would replace in this case, and the cost of that collectively is about $350.00. I’m not skilled enough to shim the ring and pinion gears properly, let alone press the new bearings in. So by the time I pay any mechanic to rebuild my pumpkin, I just as soon replace the entire assembly fresh from Yamaha.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Some of you may be thinking that I bought the YES warranty. Why not just bring the bike to the dealer, tell them the rear end unit has metal in it, and ask them to fix it under warranty and call me when it’s done? Well quite frankly, that would be dishonest and it’s just not right. This is not Yamaha’s problem – I can’t expect them to pay for my ridiculous stupidity. I made a bone headed mistake and rightfully, I should pay for it.
I called Gary as a friend and asked for advice. He promised to speak with the service peeps at the dealership and offer some helpful suggestions. This morning, the dealer agreed to allow me to purchase the genuine Yamaha pumpkin from the online vendor, which saves me a lot of money. In turn, they will discount their labor to install it for me and thereby keep my YES warranty intact. I could of course swap out the pumpkin myself, saving a few dollars. But at this point, I feel it best to just document that it was professionally done and put this behind me. I ordered the pumpkin this afternoon online – it will be here in about a week or so, and I’ll schedule the install shortly thereafter.
So these 4 lessons will cost me a pretty penny and I certainly am not thrilled about that. But I didn’t get hurt and thankfully, no one else did either. That of course is priceless. Motorcycles can be fixed, that is why they assemble them with nuts and bolts.
Of course down the road, after a few cocktails, this should make a pretty good campfire story.
Stay thirsty, my friends…..
I bought the YES warranty for my brand new 2014 FJR just last week. I thought about it a little after the sale, and in the end, decided to pay for the peace of mind. Last week, I also performed the 600 mile break in service myself on the bike, including the replacement of the rear end differential fluid. In my own thread, I resurrected the incredibly expensive Yamaha rear end oil debate. I opted to purchase the whale **** - again for peace of mind.
On Sunday, I set up a nice day trip to Natchez, Mississippi with 3 other friends, including G-Squared (Gary). You may recall that Gary sold me my motorcycle at Friendly Yamaha, and indeed rides a ’14A model as well. Over the past month (and certainly the past few days), Gary and I have gone from a Salesman/Customer relationship to friends with similar interest and EXCELLENT taste in motorcycles. We all had a great time riding the 225-ish miles to Natchez, and enjoyed some world class BBQ for lunch. After lunch, I typically lead this ride south on the Louisiana side of the Mississippi River along the levee road. The first stretch is about 60 miles and it is a joy to ride. Picture wide open completely visible high speed sweeping curves with virtually no traffic.
Lesson #1 – The Yamaha FJR is one tough motorcycle – tough as nails.
I stop in the fishing community of Simmsport,Louisiana traditionally for an ice cream sandwich or a candy bar after lunch. Pants has an insatiable sweet tooth. I pulled into the gas station and parked under the shade. I get off the bike and Gary, who was riding right behind me, starts a conversation:
(Gary) “I can’t believe you didn’t get a flat tire back there.”
(Pants) “What are you talking about?”
(Gary) “About 30 miles back, you kicked up something shiny that looked like a big bolt and it flew right toward my face. I moved my head at the last instant and it hit me in the chest. I’m surprised that you didn’t get a flat tire from that.”
(Pants, looking down on his rear tire) “Well as you can see, the tire is perfectly fine and….what the heck is all of this oil all over the place?”
Well, it didn’t take long for us to realize that the drain plug from my rear end was the “bolt” that hit Gary in the chest. There was oil everywhere. The left side of my tire was coated in it. I just spent 30 miles running 75-85 mph with no oil in the rear end!!! Imagine the stress being placed on those parts in the 95 degree south Louisiana heat!!! I can’t believe this thing didn’t lock up and kill me. I can’t believe the oil that is all over the left side of my rear tire didn’t cause me to lose control and fall. A feeling of guilt comes as I realize that I could have killed Gary several ways too. The bolt could have hurt him, or he could have slipped on my oil.
Lesson #2 - Performing maintenance on even the simplest and most common task requires undivided attention.
I’m immediately reminded of my state of mind when I was doing the 600 mile service. I was rushed. I had plenty to do that afternoon. My wife was wanting to go out to eat. I was already sweating bullets from cutting the lawn earlier and I was a little tired. None of this is meant to be an excuse. Obviously, I didn’t tighten the drain plug carefully (I know I didn’t torque it down). It took a while, but eventually the plug worked its way loose and fell out. Of course I should have been paying closer attention to what I was doing when maintaining my motorcycle. I’ve been changing oil in things for 40 years. But even the simple tasks require concentration (and perhaps a torque wrench).
Lesson #3 - The Yamaha “Whale ****” rear end oil debate is now settled for eternity.
A small wave of panic came over me, but we all started putting our heads together to come up with a plan. I put the bike on the center stand and learned that the rear wheel was not locked up and it wasn’t making any unusual noises. I pulled on the wheel in all directions to see if there was any noticeable slop or play in the drive line and none was noted. I then realized that the filler plug is the same size and pitch bolt, so I planned to use that as a temporary drain plug.
As we are scratching our heads, a nice gentleman came over to ask if we needed help. It turns out he is a heavy truck mechanic. He mentioned that there was a gas station and fishing store about ¼ mile up the road that has a lot of stuff. I asked him if he would mind giving me a ride over there, to which he happily obliged.
(Side note – when I told my wife this story, she thought I was NUTS for getting into a pickup truck in the swamp with a stranger, but truthfully I didn’t think anything about it.)
We went to the store and headed straight to the “oils” selection – the entire 1/10th of a shelf! No whale **** in stock there but I learned that “Outboard Boat Motor Lower Unit Oil” in the generic brand, is in fact GL-5 rated gear oil. Then I looked around for something to use as a filler plug and found a nice sized fishing cork that I thought would work. SCORE!!!!! I picked up a roll of paper towels and for $7.56, I’m on my way.
Back at the ranch, we learned that Byron picked up a nail in his rear tire. While we were gone, he grabbed a plug from my kit and fixed it. Good to know that that they are being productive in my absence. I tightened the filler plug turned drain plug (tightened it GOOD), and filled her up with the generic GL-5. The fishing cork fit like a glove. I wiped off as much excess oil as I could and we decided to give it a shot. I stopped once about 5 miles down the road to look at it, but with no noise, no slop, and all systems apparently go, we continued. I rode the 100-ish miles back to my house without incident. I washed my bike and examined everything carefully. No noise, no slop, no leaks – nothing. So the GL-5 rear end oil works perfectly fine in the gen III fjr. The whale **** is ******** – plain and simple.
Lesson #4 - There are times in every man’s life when he gets to define who he really is.
The next morning, I went into my shop and drained the rear end oil to look at it. Not surprisingly, it had metal in it. Not chunks or even slivers of metal, but lots of very fine and shiny dust. I know that this shiny dust is bearing metal. One doesn’t have to be an expert mechanic to realize that the gears and shafts are hardened throughout, but the bearings are only coated with hardened metal. When they got hot, the hardened coating starts to flake off and it’s only a matter of time then. I’ve seen bearing failures of many kinds in the past. Sometimes (usually) they fail gradually. You start to hear noise, grinding or whining, and you know it’s coming. I would likely never hear that from under the helmet. Of course, sometimes bearings fail instantaneously. The bearing seizes on the shaft and on the bike when that happens, I’m going to get hurt. I’ve talked to several trusted mechanic friends and coincidentally each of them suggest that I just watch it and see. But I just bought a brand new bike and I sure as heck don’t want to be band aiding and worrying about something mechanical from the get go. I imagine dealing with this while we are camping in the mountains, far away from help and ruining other people’s vacations in addition to my own. Most importantly, I don’t want to be constantly wondering in my mind if the next curve is going to be my last.
So the first decision is that this **** is going to get fixed now.
I went online and discovered that the cost to replace the entire pumpkin assembly is around $600.00 including shipping. I then itemized all of the bearings and the oil seals, which of course is the minimum items that one would replace in this case, and the cost of that collectively is about $350.00. I’m not skilled enough to shim the ring and pinion gears properly, let alone press the new bearings in. So by the time I pay any mechanic to rebuild my pumpkin, I just as soon replace the entire assembly fresh from Yamaha.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Some of you may be thinking that I bought the YES warranty. Why not just bring the bike to the dealer, tell them the rear end unit has metal in it, and ask them to fix it under warranty and call me when it’s done? Well quite frankly, that would be dishonest and it’s just not right. This is not Yamaha’s problem – I can’t expect them to pay for my ridiculous stupidity. I made a bone headed mistake and rightfully, I should pay for it.
I called Gary as a friend and asked for advice. He promised to speak with the service peeps at the dealership and offer some helpful suggestions. This morning, the dealer agreed to allow me to purchase the genuine Yamaha pumpkin from the online vendor, which saves me a lot of money. In turn, they will discount their labor to install it for me and thereby keep my YES warranty intact. I could of course swap out the pumpkin myself, saving a few dollars. But at this point, I feel it best to just document that it was professionally done and put this behind me. I ordered the pumpkin this afternoon online – it will be here in about a week or so, and I’ll schedule the install shortly thereafter.
So these 4 lessons will cost me a pretty penny and I certainly am not thrilled about that. But I didn’t get hurt and thankfully, no one else did either. That of course is priceless. Motorcycles can be fixed, that is why they assemble them with nuts and bolts.
Of course down the road, after a few cocktails, this should make a pretty good campfire story.
Stay thirsty, my friends…..
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