Bike Ticking, Yamaha Denying, Dealer Stuck

[deagle]

2004. 22,000 miles. Tick has been getting louder, especially loud clatter at 3000 rpms. Took it to the dealer last year, said tick was normal (wasn't super loud). Now a year later it's much louder.

Service tech agreed something was wrong. I told him that on the forums many of these bikes had been fixed due to worn exhaust valve guides. I told him I wasn't sure that was the problem, but that there was a history of that on these bikes, and that Yamaha was aware of it and was fixing them out of warranty (I have the YES warranty). I then presented him with the article in the tech section of Cycle World and the service bulletin from 2001-2002.

He called his district manager. He told his district manager that he had a well-informed customer and what should he do. District Manager told him these bikes have no issues. Said to have a valve adjustment done at my expense. This is what bugs me. I told the service Service Tech that if it came back out of spec, then I'd gladly pay for it. But if it's in spec and not due yet, why would I pay for that service? Why not tack on a bunch of other things that it could be and have me pay for them even if it's not the issue? He also mentioned the cam chain tensioner being checked. I asked if I would get charged for that too? He said he didn't know yet.

At the end of his conversation with the district manager, the district manager finally agreed that a super small percentage do have this problem, but would offer no assitance.

What should I do now? The Service Tech said his hands are tied. That Yamaha will pay for the problem when they identify the problem. But I get charged for everything until they find the problem. I told him we both agree my bike is making a noise that is not normal. I have a 5 year warranty. Fix it. He said Yamaha doesn't work that way, and the other 3 manufacturers work pretty much the same way (they sell all 4 brands).

Advice?

 

[Toecutter]

Find a shop with a good rep, in a different district, and get it fixed. Then go back there and tell 'em off.

 

[radman]

I'd tell the shop guy, that's cool, tell the district manager to shove it up his ass, this has happened too many times to too many people, and call Yamaha Zone. Keep going up until you get a satisfactory response, this is absofuckinlutelyridiculous that this still goes on, after all this time and all these repairs.......... :angry2:

 

[ionbeam]

If you are positive you have 'the tick' then you could try to work this deal -- The diagnosis asks the dealer to pull the exhaust headers and look for oil. The agreement would be that if oil is found the diagnosis is free (headers need to come off for the repair anyway), if there is no oil you pay for the peace of mind that you don't have the tick.

this is absofuckinlutelyridiculous that this still goes on..........

+2 It would be nice if your district manager could confirm that they called Cypress about this issue. It may force them to actually try.

 

[Randy]

Tell us where you're located.

 

[Feejer/Weejer man]

I went throught the tick fix. I waited almost 15,000 miles because of this exact treatment. Yamaha has been fixing these without any problems even out of warranty. Call Cypress direct and give them the facts. Ask for someone that has dealt directly with the FJR valve problems. Tell them your dealer is not doing what needs to be done to fix the problem. After my phone call direct they called the dealer and things got taken care of. Its a hassle but its what you have to do to get it fixed.

Also bone up on all the tick fixes from the archives. apratt has excellent documents as do others.

 

[Bounce]

+1 on the header/oil check.

I'd also think about calling Cypress directly with names, numbers, and dates. If you want, you could pull the headers yourself and then offer to send them photos of the oil (if found). If you're right and dot all your i's and cross all your t's, you could end up shoving this up the district rep's ass.

+1 on we should be past this by now. i think you must have mined through to a "people problem" with the district rep.

 

[FJRottie]

++2

Hope it works out for you. Sounds ignorant on their part.

 

[zorkler]

looks like there lost in space . you need to contact the right people in yamaha first .

 

[skyway]

You might want to make sure that no money has to exchange hands until you are satisfied that they have checked for the tick. This is how my repair went. All the stuff the tech line asked to be checked, was coming back within spec. Finally they were out of options.

You must make sure that you can trust this shop with your bike. If you have any doubts, move on now before they put a single wrench to it.

 

[OrangevaleFJR]

Knowing where you are could be important because many of us know good dealerships to go to. If we know where you are we could steer you in a good direction.

 

[rogdeb]

If you are near Sacramento CA, PCP Yamaha in Sac or Roseville Yamaha will do right by you.

 

[EXPDSGT]

Yamaha 800 number --- 800-962-7926

 

[trimmantom]

You probably know more about the problem then those asshats do.

It's apparent that they haven't done the ticker repair previously.

The tech sounds reasonable but his boss sounds like an ass.

If you have other options for dealers I'd take it somewhere else.Post your location and I'm sure someone in your area will give you a decent dealer to go to.

Willingness to help you with the problem goes a long way even if they haven't done that particular repair before.I had to give my dealer some help with info but they were allows willing to accomodate me even if it took longer then I liked.For sure call cypress and express your concerns with them and I'd get the fine district managers name and mention it to whoever you deal with from headquarters.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[radman]

You could go in there and do a

 

[trimmantom]

I'd tell the shop guy, that's cool, tell the district manager to shove it up his ass, this has happened too many times to too many people, and call Yamaha Zone. Keep going up until you get a satisfactory response, this is absofuckinlutelyridiculous that this still goes on, after all this time and all these repairs.......... :angry2:

Rad I wish you could've been my english teecher so i could use big words like absofuckinlutelyridiculousLOL

 

[HIGHLANDER]

Looking at his past posts, he's from Michigan.

Call Cypress again and again till it's resolved.

 

[deagle]

I live in Southeast Michigan. The shop is Macomb Powersports in Chesterfield MI (where I bought it). Silly me, thought buying the bike local would get me better service than if I bought it cheaper at D&H or Chicago.

Thanks for the Yamaha number and the PM's! I will call when they open today.

Also, thanks for the advice and comments. I'm pretty disappointed that this isn't being handled better by now. I had been assured two years ago by the Yamaha rep at the Cycle World Auto Show that customer service and reps would be way better informed about this issue (he was aware of it....I think he was getting peppered with questions from FJR owners). Seems it's still just being covered up.

 

[Mogambo]

You probably know more about the problem then those asshats do.It's apparent that they haven't done the ticker repair previously.

The tech sounds reasonable but his boss sounds like an ass.

If you have other options for dealers I'd take it somewhere else.Post your location and I'm sure someone in your area will give you a decent dealer to go to.

Willingness to help you with the problem goes a long way even if they haven't done that particular repair before.I had to give my dealer some help with info but they were allows willing to accomodate me even if it took longer then I liked.For sure call cypress and express your concerns with them and I'd get the fine district managers name and mention it to whoever you deal with from headquarters.

Good luck and keep us posted.

You can be SURE that you know more about this problem than they do. When it comes to product knowledge, even my dealer, who I think is pretty good, always says "you Forum guys know more about this shit than we do".

For them, it is a business. Where as WE are.............OBSESSED!!! Pationate..but obsessed.