Bike Ticking, Yamaha Denying, Dealer Stuck

[deagle]

Called Customer Service in Cypress. Guy there claimed no knowledge of any FJR defect. I started to get a little hot (while trying to remain calm). The guy then put me on hold and came back and said he would authorize 2 hours for my dealer to find the problem.

Is two hours enough time to take off the fairing and get to the valve guides? Actually, I guess since they have to put it back together, they'd need to be able to get to it in an hour. Reasonable?

 

[skyway]

Called Customer Service in Cypress. Guy there claimed no knowledge of any FJR defect. I started to get a little hot (while trying to remain calm). The guy then put me on hold and came back and said he would authorize 2 hours for my dealer to find the problem.
Is two hours enough time to take off the fairing and get to the valve guides? Actually, I guess since they have to put it back together, they'd need to be able to get to it in an hour. Reasonable?

If they go into the header, 2 hours should be enough time to discern oil passing the guides. However, you will never get Yamaha to authorize any warranty work over the phone, it must be done through an authorized Yamaha dealer of your choice upon diagnosis of something being out of spec.

As long as you are certain of the tick, you will be potentially on the receiving end of any billing from your dealer, until they diagnose the bad valve guides. Your dealer is at the mercy of the tech-line at Yamaha when it comes to warranty work, so they can only diagnose based upon what they are told to check for.

Since it becomes a game of cat and mouse, you should first clarify with your dealer that all the checks to be done, provided your are sure the tick will eventually be found, will not be billed to you up front. Once the tick is found, Yamaha covers all costs involved that were authorized by the tech line.

If you walk into your dealer and ask for them to check XYX, they will bill you for XYZ. You must approach from a standpoint of "something doesn't sound right". Let your dealer make the call to the tech line, which will get the ball rolling in your favor.

 

[MCRIDER007]

Is two hours enough time to take off the fairing and get to the valve guides? Actually, I guess since they have to put it back together, they'd need to be able to get to it in an hour. Reasonable?

If the dealer confirms that the valve guides are bad then there isn't any reason to put it back together.

 

[countersteer]

My '05 just started ticking on a 2,000 mile trip last week. Given Deagle's experience, I want to be "armed" when I talk to the dealer and (hopefully not) Cypress. Deagle mentioned a tech article in Cycle World. Can anyone tell me which issue it was in? Thanks

 

[nusman68]

Called Customer Service in Cypress. Guy there claimed no knowledge of any FJR defect. I started to get a little hot (while trying to remain calm). The guy then put me on hold and came back and said he would authorize 2 hours for my dealer to find the problem.
Is two hours enough time to take off the fairing and get to the valve guides? Actually, I guess since they have to put it back together, they'd need to be able to get to it in an hour. Reasonable?

Well, that's most disheartening, to say the least...I thought Cypress had gotten over the 'don't ask/don't tell' BS and is interested in keeping their customer base. If this denial crap is still going on that doesn't bode well for us.

 

[wheatonFJR]

My '05 just started ticking on a 2,000 mile trip last week. Given Deagle's experience, I want to be "armed" when I talk to the dealer and (hopefully not) Cypress. Deagle mentioned a tech article in Cycle World. Can anyone tell me which issue it was in? Thanks

Look in the Newbie & FAQ section of the board...

 

[Tim05fjr]

Ok,

Let me tell you all a story. This is first hand experience.

Last Feb. I brought my '05 in to the dealer w/ the dreaded " tick". Some you you may remember my postings of the BS that I went through with both the dealer and YAMAHA.

The bike had 15,600 miles at the time. I was told that I had to pay for a valve adjustment and that it should take care of the problem. After calls the Cypress they told me they would pay for 2.5 hours of the labor and if that it did not fix the problem then they would foot the bill for replaceing the seals guides and exhaust valves. And that is what happend, they don't like to come out and admitt that there is a problem. You have to play the game, in the end you will be out your bike for four to six weeks, but Yamaha pays all.

Now for the best part. They have my bike AGAIN.

That's right. After another 12,000 miles (total mileage now 27,600) The tick is back. And again they tried to blow smoke up my *** and say I needed a valve adjustment. I think that is what the dealer says so they can make more diagnostic money from Yamaha. Yeah, I'm pissed off big time. They had my bike for three weeks now. After jerking me off with diagnosis you can imagine my surprise when they told me that the valves were in spec and now Yamaha is sending a complete new head assem.

My advise to anyone who may think they have a ticker is. RIDE the bike untill the noise gets so bad that even the biggest of all morons could tell that it is not a valve adjustment issue. Also call Yamaha immed. after you drop it off so they know where it is and what your problem is.

All I know is that if after another 12,000 miles, if this bike starts making noise again, I will have a good reason to make a cross country trip the Cal. to give them their bike back.

After being a loyal Yamaha customer for 20 years, I have gotten nothing but aggrivation dealing with their customer service. No love at all. I have nothing against the bike. I love everything about it as far as style, performance and comfort. But what good is it if I have have to have it repaired every 6 to 8 months.

Sorry, rant over.

Tim

 

[Mogambo]

I'm just curious about something. I know that corporations have reasons for doing things that usually have something to do with the bottom line somewhere. But with this tick deal. At THIS point, what possible benefit could Yamaha have in denying there was a problem? What's the big ******* deal. They have usually just fixed it (after sometimes, way too much hassle). But after wasting MORE time and money ******* around with it (time is money), they still would have an attitude that there IS no problem. What's the big ******* deal?

MOST companies have had things happen that weren't right mechanically. Nobody is perfect. Toyoto had a problem is some of their V6 motors that were in the Sienna and the 4Runners. Honda had frame cracks on some of their Goldwings. So what? Admit what the ******* problem is, fix it and move on, for gosh sakes. They're making the former Soviet Union's closed lipped policies look like a sewing bee.

So again I ask. Why the tight lips on this deal? Is is somehow connected to the North Koreans nuc test? This is just too weired.

 

[nusman68]

I'm just curious about something. I know that corporations have reasons for doing things that usually have something to do with the bottom line somewhere. But with this tick deal. At THIS point, what possible benefit could Yamaha have in denying there was a problem? What's the big ******* deal. They have usually just fixed it (after sometimes, way too much hassle). But after wasting MORE time and money ******* around with it (time is money), they still would have an attitude that there IS no problem. What's the big ******* deal?
MOST companies have had things happen that weren't right mechanically. Nobody is perfect. Toyoto had a problem is some of their V6 motors that were in the Sienna and the 4Runners. Honda had frame cracks on some of their Goldwings. So what? Admit what the ******* problem is, fix it and move on, for gosh sakes. They're making the former Soviet Union's closed lipped policies look like a sewing bee.

So again I ask. Why the tight lips on this deal? Is is somehow connected to the North Koreans nuc test? This is just too weired.

IMO, it gets down to the prevailing 'save face' attitude of the Japanese corps.; (be advised I'm NOT trying to turn this into a dreaded political thread) I have learned through long term conversations with my brother, (a bit of background: my brother, 25 yr. repair tech on high $ (six figure) copy machines, some of Japanese origin) and my neighbor (a Shell Oil lubrication engineer who goes to Japan on a regular basis to speak with the various bike and car 'heads') that the Japanese, when confronted with such a problem, initially will deny it to avoid embarrassment. My brother would identify ongoing mechanical problem(s), ultimately get to speak first hand to an Japanese engineer with the company in question, who would deny all; later, he would fabricate a solution, (a part) which would be sent to the manufacturer; only then in the face of overwhelming evidence/documentation of the problem with a solution in hand would the company admit a design flaw.

My neighbor got the opportunity to speak with the head of Yamaha last year (in Japan); he asked if I would like to pose a question to this gentleman. In jest, I told him 'Yeah, ask him if they're ever gonna fix the heat problem on the FJR'. (I live in south Texas) Well, he got back from his trip, and he told me he *did* ask the guy just that during his meeting. The response? (Translated from Japanese) "Tell your friend many apologies concerning heat on the FJR..the FJR is not a good motorcycle for summer" :lol: "Tell him heat management Number One priority in 06 FJR". And so it was... B)

FWIW, in further discussions with my neighbor, he reported he gets the same 'response', (problem? what problem?) if you will, from the Japanese automakers concerning drivetrain issues that crop up.

 

[Constant Mesh]

Well, Sony lost any credibility it had with its laptop battery fiasco. They're replacing millions of batteries. What a disaster!

 

[trimmantom]

Called Customer Service in Cypress. Guy there claimed no knowledge of any FJR defect. I started to get a little hot (while trying to remain calm). The guy then put me on hold and came back and said he would authorize 2 hours for my dealer to find the problem.
Is two hours enough time to take off the fairing and get to the valve guides? Actually, I guess since they have to put it back together, they'd need to be able to get to it in an hour. Reasonable?

Sounds like they're trying to calm you down a little.But that is still ********.They've paid enough out fixing the damn things that they dam well know there is a problem there.It piss's me off all over again to hear you're going through this crap with yamaha.If they don't get there **** together with this problem they're gonna lose a lot of business to kawasaki when their new gtr1400 hits the market.Hope you can start to get a resolution to this soon.

 

[Windjammer]

I happen to work for an American manufacturing company. It's a good company from a quality perspective. The vast majority of our technical/design problems are fixed as soon as they become apparent. But for some reason, there are just a couple of instances where politics gets in the way. Some middle manager or bean counter decides there's no way the company can afford to fix a certain problem, then sets out on a crusade to block the effort of anyone who tries to get the problem resolved. You wind up in a situation where almost everyone in the company knows there's an issue with product X, but they also know there's no way the problem will ever get fixed as long as Mr. Soandso is around. It really has nothing to do with money, since Mr. Soandso will watch much larger dollar value projects slip right past him. But not product X, nope, we're NOT fixing that one, come hell or high water. Even if we spend five times the cost of the revision project on warranty repairs, we are NOT making a revision.

It has more to do with illogical human behavior than anything else, really. :blink:

Good luck with your warranty fix on the ticker, hope things work out for you!