FJR Age Limit

[GPRIDER]

I may be a little late to the party, but has anyone else had dealers that won't work on a bike that is over 10 years old? 15 years old? My old Vmax is a 1995 and my dealer said they won't touch it now. I have a 2012 FJR that is 10 years old now and that is their limit. They will do minor service such as oil and filter changes and tire changes. But anything engine related, throttle bodies, valve check/adjustment, transmission is not something they will do anymore. Some kind of liability issue. I'm hearing other dealers are doing the same thing. Some with different age limits on the bikes. WTH?

GP

 

[Panman]

I guess that selling new is more profitable? Best to learn to work on them your self. Yamaha still makes parts for my 07.

 

[Cyclepath]

Sounds like dealers in your region are starting to cave to some factory pressure to sell newer units. Also, I guess its conceivable that they want to limit their liability for repairs on the older stuff, but come on - 10 years is still pretty damn new in my world!

I would expect that shops in this situation may not want to trade some much-needed service income for the peace of mind that they will never be held liable for a bad repair on something older(?). How about offering 2 tier warranty statements then on the service Work Order document?

At least then its still possible you can get work you need done.

Otherwise, it seems time to move on to another shop...

 

[sapest]

Its not about selling new machines. Dealer profits are in parts and service, not much in new sales. The issue is that machines over a certain age tend to have more instances of stripped threads, bad fasteners, bush fixes, rusty bits, etc. When the service tech runs into these problems, and the owner gets a call telling him that his quoted service work is now double the cost, no one is happy.
Tell your dealer that you are aware they may run into the occasional age related issue, and maybe you can work something out to get the service work you want done.

When it come to ‘old tech’, like carbs, it may be that there is simply no one left at the dealership that has any experience fixing them. I sold my ‘84 Shadow when ‘Steve the Bike Wrench’ retired.

-Steve

 

[torch]

Further to Steve's comments, many dealers have been stuck with abandoned bikes after the repair bill exceeded the value of the machine.

 

[RiderJoe]

Pending on where you live you might be able to find a private wrench/shop to work on your bike, and even for less than what dealers charge. A few good car mechanics are sometimes up to working on bikes for a change of pace too. Of course, unless you are lucky, none of these technicians are likely to be Yamaha-trained mechanics, but that might not be a bad thing either. Personally, I stay away from dealer service departments as much as I can. I have not had good experience with the ones I had to take my bike back to for recalls. So I do my own maintenance/repair work.

 

[WRXer]

Tell them you woudl never buy a bike there if it ony has a 10 year service life.

 

[NSrider]

They haven't refused to work on it yet because I have done all my own work. They however did not want anything to do with it as a trade in when I was looking to purchase a new bike this past year. I did not purchase a new bike from them and never will.

 

[mikeypilot]

I may be a little late to the party, but has anyone else had dealers that won't work on a bike that is over 10 years old? 15 years old? My old Vmax is a 1995 and my dealer said they won't touch it now. I have a 2012 FJR that is 10 years old now and that is their limit. They will do minor service such as oil and filter changes and tire changes. But anything engine related, throttle bodies, valve check/adjustment, transmission is not something they will do anymore. Some kind of liability issue. I'm hearing other dealers are doing the same thing. Some with different age limits on the bikes. WTH?

GP

Richmond Honda, VA has the 10 year limit. Difficulty obtaining parts was the reason giving. Wouldn’t rebuild forks on my 2008 but willing to do routine servicing and tire replacement. Did recommend a couple of independent shops and lost all my business to one of them!

 

[sullivan]

I may be a little late to the party, but has anyone else had dealers that won't work on a bike that is over 10 years old? 15 years old? My old Vmax is a 1995 and my dealer said they won't touch it now. I have a 2012 FJR that is 10 years old now and that is their limit. They will do minor service such as oil and filter changes and tire changes. But anything engine related, throttle bodies, valve check/adjustment, transmission is not something they will do anymore. Some kind of liability issue. I'm hearing other dealers are doing the same thing. Some with different age limits on the bikes. WTH?

GP

Yes, I've heard of 10 years.

 

[GPRIDER]

I do a lot of work on my motorcyles myself. Do all the maintenance on all 5 of my bikes and then some. Have changed out water pumps, stators, clutches etc. I even adjusted the valves on my Vmax, but you don't have to pull the cams off for adjustment. What a concept. Don't know why they didn't use the same design for the valves on the FJR. I'm a little leary of pulling cams off. I was given the same reasons others here have stated for the age limits, but I still think it's as sorry as the day is long. 10 years is way too short for an FJR. 15-20 years maybe.

I guess that selling new is more profitable? Best to learn to work on them your self. Yamaha still makes parts for my 07.

 

[roger dodger]

They may be worried about the liability that comes from dip-sh.ts who bring in tired bikes and sue because the dealer didn't get them to run 'like new' for the $500 estimate.

I hope to never need a dealer to work on my 2003. That's what friends on the FJR Forum help with!!!

 

[RossKean]

I'm not so worried about my 2011. Parts are still readily available (new or Ebay) and there is nothing that I NEED a dealer to do for me. In the event that a particular service requires special tools or expertise I don't have, there are enough decent independent shops around.
I worry far more about newer bikes that don't have service manuals available that have to go to the dealer for specific services and computer diagnostics.

 

[Rocnsanman]

Steve and Torch nailed it. I used to work for a Yamaha dealer in Colorado. The reason this dealer adhered to the 10 year limit was that OEM parts are not always available and an aftermarket part cannot be guaranteed by the shop. If they allowed a customer to supply the parts then the bike, snowmobile, whatever would become pushed in and out daily thereby using up space and resources. And as some have correctly suggested , the labor can quickly exceed the value of an older bike and the shop is stuck with the bike until the owner decides to take action one way or another. The service department of most all dealships supports the dealership.
Find a good independent shop or do the work yourself. This forum is a great place to gain knowledge and most repairs on the FJR are pretty easy. Of all the bikes I've ever owned and there have been many, my FJR has been the most trouble free and the most fun to ride. Ride on!

 

[GPRIDER]

I agree with everything you said Rocnsanman. I can do everything, but the serious engine work. Guess I'll start looking for an independent mechanic and hope I never have to use them. I have the shop manuals, but they are intended for experienced, trained mechanics. I guess I'm slowly getting there, as far as mechanical experience, since I bought my first FJR in 2004.
I have this bad dream of taking the cams off for valve adjustment and putting them back on off by just a little and cratering a good engine. I watched a video on how to check the valves. Looks very time consuming, but I think I can do it.

 

[audiowize]

I can tell you that the last FJR I looked at where the cams weren't properly timed with the crank came from the dealership that way after a valve adjustment (which they didn't actually do). The bike's owner took the bike back because it was not running properly, and they charged him more money and said everything was fine. We found that the timing chain had slipped a tooth on the crankshaft when the dealership replaced the cam chain tensioner. Several of his valve clearances were too tight as well, and the valve cover was reasonably well stuck on, so the valve check they performed was done with a prayer and a sprinkle of holy water.

Yes, you can do all your own maintenance.

 

[GPRIDER]

Thanks for all the replies. Damn I love this forum.

GP

 

[Mindfogg]

I don’t feel bad now. Looks like an everywhere thing. Took my 05 FJR to the dealer here in Eau Claire to have the forks rebuilt when they started gushing oil. Asked them to replace the bushing too, was told they probably didn’t need it. I said since your people are going to have the forks torn apart why not put new bushings in, it’s your money they said. When I went to pick up the bike the mechanic said it was good call ordering all the bushings since the oritonal ones were shot. That was in 2017 and a rush job so I could ride it the races at Road America.
My 1984 Gpz 750 I bought new in Germany I’ve given up on. My 1989 Ninja 750R with 7K original miles keeps blowing the main fuse after a second or two of turning on the ignition. I’m not a wireologist so I’m a bit lost there. Maybe a mouse chewed a wire or something but nobody will even look at as it’s to old, even they guy that fixes old bikes. Might be he was a Honda guy a isn’t comfortable doing a Kawasaki.
My 2006 KLR650 no major issues I can’t wrench on myself. Mama’s 2011 V-storm 650 only had the cycle shop in Eau Claire replace all the brake lines and master since I wasn’t sure about dealing with the ABS system. It does make a person dive in and do the job themselves. That I believe leads to a better understanding of the bikes.

 

[GPRIDER]

Man you've got some older ones. Don't know how these guys with really old vintage bikes get by. Must be some mechanics somewhere that specialize in working on vintage bikes.

 

[WRXer]

Not servicing a 10 year oild bike that is nearly identical to the one sitting on the show flow. Genius.