Yamaha generally will cover new exhaust valves, guides, and seals as well as the associated machining and teardown work. The intake side is usually fine as is. I'm not a head machining expert, but I've never heard of any issue with just doing the exhaust side. Sounds like the dealer is trying to get you to ante up to additional and potentially unneeded work at your expense.
Ooh, sounds like BS to me. As I understand it (according to my local service dept.), the head gets disassembled (as in ALL the valves getting removed, along with the seals), then the naked head is sent out (along with valves) to the machine shop of choice (in my case a very well reputed cycle specialty shop), where they replace the exhaust guides and re-seat the valves (as in valve job). If the intake valves are indexed to their respective holes they don't need to be worked on. Remember, this is a motor that should go a couple hundred thousand miles before needing this kind of work. Then the head goes back to the dealer to be reassembled and strapped back onto the bike. You, I fear, may be the object of some shenanigans. "Yeah, we have to heat the systemic indemulator to preserve the integrity of the valves' molecular structure". Either they're doing it wrong, Yamaha just doesn't understand what's involved in fixing it properly, or there's some fuckery afoot. I'm betting on the latter. Bottom line- You don't pay for warranty work!
See above text for cussing implications.
So, which dealer?
All valves, or all exhaust valves? Galling on the intakes as well? They musta put your motor together without any prelube at all. Never heard of intake valves being affected.
04 FJR Pilot Posted on Feb 26 2006, 10:03 AM<snip>
fjrvtx1300s Posted on Feb 26 2006, 10:54 AM<snip>
I don't want to sound like an alarmist -- but, what 'fjrvtx' is worried about is certainly a distinct possibility. The head-work is essentially re-manufacturing and, as such, needs at least the availability of a well equiped, precision machine shop. Sure, guides can be drifted out and and new ones installed? and new holes reamed -- and, heads can be "broached" too (and the incidents of that are legion -- why do you think there are aftermarket over-size guides?). There are different methods -- but, the preferrable (imo) is: the guides need to be removed by cutting them out (till there's so little material left -- and they come out easily) then the whole head has to be heated sufficiently and the guides cooled in dry ice so that they go in with the least interference and become (once the temps stabilize) as much "one piece" (w/the head) as possible. The critical reaming to size; then, of course, seats and faces re-cut and stems trimmed (unless you want all new shims?); in essence, a complete valve-job. Since it is re-man; new parts should be used. Yes, some repair can be performed "in the field" (as indicated by '04 FJR Pilot') -- but this is your new $12K motorcycle! I, for one, would like Mama Yama to (at least) go the route mentioned by 'motordog1': a new cylinder head (complete assembly) -- from the factory.
It's pretty well accepted that they did that only to harvest some cylinder heads for research purposes, presumably to come up with an economically efficient repair.
Yeah, but like they said in the article:
Doing "The right thing" in this case (giving all tickers some head
) would be no inexpensive proposition. I tend to think their decisions are driven more by economics than ethics. JMHO, YMMV 
