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Note: this is to respond to a few different posts and posters, hence the multiple quotes...
dirtsailor said:
Regarding the issues with those wiring harnesses overheating i have what we call Teflon tape which is a high temp insulator and i use it all the time on almost every wiring bundle inside the jet engine near the core or the exhaust area and it does the job just fine and is better than the rubber and plastic wire harness covers. If ya'll need some i can ship a roll out to you since i have one extra in my garage. Just P.M me or something. I over hauled my TT-250 wiring and it looks great and cleaned it up some but also used the Teflon tape for bundles near the engine block or the exhaust piping.
Food for thought.
Kind offer... But before we get ahead of ourselves, let me ask you this:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the purpose of this type of teflon tape to insulate wiring from *EXTERNAL* heat - i.e. to protect such wiring from exhaust heat, etc.? If so, putting teflon tape on the wiring in this situation and application would be the *LAST* thing you want to do... Why you may ask?
Well, in this instance the wiring itself is what's heating up - due to increased resistance is the accepted reasoning - and then the wire itself is melting the insulation and the bulb plug connector - i.e. the wire itself is getting too hot from *INTERNAL* heating. As such, the last thing you would want to do is wrap the existing headlamp sub-harness and its wiring with a teflon insulation that would be more likely to *RETAIN* more heat - i.e. insulating the wire further from cooling.
The insulation of the wire is not the problem... The small gauge of the wiring is, as is the rather questionable headlamp connector plug...
creggur said:
While I agree this isn't a crazy-major issue, it is a safety issue as it effects daytime visibility of the bike, and nighttime safety issues are obvious.
If Yamaha were to issue a voluntary campaign to correct the situation, I'm totally cool with that. Actually, I'd think that would be the responsible thing to do, again, considering the safety facet of the situation.
And we don't know how widespread this is other than the number of people on this forum who've experienced it. There's no way to tell the total number of Teneres affected.
You know, Dallara, from my background I know how these things work - and if this weren't a safety issue I'd be saying nothing...but, this should be addressed, at a minimum, by a voluntary campaign, as, once again, it's a safety issue.
JMHO - but I think Yamaha need to step up and retrofit the bikes with an appropriate harness.
You address two important points, Creggur...
One is, of course, the "safety issue", and while I can certainly see your reasoning I wonder how much of real-world safety issue it really is. IIRC, from every report on this forum no one has *EVER* lost both lights. It seems that it's always one that blinks out, and if you think about that a bit it makes sense that only one would go at a time. Everything points to it being a load and resistance issue with the questionable headlamp sub-harnesses, and as soon as one side quits the system suddenly has less load on the entire harness itself, and the temp most likely drops, leaving the remaining headlamp operating fine for who knows how long...
If the worst thing that happens is only one headlamp goes out due to the harness then it's not nearly the "safety issue" one might first think... at least to my mind.
Your second point has to do with the number of bikes that may, or may not, have experienced the problem. Even if you look at the number of instances reported here versus the number of members it's still a pretty small percentage. Should such a small percentage trigger a full-blown NHTSA recall? Seems to me that Yamaha is, indeed, handling the matter voluntarily as the failure occurs, and have been all along. When one fails, they replace it, free of charge, and have apparently done this even if the bike is out of warrantly. What more could one ask? My bike was one of the first to have the problem, and Yamaha replaced the sub-harness under warranty, free of charge, and the replacement they gave me has worked flawlessly ever since. I check it from time to time and it looks fine. When and if it has an issue I have no doubt Yamaha will replace it, and do so with the newer, updated harness version... Why should they replace ones that haven't failed, and apparently never will?
Big Blu said:
If you've ever had you lights fail when riding at night in the country side you may think differently about what is "small stuff". This can be a killer. My '69 Triumph went dark on me one night, luckily I was in farm country and wound up in the middle of a tomato field. It could have been much worse.... To me this is a big deal.
The fact that Yamaha has produced a great bike doesn't buy them a pass on this potential major safety issue. To take 5 minute to report the problem to NHSTA is no big deal and may be instrumental in saving life's, that's why NHSTA is there. ........ Yes I know a bit dramatic ::025:: )
Sure they released a new harness, now they need to replace the faulty ones that are on the road before there is an accident.
Well, you're making an inaccurate assumption there, Big Blu...
First off, I've had a bunch of old Triumph's... a '67 200cc Tiger Cub, a '67 TR6, a '69 T120, and a '75 T160... And I still own a '73 Norton Commando. I had *ALL* sorts of electrical issues that Triumph, or Norton, never addressed, or even acknowledged!!! ::025::
Second, I've had the lights on bikes of mine go out at night... More than once, and not just with British bikes.
But your and my various light failures "back in the day" really aren't relevant to this issue. As I mentioned above, from all I have seen, read, and noted I don't think there has been any Super Tenere that has lost both headlamps simultaneously... There seems to always be one that remains on, and that's one of the great thing about having two fully functional headlamps - i.e. both sides have hi and lo beam, unlike, say, the R1 - redundancy. If you lose one you still have the other.
And regarding "now they need to replace the faulty ones that are on the road before there is an accident..."
Well, perhaps you need to review how the NHTSA works... To have a "safety recall" there has to be at least one incident where the default did, indeed, cause an accident. In most cases there has to be more than one accident. Just check out what recently happened when BMW LT riders tried to get a "safety recall" for final drives... Lots of reports. Lots of failures. But no accidents, and hence no recall.
Anyway, it still seems to me the best way for this to be handled is exactly how Yamaha is handling it - replacing each and every sub-harness that has a problem as it fails. At least they acknowledge there's a problem - after all, they have upgraded the replacement harness. Think about it... That's a hell of a lot better than some other manufacturers! ::025::
japako said:
However some of the biggest complainers of the safety factor of losing the lights at night, are still riding their bikes. All the while complaining to the NTSB. If it is really that much of a problem, put the bike up and not ride it until the problem is solved.
And complaining about loose spokes to the NTSB,,,,, Really!!! ::025::
Amen, Japako... Except I don't this issue has anything to do with airplane crashes!!! (
http://www.ntsb.gov/) ::025::
Big Blu said:
Sure I'm still riding my bike, exclusively during the daylight hours till next spring. Before I go long again, with the potential of riding at night, the new harness will be installed, either by me or by Yamaha.
Regards, Paul
Kind of cutting your nose off to spite your face, don't you think, Big Blu?
I mean, there are a ton of Super Tenere's running around out there that have *NEVER* had the issue, and from all evidence the ones that do only lose *ONE* of the two lamps even if they do have the problem... I certainly haven't let it bother me in over 35,000 miles on my Super Tenere... Any more than I quit road racing when I lost the lights in an endurance road race and ran off the course! ::025::
Sparko said:
Here is a photo of the new harness.
Thanks, Sparko!!! ::008::
Dallara
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