dumb ? Missing rear spoke, safe to ride ?

[Toyboy]

Thanks for the comments Roy. That is what I have been trying to convey in part with this whole issue. Truly not an easy bunch of people to deal with. Called customer service twice. Polite to a fault. But I got nowhere. Was told now that I had called back the second time, after a week, I was getting a 3rd person involved as if I was wrong for asking again. My bike has been in the shop since the 24th and I just got this resolved yesterday. Now wait for parts and install. Will be a month for sure. I told them verbatim: You have a choice to make. Tell me to go away, we will not do anything for you to we are sorry, here is a new bike or anything in between. Not resolving my issue was no longer an option. We will make a decision today etc etc.

I do harbor resentment towards them as well Roy. They make one hell of a bike but they have a long way to go in the way of customer support and ultimately satisfaction. I honestly think their motto must be "the customer is wrong and probably lying until proven other wise" I had to put in way too much energy to get what I perceive to be a legitimate claim resolved and I knuckled under in the end for good will parts just because I am tired of dealing with it. I suppose I should be grateful that I got anything. I am certainly grateful but not happy. This is not how warranty works. My only other bike warranty experiences have been with BMW and I got to be honest and say they are way easier to deal with.
I will ride this bike as long as it suits me. I really like the bike but as of right now, I won't say that I would not buy another Yamaha, but it won't be from them and certainly not one with a warranty. Better off knowing I am on my own from the get go. For the record, my front spokes are not loose as the rear was with nipples be screwed back in place by hand, but do need to be tightened for sure. Maintenance issue right?

 

[roy]

They were initially nice to me then turned sour on me after the Product Specialist became involved. Pics were sent from the dealer and as soon as the Specialist spotted my Denali D2 auxillary lights on the bike he convinced everyone they caused the headlight harness to melt prematurely. Which was absoultely wrong they had nothing to do with it. I was accused of adding high wattage bulbs which never happened. The whole ordeal was a complete joke. My dealer fixed my bike not Yamaha, yea the dealer eventually was paid but that was after the fact. Yamaha wasted days trying to get out of warrantying the headlight harness. Great way to run a company by running folks off.

 

[pluric]

I have to chuckle, I haven't been over to the site for a while now and see these threads are still common.
Sorry I'm not making light of the issue or the hassle to have it corrected. I was one of the early owners to
lose a nipple. I've not lost on since and did not have other damage.

If it helps at all I did buy a full spoke set to get one nipple and have extras. I also just sent my rear
hub to Woody's to have a heavy duty rim and spoke set installed. So I also have a full used spoke set.

I've had the worst luck with the factory wheels. This would have been the 4th time I've had to send the
wheels to Woody's to be straightend. I decided to try his replacement set for $650 (rear) and see how that goes.

The front has been sent in twice too.

 

[snakebitten]

I have to chuckle, I haven't been over to the site for a while now and see these threads are still common.
Sorry I'm not making light of the issue or the hassle to have it corrected. I was one of the early owners to
lose a nipple. I've not lost on since and did not have other damage.

If it helps at all I did buy a full spoke set to get one nipple and have extras. I also just sent my rear
hub to Woody's to have a heavy duty rim and spoke set installed. So I also have a full used spoke set.

I've had the worst luck with the factory wheels. This would have been the 4th time I've had to send the
wheels to Woody's to be straightend. I decided to try his replacement set for $650 (rear) and see how that goes.

The front has been sent in twice too.

You HAVE been absent for a bit.

But for those that now are fearing their wheels are soft and pliable pieces of junk, please note that Pluric's bike is found sideways, upside down, and backwards more than most. If you look at his avatar, it's not a shock the front wheel (and fork seals) needs some attention time to time too.

Oh, and I admire him, in case you think I'm dumping on him. The dude will try anything on his S10. And he gets all the girls.

(or we have all been photo-duped)

 

[pluric]

You HAVE been absent for a bit.

But for those that now are fearing their wheels are soft and pliable pieces of junk, please note that Pluric's bike is found sideways, upside down, and backwards more than most. If you look at his avatar, it's not a shock the front wheel (and fork seals) needs some attention time to time too.

Oh, and I admire him, in case you think I'm dumping on him. The dude will try anything on his S10. And he gets all the girls.

(or we have all been photo-duped)

Is it any wonder???

Little darlings just love a grandpa figure.

(Thanks for all the false hype snakebitten. I PayPal'd you a $20)

 

[snakebitten]

Is it any wonder???

Little darlings just love a grandpa figure.

(Thanks for all the false hype snakebitten. I PayPal'd you a $20)

No need for the funding. The entertainment is enough.
But it would be nice if you are gonna post some pics that you show your S10 in some awkward position. At least one! Otherwise I look like a big fat liar.

Really folks. He DOES crash a lot. I promise.

 

[pluric]

No need for the funding. The entertainment is enough.
But it would be nice if you are gonna post some pics that you show your S10 in some awkward position. At least one! Otherwise I look like a big fat liar.

Really folks. He DOES crash a lot. I promise.

??? Never been down. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. O

 

[snakebitten]

??? Never been down. That's my story and I'm sticking with it. O

I wish I could let you get away with that.

So, you saying you don't know anything about

Or this

Or this

I can go on.

You're hilarious. But I gotta admit, you are alive.

 

[pluric]

Busted.

Kinda the ole "Ya sleep with one goat and what does everyone remember?" joke. :-[

I prefer to look at it as percentage wise the bike tends to beat gravity more than not.

 

[kraigd]

My dealer told me the same thing and so did the Yamaha rep, they will give me the swingarm and I pay labor and other BS. I told the Yamaha rep that no way in hell will have the dealer take that many parts off my bike and hope they put it back together with out screwing it up. The last dealer that did my 600 mile service put 4.5 qts of oil in my eng. (NICE) Yamaha would not give me the parts and let me do the work. The work had to be done by a dealer. So I took the credit for a back rim, Not the value of a swingarm that was first offered but no need to get into that shafting. I will leave the scratches and when I sell the bike with over 100,000 miles on it the marks will be no big deal. PS I snacked on a few sport bikes today( they tast like chicken) on the dragon hwy 129, great pictues on kill boy.com. I wear a bright yellow lid. So much fun passing some kids in full leathers with a loaded up dirt bike. ::021::

Hold on guys! ...I have no intention of compromising my standards for no one. Did not get this far as an aviator with that mind set. Just something I remember hearing when I was in the military meant as a sarcastic joke. So it was a joke....
That being said, and dealing with the issue at hand, (no thoughts there huh?) it is total BS that I have to eat the cost of labor on this issue but I got bigger things to worry about in my life. I will live longer if I do not stress over this crap. This kind of thing can really put a bad feeling in one's mind etc and I just want to stop stressing over this.
Anyone of you would feel the same way if it was happening to them. I maintained my bike to standards and the bike had a failure that should be 100 percent covered by the manufacturer. They opted to "good will" parts rather than admit they could potentially have in my mind, a safety issue. Spokes coming loose is not an issue. That has been happening for a long time. That the nipples can just come off as a result of being loose is not safe. The wheel without spokes is not a wheel. A loose spoke wheel can maintain integrity and get you to a safe stop. Let there be no doubt about it, in my opinion, this IS a safety issue plain and simple.
I will wait for the recall to come out and deal with it at that point. Hopefully, this thread has heightened awareness to checking spokes more frequently than required. I know I will....ride safe, Out.

 

[Toyboy]

Bike is "done". Will be picking it up tomorrow. 30 days exactly. Bought Sargent seats for it will it was "away". Did get a call form the Yamaha Tech rep in CA. Nice enough guy, cordial, attentive. My thoughts on the nipple design were to be passed on to higher, i think. In the end we agreed to disagree about how this happened with them good willing the parts, me paying for install.
I am grateful that they are willing o do something but in the end, I still feel it is their responsibility and the y did not do what I believe to be a reasonable expectation.
I am faced with a dilemma. I have the catless header sitting here with the power commander, auto tune, new air filter from Tabasco. Had a pipe on the bike already. Install or sell of everything and trade the bike in on a BMW? KTM has a great 1190 ADV coming out too. Intermot only a week away If I recall correctly. No telling what will be coming out.
I know I should ignore the experience and move on but not good at that when it comes to certain things. Maybe looking for an excuse for some retail therapy. Will get it home, take it for a long blast, after I tighten the front spokes that require attention since they did not do it. Will sort it out. All in all a GREAT bike. Too bad this had to sour it for me. Thanks to all who listened to my rants and offered advice. Ride safe.....

 

[3putt]

I'm late to this thread, but, I lost a spoke nut on trip back from Alaska. Was over 6k miles since I checked them. Service manual calls for checking them every 4k miles. I found on inspection after finding the flopping spoke, several more spokes in the area were very loose, which I tightened. Replaced the nut 2 days later from dealer in Canada, (Grand Praire).

No damage, I must have caught it as soon as it happened (at a gas stop).

P.S. Just back from trip to Akansas, with 3 GSAs. We were talking about the spokes and how often they check theirs, guys says never and did not know how to check. I go over and start pinging his, turns out he has like 10 that are loose/flat sounding.

 

[Jagermeister]

Add me to the list.
I checked & tightened the spokes around 1k miles, and then threw one Sunday night. Talking with Woody now about replacement option.

Seriously, Yamaha!? You build one of the greatest bikes ever, and then crap out on the wheels? Really!?

 

[20valves]

Seriously, Yamaha!? You build one of the greatest bikes ever, and then crap out on the wheels? Really!?

All the people whose bikes have had no issues don't post. The issues of a few bikes on an item like wheels where use severity of use differs greatly does amount to "crapping out" on the wheels. So no, not really. :

 

[kraigd]

Well I put another thousand miles on the bike in the last 3 days,(I hit 19k in 9 months) just pounding the dragon HWY 129 and did a few miles off road. I have been checking my spokes every time I mount up in the AM. I took a bit of time to stop enjoy the view of the great Smokey Mts and check over the Tenere. Wow I could not believe my eyes, a spoke flopping in the wind and beating the SH#$ out of my swingarm. I put 400 miles on today and I checked the spokes first thing. I think this is the replacement spoke that I did not locktite. And I am thinking I did not put on enough to wick to the threads. They are not at the very edge of the nipple and I think it will take more than a drop or two. I say this because I had 3 spokes loose at this stop. Anyway how often does one need to check the spokes. It seems like everytime I stop for gas. No thank you. If I can not find a way to stop this BS I will be posting a very loaded up Tenere for a damn good deal. I am thinking 2013 Triumph 1200 exp. Small dealer network but they build a great motorcycle.

 

[stevepsd]

I'm late to this thread, but, I lost a spoke nut on trip back from Alaska. Was over 6k miles since I checked them. Service manual calls for checking them every 4k miles. I found on inspection after finding the flopping spoke, several more spokes in the area were very loose, which I tightened. Replaced the nut 2 days later from dealer in Canada, (Grand Praire).

No damage, I must have caught it as soon as it happened (at a gas stop).

P.S. Just back from trip to Akansas, with 3 GSAs. We were talking about the spokes and how often they check theirs, guys says never and did not know how to check. I go over and start pinging his, turns out he has like 10 that are loose/flat sounding.

The owners manual says to inspect the spokes for looseness before every ride as well (like we all do that...not). I bet alot of spoke wheel bikes have loose spokes, but since the spoke nipples are retained by the rim/tube, it is not obvious. With the ST a loose spoke nipple will eventually come off and leave you with a flailing spoke unless you have zip tied the spokes together.

If this was a Italian or German bike we would call it 'character' and just live with it (or not), but we expect more from what some would call a soul-less Japanese bike!

 

[snakebitten]

My wife bought a 2012 Focus Titanium edition. She loves the car. It's an amazing leap in American C class transportation.

It came with some kind of special low profile Michelins that are unique to the car. And while they might be considered "high performance", I find them Crap. They don't hold air. On 4 different occasions she has gone to leave for work in the early AM and is greeted with a low air computer warning. Each time she takes my truck while I cart the car to the dealer.

Last week she got a low air warning in yet a different tire and while on the way to the dealer she had a blowout on a different tire! Found herself on the side of the road calling roadside assistance.

They have now repaired or replaced the tire(s) 5 times. (but they wash the car each time too. )

So my point is this. It's a great car. She loves the car. I hate the tires. And although we have been treated fairly, it is ridiculous for a customer to be inconvenienced like this.

Having said all that, she has no intention of letting go of that car. She MIGHT make me go buy a set of tires though. Which is a fair amount of $$$$

Compare this scenario with a lost spoke. Even some dings and scratches to go along with it. As aggravating as it is, I can't imagine being so miffed that you would part with the bike. Especially if you really like it.

It would be no different than my wife ordering me to get her a different car because she hates the tires. Just seems a bit over the top.

 

[pluric]

I've never had a spoke loosen after my initial lost nipple. Woody's has had the front and the rear to
straighten and true. I've never put lock tite on the nipples or zip tied the spokes.

I spoke with Woody's today for an update on my new rear rim/spoke set up. They said
they had to order some parts and would be a couple weeks to finish. The price quote
is $615 plus shipping. I admit I've been frustrated with the wheels and riding down
time they have caused. I'm not ready to give up yet. Still like the bike and will give the
Woody's wheel a shot.

It's just that almost every serious off road ride has ended with bent wheels.

 

[kraigd]

Going to zip tie the spokes, this pisses me off that this must be done, so be it. Dealer was nice enough to give me 2 extra spokes one of each size for back up.

 

[snakebitten]

Pluric, you ARE the only person I know of that consistently bends these rims.

You don't seem THAT much of a lardbutt. But there is no proof that all those glamour shots are actually you.

But let's ass-ume that you are that handsome devil, what are you doing that others haven't? Only you can guess.

(well actually, I can guess too. But surely you can't do THAT on a S10?)