Hey Yamaha, super tenere nearly killed me

[528Hz]

Me an my buddy were on the cross country trip on teneres. Yesterday August 4th, 2015 while I was traveling west bound on I-70, the rear wheel locked up and sent the bike into a drift at 60 mph. This had occurred right over blackwater river bridge near mile marker 77, in a construction zone with one lane open. Posted zone speed limit was 60.

A Volvo truck with a trailer came to a tire smoking stop less then a foot away from me. I was able to hold her through the drift without panicking until it came to a stop. I could have died yesterday. This could have caused a horrific pile up on 70 with all the trucks traveling downhill onto the bridge in one lane with passenger cars sandwiched in between.

The bearing which from what I recall is under number 10 in the middle gear parts schematic fell apart and caused the lock up of the drive shaft. Schematic is here: http://www.partzilla.com/parts/search/Yamaha/Motorcycle/2013/SUPER%20TENERE%20-%20XTZ12DG/MIDDLE%20DRIVE%20GEAR/parts.html

It is not clear why it fell apart. All I know is that a housing number 14 on schematic has bearing soup inside. I will post pictures later.

I don't know how many of you have what type of mileage, but this motorcycle is dangerous. Let this be a warning to you.
This could be a sleeper problem. Mine is a 13 model. I have yet to see what Yamaha will do about this, but so far a lack of care from the corporate would be an understatement. At least I have not had one call from them after reporting this and opening a case.

At this point it is irrelevant to me whether it came like that from a factory and finally failed or the mechanic at action yamaha who worked on the engine case replacement screwed up. I nearly lost my life yesterday. Bike has only 35,281 miles on it and it broke twice already, once in coloroado in 2014 where clutch spring broke in half and fell out of the basket and did quite a job on the the engine case and now the bearing failed and locked up the wheel nearly killing me.

Be safe out there and if it happens, don't panic, stay off the brakes, get up on the pegs and steer into the drift of the rear until it stops.
Ya'll take care of yourselves.

 

[True Grip]

You've had some bad luck with that bike.

 

[shrekonwheels]

First, lemme say good job keeping your head.

Second, how hard do you ring that off road?

Third, I suspect you are still in the mood for it, so time for another brand, I wish you the best.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Thanks for letting us know about your experience and how you managed to stay upright. Glad you were come through with only a scary story to tell. Surprising how your bike has had such a concentration of serious issues.

 

[528Hz]

First, lemme say good job keeping your head.

Second, how hard do you ring that off road?

Third, I suspect you are still in the mood for it, so time for another brand, I wish you the best.

I like the bike, but this one makes me paranoid now. Off-roading? well, I don't jump with it, i don't do burnouts with it, i don't ride motor cross with it, i don't climb walls with it or hop over logs. I do reasonable trails with it, it is a fairly heavy bike, although well balanced i must say. I did dempster, dalton, couple passes in colorado, last dollar road, and trails in nj, ny area, which are pretty much gravel roads that a passenger car can do. I ride it reasonably, she is not a dirt bike and she must bring me home each time from far away.

 

[Sckill]

Holy shit man. Get rid of that bike.

Is that one of the parts that would have been touched during the engine case swap? Document everything because you may have a case against yamaha dealership.

 

[528Hz]

Holy shit man. Get rid of that bike.

Is that one of the parts that would have been touched during the engine case swap? Document everything because you may have a case against yamaha dealership.

Guys here in missouri are saying that its hard to tell if the bearing was damaged during the engine rebuild or from the factory. They are not saying yes and they are not saying no. They said that the bearing that failed did not have to be removed from the middle gear assembly, but that does not mean that they did not disassemble it for some reason. I will have to refer to the replaced part list. I don't see any other reason why they would do it. I do know that they replaced crank bearings and some other bearings in the engine.

That's why I am posting this as part ragging and part warning, as, if this is from the factory, then they may have a batch of faulty bearings riding around there. This one failed at 35,281. They guys who rebuilt the engine at this point are on the shit list for not torquing down the engine mounting bolts first and foremost, riding with an empty tank and a bunch of other miscellaneous items that I take very seriously. I can't pin this on them at the moment and I am not really looking forward to doing that unless it is really their screw up. I am still waiting for some kind of closure as to why the clutch spring broke last year. Not a word.

 

[dcstrom]

Good job keeping it upright mate! Time to find a way out of that bike I think. 2 unusual failures is one too many. Since those guys had the engine apart, and have proven themselves clods in multiple other ways, AND nobody else has had this bearing fail (97,000 miles on mine), seems to point to something the clods did...

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[Harry Dresden PI]

Does the part (bearing) get lube from the rear end drive oil? If the seal robust that protects the bearing?

I have only changed the rear drive fluid twice and know little of how it works

Happy You Are Well ... besides the stress and strain of the event ... you are lucky / skilled not to have been hurt

 

[ace50]

I realize this experience can sour someone on a brand or particular bike, but no one makes a perfect bike, car, plane. They ALL crash or break down.
Your last failure is suspect on the mechanics.
Glad you were not hurt, but there are plenty of reliable bikes (none perfect though) out there so keep riding and enjoying life.
The one upstairs knows when it's your time. Just be ready to go when he says!

 

[OldRider]

"mechanic at action yamaha who worked on the engine case replacement screwed up"

I think you have found the weak link in this failure.

The mechanic has already proved to you that he not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

 

[Big Blu]

I'm happy to hear you came out of that incident w/o a scratch. ::012:: It could have been bad, very bad.

I'm sad to hear your bike has let you down again....... damn!

You didn't by chance park it close to a older GS the night before did you! ::002::
Thought I bring that up before someone else does. Where's that old wanker from the UK on this? ::003::

Paul

 

[sportsguy]

The bike isn't at fault. A human is. This is no more an issue with the Tenere than would be a nail through a tire. A part failed. WHY it failed is unclear, though I lean towards an issue with the work performed by the dealer. Certainly no rider failure on this one.

But to claim the bike will kill us and we should all be wary? Overstatement of the grossest kind. I am as glad as everyone else that you maintained control and came out unscathed. And you have every right to be upset by this incident (after the previous issues). But claiming the bike is at fault or "tried to kill you" is simply unreasonable.

I know this for a fact. How?

After reading this thread I rewatched all the Transformers movies. Your Tenere has exhibited NONE of the characteristics of a Decepticon, so the machine is not trying to kill you. Simple as that.

Seriously - glad you're OK, clearly you are a good rider to have maintained control. Kudos for passing that tidbit along for other riders (how to maintain control when the rear wheel locks up), but the sensationalism of this thread leaves me at odds with the reasonable approach you seem to take with the dealer (in all your reported instances). Chalking it up to just plain old being pissed madder than hell due to a close encounter with a Volvo transport bumper.

 

[528Hz]

Does the part (bearing) get lube from the rear end drive oil? If the seal robust that protects the bearing?

I have only changed the rear drive fluid twice and know little of how it works

Happy You Are Well ... besides the stress and strain of the event ... you are lucky / skilled not to have been hurt

That bearing sits in the housing attached to the back of the engine. It's on that output shaft that contains the yoke. That rubber boot on riders left covers the yoke. That bearing is lubricated by engine oil. Bike consumes no oil neither before nor after rebuild, that was one of my first things to monitor. I checked the level in the morning, it was in the middle of the porthole.

 

[528Hz]

I realize this experience can sour someone on a brand or particular bike, but no one makes a perfect bike, car, plane. They ALL crash or break down.
Your last failure is suspect on the mechanics.
Glad you were not hurt, but there are plenty of reliable bikes (none perfect though) out there so keep riding and enjoying life.
The one upstairs knows when it's your time. Just be ready to go when he says!

I have a saucer on stand by. It's in a different dimension so it's only accessible when out of body. I know this is not the end. ::008::

 

[528Hz]

The bike isn't at fault. A human is. This is no more an issue with the Tenere than would be a nail through a tire. A part failed. WHY it failed is unclear, though I lean towards an issue with the work performed by the dealer. Certainly no rider failure on this one.

But to claim the bike will kill us and we should all be wary? Overstatement of the grossest kind. I am as glad as everyone else that you maintained control and came out unscathed. And you have every right to be upset by this incident (after the previous issues). But claiming the bike is at fault or "tried to kill you" is simply unreasonable.

I know this for a fact. How?

After reading this thread I rewatched all the Transformers movies. Your Tenere has exhibited NONE of the characteristics of a Decepticon, so the machine is not trying to kill you. Simple as that.

Seriously - glad you're OK, clearly you are a good rider to have maintained control. Kudos for passing that tidbit along for other riders (how to maintain control when the rear wheel locks up), but the sensationalism of this thread leaves me at odds with the reasonable approach you seem to take with the dealer (in all your reported instances). Chalking it up to just plain old being pissed madder than hell due to a close encounter with a Volvo transport bumper.

Maybe I should call her Christine? Have you seen that movie? Except, instead of killing local thugs, she kills herself and then gets resurrected. Meanwhile I have to stay in a hotel and drive a car for a week. But look at the bright side, today is a bike night here at the dealer, and i will be parking her frame right next to the best looking harley ::001:: ::26:: ::022::

 

[528Hz]

I'm happy to hear you came out of that incident w/o a scratch. ::012:: It could have been bad, very bad.

I'm sad to hear your bike has let you down again....... damn!

You didn't by chance park it close to a older GS the night before did you! ::002::
Thought I bring that up before someone else does. Where's that old wanker from the UK on this? ::003::

Paul

No, it was parked between chevy impala and tahoe, if that tells you anything. Government Motors?

 

[sportsguy]

Maybe I should call her Christine? Have you seen that movie? Except, instead of killing local thugs, she kills herself and then gets resurrected. Meanwhile I have to stay in a hotel and drive a car for a week. But look at the bright side, today is a bike night here at the dealer, and i will be parking her frame right next to the best looking harley ::001:: ::26:: ::022::

Oh hell no!

You can call the rental car you had Christine, if you must, but not a Tenere. It appears you have a hybrid here. A bike with the skeleton and muscles from the Japanese, and the soul, will and heart of an Italian. She demands attention...maybe too much. My suspicion is that garage monkeys have fondled your mount in a bad manner. Perhaps offer her a doll of a motorcycle and ask her where the bad men touched her?

Then go all Liam Neason on their a$$es.

 

[WJBertrand]

Is there a good way to inspect this bearing?

 

[528Hz]

Spoke to a yamaha customer service clowns today again. one never calls back, the other has mailbox full and that says a lot to me. basically it comes down to this. If you are able to control the bike during the failure and are not involved in an accident then the only liability yamaha has is a warranty repair. You can do this all day ::010:: and it won't help. Apparently one has to get killed or hurt first. This is going into a legal department as far as i am concerned. This is a clear case of the corporations having this kind of arrogant power. And a corporation is a fake, fictitious legal entity that is comprised of people who follow some kind of commandments written by arrogant psychopaths. And we got to this fucked up reality. They don't care. none of them, yamaha, honda, harley, kawasaki, chevy - all large corporations. I think it will take a collective boycott to dismantle this bullshit in its entirety. Unfortunately for the people, they are divided and disorganized, while corporations are well organized. Being disorganized and divided is the downfall of humanity. I can buy another 20 teneres to be honest and they can all break and it wont hurt. Its a piece of metal, I am here temporarily and she is not coming with me. It is the recurring pattern of corporate arrogance that is very clear.

As far as checking the bearing, well its not really a maintenance item. Without having to remove the motor off the bike, you'd have to remove the swing arm, take out the shaft and take out the middle gear housing and take it apart. I 'm not sure how you would tell if the bearing is faulty or not. This one lasted 35K miles. This bike is a Year 2013, sequence number 2,650. The take home from this, if you didn't get hurt, there is no problem. ::008:: ::003:: Just remember to submit your trip interruption claim for a $250 dollars and up to $50 for towing.