My Yamaha warranty history

[Dirt_Dad]

::026:: I get the clatter on the blue Tenere with 18K miles on it. In the last few months it has only been run every other week, and in the last couple of months it clatters on every first start of the day. Only clatters for the first few seconds. So far my black 14.5K Tenere has never done it. No discernible ill effect because the blue one feels noticeably quicker than the black for reasons I cannot explain.

 

[dcstrom]

First warranty work done yesterday (not including the O-ring recall, which it didn't need). Bought a 2 year extended warranty for $300, didn't want a longer one since the bike won't be in the US for that long and warranty is invalid out of the country.

The big seal on the final drive has been weeping for a while, thought I better get it fixed before going to mexico. I had a seal in my spare parts kit ($10) so was able to use it for the repair, since the dealer here in San Diego didn't have one in stock. However I'll wait a couple of days for them to get one, as I think it's a good thing to have in the kit.

Initially they didn't realize it was warranty, and quoted me $146 for the job. So I'm halfway there in return on my extended warranty investment!

23,000 miles on the bike.

Only a few miles on the new seal so far but seems to be holding up. Want to run around here a little bit and make sure before heading south.

 

[Combo]

I hope the new seal holds and you have a safe fun trip.

No issues so far with only 8000 miles in over 15 months. O-Ring fuel pump recall and didn''t need it either. The factory one was installed correct.

 

[Dirt_Dad]

Initially they didn't realize it was warranty, and quoted me $146 for the job. So I'm halfway there in return on my extended warranty investment!

How did they figure out it was covered under warranty? Did Yamaha step up when called, or did you have to beat it into them?

 

[viewdvb]

No warranty... At 30,000 miles it started to make a noisy valve sound on cold start up. It went away after 3 or 4 ticks. Had the valves checked and was told all are within spec. They didn't change anything. It still ticks on cold start up but runs fine and is a blast to ride.
I got a 800 number for Yamaha Tech and was told if all valves are within spec to not worry and ride it. I've got over 32,000 now and still tick on cold state up. Anyone else experience this?
Of course warranty is up now... Over one year.

Do I read this as you guys have just one year warranty? If so maybe we Brits do have some advantages. All vehicle warranties here are at least two years (Yamaha included) and there is a definite trend towards longer warranties up to 5 years. Started in the car trade but may well spread to bikes. Just as well as all my Yamaha warranty claims have happened in the second year.

 

[greg the pole]

Most warranties on bikes in the great white north are standard 12 month (except BMW)
I did buy mine in the US, same deal there.
Most car manufacturers offer 4-6 yrs depending on the brand.
Keep in mind that most bikes are a lot more in the EU compared
To n. America maybe that's why they toss the extra warr in

 

[dcstrom]

How did they figure out it was covered under warranty? Did Yamaha step up when called, or did you have to beat it into them?

The guy said it didn't show extended warranty when he put in the VIN, so I showed him the certificate from Yamaha I think he just made a mistake because when they checked at Roseville Yamaha 10 days ago, it was in the system as having extended warranty.

 

[Brick]

So if the clatter is cam chain then what is the fix?
I rode the Super T 2 days ago and it clattered on start up. Today when I started the Super T it did not make the clatter... WTF???

 

[Brick]

So if the clatter is the cam chain... What is the fix?
Is there a new cam chain tensioner?

 

[viewdvb]

The fix is probably better ear plugs to stop you worrying.

 

[tomatocity]

So if the clatter is the cam chain... What is the fix?
Is there a new cam chain tensioner?

Brick, I was the same way about the engines noises. Continued to ride and enjoy the Tenere during the beak-in period and the same noise was present. Now past 20K miles and the same noise is present. The good part is it has not changed. The other good part is the dealer service department is aware of my concern and has documented it, plus I have the extended warranty.

 

[Brick]

Thanks Tomatocity... Mine now has over 31,000 miles. I guess it had made this noise during the first 30,000 miles I would accepted it better.
I'll take a chill pill and continue to enjoy my Super T.
Thanks

 

[creggur]

Worried me at first as well. Over 8k miles on the clock now, and while the engine has gotten smoother, it still makes some funny noises - oh well. RMWL...

 

[dcstrom]

The fix is probably better ear plugs to stop you worrying.

Just remember to put them in BEFORE you start the bike...

Then, no worries.

 

[dcstrom]

I managed to break my rear shock in Baja. I wasn't doing anything silly, a la Pluric no dented rims for example! Just did 70 miles of variable dirt on the east coast south of San Felipe, about 10% corrugations, 10% sand, 10% rocky, and the rest relatively smooth dirt. I guess the catch is I was carrying about 200lbs of luggage.

The shock didn't leak, it just lost all it's damping. I guess something internal broke.

I knew the shock was stressed and briefly considered changing it for an Ohlins before the trip, but I'd never heard of an S10 shock having a problem. On the other hand, I read of a number of Ohlins failures - does anyone remember the scene with Ewen and Charley inspecting a dripping Ohlins on a dirt road in Ethiopia in "The Long Way Down"? Lucky for them they just had to wait a few hours for the backup vehicle - which carried a spare. In fact IIRC it carried at least 2 spares. No backup vehicle for me, so I held off on spending over $1000 on an Ohlins.

But now I did anyway. I wound the rebound damping way up on the Yamaha shock which was made it rideable enough to get me back to San Diego. Jagermeister was selling his Ohlins and got it to me quickly, I visited the Yamaha dealer and they got approval for a new stock shock. (This will be my spare to be sent to me if the Ohlins croaks). There are none in the US so it will be a bit of a wait.

Luckily I have the Ohlins on now... finger crossed it will go the distance! It IS an awesome improvement tho, even if I am having issues getting the sag set correctly. If I can drop 20lbs, and drop 20lbs of luggage, then it might be right!

 

[dcstrom]

Oh and... I had a fork seal replaced today.

So that means I've had a rear drive seal, a shock, and a fork seal replaced under extended warranty. That's about $900 worth, none of which was in the first year... So the extended warranty had paid for itself already.

 

[tomatocity]

The stock rear shock spring barely carries the load of a 225 pound rider. So if you weigh 25 pounds you would be good to go

 

[dcstrom]

The stock rear shock spring barely carries the load of a 225 pound rider. So if you weigh 25 pounds you would be good to go

Yeah, you have to wonder what they were thinking when they specced the shock the way they did. Japanese engineers seemed to have overlooked the fact that most Americans (or in my case, Australians) are "substantial" and like to carry a lot of shit when travelling.

 

[Hudders]

Well my trip button went faulty 2 weeks out of waranty and yamaha have said i can have a new one for £300 + VAT

not very happy

 

[snakebitten]

Well my trip button went faulty 2 weeks out of waranty and yamaha have said i can have a new one for £300 + VAT

not very happy

While that SUCKS for you, it makes you the posterboy for YES.

We might believe in the drivetrain on this bike outlasting the YES extended coverage. It's true that most of us will have perfectly running Teneres and never need a warranty claim on anything catastrophic.

But this is a perfect example of the kinds of things that can go wrong on even a Yamaha!

And the cost of that button is close to the cost of the extended warranty.