airheadpilot
New Member
- Joined
- Oct 11, 2010
- Messages
- 10
A couple of weeks ago I went to hop on my 2012 Super Tenere (54K miles) to ride home from school. I hit the start button and it fired for a few times and then abruptly died. Bummer. Tried again - nothing. Tried WOT - nothing. Tried letting it sit for 20 minutes - nothing. Tried roll-starting it on a hill - nothing. Tried every combination of starting routines that I could think of doing in a parking lot with no tools, basically until the battery was dead. Solid cranking, but not one single combustion event. As the battery grew more dead, it displayed the "14" error code on the dash, but I think that has more to do with the dying battery than anything else. In the end, my buddy came and rescued me and took me and the bike to my dealer. I was thinking fuel pump, TPS, or some other EFI failure.
Last Friday, I got a call from the dealer. They had a hell of a time diagnosing the problem. The bike's computer didn't tell them anything revealing, the EFI system seemed to be fine, the bike had spark, etc. It was only when they took the valve cover off that they realized the problem. The cam chain had jumped a few teeth on the sprockets and the cams were out of phase with the crank. What's more, this had resulted in piston-on-valve interference and I now had bent valves. I'm looking at a complete top-end rebuild and many pennies.
The bike is out of warranty. Of course I didn't spring for the Y.E.S. coverage - it's a Yamaha, not a BMW after all. The service manager asked me what I wanted to do. I told him to fix it. I figure that, whatever I decide to do next, the bike is worthless to me broken. If I decide to sell it, I want to be able to say that it's totally fixed and in good condition. He's going to work with Yamaha to see if they'll cover some or part of it. He's had some luck with them doing that in the past for "shouldn't have happened" failures, even when the bike is out of warranty. As of this writing, no word yet on the total repair estimate or timeline, and no word whether Yamaha is going to chip in, and for how much.
I've taken really good care of this bike. It hasn't been babied - it's my year-round do-everything commute and touring bike - but I rarely run it to redline or excessively lug it, I change the oil and filter on schedule religiously, and it gets every maintenance on time and in full. I always let it warm up a little when it's cold before riding away - at least until the "LO" on the temperature gauge changes to a numerical value. When I had it in for the 50K service, it got a clean bill of health. I have been noticing over the last few thousand miles that, when cold, sometimes there would be a little cam chain clatter on start-up for one second, then go immediately away once the oil pressure came up and the tensioner did its thing. The consensus from both the dealer and what I've read here and elsewhere on the Interwebs is that, as long as the clatter goes away immediately there's nothing to worry about. It would seem that is not the case.
The thing is, I feel kind of let down. Not by my dealer - they have been a fabulous shop in the sales, parts, and service departments. But by Yamaha. Of all the motorcycles I have owned, I've purchased exactly two brand-new from a dealer. Both were Yamahas and both were higher-end, expensive models that were intended to be Yamaha's attempt at "flagships" in their respective classes - my 2005 FJR1300 and my 2012 Super Tenere.
The FJR was a fantastic motorcycle. Other than a rear shock when the stock one wore out, I never made any performance modifications of any kind; probably the only motorcycle I can say that about. It was everything I wanted in a sport-touring motorcycle, and I only sold it because I wanted something a little more nimble for my urban commuting and I wanted something a little more open to exploring unpaved roads and dealing with the East Bay's pothole-infested roads. But it was a ticker. Around 45K miles, it started developing the ticking that some of the 2005's became known for - caused by faulty valve seals that caused the guides to wear out and the valve stems to wobble around in the head. I ended up needing an entirely new cylinder head, which Yamaha covered every penny of despite the bike being out of warranty, which was awfully nice of them. Still, between the negotiations with Yamaha, waiting for parts from Japan, and the actual shop work time, I was without my bike for nearly six months. I thought that every manufacturer is entitled to slip up occasionally and that was the exception that proved the rule, if you will.
While I like the Super Tenere a lot, it has not been as good of a bike as the FJR was in its particular market segment. The suspension was pretty good, but not as good as I thought a full-size adventure bike should be, and I ended up upgrading both the forks and the shock. The fuel injection was really disappointing, however. The throttle-by-wire was really abrupt and jumpy, and it surged right where I wanted to cruise on the freeway. At the time the ECU re-flashes weren't available yet, so I went with a full Arrow exhaust system and a Power Commander V with Autotune. That helped a lot, although it still surges sometimes at slow speeds, mostly at the transition between on-throttle and off-throttle, which is annoying. Plus the Arrow muffler is pretty loud, and I wish it was quieter. All in all, I was a little disappointed that I had to spend a few thousand more to get the bike as good as I wanted it to be off the showroom floor, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that at least it was a Yamaha and would go for 200K miles as long as I took care of it. And now this.
I honestly don't know what I want to do with the bike when I get it back. Some of that decision will probably be influenced by how much I have to pay out of pocket for the repair. I'm unemployed right now while I'm going back to school full time, and a several-thousand dollar repair bill is really going to hurt my savings. But even if Yamaha elects to pick up the bill, I'm not sure whether I will still trust the bike or not. I'm wondering if I really need shaft drive, 100-hp, traction control, and all the bells and whistles, and I'm looking at the new KLR650 with its reputation for bulletproof reliability (not to mention a carburetor!) and thinking that might be all I need after all, at least for the time being while I'm a student.
I'm not really looking for help here, although I'm happy to read your opinions, and I'll keep you updated on how it turns out. But I wanted to share at least, and if you start hearing cam chain slap on start-up, you might want to take it in right away and have the tensioner replaced, even if it's not due for a service yet.
Andrew
1972 R75/5
1983 R80ST
2012 Super Tenere
Last Friday, I got a call from the dealer. They had a hell of a time diagnosing the problem. The bike's computer didn't tell them anything revealing, the EFI system seemed to be fine, the bike had spark, etc. It was only when they took the valve cover off that they realized the problem. The cam chain had jumped a few teeth on the sprockets and the cams were out of phase with the crank. What's more, this had resulted in piston-on-valve interference and I now had bent valves. I'm looking at a complete top-end rebuild and many pennies.
The bike is out of warranty. Of course I didn't spring for the Y.E.S. coverage - it's a Yamaha, not a BMW after all. The service manager asked me what I wanted to do. I told him to fix it. I figure that, whatever I decide to do next, the bike is worthless to me broken. If I decide to sell it, I want to be able to say that it's totally fixed and in good condition. He's going to work with Yamaha to see if they'll cover some or part of it. He's had some luck with them doing that in the past for "shouldn't have happened" failures, even when the bike is out of warranty. As of this writing, no word yet on the total repair estimate or timeline, and no word whether Yamaha is going to chip in, and for how much.
I've taken really good care of this bike. It hasn't been babied - it's my year-round do-everything commute and touring bike - but I rarely run it to redline or excessively lug it, I change the oil and filter on schedule religiously, and it gets every maintenance on time and in full. I always let it warm up a little when it's cold before riding away - at least until the "LO" on the temperature gauge changes to a numerical value. When I had it in for the 50K service, it got a clean bill of health. I have been noticing over the last few thousand miles that, when cold, sometimes there would be a little cam chain clatter on start-up for one second, then go immediately away once the oil pressure came up and the tensioner did its thing. The consensus from both the dealer and what I've read here and elsewhere on the Interwebs is that, as long as the clatter goes away immediately there's nothing to worry about. It would seem that is not the case.
The thing is, I feel kind of let down. Not by my dealer - they have been a fabulous shop in the sales, parts, and service departments. But by Yamaha. Of all the motorcycles I have owned, I've purchased exactly two brand-new from a dealer. Both were Yamahas and both were higher-end, expensive models that were intended to be Yamaha's attempt at "flagships" in their respective classes - my 2005 FJR1300 and my 2012 Super Tenere.
The FJR was a fantastic motorcycle. Other than a rear shock when the stock one wore out, I never made any performance modifications of any kind; probably the only motorcycle I can say that about. It was everything I wanted in a sport-touring motorcycle, and I only sold it because I wanted something a little more nimble for my urban commuting and I wanted something a little more open to exploring unpaved roads and dealing with the East Bay's pothole-infested roads. But it was a ticker. Around 45K miles, it started developing the ticking that some of the 2005's became known for - caused by faulty valve seals that caused the guides to wear out and the valve stems to wobble around in the head. I ended up needing an entirely new cylinder head, which Yamaha covered every penny of despite the bike being out of warranty, which was awfully nice of them. Still, between the negotiations with Yamaha, waiting for parts from Japan, and the actual shop work time, I was without my bike for nearly six months. I thought that every manufacturer is entitled to slip up occasionally and that was the exception that proved the rule, if you will.
While I like the Super Tenere a lot, it has not been as good of a bike as the FJR was in its particular market segment. The suspension was pretty good, but not as good as I thought a full-size adventure bike should be, and I ended up upgrading both the forks and the shock. The fuel injection was really disappointing, however. The throttle-by-wire was really abrupt and jumpy, and it surged right where I wanted to cruise on the freeway. At the time the ECU re-flashes weren't available yet, so I went with a full Arrow exhaust system and a Power Commander V with Autotune. That helped a lot, although it still surges sometimes at slow speeds, mostly at the transition between on-throttle and off-throttle, which is annoying. Plus the Arrow muffler is pretty loud, and I wish it was quieter. All in all, I was a little disappointed that I had to spend a few thousand more to get the bike as good as I wanted it to be off the showroom floor, but I consoled myself with the knowledge that at least it was a Yamaha and would go for 200K miles as long as I took care of it. And now this.
I honestly don't know what I want to do with the bike when I get it back. Some of that decision will probably be influenced by how much I have to pay out of pocket for the repair. I'm unemployed right now while I'm going back to school full time, and a several-thousand dollar repair bill is really going to hurt my savings. But even if Yamaha elects to pick up the bill, I'm not sure whether I will still trust the bike or not. I'm wondering if I really need shaft drive, 100-hp, traction control, and all the bells and whistles, and I'm looking at the new KLR650 with its reputation for bulletproof reliability (not to mention a carburetor!) and thinking that might be all I need after all, at least for the time being while I'm a student.
I'm not really looking for help here, although I'm happy to read your opinions, and I'll keep you updated on how it turns out. But I wanted to share at least, and if you start hearing cam chain slap on start-up, you might want to take it in right away and have the tensioner replaced, even if it's not due for a service yet.
Andrew
1972 R75/5
1983 R80ST
2012 Super Tenere
