"Updated Parts" from Yamaha for Failed Key

law_boy · February 14, 2003

I posted a few days ago about Yamaha reps looking at bikes with broken keys at my dealer in Southern CA. According to the service manager, Yamaha has bought-back the dealer's WR450s on the sales floor and they are sending "updated parts" to repair my bike and the couple others there with broken keys. Don't really know what those "updated parts" are but I thought you might be interested.

ddialogue · February 15, 2003

Please let us know when you find out. Thanks!

Jonesy920 · February 15, 2003

Maybe they might admit there is something wrong. The problem is once they do it for you they are going to have to help everyone. Keep us posted.

ThumperWR450F · February 15, 2003

well we all spent $6000+ on these bikes. if this was a car it would be fixed no problem.this is just as big an investment as a car and we deserve to have these bikes running at 100%. what if someone had there 450 street legal and they were going down the road and sheared a key and got smacked by a tractor trailer. would yamaha than do something about it?a little dramatic i know but all and all these bikes weren't cheap. yamaha has enough money and should realize that the consumer bought those bikes with the yamaha reliability in mind . a little help from yamaha would be good Public Relations on there part. they got to remember that JOE CONSUMER pays there bills.

adamwagar · February 15, 2003

Yamaha should, at the very least, contact their dealers and inform them of the problem. ? :D

Dutch · February 15, 2003

Yamaha may have notified your dealer. The service manager is trying to figure out which snowmobile is shearing flywheel keys. ? :D

adamwagar · February 15, 2003

Thats true. Maybe a letter to the customer makes more sense. Lets see if Yamaha has the balls to admit they made a mistake. I'm betting they don't.

Dan_Lorenze · February 15, 2003

I talked to my good friends at the dealership today. Yamaha has contacted the service manager at the dealership, so Yamaha is well aware of the problems.... Thumpertalk is a big resource and they are watching... Thumper, I agree with you, they should fix it with no questions... That's the one bad thing about buying a bike from Canada (when you're from the US), I'm on my own. ?

Dan

Hick · February 16, 2003

The service manager is trying to figure out which snowmobile is shearing flywheel keys.

Hahaha!! ?

That sounds like my dealer, but you have to substitute "quad" for "snowmobile."

adamwagar · February 21, 2003

" Yamaha has bought-back the dealer's WR450s"

Hmmm. Buy back???...That way there's no recall or admission of a problem. ?

Dan_from_HB · February 21, 2003

I'd say a buy-back is as much an admission as a recall. This kind of thing is not limited to Yamaha. Remember the cracked KTM triple clamps in late '02 and early '03 models?

They'll take care of it. They just have to learn the scope of the problem. The more widespread the more likely they are to have a formal program for a fix. Either way, they don't want the bad publicity of leaving customers out there hanging. They also have to be certain the fix is really reliable. TT is a great resource, and information is power.

From the sounds of some of these posts, it might pay to deal with the most knowledgeable dealer, not just the one with a $50 cheaper price tag.

Dan

beezer · February 21, 2003

Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't just a matter of incorrect torque on the flywheel nut? Some of you guys act like pistons are flying through the cylinder heads. I don't think anyones picking pieces of piston out of their assneck.

I get my WR today and I'm not going to panic, just lap the flywheel and crank and torque correctly.

Then I'm gonna go up and down the street (I actually got a license plate on mine) and then put it away because there's 2 feet of snow.

adamwagar · February 21, 2003

I'd rather lap the competition...LOL. ? I'm cool with fixing the problem. I wish Yamaha would tell us "officially" what the problem is. Is it torque, fit, jetting, all of the above??? :D

jwriott · February 21, 2003

"what if someone had there 450 street legal and they were going down the road and sheared a key and got smacked by a tractor trailer."

Since these are sold as off road vehicles, I think you'd have a tough time getting anything out of them for an accident on a road, highway, etc.

Yamaha will get this sorted out and take care of the problem but some irreversible PR damage has been done.

It took me a long time to buy Yamaha products again because I always had problems with them and the following are just some examples. My PW50 won't run after washing until it dries out or I take an air compresser to the electronics. My Vmax leaked oil out of the case and my father-in-law was teasing me that his Harleys don't do that anymore. 2 RZ350's I had, shook themselves apart and even with Loctite, left me stranded.

Recent years they have really seemed to move towards the "Honda" level of quality, which is the reason I bought my WR and I'm happy with this bike. However, I have to admit that issues like this will weigh heavily on my decisions about buying them in the future.

If Yamaha isn't reading these posts and taking peoples concerns very seriously, they are going to lose a lot of future customers. I've got 3 boys now and I expect to buy a lot of bikes in the future for the 4 of us.

The least they could do is contact customers who have purchased the bikes and let them know the problem will be resolved with no cost to the purchaser.

Sorry, I just had to vent a little.

beezer · February 21, 2003

Yamaha probably could do a better job informing people of the problem and the fix for it. But look at Honda and the 02 CRF and the intake valve problems customers had. They basically said your on your own, valve replacement is normal maintenance.

Yamahas quality is much better than it used to be.

law_boy · February 21, 2003

No major news yet, but I've been told that it could be a little while before I see my bike again. Yamaha apparently is testing some solutions to make sure they come up with a permanent fix.

law_boy · February 26, 2003

Should have some new information soon. Parts have arrived and my bike should be done soon. I will try to find out specifically what has been done and what parts have been used.

SMD · February 26, 2003

So Lawboy have they had your bike since the 14th and still no definative answer about the failure or when exactly you will get it back?

Makes you go Hmmmm....

law_boy · February 27, 2003

Actually, they told me today it should be done tomorrow. I sure hope so - I'm heading out to ride this weekend and I'd hate to have to use the ole XL after getting a taste of the WR!

orcmike · February 27, 2003

I'm working with Yamaha on this problem. I'd hoped to have everything sorted out and have an article on ORC by Mar 1st. Doesn’t look like this is going to happen in the next day or so... The WR450F engineers are in Japan working on something…

Mike Hobbs

www.off-road.com

www.mxoff-road.com

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"Updated Parts" from Yamaha for Failed Key

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