2006 YAMAHA XV1700 Complaints

TRANSMISSION FAILURE RESULTING IN VEHICLE NOT SAFE TO RIDE ON. MULTIPLES LISTINGS OF WEAK GEAR LINKAGE REPORTED VIA INTERNET WEBSITES. *TR

UP DATE.. YAMAHA HAS REFUSED TO EXTEND MY WARRANTY AFTER A VALVE JOB. BIKE STILL BACKFIRES DURING WARM UP, AND SHUTS OFF DURING IDLE. STRONG ODOR OF EXHAUST. I HAVE FOUND A LAWYER AND DEMAND THAT YAMAHA RESOLVE THIS ISSUE. *TR

2006 YAMAHA ROADSTAR CAST - I HAD 4,000 MILES ON THE BIKE. I WAS RIDING IN CONGESTED TRAFFIC ONE DAY AND BEING AN AIR COOLED MOTORCYCLE IT WAS RUNNING A LITTLE WARM. AFTER THE BIKE WAS SHUT DOWN FOR A FEW MINUTES IT FLOODED ON RESTART. I CHECKED THE SIDE OF THE ENGINE AND GASOLINE WAS POURING OUT OF THE AIRBOX ONTO THE STILL HOT ENGINE AND EXAUST. I TURNED THE PETCOCK OFF AND WAS ABLE TO START THE ENGINE BY HOLDING THE THROTTLE OPEN AND CRANKING THE ENGINE FOR A FEW SECONDS. I TURNED THE PECOCK BACK ON AND EVERYTHING SEEMED OK. THE NEXT DAY THE INCIDENT REPEATED AFTER AN EASY RIDE OF 60 MILES IN COOL MORNING AIR. YESTERDAY IT HAPPENED AGAIN AFTER AN EASY RIDE AROUND TOWN IN 60 DEGREE TEMPERATURES. IN LOOKING FOR A SOLUTION I RAN ACROSS A WEB SITE CALLED ROADSTAR FORUM. IT SEEMS THIS IS A VERY COMMON OCCURANCE WITH THIS PARTICULAR MODEL. ESPECIALLY THOSE PRODUCED SINCE 2004. THE DEALER TELLS ME THAT IT IS CARBURATOR PERCOLATION AND NOTHING CAN BE DONE ABOUT IT. MY ARGUMENT IS THAT IT DIDN'T HAPPEN FOR THE FIRST 4000K SO WHY IS IT HAPPENING NOW? THERE IS A DESIGN FLAW OR QUALITY ISSUE WITH THIS MACHINE THAT IS CAUSING THIS VERY DANGEROUS MALFUNCTION. SEVERAL OUNCES OF GASOLINE INSTANTLY VAPORIZED ON A HOT EXAUST SYSTEM COULD CAUSE AN EXPLOSION UNDER THE RIGHT CONDITIONS NOT TO MENTION CATCHING THE BIKE OR IT'S PASSENGERS ON FIRE. IF THIS SITE IS FOR CARS ONLY PLEASE EMAIL ME WITH THE ADDRESS OF THE PROPER AGENCY TO FILE A COMPLAINT. BEST REGARDS, S. WARD *TR

I BOUGHT A 2006 YAMAHA ROADSTAR 1700 NEW FROM THE DEALERSHIP. JUST BEFORE THE ONE YEAR WARRANTY EXPIRED THE MOTORCYCLE STARTED TO BACKFIRE AND STALL WHILE RIDING. THE BIKE IS STOCK WITH NO MODIFICATIONS. THE DEALER TOLD ME THERE WAS NOTHING WRONG WITH THE BIKE. NOW THE PROBLEM IS WORSE AND THE BIKE IS BACK AT THE DEALERSHIP. I HAD TO FIND OUT OVER THE INTERNET THROUGH FORUMS THAT IT'S THE VALVES THAT ARE STICKING IN THE MOTOR. THE SERVICE DEPT TELLS ME IT MIGHT BE A DOG FIGHT BETWEEN ME AND THE MANUFACTURER. *TR THE CONSUMER STATED YAHAMA HAS AGREED TO PERFORM A VALVE JOB ON THE VEHICLE. UPDATED 09/26/07 *TR

2006 1700CC YAMAHA ROSD STAR. DANGEROUS TO OWN AND RIDE DUE TO STICKY VALVES. MOTORCYCLE LOSES POWER ON CURVES AND ON STRAIGHT ROADS DUE TO INCONSISTENT MOTOR PERFORMANCE. YAMAHA KNEW OF THIS BUT WOULD NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. *AK

PURCHASED MOTORCYCLE NEW IN SEPTEMBER 2006. IN DECEMBER 2006 I STARTED HAVING DRIVABLE PROBLEMS. AFTER DISCUSSING WITH OTHER OWNERS OF SIMILAR MOTORCYCLES THEY COMPLAINED ABOUT STICKY EXHAUST VALVES. THEY MADE SOME RECOMMENDATIONS, AND IT TEMPORARILY FIXED THE SYMPTOMS WHICH WERE EXTREME LOSS OF POWER AND POOR RUNNING. THE EXHAUST VALVES STUCK OPENLY AT ANY ENGINE SPEED. THIS OCCURRED DURING TURNS, STRAIGHT AND LEVEL RIDING, ACCELERATING, DECELERATING, ENTERING, EXITING FREEWAYS AND WHILE IN TRAFFIC. THE ENGINE SIZE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE 2004, NEWER, AND 1999-2003 MODELS WAS ONLY 70CC, BUT THE CARBURETOR JET SETTINGS WERE MUCH BIGGER. THE CARBURETOR JETTED MUCH, AND WAS MUCH RICHER ON THE 2004-2007 MODELS, WHICH LEAD TO EXCESS GAS BEING PULLED INTO THE COMBUSTION CHAMBER, NOT BEING COMPLETELY BURNT AND CARBON DEPOSITS BEING LEFT ON THE VALVE SEAMS OF THE REAR CYLINDER HEAD. THIS CONDITION ONLY HAPPENED ON THE REAR CYLINDER HEAD. MY PEERS AND MYSELF RETURNED TGE MOTORCYCLES TO THE DEALERS AND WE WERE TOLD TO RUN YAMAHAS, RING FREE THROUGH THE GAS. THIS TEMPORARILY TOOK CARE OF THE SYMPTOMS, BUT DID NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. MY PEERS HAVE GOTTEN TIRED OF THE RUN-AROUND. SOME HAVE FILED LAWSUITS AND WON, SOME HAVE REPAIRED THE ENGINE ON THEIR OWN AND HAVEN'T HAD ANY FURTHER PROBLEMS. REHTTP://FORUMS.DELPHIFORUMS.COM/N/MB/MESSAGE.ASP?WEBTAG=1602&MSG=143462.1. *AK

UPON TAKING OFF, WITH BIKE UNDER LOAD, 1 CYCLINDER WILL CEASE FUNCTIONING CAUSING A LOSS OF POWER AND A STALLING OF THE MOTOR. THERE HAS NOT BEEN A CORRECTION PERFORMED, STILL WAITING FOR A CORRECT DIAGNOSIS FROM THE YAMAHA DEALERSHIP. CONSEQUENCES OF THIS MALFUNCTION COULD CAUSE LOSS OF LIFE IF THE MOTOR FAILED WHILE ON A BUSY ROAD OR HIGHWAY. *AK

IN THE MORNING I GO THROUGH A NORMAL STARTING PROCEDURE OF MOTORCYCLE RECOMMENDED BY THE DEALER AND BY YAMAHA. WITHIN 1 MILE THE ENGINE CHOKED/POPPED, AND BUCKED, ALMOST DIED ON ONE OCCASION ON THE ROAD. AFTER ANOTHER HALF MILE TO A MILE THE ENGINE CLEARED UP AND WILL START AND RAN FINE THE REST OF THE DAY. RECENTLY THE PROBLEM GOT MORE FREQUENT AND SOMETIMES HAPPENED, THOUGH MILDER SYMPTOMS DURING THE DAY. I WAS SCARED THAT THIS WILL HAPPEN IN TRAFFIC ,AND POSSIBLY CAUSE A CRASH AND INJURY. FROM MY DISCUSSIONS WITH OTHER YAMAHA ROAD STAR OWNERS I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE HAVING THIS PROBLEM. *AK I HAVE BEEN TO TWO YAMAHA DEALERS ABOUT THE PROBLEM. THE FIRST DEALER SAID IT IS NORMAL FOR THIS MODEL BIKE AND WAS QUITE RUDE, SO I DIDN'T GO BACK TO THEM. THE SECOND DEALER WANTED ME TO SPEND MY MONEY TO REPAIR THE ROOT PROBLEM AND SAID YAMAHA WOULD NOT COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY, THEY ALSO TOLD ME TO RUN RING-FREE (A YAMAHA FUEL ADDITIVE) IN MY FUEL TO CURE THE SYMPTOMS BUT THIS WOULD NOT CORRECT THE ROOT PROBLEM. I HAVE USED THE RING-FREE PRODUCT AND THE PROBLEM PERSISTS FOR 3 OR 4 MORE DAYS UNTIL THE RING-FREE HAS HAD TIME TO DO ITS THING. IT THEN GOES AWAY FOR 3 OR 4 THOUSAND MILES THEN RETURNS. I NOW HAVE APPROXIMATELY 12000 MILES ON THE BIKE, I HAVE OWNED IT FOR 1 YEAR AND HAVE WENT THROUGH THESE ISSUES ON 3 SEPARATE OCCASIONS. THE RING-FREE DOES MASK THE SYMPTOMS FOR A SHORT TIME BUT THERE IS APPARENTLY AN INTERNAL ENGINE PROBLEM AS THE ROOT CAUSE.

WHILE PULLING OUT INTO TRAFFIC, THE MOTORCYCLE 2006 YAMAHA ROADSTAR LOST POWER, BACK FIRED AND ALMOST DIED. THERE WAS TRAFFIC APPROACHING, AND I WAS ABLE TO PULL INTO A DRIVEWAY TO AVOID AN ACCIDENT. THIS HAS HAPPENED MANY TIMES. I HAVE CONTACTED THE LOCAL DEALER , AND WAS TOLD THE STEPS TO STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING. WHAT WAS CAUSING THE PROBLEM WAS A STICKY INTAKE VALVE. THE DEALER STATED , PER TSB FROM YAMAHA, IT WAS DUE TO TOO MUCH OIL IN THE ENGINE, 4.5 QUARTS, WHICH WAS WHAT YAMAHA PUT IN THE MOTORCYCLE , AND THE CARBURETOR WAS SET TO RICH. I DID AS THE TECHNICAL SERVICE BULLETIN (TSB) STATED. I RAN A BOTTLE OF RING FREE THROUGH THE GAS TANK, AND DID AN OIL CHANGE, PUT IN 4.0 QUARTS PER TSB, AND IT WAS RUNNING LEAN, NOT RICH. THE PROBLEM WAS STILL THERE. THE GAS MILEAGE DROPPED AND BACK SPARK PLUGS WERE WET WHEN I REMOVED THEM. *AK

GAS SEEMS TO BOIL OUT OF THE CARBURETOR AFTER SHUTTING OFF THE MOTORCYCLE WHEN HOT AND OVERFLOWS ONTO THE HOT ENGINE CASE AND EXHAUST. THIS HAPPENS QUITE OFTEN WHEN SHUTTING OFF THE ENGINE WHEN IT IS HOT. VERY SCARY. *AK