YAMAHA Complaints

DEAR NHTSA: I AM WRITING THIS COMPLAINT IN REGARDS TO THE CONTINUOUS ENGINE FAILURE OF A YAMAHA MOTORCYCLE. SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, THE ENGINE STARTED HESITATING DURING A REGULAR RIDE AND WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS RELEASED IT WOULD NOT IDLE BUT STOP; THE ENGINE QUITS RUNNING EVEN WHEN SHIFTING GEARS, WHICH COULD LEAD TO A SERIOUS INJURY EVEN DEATH IF HAPPENS ON A CURVE. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A MECHANIC AND AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF TROUBLE SHOOTING AND DIAGNOSIS I WAS TOLD THAT THEY DIDN'T FIND WHAT WAS WRONG! THEN I SEARCHED THE INTERNET AND BECOME AWARE THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM, SOMEONE EVEN REPORTED AN INJURY, CAUSED BY A FAULTY THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR (TPS), AT LEAST THE END USERS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT WAS THE CULPRIT WHILE YAMAMA MOTORS IGNORED THE CONCERNS OF THE RIDERS. I AM SURPRISED THAT YAMAHA HAS NOT TAKEN THIS MATTER SERIOUSLY AND HAS NOT MADE A RECALL OR ISSUED A TECHNICAL BULLETIN. THIS IS MIND BATTLING TO ME SINCE IT CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS ACCIDENTS AND EVEN FATALITIES. NEVERTHELESS, I BELIEVE THAT THE NHTSA WILL TAKE THE MATTER SERIOUSLY IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP THE ROADS SAFER, AND FORCE THE MANUFACTURERS TO ACT PROMPTLY AND RESPONSIBLY. THE MORE OF THESE STORIES CAN BE READ ON THE VARIOUS FORUMS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING SITE (HTTP://R1-FORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=98831&PERPAGE=20&PAGENUMBER=1) I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR HELP WITH THE MATTER IN ANY WAY I CAN. BEST REGARDS, PLEASE MAKE THE ROADS SAFER.. FATIH BUYUKSONMEZ. *JB

TROTTLE CHUNKY/DELAYED/ERRATIC, MAKING MOTORCYCLE DIFFICULT TO CONTROL IN CORNERS. STALLS AT STOPS, A DANGEROUS SITUATION IN CITY TRAFFIC. DOES NOT IDLE, I NEED TO KEEP THE THROTTLE SLIGHTLY ROLLED ON. RUNS ROUGH, SMELLS OF GAS, SEEMS TO MISS. PROBLEMS STARTED WITH THROTTLE DELAY AT 7000 MILES, STALLING STARTED AT 7400 MILES. *JB

I AM AN OWNER OF A 2004 YAMAHA R1 MOTORCYCLE. WHILE I WAS RIDING HOME MID DAY ON APRIL 11 2005 I NOTICED THE BIKE IDLING VERY LOW EVERY TIME I STOPPED. SO I WENT IN TO A PARKING AREA AND SHUT THE ENGINE OFF WITH THE IGNITION KEY AND WAITED FOR APPROXIMATELY 1 MINUTE. IT SEEMED TO WORK FINE SO I PRESSED ON HOME. BUT WHEN I WAS ON THE ROAD TAKING A LEFT HAND TURN AND I CAME TO THE APEX OF THE TURN THE BIKE SHUT OFF UPSETTING THE SUSPENSION AND CAUSING ME TO LOW SIDE (DROPPING THE BIKE ON THE SIDE THAT IT WAS LEANED AS I TURNED) I HAD NO MAJOR INJURIES WITH THE EXCEPTION OF KNEE SORENESS FOR ABOUT A MONTH. THE BIKE SUSTAINED THE FOLLOWING DAMAGE: BENT FORKS, BENT FRONT WHEEL, DENTED GAS TANK, BROKEN MIRRORS, BROKEN WINDSCREEN, BROKEN UPPER FAIRING, BROKEN REAR FAIRING, DAMAGED MID LEFT FAIRING AND LOWER FAIRING, AS WELL AS BENT LEFT CLUTCH LEVER. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE DEALER THEY SAID THAT THE PROBLEM WAS ME AND NOT THE BIKE. I EXPLAINED OF THE CUTTING OFF WITH THE ENGINE AND THEY AGAIN SAID THAT IT WAS ME AND NOT THE BIKE. ONE OF THE ISSUES WITH THIS IS THAT YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, THAT CAN CATCH YOU OFF GUARD. I HAVE ALL THE OLD PARTS THAT I REPLACED. I CAN HAVE PICTURES AVAILABLE IF NEEDED. AND I STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM. *JB

I AM THE OWNER OF A YAMAHA R1 2004 MOTORCYCLE. AFTER 5000 MILES THE BIKE WILL DROP TO A LOW IDLE 500 RPM AND THEN SHUT DOWN. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS, AND HAS CAUSED MANY CRASHES, AND INJURIES! I BELONG TO MANY FORUMS AND THIS IS HAPPENING ALL OVER THE WORLD TO 2004 YAMAHAS, IT IS THE LEFT TPS SENSOR! THIS NEEDS TO BE RECALLED BEFORE SOMEONE IS KILLED! JESSE ZIMMERMAN. *JB

(1) AROUND 5,000 MILES I NOTICED MY BIKE STARTED STALLING OUT AT 4,000 RPM OR LESS. (2) ENGINE WOULD IDLE REALLY LOW AND STALL OUT. BIKE WOULD USUALLY NOT START BACK UP RIGHT AWAY. LAST YEAR IN THE FALL I WAS IN A TURN AND MY BIKE STALLED OUT AND I LOSS CONTROL AND CRASHED. I INJURED MY RIGHT HAND, CHEST, RIGHT LEG AND HAD DAMAGE TO MY BIKE, CLOTHES AND HELMET. (3) I FOUND THAT I WASN'T THE ONLY PERSON HAVING THIS PROBLEM. THE DEALERSHIPS DENY HAVING A PROBLEM AND CLAIM I AM THE ONLY PERSON. THEY SAID THE CAN'T FIX SOMETHING IF THEY CAN'T DUPLICATE IT. THEY HAVE HAD 2 REVISIONS OF THE SUSPECT PART AND NOW MY WARRANTY IS EXPIRED SO IT WOULD COST ME OUT OF MY POCKET. I DID NOTICE LIKE OTHERS, THERE SEEMS TO BE A TEMPORARY FIX BY TURNING THE IGNITION KEY OFF THEN BACK ON. THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING DONE TO FIX MY BIKE. YAMAHA CUSTOMER SERVICE CLAIMS I AM THE ONLY PERSON WITH THIS ISSUE AND WON'T HELP!! THERE IS A WEBSITE DEVOTED TO THIS BIKE AND A TREND JUST FOR THIS ISSUE. BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE TREND WHERE YOU WILL SEE I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WITH THE SAME ISSUE AND YOU WILL READ ABOUT HOW OTHERS HAVE BEEN INJURED AS A RESULT OF THIS. HTTP://WWW.R1-FORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=98831 *JB

RIDING HOME FROM WORK ON A 2004 YAMAHA FZ6, WITH JUST OVER 5K MILES ON IT. THE BIKE BEGAN TO SURGE BY ITSELF AND WOULD EITHER GO TO A FULL OPEN THROTTLE (WITHOUT ANY USER INPUT) OR WOULD HOLD A CONSTANT RPM (REGARDLESS OF USER INPUT). THE FIRST SURGE WAS VERY VIOLENT (WHEELIE STYLE THROTTLE INPUT) AND NEARLY KICKED ME OFF THE BACK. LOST GRIP WITH MY THROTTLE HAND, BUT WAS ABLE TO GRAB CLUTCH AND AVOID AN ACCIDENT. VERY INCONSISTENT THROTTLE RESPONSE THE REST OF THE RIDE HOME (~4 MILES). SOUND FROM EXHAUST HAD ALSO DIES DOWN AND WAS VERY QUIET. UPON ARRIVAL AT HOME, I PARKED THE BIKE AND FELT THE EXHAUST AND IDLE - EVERYTHING WAS NORMAL. UPON THE SLIGHTEST THROTTLE INPUT ABOVE IDLE, THERE WOULD BE NO PRESSURE FROM THE TAIL PIPE AND THE AIR AROUND THE EXHAUST WOULD BECOME INSTANTLY SUPER HEATED. I HAD THE BIKE TOWED TO A REPAIR SHOP (DEL AMO MOTORSPORTS) TO HAVE IT LOOKED AT. THEY RAN DIAGNOSTICS AND FOUND NO ERRORS. HOW CAN THERE BE NO ERRORS WHEN THE BIKE DROVE AROUND WITH A MIND OF ITS OWN? THE BIKE IS STILL AT THE DEALER, WILL UPDATE THE REPORT LATER. HAVE HAD ALL SERVICE CHECKS, BIKE HAS BEEN DOING FINE, EXCEPT FOR A ROUGH IDLE, DIAGNOSED AS A TPS PROBLEM BY TEXAS YAMAHA SOUTH OUTSIDE OF HOUSTON, TX. THIS WAS DONE AROUND THE 700 AND AGAIN AROUND THE 1200 MILE MARK. PROBLEM (ASSOCIATED WITH TPS, AS DIAG. BY TYS) STOPPED AROUND 1400 MILES THEN SHOWED UP AROUND 4700 AND HAS BEEN DOING IT EVER SINCE. *NM

1. BIKE STARTED AND WARMED UP FINE. AFTER ABOUT AN HOUR OF RIDING BIKE WAS IDLING VERY LOW AT A STOP SIGN (800-900 RPM). POWER DELIVERY WAS CHOPPY FROM A STOP ALSO. AT THE NEXT STOP LIGHT THE BIKE STALLED, AND I NEEDED TO USE THE THROTTLE TO KEEP IT IDLING . I SHUT THE BIKE OFF AT SOME POINT, TURNED IT BACK ON AND THE BIKE WAS BACK TO NORMAL. AFTER ABOUT 10 MORE MINUTES OF RIDING THE BIKE STALLED AT ANOTHER STOP LIGHT. SINCE FIRST OCCURRENCE THIS PROBLEM HAS BEEN INTERMITTENT BUT USUALLY GOES AWAY IF THE BIKE IS SHUT OFF, THEN TURNED BACK ON. . *NM

1) EXHAUST PIPE TURNS RED AFTER NORMAL USE, GAS TANK VENT LINE IS ABOVE EXHAUST PIPE, BACK FIRES 2) FIRE HAZARD 3) TAKEN TO SHOP AND YAMAHA COULD NOT RECREATE PROBLEM AND I WAS CHARGED FOR DIAGNOSIS - THE PROBLEM STILL EXISTS YAMAHA DOES NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEIR IS A PROBLEM WITH THIS ATV - THEY COULD NOT RECREATE THE PROBLEM AND THEREFORE ASSUME IT DOES NOT EXIST, THIS ATV HAS DONE THIS SINCE I BROUGHT IT HOME NEW FROM THE DEALER. THE RISK OF FIRE OR EXPLODING IS HIGH SINCE THE EXHAUST PIPE IS VERY NEAR THE FUEL VENT. *NM

COMPLAINED TO YAMAHA DEALER OF WHINE/HOWL ON MY 2005 ROYAL STAR VENTURE. KEPT FOR 52 DAYS OUT-OF-SERVICE, WHEN RETURNED DISCOVERED THAT THE FINAL DRIVE HAD LOST ALMOST ALL ITS FLUID, COULD HAVE CAUSED CATASTROPHIC FAILURE, INJURY/DEATH. DEALER PRUDENTLY REMOVED WHINE/HOWL FROM MY SIGNED WORK ORDER !*JB

ENGINE RPM'S WOULD "STUMBLE" INCREASINGLY MORE FREQUENT, STALL AT IDLE. THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR DEFECTIVE AND NOT READILY IDENTIFIED AS DEFECTIVE BY AUTHORIZED DEALERSHIP. POOR THROTTLE RESPONSE/STALLING LED TO POOR CONTROL AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS, EXITING RAMPS, HARD CORNERING WHERE NEED FOR IMMEDIATE THROTTLE RESPONSE WAS REQUIRED. TWO OF THESE UNITS HAVE FAILED ON MY MOTORCYCLE, A 2004 YAMAHA FZ6. *JB