Post by B on Apr 12, 2009 17:43:05 GMT
This is a long one sorry....
About a year ago on my way home from work on the A19 my bike suddenly just 'stopped working' knowing the bike well and thinking there something very wrong I managed to pull onto the hard shoulder (bearing in mind that I was doing about 80mph at the time) - I got the RAC to recover me.
At the time I just thought that it was the front sprocket - I decided to take the bike off the road for a few months until I could afford to get it replaced.
I booked the bike in at George Millers in Darlington - he picked the bike up from my house the evening before he was going to work on it.
The following day he rang me and said that when he opened the engine case to get to the front sprocket the retaining nut fell out - the drive shaft was totally threadbare.
He said that he rang White Brothers who used to deal Yamaha and they said that it was a common problem with the bike.
I am still dreading to think what could have happened to me that day on the A19...
George also told me that it would cost me about £600 to get it fixed as the whole engine would have to be taken apart, but since its a known problem with the bike, he suggested for me to do some research.
I did and on the Fazer website (FOC.uk) there is a thread on this as long as my legs (and my legs aren't short - sorry I had to put that in...lol).
Apparently the nut works its way loose and then starts spinning on the drive shaft and thats how its caused.
fazerowners.yuku.com/topic/5415/t/Lost-your-front-sprocket-and-washer.html
I then spent the day ringing round dealers and funnily enough no one knew anything about it. I then rang the dealer where I bought the bike and he was beating round the bush a bit and then said to call Yamaha.
They again were dead cagey but the woman then said to me that it should have been picked up as a 'service issue' - now my bike has a full service history, admittedly not all by Yamaha dealers but it still got serviced regularly.
After kicking up a bit of a stink she then said that I would have to have the bike inspected by a Yamaha dealer - the next one to me is Tillstons - I called them and after explaining the problem, they refused to even inspect the bike - as he knew that he would have a major job on his hands with a busy time coming up without being able to bleed me dry. By this time I got madder and madder I actually screamed down the phone at some bloke called 'Gary' at Tillstons.
I then got Yamaha to call Tillstons to get the bike inspected.
George in the meantime took the bike for me to Tillstons and after inspection it turned out that it was that 'common problem that should have been sorted out as a service issue....'
It took Tillstons 5 weeks to get the bike fixed.
On the day it was ready George even gave me a lift to Middlesbrough to get the bike picked up, I then took it straight round to his garage and go the chain and sprocket kit fitted (this needed doing anyway) - I had the bike back that afternoon and all he charged me for was the chain and sprocket kit and the labour for fitting this. Now I don't know if he just has a soft spot for girls on bikes but he was definitely looking out for me.
I think he is a top bloke.
Oh and btw I have written complaint letters to Yamaha - they got totally ignored - to this day no response, not a peep out of them.
And I would definitely not take my bike back to Tillstons either - I'd rather stick pins in my eyes as it goes to show they are only interested if you then have to dig deep. Yet if I would have had to pay for this myself Tillstons would have bitten my hand off to get the job done...fair enough I didn't buy the bike there but surely they have a contract with Yamaha?
Oh and for those that own the following bikes: Fazer 6 up to 2003 (I think) , some R6's and Thundercats - do your research, I mean I could have been toast that day if I'd fallen off my bike on the A19 during rush hour traffic....
About a year ago on my way home from work on the A19 my bike suddenly just 'stopped working' knowing the bike well and thinking there something very wrong I managed to pull onto the hard shoulder (bearing in mind that I was doing about 80mph at the time) - I got the RAC to recover me.
At the time I just thought that it was the front sprocket - I decided to take the bike off the road for a few months until I could afford to get it replaced.
I booked the bike in at George Millers in Darlington - he picked the bike up from my house the evening before he was going to work on it.
The following day he rang me and said that when he opened the engine case to get to the front sprocket the retaining nut fell out - the drive shaft was totally threadbare.
He said that he rang White Brothers who used to deal Yamaha and they said that it was a common problem with the bike.
I am still dreading to think what could have happened to me that day on the A19...
George also told me that it would cost me about £600 to get it fixed as the whole engine would have to be taken apart, but since its a known problem with the bike, he suggested for me to do some research.
I did and on the Fazer website (FOC.uk) there is a thread on this as long as my legs (and my legs aren't short - sorry I had to put that in...lol).
Apparently the nut works its way loose and then starts spinning on the drive shaft and thats how its caused.
fazerowners.yuku.com/topic/5415/t/Lost-your-front-sprocket-and-washer.html
I then spent the day ringing round dealers and funnily enough no one knew anything about it. I then rang the dealer where I bought the bike and he was beating round the bush a bit and then said to call Yamaha.
They again were dead cagey but the woman then said to me that it should have been picked up as a 'service issue' - now my bike has a full service history, admittedly not all by Yamaha dealers but it still got serviced regularly.
After kicking up a bit of a stink she then said that I would have to have the bike inspected by a Yamaha dealer - the next one to me is Tillstons - I called them and after explaining the problem, they refused to even inspect the bike - as he knew that he would have a major job on his hands with a busy time coming up without being able to bleed me dry. By this time I got madder and madder I actually screamed down the phone at some bloke called 'Gary' at Tillstons.
I then got Yamaha to call Tillstons to get the bike inspected.
George in the meantime took the bike for me to Tillstons and after inspection it turned out that it was that 'common problem that should have been sorted out as a service issue....'
It took Tillstons 5 weeks to get the bike fixed.
On the day it was ready George even gave me a lift to Middlesbrough to get the bike picked up, I then took it straight round to his garage and go the chain and sprocket kit fitted (this needed doing anyway) - I had the bike back that afternoon and all he charged me for was the chain and sprocket kit and the labour for fitting this. Now I don't know if he just has a soft spot for girls on bikes but he was definitely looking out for me.
I think he is a top bloke.
Oh and btw I have written complaint letters to Yamaha - they got totally ignored - to this day no response, not a peep out of them.
And I would definitely not take my bike back to Tillstons either - I'd rather stick pins in my eyes as it goes to show they are only interested if you then have to dig deep. Yet if I would have had to pay for this myself Tillstons would have bitten my hand off to get the job done...fair enough I didn't buy the bike there but surely they have a contract with Yamaha?
Oh and for those that own the following bikes: Fazer 6 up to 2003 (I think) , some R6's and Thundercats - do your research, I mean I could have been toast that day if I'd fallen off my bike on the A19 during rush hour traffic....
