WTF SRSLY Yamaha!?

[FlexyTJ]

Sucks to hear about more issues, I would definitely be looking to send it down the road. A lot of dealerships will give a good deal on trade if you start talking Lemon law.

Life's to short to have to worry about being stranded every time you ride.

Yep- as I threw a leg over the 'ole SV to run a few laps up on the mountain this weekend I thought to myself - "this is what riding a motorcycle is supposed to be like, more/less care free fun". That bike rode away from the dealer day one and has never been back. The Tracer has succeeded in sucking the fun out of it. I'm neurotically looking for the leak every time I hop off it.

Usually it has to be for the same problem, so if this two different problems it may not qualify.

Aaron Z

Yep- understood, I'm currently on try #3 on the water pump. I screwed myself by walking away without a receipt on try #2 although I noticed after each service attempt, you get a satisfaction survey from Yamaha directly emailed to you. So I do have that for try #2. I will not be leaving without receipts from here on out.

I also see the 4 attempts/30 days as a guideline, not necessarily hard and fast rule. I suppose to have a strong case to pursue without a lawyer you should clearly be over that and be able to easily demonstrate it.

No lawyer. Bike tried to kill me twice. Second time the dealer had it I popped in for a surprise inspection. My brand new bike was in boxes. I’d had enough and so had the dealer. They actually helped me through the process. They wanted it gone as well. Become a thorn in there side. It’s your money.

Wow! That's nuts. Glad you were able to get yours sorted out. I've been thinking about the surprise visit myself but probably won't find much other than it sitting out frying in the sun and collecting dust, maybe with parts taken off/exposed to the environment

That's the plan- when I get it back do another 500+ mile ride with plenty of highway. When/if it leaks again, take it straight back to them without missing a beat, rinse and repeat.... I had kinda been doing that anyway but the cold weather up north in the high country made it tougher to put on big miles- but stuff is mostly open now.

well look at it like this.

If they fix it, and it's the only things wrong with the bike now, you're happy again.
if not, keep letting them to attempt to fix it so you can drop the whole lemon law deal and leverage your way out of it.

That sums it up nicely, and I'm still hoping for a satisfactory resolution.

Thanks for suggesting the Lemon Law route, again it hadn't crossed my mind. I hope I don't need it but if I do it is some leverage to have them work with me on a trade or other out potentially.

 

[FlexyTJ]

Updates-

-bike still at dealer, end of 3rd straight week its been sitting there try #3- been calling almost daily, every other day minimum for status updates- waiting on Yamaha, waiting on Yamaha, etc....

-finally drop in in-person to see WTF is going on. Walk into sales, talk with the guy I bought the bike from, kick around the idea of trade/lemon law etc. They seem somewhat receptive to resolving the issue but want to know what direction I want to go- for now I say "fix what I've got". Sales guy brings me back to the service guy he gets to pounding away at his computer, "oh I see they denied the claim late yesterday, I must have missed it" I'll get back on the phone with Yam to escalate....

-couple days go by nothing. In the meanwhile I forgot I had an un-returned customer satisfaction survey from attempt #2. Go online, fill it out giving them all "1's" (1-10 scale, least-most satisfied), couple free form text fields where I dropped some key phrases like bike out of service more than in service, bike at dealer longer than in my garage, lemon-law, etc. Next day phone rings, service writer "Yamaha made a mistake, thought we were trying to fraudulently re-submit the 1st claim"..... NO! your parts are shit and keep failing, hence the re-submission

-Still awaiting reply going into week 4 next week. grrrrrrr. Getting pretty damn pissed at this point.

They don't have anything in their current inventory I'm remotely interested in, save for a '21 DRZ-400SM. That would leave me without the type of bike I'm most interested in riding at the moment.

In the meanwhile this popped up nearby.... I'm tempted to go have a look. Offer him $6k, see where it goes? (too bad he somehow dumped it off the center stand in his garage?). Sell the Tracer when I get it back for $8500, make it SEP (Someone Else's Problem) and pocket 2.5k?

https://www.cycletrader.com/listing/2016-Kawasaki-VERSYS-1000-LT-5016163548

 

[87manche]

sounds like it's time to contact someone at yamaha proper so they can understand that you're not happy with anyone, top to bottom, in the organization.

 

[aron82]

Definitely time to get away from that bike.
The versys should be reliable, but they aren't exactly pretty and don't seem like they'd be very exciting.
Maybe keep an eye on the classifieds on adv rider. Most bikes on there are reasonably priced and already farkled out.

 

[What?]

Damn, just when it seemed good, it went bad.

Is there another Yamaha dealer? If not, perhaps we can tow it to Yamaha here that may do better than one in Tucson? I got walled utility trailer to pick it up and back. Might be worth the headache if it means to actuslly fix the main issue?

My buddy had issue with his new f150 and his dealer would just say oil is fine (loses quite amount of oil) they'd bump up the weight and add longer oil dipstick.

He took it to a different ford dealer and they took way more serious and attentive to his problem before warranty expired. Found the issue and took care of the problem which cost at least $3k+.

 

[FlexyTJ]

Bike is back after 7! weeks, lol. It took a beating at the dealer- they shove them back and forth outside for the day, inside at night. New scratches on windscreen, front turn signal wiring fubared from being pulled on, mirrors/stem nuts loose all outta wack, chain grindy as fawk from sitting out in the sand/rain. They somehow managed to grind the kickstand plate down to almost nothing.... little stuff but still

I guess Yamaha initially rejected the claim thinking it was a duplicate of the first/second issue. Service rep relayed to me they then pushed back hard asking "if I'm an abusive rider/how does he ride the bike?" (as if that should matter for a water pump, lol), asking how the bike was cared for if muddy/dirty, culminating in asking for pics of the tires to see how they were worn and IF there were knobbies on it! (Ride off road= warranty denied!)

He did show me the water pump they took off it which of course had dried encrusted coolant all over it from spooging out the weep hole. Wasn't really sure what to look for other than that, It spun but with seemingly a lot of resistance? Maybe normal for a bike WP with that double mechanical seal... not sure.

Being the cheap and overly optimistic bastard I am I'm going to ride it and see if try #3 was the charm. If not, surely this time will be resulting in a bike swap one way or another.

 

[Chkn]

Bike is back after 7! weeks, lol. It took a beating at the dealer- they shove them back and forth outside for the day, inside at night. New scratches on windscreen, front turn signal wiring fubared from being pulled on, mirrors/stem nuts loose all outta wack, chain grindy as fawk from sitting out in the sand/rain. They somehow managed to grind the kickstand plate down to almost nothing.... little stuff but still

I guess Yamaha initially rejected the claim thinking it was a duplicate of the first/second issue. Service rep relayed to me they then pushed back hard asking "if I'm an abusive rider/how does he ride the bike?" (as if that should matter for a water pump, lol), asking how the bike was cared for if muddy/dirty, culminating in asking for pics of the tires to see how they were worn and IF there were knobbies on it! (Ride off road= warranty denied!)

He did show me the water pump they took off it which of course had dried encrusted coolant all over it from spooging out the weep hole. Wasn't really sure what to look for other than that, It spun but with seemingly a lot of resistance? Maybe normal for a bike WP with that double mechanical seal... not sure.

Being the cheap and overly optimistic bastard I am I'm going to ride it and see if try #3 was the charm. If not, surely this time will be resulting in a bike swap one way or another.

If they had the bike for 7 weeks you qualify for Lemon Law. You can still file even if the bike is repaired. You may lose some on the mileage offset depending on what the calculation is for your state. But still something to consider.

 

[Stix]

You’re way more patient than me. So they kept YOUR bike for almost two months....roughed it up and gave it back. NOPE. Id set that thing on fire and ghost ride it into the showroom.

 

[FrankenToy]

Or just leave the keys in it, let nature take it's course and report it as stolen to your insurance...

 

[87manche]

I would be super mad about the scratches and shit.
would have made a scene.

 

[FlexyTJ]

You’re way more patient than me. So they kept YOUR bike for almost two months....roughed it up and gave it back. NOPE. Id set that thing on fire and ghost ride it into the showroom.

Or just leave the keys in it, let nature take it's course and report it as stolen to your insurance...

I would be super mad about the scratches and shit.
would have made a scene.

Believe me, all these thoughts have crossed through my mind....

I'm nearly 1k mi. in on WP #3 and nothing is leaking. Maybe its good??

In the meanwhile I got a letter from Yamaha corporate in regards to my dissatisfaction on the bike, with an offer to skip over dealer and deal with them direct if things are not fixed this go around. Going to put in another few k miles and strategically re-evaluate before the first valve service interval. If things are not looking up prior to that, other routes will be pursued. Appreciate all the advice thus far.