Post by avgardbaerDont know where your reading your garbage on roadsar transmissions.
they have great tech and reliability reviews, been around for several
years and have record sales. maybe you read it in easy rider magazine.
Maybe he read the "garbage" from YAMAHA corporate recalls, safety
filings, and notices to owners like this:
Yamaha Motorcycle Alert
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Do you (or did you) own any of these model motorcycles:
2001 Yamaha Road Star, Midnight Star, Road Star Silverado models (model
numbers: XV16, 16AN, 16ASN, 16 ATN)
2002 Yamaha Road Star, Limited Edition, Midnight Star, Star Warrior,
Silverado (model numbers: XV16, 16AP, 16APC, 16ASP, 16ASPC, 16ATP,
16ATPC, XV17 P, 17PC, 17PCP, 17PCPC, 17PCR, 17PCRC)
2003 Yamaha Road Star, Midnight Star, Limited Edition, Warrior and
Silverado (model numbers: XV16, 16AR, 16ARC, 16ALER, 16ALERC, 16ASR,
16ASRC, 16ATR, 16ATRC, XV17PCP, 17PCPC, 17PCR, 17PCRC)
Burdge Law Office is investigating a potential class action against
Yamaha on behalf of motorcycle owners, involving a deadly transmission
defect.
Filings by Yamaha with the Federal government's Safety Recall
"department" indicate that between 29,000 and 53,000 Yamaha motorcycles
manufactured with defective transmission parts that can cause the
transmission and rear wheel to lock up while in motion, which can throw
the driver out of control, possibly causing severe injury or even
death.
Yamaha has reported to the Federal government that only about 6,000 or
so of these motorcycles were repaired.
Repairs are apparently still taking place but many owners have yet to
find out if the "repair" will really take care of the problem. Many
other owners now question (with good reason) what their motorcycle will
be worth when they try to resell it.
Other defects may also exist in these and other model motorcycles.
If you've experienced these or similar problems and you are
interested in helping us in our investigation, please call
1-888-331-6422 or contact us.
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Below is a list of files you can download to find out more details on
the Yamaha "locking transmission" defect:
2001 XV16 Recall Notice Remedy Instructions and TSB 09-02-03
2001 XV16 Recall Notice Remedy Instructions and TSB Draft - Undated
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA - 01-07-07
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA Defect and Non-Compliance Notice -
01-09-04
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA Defect and Non-Compliance Notice -
08-22-03
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA Defect and Non-Compliance Notice -
08-22-03
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA Manufacturer's Reply - 03-03-04
Manufacturer's Letter to NHTSA Notice to Dealers - 04-08-04
Manufacturer's Notice to Dealers - Kit Availibility - Undated
Manufacturer's Owner Notification Letter - 01-09-04
Manufacturer's Owner Notification Letter - 09-02-03
Manufacturer's Quarterly Repair Report to NHTSA - 04-08-04
Manufacturer's Quarterly Repair Report to NHTSA - 11-26-03
Manufacturer's Tech Exchange Notices to Dealers - 3-03-04
NHTSA Fax Acknowledgement to Manufacturer - 08-26-03
NHTSA Office of Defects Investigation Letter to Manufacturer - 08-20-03
State Motorcycle Lemon Law Summaries - 2004
NHTSA Recall Manual
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is the number of motorcycles affected ?
The discrepancy in the numbers comes from the numbers which Yamaha is,
itself, reporting to be affected. In one place in their documents the
number is a total of 29,139 and in another place they break down the
numbers and when you add them up the total is 52,193. In another
document, Yamaha says the total is 26,829. Part of the problem with the
counting process is that the quarterly "repaired reports" which Yamaha
has to file with the federal government (NTHSA), are required to be
made one for each recall. The more recall numbers involved, the more
reports. Here, Yamaha has itemized the defect as "Recalls M2003-011,
M2004-001, and M2004-002" (that is a direct quote from a Yamaha "Tech
Exchange" bulletin dated 030304 and sent to its dealers). I guess it
all depends on how you count, but one thing is for sure: one is too
many, 29k is too many, and 52k is clearly too many.
How many motorcycles have been repaired under this recall?
We can only go by what Yamaha itself reports the repair numbers to be.
On April 8, 2004 Yamaha filed its quarterly "repaired reports" for one
recall (signed by Russell D. Jura, Sr VP) and said that the number of
bikes involved in that one recall was 26,829 and only 6,073 had been
fixed. Yamaha only has to report numbers once each quarter and the most
recent numbers have not yet been posted by NTHSA on its website as of
July 14, 2004.
Has there ever been an injury?
Two drivers reported to have survived their crashes and complained
about the sudden rear wheel lockup (their complaints are on file at
NTHSA and were sent to Yamaha), but no one knows how many drivers did
not survive and the crash was blamed on "operator error" or something
else. In fact, in a letter sent to Yamaha on August 20, 2003, NTHSA
notified Yamaha that it had received complaints from Yamaha motorcycle
owners about "sudden, unforeseen, and unintended rear wheel lockup due
to transmission failure while the motor cycles were being ridden" and
that two of those alleged "a crash with injury". NTHSA sent Yamaha
copies of all the complaints at that time. However, years before that,
this problem was being talked about by Yamaha owners and denied by
Yamaha dealers.
Here's one owner's complaint in May 2001: "PURCHASED YAMAHA MIDNIGHT
ROADSTAR, LEARNED THROUGH INTERNET SITES OF TRANSMISSION PROBLEMS (LOCK
UPS RESULTING IN REAR TIRE LOCK UPS AND CRASHING - PEOPLE BEING INJURED
ETC.) SPOKE WITH YAMAHA DEALERS WHO "KNEW OF NO SUCH PROBLEM" -
RESULTING IN FEAR OF RIDING SAID VEHICLE (WHICH WE HAD HUNDREDS OF
DOLLARS INVOLVED IN UPGRADES AND ACCESSORIES) RESULTING IN TRADING IN
ON NEW VICTORY MOTORCYCLE TO ALIEVE THE FEAR (RESULTING IN LOSS OF
HUNDREDS OF DOLLARS). RIDING TWO UP AND WITH OUR KNOWLEDGE UNABLE TO
GET ANY RECOGNITION FROM DEALERS OF PROBLEMS WE SADLY GAVE IN AND
TRADED OFF AT MAXEYS YAMAHA DEALER IN OKLAHOMA CITY (ALSO CLAIMING NO
KNOWLEDGE OF PROBLEM. WE FELT VERY INSECURE RIDING THIS VEHICLE VIN #
WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF VEHICLES REPORTING PROBLEMS ON INTERNET CHAT TYPE
SITES (ONE IN PARTICULAR BEING YAMAHA STAR TOURING AND RIDING
ORGANIZATION). BASICALLY WE LOST LOTS OF MONEY AND DOWN TIME(NO RIDING)
(NO FUN) AGONIZING FEAR WHEN ON THE BIKE. RIDING AT LOW SPEEDS IN CASE
OF MALFUNCTION OCCURRENCE. IT WAS QUITE A BEAUTIFUL BIKE WITH ALL THAT
HAD BEEN DONE TO IT.*AK" (Nhtsa Office of Defect Investigations
document ID # : 10037500, dated May 9, 2001).
Is this a voluntary recall?
That depends on your point of view. When the Federal government's
Safety Recall "department" (at NTHSA) wants a manufacturer to recall a
defective product, it notifies the manufacturer of it. If the
manufacturer "voluntarily" does the recall, then the federal government
does not issue the recall. If the manufacturer refuses, then the
federal government can take steps to force the manufacturer to issue
the recall. In this case, Yamaha admitted to the federal government
that Yamaha U.S. had reported field failures (involving bikes built as
early as December 2000) to Yamaha Japan. If a manufacturer issues its
own recall, consumers easily get the impression that the recall was
issued purely out of concern for public safety. The manufacturer
salvages some good publicity and avoids the bad publicity of the
federal government forcing it to issue a recall. If you aren't sure how
the recall process works, check out the NTHSA Safety Recall
"Compendium" at http://www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/ and see for yourself.
Dependability and Safety.
No matter how long you've been riding a motorcycle, we all want safety
and dependability. After all, that's part of what you pay for when you
spend thousands of dollars on a motorcycle, new or not. The last thing
anyone wants when they are riding down the highway is for the rear
wheel to lock up and toss you off your bike. The problem here is that
NHTSA documents show reports of this defect existed for years before
the recalls started (voluntary or not) and you have to wonder ... if a
rider reports the rear wheel locking up for no reason at all, shouldn't
the manufacturer get right on the problem and find out what is going on
and why and get the word out to get all of them fixed immediately? Of
course they should and it shouldn't take two or three years to get it
done. No one buys a new motorcycle so they can park it in the garage
and watch the dust build up on it.
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letters and words, dude..... letters and words.