Clutch Whine

[TEW47]

Took my bike to dealer today about the clutch whine and was told Yamaha does not replace clutch baskets anymore. But will install BUBs slipons instead. What do youall think of this?

 

 

tew47

[wizard]

Covered by the 5 year warranty? What a crock!

[jneed53]

I guess they think the Bubs will cover up the noise -- but they don't. Between the two I can barely hear the radio. Thinking of putting stock mufflers on. Can't stop the whining.

[whozleft]

I don't really think it's a warranty issue. I do think some people have gotten very lucky and found a good dealer that is willing to help them out. The whine does not harm the engine nor does it bother any other part of the bike. All it does is annoy us drivers! The problem as I see it is that since a few good dealers helped the owners out, and then everyone wanted it done, Yamaha got inundated with requests and decided not to do any more replacements of the baskets. My bike drives me crazy at times. Bottom line is warranties usually only cover broken, lost or damaged type items. Not items that annoy.

 

I'd love to get mine replaced at some point and may end up having someone help me do it sometime.

 

Ride safe.

[Freebird]

I think it's a crock. Some are MUCH louder than others and I don't think that Yamaha has stopped replacing them. If mine was that loud and they took that stance, I would sue them under the lemon law....no doubt about it.

[markellis]

...mine certainly was not! Mine was the transmission! And I believe there are many many others out here that are the same. Our noise became so bad that we turned down the IC and still didn't help. Finally got a mechanic at another dealer to ride it because of a carb issue and he came back and said "the carbs aren't too bad, BUT how do you stand that noise". A friend of mines RSV is in the shop now because of the noise, first diagnosed the "clutch basket" and sent away to just ignore it. I believe Yamaha has a SERIOUS transmission problem out here that is being incorrectly diagnosed. Think about it, what is the first thing EVERYONE says when someone new to these bikes brings up "a whine or noise"? I have an '04 white RSV and when the warranty is gone, so is the bike. And unless someone other than the present leadership/owner/management is in charge of Yamaha, there won't be another one. I had the R* before the Venture and really have enjoyed the bikes just not the problems and the way they are handled. Way too much money involved to be treated this way.

Okay, I'm stepping down off the box.

[CO.Rider]

... I have an '04 white RSV and when the warranty is gone, so is the bike. And unless someone other than the present leadership/owner/management is in charge of Yamaha, there won't be another one.

 

Gosh darn, I WAS thinking of getting a RSV.

[Eck]

I agree with Freebird...

 

 

I would sue them under the lemon law....no doubt about it.

[Condor]

You might try contacting the FTC. Way back I bought a brand new '79 VDub Rabbit. Everything was great for the first 4-5K miles. Then the oil light started coming on and it started using oil. When I took it in for an oil change the dealers response was that I needed to use a heavier viscosity oil then factory specs, and to go to 20-50. That worked for a while and then it started using oil again. Basically after that I never changed the oil. Just kept adding and changing the filter once in a while. I put about 140K on it this way. A few years later I received a notice about a class action suit by the FTC against VW America, stating they knew the engine was defective and tried to cover it up. Something to do with the valve guides being engineered wrong. Anyway I finally got a settlement check from VW for about $1500 dollars. The partial cost of a rebuilt engine based on milage. The nice part about it was that I didn't even own the car any longer..... So, if Yamaha knows that the whine is a real problem, they might be setting themselves up for a class action. If not by the FTC, then some lawyer???... Might be worth looking into......

[whozleft]

Are you guys serious about this? I'm willing to try anything as it seems my whine is getting a little louder as time goes on. How long does the Lemon Law give us on these things? I hate to sound stupid, but I always thought there was a time frame on that. Gee, see what you can learn on the internet?

 

I would just love to be able to say something to the dealer's mechanic that told me no way. Maybe just to goose him to step up to the palte and at elast ride the thing and tell me there's no "unusual" noise. He never even did that, all he did was say there's no recall on my bike, so they can't help me.

 

You guys are great.

[halfwitt]

Here is a good start on lemon laws: http://autopedia.com/html/HotLinks_Lemon.html

 

I hope this helps.

 

Randy

[Blackjack]

I have always followed a simple rule when interacting with others: if I ask you for help or assistance with something (which I only do when absolutely necessary), and you tell me "No!", what I hear you say is "I don't know!". Accordingly, since you obviously can't or won't help me, I just move up the chain until I get help from someone who actually is competent and/or capable.

 

So, in logical order, it would be Mechanic> Service Manager> Owner of Dealership. If that yields no positive or workable results, you would then request the name of the Yamaha Area Rep and start the process all over again.

 

No great or noble purpose can be served when one accepts "No!" as an answer...

 

Terry

[markellis]

Not in Kentucky! Believe me, I would love to envoked that on Yamaha. BUT, not in Kentucky. No lemon law on motorcycles in Ky. Check with your state.

[wolfman1]

Ask them to look at their Tech Bulletin no. M200213 which addresses this issue. I think your dealer just might not want to do the work. I had no problem with mine doing it after i pointed this out.

 

Cheers,

Steve

[TEW47]

This is not the only bike that has whined. My 'XS750 & 850 both whined also my 86 goldwing and my 97RSTD,but most of all was my 87 K100LT BMW. It was a trait that most if not all BMW K bikes had, including K75. You could hear them a long ways off. A friend of mine has an Honda VTX1800 that whines It is a characteristic of straight cut gears. So Yamaha is not the only one with the whine. So I guess I will take the BUBs and carry on. Some Kaws whine and some Suks and now Hartley whine. Now for the first time HD is putting shock pads in their rear wheel to absorb the shock of gear changes and troque. My '71 R5B,350 had then in it. HD is just chatching up with 1970. Check out their forum.

 

tew47

[Obber]

I think if you push the issue your dealer will replace the clutch basket. Too many are still getting it done under warranty as we speak. Even the local stealer here is still doing it under warranty. But beware it may only move the whine to a different RPM. Mine was change a couple of years ago. It did get quieter, but Still can hear it. Just my

[Guest tone100]

Take them up on the BUBS. Then get another dealership to fix it and then sell the bubs.

[Freebird]

Are you guys serious about this? I'm willing to try anything as it seems my whine is getting a little louder as time goes on. How long does the Lemon Law give us on these things? I hate to sound stupid, but I always thought there was a time frame on that. Gee, see what you can learn on the internet?

 

I would just love to be able to say something to the dealer's mechanic that told me no way. Maybe just to goose him to step up to the palte and at elast ride the thing and tell me there's no "unusual" noise. He never even did that, all he did was say there's no recall on my bike, so they can't help me.

 

You guys are great.

 

I'm absolutely serious about it. If you have done all that you can through your dealer and Yamaha then it's either that, live with it, or sell the bike. I strongly believe that manufacturers should stand behind their products and be accountable. Some states include motorcycles and some don't. In the ones that do, there are usually Lemon Law Attorneys who will represent you for no money up front. They WILL take their cut out of any settlement though.

[C2Boss]

As I have posted before, all the shenanigans some have devised to mask the noise not the solution. Elimination of the noise "IS" the solution. For the record; I just received word from my dealer mid week that Yamaha "will" be replacing the I-Basket under warranty (it's not even two months old), but Yamaha made the dealer state specifically that the replacement "may not eliminate the noise".

 

Second point to note; if the noise has hot diminished significantly after the switch-out, I will be contacting my friends at www.LemonAuto.com. They are good guys to work with and have offices throughout the US. Not sure if they do motorcycle claims, but we'll see where that takes us.