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Watch the Yamaha YZF-R1 Gearbox Recall in Timelapse

Ever wondered what happens in a workshop when a bike that's been recalled is brought in for some extensive repairs? Well, here's a timelapse footage of the repair sessions of the Yamaha R1's transmission, so you can see for yourselves what that recall means.
2015 Yamaha YZF-R1 torn apart for gearbox recall 1 photo
Photo: Youtube capture
The entire 2015 model year YZF-R1 population had to be recalled because the second gear sprocket could bend and even shatter, posing a very high risk of jamming the gearbox and causing crashes.

Late in December last year, we announced that Yamaha was not going to replace neither the engines nor the entire gearbox of the recalled YZF-R1 population. Instead, the authorized mechanics would only replace the defective transmission component, namely, the main axle.

However, this is much easier said than done, as reaching that specific component involves tearing down almost the entire motorcycle. The tank and fairings must be removed from the bike, as well as the egine, that needs to be drained of coolant and oil, then disassembled to extract the sprocket axle from the transmission.

Yamaha said that the whole operation can be performed in less than 16 hours, which already means two full work days, but we cannot help thinking about the fact that not all mechanics have the same skills, and the fact that certain problems may slow down the process, as well.

Obviously, the biggest fears the owners of recalled R1 machines have is the quality of the work performed on their bikes. There are certain things that can go wrong, especially if the mechanics in some workshops are not skilled enough to perform such an invasive intervention.

In the U.S. alone, 2,921 R1 motorcycles receive a "do not ride" ban until fixed, with the repairs of the recalled machines setting Yamaha back with an estimated $5 million (€4.4 mil) in labor costs, and the same amount in parts.

Wonder how the prices of pre-owned Yamaha YZF-R1 will fluctuate after this...

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