Photo: Yamaha
After a tense month, Yamaha makes the official diligence regarding the R1/R1M recall. Media has been reporting on this issue for weeks, but only now things are clear and rumors can be eliminated.
For starters, the most important piece of official information is that Yamaha will not be swapping entire engines and will not provide new bikes. The papers Yamaha forwarded with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration leave no doubt about it: the dealers carrying out the repair will only replace the defective assembly in the gearbox.
We remind you that all the 2015 model year Yamaha R1 and R1M have been assembled with a second gear sprocket that was incorrectly manufactured. That sprocket could bend and break under high stress, and it could also lead to substantial damage in the 3rd and 4th gear sprockets.
If such a defect occurred, the transmission would seize and lock the rear wheel posing a high risk of crashing. Yamaha does not mention whether accident or injury reports have been filed around the world.
The repairs will be carried out by the Yamaha authorized dealers. The operation is pretty invasive, as it involves tearing down almost the entire bike. The fairings and tank must be removed, and the engine extracted from the frame, drained of coolant and oil, and torn apart to install a new sprocket axle inside the crankcase.
Yamaha estimates that the entire repair will take less than 16 hours of work for one bike, provided everything goes according to plan. How much mechanics with carrying levels of skill will stray from the 16-hour mark remains to be seen.
Likewise, many customers have expressed their fears that the local dealers will not be able to return the bikes to their "like new." Many of the bikes only have several hundreds of miles on them, so the owner's concerns are easy to understand.
2015 model year YZF-R1, YFZ-R1C, YZF-R1MF, and YZF-R1MFC models fall under the recall campaign number 15V802000, and in the US, 2,921 units are expected to fill the dealers' workshops this winter. Yamaha also imposed a "no riding" ban on these bikes, and no 2015 R1/R1M machines can be sold until the problem is solved.
The 2016 model year machines are not affected by the recall, as Yamaha equipped them with compliant transmissions from the factory.
Check out the attached PDF if you want to see how the repair must be carried out.
We remind you that all the 2015 model year Yamaha R1 and R1M have been assembled with a second gear sprocket that was incorrectly manufactured. That sprocket could bend and break under high stress, and it could also lead to substantial damage in the 3rd and 4th gear sprockets.
If such a defect occurred, the transmission would seize and lock the rear wheel posing a high risk of crashing. Yamaha does not mention whether accident or injury reports have been filed around the world.
Only the main axle assembly will be replaced
Even though some of the rumors saw Yamaha replacing the entire engine of the affected motorcycles, the Japanese manufacturer makes it clear now that only the main axle assembly will be replaced.The repairs will be carried out by the Yamaha authorized dealers. The operation is pretty invasive, as it involves tearing down almost the entire bike. The fairings and tank must be removed, and the engine extracted from the frame, drained of coolant and oil, and torn apart to install a new sprocket axle inside the crankcase.
Yamaha estimates that the entire repair will take less than 16 hours of work for one bike, provided everything goes according to plan. How much mechanics with carrying levels of skill will stray from the 16-hour mark remains to be seen.
Likewise, many customers have expressed their fears that the local dealers will not be able to return the bikes to their "like new." Many of the bikes only have several hundreds of miles on them, so the owner's concerns are easy to understand.
2015 model year YZF-R1, YFZ-R1C, YZF-R1MF, and YZF-R1MFC models fall under the recall campaign number 15V802000, and in the US, 2,921 units are expected to fill the dealers' workshops this winter. Yamaha also imposed a "no riding" ban on these bikes, and no 2015 R1/R1M machines can be sold until the problem is solved.
The 2016 model year machines are not affected by the recall, as Yamaha equipped them with compliant transmissions from the factory.
Check out the attached PDF if you want to see how the repair must be carried out.
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