99-02 R6 ONLY 2nd gear slippage problems - warranty issues

My R6 has a prematurely worn 2nd gear dog and had only done 20,000k's.
The symptoms are that the transmission briefly disengages whilst under power in second gear. This feels as though the bike is briefly loosing traction or a hiccup in power delivery.
The bike has had a good life and is overserviced - never raced etc.
Yamaha won't fix it under warranty claiming 'normal wear' and I am probably abusing the bike or don't know how to change gears!!!.
I say bull**** .
Yamaha mentioned that this problem is starting to appear a bit now on the R6 model only (interesting that it is only us R6 riders who don't know how to change gears eh...). They have stopped fixing this problem now under warranty because it is happening too often!!!. The have examined the worn gear and say it is manufactured to the design spec, so it is not their fault. !
I say: Then the design spec is wrong...
It is unreasonable to expect this much wear so early on.

I suspect Yamaha don't want to admit that they have a design flaw with their baby and it is hard to prove otherwise - me not being a mechanical engineer.
Anyone else have or heard of this problem?
Given that the bike has only been out a few years, the problem may not have had much of chance to show up yet, but i predict it will soon appear in great numbers...
Yamaha have indicated it seems to happen mostly after 15000kms.

Since first noticing the symptom at 20,000k's, it took me a further 12 months and 10000k's to work out what the problem was. I have spent a small fortune replacing chains and sprockets and getting the carbies cleaned etc only to realise one day that it only happened in 2nd gear. Then I was straight on the blower to Yamaha who have secretly known about it all along.

So if anyone else is having this issue, let me know. The more people who have it, the less likely it is that I just can't change gears properly, and maybe we can force Yamaha to do something about it.

p.s. I really do know how to change gears properly

I had the exact same problem.
It happened to my '99 at 16,000K's. My bike was always maintained, semi-synth Motul every 3000K's on the dot.

I ended up getting a new motor since it was cheaper than taking the motor apart.

I did some research and found 3 other local R6's with the EXACT same problem, all 2nd gear and also a couple of threads on www.sportbikes.net about similar things. Pretty disappointing that Yamaha isn't servicing yours under warranty - my local mechanic was really pushing Yamaha to cover some of my costs, but my bike was way out of warranty unlike yours.

I'm going thru the same shit right now.
Is it really cheaper to get a new damn motor put in???
I mean, its just the dogs, how much can it cost???

I have been quoted about $1500 AU to have it fixed. The cost is mostly labour as the motor has to be dropped. Trouble is, there is every chance it will come back again in another 20,000 clicks.! - Yamaha have not changed the design since the original 99 design. Don't know what the cost of a new motor is, but i would have thought it would be a lot more than that.

I have done a little research with the Australian department of Fair Trading, and they have someguidelines about this sort of thing and warranty. Basically, All manufacturers have an 'implied' warranty - aside from their own manufacturer's written warranty. It says they are responible for any unreasonable failure, be it due to bad parts, or bad design. It is hard to define exactly what is reasonable, but i know that a gearbox wearing out at 20,000k's is NOT reasonable.

Whilst Yamaha have successfully 'eluded' their responsibility to date, I beleive they have a moral responibility to fix their mistake, even if it is outside of warranty. Its just unfortunate that this defect only shows up (typically) just after their warranty period expires.

What can we do?

Well, I have talked to Yamaha's national warranty manager - and guess what - they ain't gunna fix it. They did offer a 20% discount on the part only. That is an insult.

Legal options...
I am going down this avenue now. I would rather spend $1500 on legal fees than fix yamahas problem at my cost.
I am considering a class action against Yamaha if there are enough people out there in a similar boat. I would want compensation for those people who have already had this repair done at their own expense, and I would expect Yamaha to fix any current or future gearbox failures, at their expense, or issue a recall and fix it properly.

Any support / interest?

Just to clarify, I didn't replace my old motor with a brand new one. I got one with 1800Km's from one of the many written off R6's.. Cost was $1200Cdn - incl. labour.. that was quite a bit less than any quote I got for the tranny work.

same problem here, only my R6 is a 2001 with 6049 miles (close to 10k km) on it. I'm writing Yamaha a letter reguarding this problem as well as their VERY BIG problem with customer service. This repair is costing me $1250....I really don't like being talked to like I'm 2 yrs old while being told I HAVE TO pay all this money for a bike I bought 8 months ago.

Everyone with this problem please write Yamaha a formal complaint about this problem and maybe we can get them to announce a recall. Mentioning they will be loosing your business for good will definately get their attention.

Writing a letter is a good idea, but I don't think they will do much about it unless they get swamped. I have gone to the national manager , and he said they have sought legal advice and are comfortable with their position, so any soft approach won't work unless it has large numbers behind it.

I need to know how many people have this problem so that I can decide on the most appropiate action.

I like the R6 a lot, but there is no way i could ever buy a Yamaha again. I just can't afford to be left in a position like this... where I have to replace the gearbox every 15,000k's. I have 3 friends who bought R6's after they saw mine, they are still quite new, but now I have to tell them to sell it before it packs it in.

I see a legal action as our only avenue, and I think this could be a really big issue for Yamaha, we are just seeing the tip of the iceberg now.

other options:
1. A petition.
2. Approach the media - 60 minutes type show.
3. Class Action.
4. Do nothing and wait till all R6's eventually succumb.
5. Buy a Honda (nice engineering but not the looks of the R6).
6. Other suggestions?

I've seen this topic come up more times than I can count. Some lucky ones have been able to get their dealers to repair their bikes under their factory or extended warranties. I would think that if they authorize a few bikes to be repaired, they should authorize them all. They shouldn't be able to pick and choose whose bike they will cover under warranty.

Someone should make a sticky post at the top of the page similar to the one we had for the '02 clip on problems. Everyone who has either had to repair their R6's or who have had theirs repaired under warranty should post the specifics about their situation and how it was resolved. We should post on SBN as well. Maybe if we get enough people together and possibly get a notarized letter from each of them, we will have some serious ammo to use when we go to battle with our local dealerships and Yamaha's warranty dept. themselves.

I agree the only way to make any headway on this issue is to have a lot of hard evidence and a no bull$shit attitude. I would be more than happy to help with this, let me know if this sounds good to anyone.

-Ariah

I just did some searching and here are the screen names of all the members I could find who have had the same poblem:

<!--EZCODE BOLD START--> CtryBoyInMT
draughtr6
yam99blue
Rsicx
mullerr666
Hpower281
yzfman
Duffster
R6 on one
92GTstang
HDs99
ChiTownR6
r6HeavenTNT
Jdubb431
prv8pilot
idroppedit
dtorok84
Eric01
R roku
baw02141
RuiTrigo
Greg2k1R6
Wheelie Monster
r6danger
drspeedmore
r6danger
Jon AKA Spike<!--EZCODE BOLD END-->

I'm sure there are many more. We should really post a sticky for this.

good work - and thanks for your help - I need it!
I think you are right, there are lots more out there...
OK, so the sticky things sounds interesting, what is it? and how do we create one?