dirtface250 Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that the drain bolt is the lowest point on the motor and if it gets hit, It will crack the paper thin drain pan. This will render your motor useless and lube your rear tire like you would not believe, if you're lucky it will only leave you stranded, if not you could blow the motor and/or crash. For me it was a $300 tow and a ~$200 drain pan (That is back ordered, Gee I wonder Why?) And a new ~$150 rear tire, plus the work I will have to do myself for an obvious design flaw from Yamaha. I have owned many types of bikes in the past 30 years and never had a problem like this so all you Yamaha Cheerleaders that may deny this is a Big Problem can just save it. I can and will fix it on my dime! I used to love my FJ till this Weekend when it left me stranded. I highly recommend not driving over anything over 3" high or it may cost you dearly! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b12ty Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 That's why I did this link to drain plug mod thread. months ago.... Ty '05 Bandit 1200s ( Blue and White ) Bandit pic 2015 FJ-09 ( RED ) FJ-09 pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted September 7, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2015 That's why I did this link to drain plug mod thread. months ago.... Ty Thanks Ty, we need to make it a sticky and mandatory reading for new owners. He should also check his handguard bolts and axle bolts for looseness. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtface250 Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 Thank you for the helpful suggestion. I will implement that as soon as my back ordered drain pan comes in. You got to admit though this is BS! Yamaha needs to come clean and fix this crap before someone gets killed. I would have much rather spent 600 bucks on my suspension rather then getting my new bike w/ less than 1K miles towed home and then repairing some rookie design flaw from a company that is clearly on the cutting edge of Motorcycle manufacturing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skipperT Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 I realize that you are pissed about what happened. But instead of blaming the design, maybe you should try to be more conscious of what you are riding over next time. Yamaha can't plan for every circumstance that is out there in the world, including riding over tall curbs. -skip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deersSlayer Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 Any idea what the drain pan hit? (the little protector piece sticks down just barely lower than the drain plug.) FJ-09, 690 Enduro R. Back Roads. Period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member steveb Posted September 7, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2015 Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that the drain bolt is the lowest point on the motor and if it gets hit, It will crack the paper thin drain pan. This will render your motor useless and lube your rear tire like you would not believe, if you're lucky it will only leave you stranded, if not you could blow the motor and/or crash. For me it was a $300 tow and a ~$200 drain pan (That is back ordered, Gee I wonder Why?) And a new ~$150 rear tire, plus the work I will have to do myself for an obvious design flaw from Yamaha. I have owned many types of bikes in the past 30 years and never had a problem like this so all you Yamaha Cheerleaders that may deny this is a Big Problem can just save it. I can and will fix it on my dime! I used love my FJ till this Weekend when it left me stranded. I highly recommend not driving over anything over 3" high or it may cost you! Solution: I don't know... Maybe a skid plate. Yamaha needs to own up to this and fix it ASAP! BUYER BEWARE!!! So what actually happened? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member peporter Posted September 7, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2015 Thanks for that now you can go back to cheerleading!.....struggling to control my sarcasm reflex...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtface250 Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 In response to "so what actually happened": I pulled off the road to take a leak and drove over a 2' sqare concrete drain with a steel grate. The corner of the concrete stuck up maybe 3". It appeared that the corner of the drain managed to hit sqare on the drain plug & crack the oil pan. In my opinion any other bike would have survived this. I can say this with some confidence due to the fact that I am long time rider and nothing like this has ever happened, and the fact that the 1st response was a well thought out fix that I have every intension of doing once my back ordered parts arrive. I will post pics if necessary later as I am at work right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member ULEWZ Posted September 7, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 7, 2015 In response to "so what actually happened": I pulled off the road to take a leak and drove over a 2' sqare concrete drain with a steel grate. The corner of the concrete stuck up maybe 3". It appeared that the corner of the drain managed to hit sqare on the drain plug & crack the oil pan. In my opinion any other bike would have survived this. I can say this with some confidence due to the fact that I am long time rider and nothing like this has ever happened, and the fact that the 1st response was a well thought out fix that I have every intension of doing once my back ordered parts arrive. I will post pics if necessary later as I am at work right now. In the past, it was the ramp up to the drain plug that causes the cracked oil pan (hits first and deflects the oil pan and cracks it), not usually the drain plug, but you never know. Hope it never happens again as you are not the first, but hopefully the last. A government which robs Peter to pay Paul can always depend on the support of Paul. George Bernard Shaw (1856-1950) Bikes: 2015 FJ-09, Seat Concepts seat cover and foam, Cal Sci medium screen, rim stripes, factory heated grips, Cortech Dryver tank bag ring, Modified stock exhaust, FlashTune with Graves fuel map, Cree driving lights, Aux power socket. 2012 Street Triple type R (Wifes) 2007 FJR1300 (Sold!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
themilkman Posted September 7, 2015 Share Posted September 7, 2015 The FJ09 is NOT designed for offroad..I decided to give it a little try last weekend thinking I'd take it easy and be ok. I was damn lucky I didn't end up like you. Drain plug mod on the next oil change and not giving into peer pressure again lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtface250 Posted September 7, 2015 Author Share Posted September 7, 2015 Just so we are clear, what I did was not off roading... I pulled off of a 2 lane highway to a delivery entrance and went 3-4' in the dirt/gravel doing less than 5 mph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jeff400650 Posted September 12, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 12, 2015 My low profile drain plugs should be here in a day or two, but even with that mod, the oil pan is quite vulnerable. A guy I ride with on occasion just ran over a rock on the road, it kicked up and bashed thru the front of the pan. Put a huge hole in it. SW-Motech makes a great looking skid plate for the FZ-09, but it supposedly does not fit the FJ. When one becomes available, I will get it, even at $267.00. http://www.twistedthrottle.com/sw-motech-aluminum-engine-guard-skidplate-yamaha-fz-09-13-14 Pistons or pedals, 2 wheels are where it's at... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtface250 Posted September 12, 2015 Author Share Posted September 12, 2015 I called up Yamaha corporate to explain my situation with the cracked drain pan. They said sure bring it on down we'll take a look at it and let you know if we'll take care of the repairs. Well they rejected the repairs and charged me $54 to look at it. All I can say is I've owned this bike for three months and it's already caused more headaches than any bike I've owned in the past 30 years. Congratulations Yamaha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member jeff400650 Posted September 12, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted September 12, 2015 Well, it is one incident. Don't you like the bike otherwise? I sure do. I have not looked too closely at the underside of lots of street oriented bikes, but they all have an oil pan at the bottom, and if you hit the wrong thing with it, shit happens. I think you just have to try to cope and move on. The frustrating part for me would be having to wait for a new oil pan. How long did they say it would be before you get one? I ordered a clutch cable just to have at the ready two weeks ago and have heard nothing. Guys are waiting months for heated grips. Pistons or pedals, 2 wheels are where it's at... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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