Premium Member wessie Posted March 24, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted March 24, 2015 Is there any screening process for Yamaha dealers in the US? From all of the reports of poorly set up bikes and dealers without a clue, it seems the standards in the UK are very different. If you want a motorcycle franchise in the UK you need to make considerable investment in workshop equipment and send your mechanics on courses when a new bike is launched. Of course we have rogue dealers but fortunately they are few and far between. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 Cold and dark on a new bike. Not a good combination. I just had to deal with rush hour traffic because the dealer kept me 2 hours doing the paperwork. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 This dealer has been there for many years. We bought a Kawasaki there for my wife 3 years ago and they were a Yamaha dealer then. I don't know if they give their techs any training on new models but at one point there were 4 techs looking/working on my new FJ. After about 30+ minutes I could tell they had no idea of how to solve the problem, and it was 6 pm (quitting time), so I told them I would leave the bike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rockman Posted March 25, 2015 Share Posted March 25, 2015 I picked up my bike today. The tech said the magnetic sensor on the front wheel was placed too far from the slotted segment to detect any movement. He adjusted the spacing to spec and it works fine now. No damage, everything is fine. phew Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamdh Posted April 13, 2015 Share Posted April 13, 2015 Add another one to the list. Same as the OP, less than 5 miles from the dealer. Took it back to the dealer the next morning and they adjusted the sensor and all is well ... for now. They indicated that he got the sensor as close as he could be it was not as close as the rear. Said if it cropped back up they would have to contact Yamaha ... And thanks to this forum and post, I knew what the 069 code indicated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mathprof Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Add another to the list. My dealer told me that metal shaving get on the sensor. I had the " TCS", "ABS", and "Check Engine" lights on when I rode it home from the dealer. They had sold several FJ's and predicted the problem on the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Had this happen on mine when it was new. Had to diagnose and fix it myself. Crazy thing is, it's not hard to install this sensor correctly. It is literally one screw holding the sensor. The sensor just needs to be put in all the way before the screw is tightened. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 Is there any screening process for Yamaha dealers in the US? From all of the reports of poorly set up bikes and dealers without a clue, it seems the standards in the UK are very different. If you want a motorcycle franchise in the UK you need to make considerable investment in workshop equipment and send your mechanics on courses when a new bike is launched. Of course we have rogue dealers but fortunately they are few and far between. Here's the link to the certification process for Yamaha US service techs, at least what they tell the general public. It reads as if you just need one tech to be certified at a level for the shop to be considered certified. Even gold certified is just a 5 day class. If I am reading this page right, you send one guy to a 5 day class and you are the highest certified dealer possible for Yamaha. Sad thing is, most dealers around here are only Bronze or Silver. I bought my bike from a gold certified dealer. I had bolts falling out on the way home, about a dozen bolts loose on the front end and ABS / engine light on. I for one am not sold on gold certified dealers. The other problem I see with the dealer setup is the only person you talk to a "service manager" who doesn't work on the bikes himself, he just sells parts and does the paperwork and scheduling for the shop. Many times it's teenagers actually working on your bike. If you have a question, good luck getting to talk to someone that knows what they are talking about. Private shops are usually the way to go in the US. Find a mechanic you trust. The mechanic I go to is about half the hourly rate of a dealer and has been working on Japanese bikes exclusively longer than I've been alive. He won't touch a HD. If you have any questions, he is the one to come out and answer them personally. He also has no problem telling you how to service your bike yourself. He is of the mindset, if you are riding, you should have at least a basic knowledge of how your bike works and he's happy to help with that. The only thing is he can't do warranty work for Yamaha. It's really a no brainer for everything else. Everything I possibly can, I bring to him. The only thing that can be annoying is he is so busy it can be several weeks to get your bike scheduled in with him. It's not hard to figure out why he is so busy though so it's a small price to pay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted May 27, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted May 27, 2015 Fortunately, my 2 nearest Yamaha dealers are long established family businesses. The one I bought my bike from has only 4 members of staff, the manager, the parts guy and 2 mechanics. The manager does bike sales and service reception as well as odd jobs in the workshop. It's the sort of place where you will be shown into the workshop to have something explained or you can have a coffee with the mechanics, both quite mature, and talk about how the Tracer compares to the TDM. It's a shame their service isn't backed up by Yamaha in terms of parts supply. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 .... It's a shame their service isn't backed up by Yamaha in terms of parts supply. I suspect their thinking is, keeping a low inventory is an easy way to keep costs down. On the flip side, I wonder how much they are losing on accessory sales with 4-5 month lead times that keep getting pushed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member wessie Posted May 27, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted May 27, 2015 .... It's a shame their service isn't backed up by Yamaha in terms of parts supply. I suspect their thinking is, keeping a low inventory is an easy way to keep costs down. On the flip side, I wonder how much they are losing on accessory sales with 4-5 month lead times that keep getting pushed out. the sales staff are always getting emails from HQ saying they don't sell enough accessories. The replies about customers getting frustrated with the piss-poor supply chain seem to fall on deaf ears. I'm beginning to wonder if Yamaha has cash-flow problems and is unable to get stock released until they pay some bills. This signature is left blank as the poster writes enough pretentious bollocks as it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
root Posted May 27, 2015 Share Posted May 27, 2015 I suspect their thinking is, keeping a low inventory is an easy way to keep costs down. On the flip side, I wonder how much they are losing on accessory sales with 4-5 month lead times that keep getting pushed out. the sales staff are always getting emails from HQ saying they don't sell enough accessories. The replies about customers getting frustrated with the piss-poor supply chain seem to fall on deaf ears. I'm beginning to wonder if Yamaha has cash-flow problems and is unable to get stock released until they pay some bills. Wouldn't be out of the question. Didn't Suzuki go through a bankruptcy a few years ago? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member johan Posted May 27, 2015 Premium Member Share Posted May 27, 2015 I suspect their thinking is, keeping a low inventory is an easy way to keep costs down. On the flip side, I wonder how much they are losing on accessory sales with 4-5 month lead times that keep getting pushed out. the sales staff are always getting emails from HQ saying they don't sell enough accessories. The replies about customers getting frustrated with the piss-poor supply chain seem to fall on deaf ears. I'm beginning to wonder if Yamaha has cash-flow problems and is unable to get stock released until they pay some bills. To the contrary, Yamaha motor is a profitable firm. Last year they shipped 5.8 million motorcycles globally, but only 12% of those in Europe. They are on track to launch 250 new products during the period 2013 - 2015. I suspect that explains a lot, massive product development and we are in market that is not growing and makes a small percentage of sales. They are probably struggling with all the development and investment. But they should be careful how they treat any market... Interestingly one new market for them is unmanned helicopters that are used for crop dusting, mostly in Japan for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thetruck454 Posted August 11, 2015 Share Posted August 11, 2015 Mine had the same problem, sensor was cocked when they tightened it. Slightly bent the plate and made a nice gouge in the plastic of the sensor preventingit from seating. I filed the sensor down, but I can't get the plate perfectly flat due the slight bend. This is just one more reason why I never bring anything to dealers for work, they can't even set it up right when new. '15 FJ-09 with an aftermarket parts addiction Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member michael Posted January 30, 2016 Premium Member Share Posted January 30, 2016 My 2015 with less than 300 miles on it (picked it up Monday) now has the check engine light and a code of 069. It also makes the most horrible shrieking noise at idle until it is warmed up (no relation I'm sure, but thought I would mention it). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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