ticker

Hey there........

As some of you may know........I am the proud owner of a 2003 FJR with 35K on the clock. I bought it from a guy in GA "slightly used". I have succesfully imported said FJR into Canada, completing the RIV inspection, and will getting the "safety" done next week so I can "legally" ride it on the road. Anyways, in between periods of shovelling snow, I have had time to go over a few maintnance items.

Suffice to say, that while I have been running the motor and riding around my street (no legal plates yet) I have noticed something.........a "tick". Yep, I'll say it again....a "TICK". :angry2: :angry2:

Trust me on this......I have read EVERYTHING that Dale has posted on this topic, as well a a few others, PLUS the Aussie service bulletin. I must give thanks to Mr. Dale Warchild for all of his time and effort that he put into exposing this flaw. I have listened to every sound bite I could find. I have pulled the exhaust to find what I believe to be a small amount of oil in the pipes (mostly in cyl. 1-2) Even the old spark plugs showed a highter level of "fouling" on those same cylinders. I have listened with a stethoscope. Believe me I have researched this and I am positive. I don't hear it when the engine is cold, just when it warms up. It is identical to every description given by Dale in regards to diagnosing this sound. I will PM Dale a sound bite from my bike and ask him to verify the "tick" (I hope he won't mind).

Anyways, here is my conundrum. Since I purchased the bike in GA, Yamaha Canada will not even entertain me. When I call Yamaha U.S.A, they tell me that because I have now exported the bike to Canada, there is nothing they can do. Besides.....the warranty is expired and I am not the original owner anyways. I asked a local dealer about it and he actually told me he had never heard of an issue with the FJR's "ticking" ???? Whatever.............

I guess I will look forward to tearing down the engine myself next winter. I am not interested in doing it now as the warmer weather is coming and I want to enjoy the bike I have yet to "Legally" ride. I promise to photograph the whole procedure. Thing is.......do I replace ALL of the valves and guides??? Or just do the exhaust side??? Parts will run me just under $700 USD (too expensive to buy in Canada) for everything + the cost of the head work replacing the valve guides.

Later dudes,

Mattster

Your plan to ride it for a season is a good one. See what develops. You may find that the noise stays the same or goes away all-together. And I'd do a valve adjustment before ripping into it.

Not surprised you're in legal no-man's-land on the warranty goodwill, although I would certainly escalate up the line. I'd guess that Yamaha Canada is the one to apply pressure to - they could authorize a fix if they wanted to. One of the hazards of cross-border buying.

- Mark

markjenn said:

Your plan to ride it for a season is a good one. See what develops. You may find that the noise stays the same or goes away all-together. And I'd do a valve adjustment before ripping into it.- Mark

Click to expand...

Did the valve adjustment......... it's OK )

Changed the oil/filter/plugs/rear drive oil/brake & clutch fluids/coolant/new battery/new tires/fixed a bent fork/unplugged all wiring harnessses and cleaned & treated them with Dielectric grease/added motovation sliders-FZ1 mirrors-D&D risers-Yamaha top case-taller windscreeen....................and so on........

I will try and go through another yamaha dealer up here.

Until then..........I will enjoy the riding season.

I wouldn't have told Yamaha USA that you exported the machine. Their obligation lies solely within the US and you might have managed to get them to cover the repair at a US dealer (in Buffalo or Niagara Falls I'd imagine).

My understanding is that they do repair out of warranty tickers because the problem is a design defect.

Can I assume that you called them and provided the VIN? IN whic case all bets may be off.

bramfrank said:

I wouldn't have told Yamaha USA that you exported the machine. Their obligation lies solely within the US and you might have managed to get them to cover the repair at a US dealer (in Buffalo or Niagara Falls I'd imagine).
My understanding is that they do repair out of warranty tickers because the problem is a design defect.

Can I assume that you called them and provided the VIN? IN whic case all bets may be off.

Click to expand...

I had to give them the VIN, because I am the new owner and I have now imported it. I guess I could have tried to have the previous owner look after it, but that would have meant taking it back down to GA, not to mention trying to work with the dealer to have the work done. The time involved in a minimum of 2 trips down there is not worth it IMO. Shipping it is out of the question..........2 trips would put it well over $1000. I realize now I am just going to be doing it myself. Hey.......I have already had the bike stripped to the frame once, and I've rebuilt an engine from my '89 FZR1000 back in the day, so this should'nt be too hard, just time consuming. I will take a full sequence of photos of the procedure that I will post once it's done, and include before and after sound bites. You will just have to wait until next winter though..........I've had enough wrenching for this year........I just want to ride it!!!!!

Mattster,

Congrats on your purchase. Do check you Cam Chain Tensioner first...they can make ticking noises as well and may save you a boatload of CDN"s.