Warchild
Benevolent Dictator
This posted on behalf of Dean Tanji:
I thought this entire assembly is bath in oil.... ASSuming this is indeed corrosion we are looking at.... :blink:
Now, without researching it (or even opening the Service Manual to look at the oil flow diagrams), my initial question is: how is it that there *appears* to be so much corrosion on those internal spline teeth on the Middle Gear?! (first photo, in particular).2003 FJR1300 Middle Drive FailureDean Tanji
December 12, 2006
The Problem
I live in SoCal. On my way to Gerlach, NV, Sept 22, at 67,407 miles, my FJR1300 came
to a gut wrenching, grinding halt on NV-28 in Incline Village, Lake Tahoe. I was at a
stop sign, making a right hand turn and forward progress was interrupted just as I was
pulling away from the stop. Any attempt to increase throttle resulted in horrific grinding
sound. The sound was coming from the front drive shaft/cross joint (universal) area.
Prior to the failure, there was no hitch, shutter, hic up, whine, grinding or any indication
of a problem.
Attempts in 1st, 2nd and 3rd gear resulted in the same horrific grinding. When I put the
bike on the center stand, with no load, the rear tire would turn when the bike was in a
gear. I used my AAA towing to get the bike off the street up to my friend’s residence and
into the garage. My first though was the infamous front drive shaft spline. I pulled off
the rear wheel and removed the four acorn nuts and pulled the pumpkin/drive shaft out.
Both sides of the drive shaft splines looked normal. My problem was more serious.
History
I don’t think I’m hard on motorcycles. Most all of you ride more aggressive than me. In
four years I’ve never done a wheelie or dragged any part of the FJR. In a group, I’m
usually in the back. On the average, I ride the FJR once or twice a month. When I do
ride it, it’s usually for an extended number of days. The FJR has completed two 11-
day/11K rides, a 49 States+Mexico in 8 days and a number of 1K and 1.5K days.
This bike has never been to a dealer for service except for valves. I do all the regularly
scheduled minor service myself. This includes oil, oil filter, air filter, plugs, TBS, lubing,
brake pads, front forks, pumpkin and drive shaft inspections all learned from Warchild’s
https://www.fjrtech.com/ and HMarc’s https://www.fjr1300.info/, and you folks on this
forum.
I followed the Motoman Break-in and changed oil at 60 miles.
https://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm
I followed the maintenance schedule using Yamaha dino oil then switched to Mobil 1
synth red cap at 9,000 miles. When the red cap packaging changed, I’ve been using
Mobile 1 MX4T 10W-40 4-cycle Full Synth motorcycle oil.
Service Options
Reno Yamaha dealer said 2 months and Carson City Yamaha said they can look at it but
parts would take 2-3 weeks. I ended up carrying the FJR back to Orange County in a
pickup truck.
I first thought I would service the bike myself but work became a priority. My YES
service plan (purchased from Sunnyside Yamaha, WA) ended Dec 13, 2006. After much
procrastinating on my part, I took the bike to Mission Motorsports, Irvine, CA on Nov 6.
I was in no rush to get the bike back. My instructions were to save all replaced
worn/damaged parts. I wanted to understand what happened.
A week later, I got the phone call, the “Middle Drive Gear Assembly” had to be replaced.
“Things are very loose in there.” was the comment. Hell, I was expecting chunks of
metal, numerous twisted shafts and dog bones!! The “Middle Drive Gear” arrived in two
weeks but the gaskets were on backorder.
Today I picked up the FJR. The service tech, Kevin, came out with the Middle Drive
Gear Assembly and said, “I can’t give these to you. Yamaha wants these back”.
Both the drive shaft splines and the teeth (that mate with the drive shaft) inside the gear
hub are heavily worn.
At this angle, the teeth are almost worn flat. Now you would think that I would have
noticed metal parts floating in the oil during an oil change. But I didn’t see anything
abnormal.
Detailed schematic can be found on this page:
All that grinding racket came from very worn gears. At this time, I know of no other FJR
failure like this. The service tech had no explanation why this failure occurred. First one
he’s seen on an FJR.
Do I think the YES extended warrantee is worth it? You betcha! My FJR is now running
fine. This whole event has not soured me on the FJR or Yamaha one bit.
Summary
2003 Yamaha FJR1300
Mileage at failure – 67,407
Oil at time of failure: Mobil 1 MX4T 10W-40 4-cycle Full Synth motorcycle oil
Service History: 100% self service with exception of valves
Problem: Middle Drive Gear spline failure
YES agreement – Expires Dec 12, 2006
Cost to fix – 100% under warrantee
At this time, I am pleased with the final outcome.
Dean Tanji
Tustin, CA
I thought this entire assembly is bath in oil.... ASSuming this is indeed corrosion we are looking at.... :blink:
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