BIKE SEIZED 850 miles

[Roboco]

On my commute to work yesterday morning on I-75, the 07 FZ6 decided to quit. I was going about 75mph and all of the sudden the engine quit. I immediately pulled the clutch lever and coasted to the shoulder of the highway. The bike has about 850 miles on it. I called the shop where I bought it and asked them to go pick it up. I grabbed a ride to work and called the shop at about noon. The service guy said he thinks its electrical and they were charging the battery. I had my doubts because when I pulled off to the shoulder of the road and stopped put the bike in neutral, turned it off, turned it back on and tried to start it. It turned over 2-3 times and completely quit (seemed to have plenty of battery).
Anyway, the tech later said he would call me first thing this morning with a better idea of what was up. I didn’t hear from him so I called at about 1:00 today. He said “I got some bad news….the engine is locked up”. I paused trying to think if it was something I did to it….and replied with a weak “oh”. He said it would be at least 2-3 weeks minimum before I would get it back. He also said it should be under warranty but they had to tear the engine open to see what may have been the cause. So.... now I have to wait patiently to see what they find and hope to god it’s a warranty repair!! The mechanic said they pulled off the fuel injection and some other parts where they could see into the engine and the valves were bent and some broken. Anyone ever seen or heard of such a devastating engine problem?? This really sucks!!!!

 

[mikebike]

yikes glad you are ok.....keep us posted as to the repair and warranty

 

[elwood206]

Did they remember to put out in when they de-crated it? You should just ask for a new bike, not wait around for who knows how long for them to fix this one.

 

[Roboco]

I asked for a new bike and they said I would have to trade in mine because it has miles on it and pay some for a new one

 

[sportrider]

thats a first for me!!! I've never heard of anyone seizing up a new motor. did you happen to notice what the engine temp was at when it quit? was the any noise( squealing, knocking, tapping) or surging before it died?
keep us informed!!!!

 

[Roboco]

The temp was at about 172F and I didnt really hear any strange noises.

 

[sportrider]

The temp was at about 172F and I didnt really hear any strange noises.

thats strange??? I would think if you did massive internal damage you would have heard something. the fact that it didn't lock the rear up, and you were able to crank it over tells me it didn't seize. maybe a ECM problem? I seized up an old enduro I had once while riding down the road, it locked the rear tire.

 

[Roboco]

Would the clutch still work if it seized? I pulled the clutch as soon as I saw the rpm's die down. Well...maybe it's not seized, that would be a good thing as long as its a warranty repair.

 

[sportrider]

Would the clutch still work if it seized? I pulled the clutch as soon as I saw the rpm's die down. Well...maybe it's not seized, that would be a good thing as long as its a warranty repair.

yes the Clutch would still work.

 

[wrightme43]

Relax man, there is almost nothing that you could of done to cause it. Yamaha has a good reputation for taking care of its customers. Bad engines happen, bad oil pumps happen, it could of left with no oil, all kinds of things, but as far as I can think of, none of them envolve you being responsible. UNLESS you drained the oil out, or put brake lathe metal in the oil fill. Then you could be responsible.

 

[ant_mb]

Was the 600 miles service done?

If so, who did it.

 

[Bo67]

Boy that sucks. I'm glad you're alright. Good job on pulling the clutch. An engine seize will lock up the wheel for sure in gear. Please let us know what happened. Sounds at first glimpse like a catastrophic valve train failure. That'd have enogh internal binding to cause the starter not to turn but not enough to lock the wheel. Maybe timing chain snapped also. Again, I'm glad you're ok. The bike can be replaced, you can't.

 

[Roboco]

I did the 600 mile service which included:
Oil and filter
Nut/Bolt torque check
chain slack check
tire air pressure check

 

[poorwboy]

Hey glad your alright. Some of the best engine builders in the world lose motors. Nothings perfect.:thumbup:

 

[OneTrack]

Relax man, there is almost nothing that you could of done to cause it.

I agree..., it would have been a factory defect or a PDI prep issue that caused the engine to have such a catastrophic failure at that very low mileage from new. In my experience, most factory defects show up relatively early on in the life of a car/bike. (I work for a Japanese car manufacturer).
Do NOT take "no" for an answer from the Dealership and stand your ground. It is not up to you to prove that you didn't do something wrong....it is up to them to prove that you DID if they want to deny warranty on your engine.
I am sure that they will repair your bike without hesitation....if they don't, contact Yamaha themselves. If Yamaha give you attitude, then write a letter to the President of Yamaha USA. Make it a snail-mail letter, not email. That ALWAYS gets attention...trust me on that one. :thumbup:
(Oh..btw...if the worst scene scenario should develop and you do write a letter, don't threaten, just explain the facts and you simply want Yamaha to stand behind their product; that usually gets the desired result.

 

[OneTrack]

Was the 600 miles service done?

If so, who did it.

Good point! (I was thinking kilometers...our first service is at 1000km's). If you didn't have the first service done, you might have a problem with warranty. If you did, then the facility that did your 1st service would be suspect.

 

[OneTrack]

I did the 600 mile service which included:
Oil and filter
Nut/Bolt torque check
chain slack check
tire air pressure check

Hmm....if you did the first service yourself, you might have some problems with warranty. However, if the selling dealer is decent, they might just help you out with this one.
I am more than capable of doing services on my bike, but I took my bike back to the dealer for its first service....that's the one service that they will expect to be done at a dealership to "maintain warranty" on the bike.

 

[ant_mb]

Hmm....if you did the first service yourself, you might have some problems with warranty. However, if the selling dealer is decent, they might just help you out with this one.
I am more than capable of doing services on my bike, but I took my bike back to the dealer for its first service....that's the one service that they will expect to be done at a dealership to "maintain warranty" on the bike.


I'm certain that doing the 600 miles service doesn't void your wannenty. Just show the receipts for the oil and filter and you should be fine.

 

[wrightme43]

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you keep your reciepts and can show that you have done the work its the same as the dealer.
Dont let them **** you.

 

[Roboco]

Geez...well now that we're down to the gritty details, I sometimes think its the oil I used in the bike. I used the Rotella synthetic and I was just told that synthetic shouldnt be used for at least 4000 miles. I wonder if that would have something to do with it....YIKES! This is beginning to look worse and worse.....