Scary discovery on my FZ6

[Nelly]

yup a new pair of draws is a good place to start, what are they going to do about your bike?

Mate I was at work when I read your response and laughed out so loud, people thought I was choking. LOVL (laugh out very loud). Neil

 

[Nelly]

They're going to do enough to make me happy....let's just say there'll be a red carpet and rose petals put out for me at the next few visits.

Im chuffed that they are sorting you out. Have they come up with an explanation? I would love to hear the excuses. Obviously if they have put their hands up straight away and said its there fault, fair play to them.

 

[OneTrack]

No, they didn't come up with any lame excuses as to why it happened. I worked as an Auto Mechanic for 25 years and performed hundreds of PDI's on cars. I have been with a major Japanese car manufacturer as a District Manager for the past 18 years and still hear about problems that "slip through" the PDI process, albeit most (if not all) nowhere near as serious as what happened in my case.
I'm willing to give the dealer a 2nd chance to "make it right". They have accepted responsibility for the issue, and committed to review their PDI processes to ensure that nothing of this nature happens again, and that's a good thing for all of us.
Have I let them off the hook? Absolutely not.

 

[wrightme43]

I hope they do fix the procedure. However NO ONE will ever be as concerned with your bike, and your safety as YOU!!!!

If you check it you know its right.
Here is a handy checklist.
New Motorcycle Check list, Break in

 

[OneTrack]

That's a very good checklist and one that I'll run through myself with my torque wrench and the rest of my tool box.
I guess I have become too complacent with the quality of our new Japanese vehicles, where the only problem we encounter during PDI's is cleaning off the residue from the WrapGuard.
The opening few sentences in the link you provided are very sobering...

 

[Lucky]

I now have just over 400km's on my new 06 FZ6. ...
So much for the PDI!!!
...
Does anyone know off-hand how much assembly is performed by the dealership when the new bike arrives in a crate?

Where did you buy the bike?
I think they do just stuff like assembly and checking oil and pressure.

 

[wrightme43]

I watched mine be assembled from the crate.
The have to fit the front wheel and brake calipers.

 

[OneTrack]

Where did you buy the bike?
I think they do just stuff like assembly and checking oil and pressure.

Pacific Yamaha in Richmond, BC.

 

[OneTrack]

I watched mine be assembled from the crate.
The have to fit the front wheel and brake calipers.

Thanks...that's what I suspected was assembled from the crate on these bikes.
If the bolt WAS missing on delivery, I am astonished that I didn't notice it, never mind the dealership. Just shows what a bit of excitement can do to me. IAE, I'm pretty sure that was the case. It was either not installed, or was "borrowed" and not replaced.
Here's a "blown up" photo of the front fork/brake caliper area of my bike, taken from a picture that I took of my bike within minutes of getting it home the day I bought it. You can see the upper bolt hole in the left caliper appears to 'empty'.

Here's another photo that I took a couple of weeks ago of the same area, with the bolt installed. You can clearly see the "dimple" in the 'nose' of the bolt in the upper caliper mounting hole.

The dealership has made an attempt to "make this right" for me...although they haven't demonstrated any sort of remorse or given me an intelligent response to my complaint. I will not be returning to them for either sales or service business in the future. I have also notified Yamaha Canada of their negligence and goofy response(s).

 

[OneTrack]

I went over the whole bike with my torque wrench immediately I installed a new bolt in the caliper....and yes, I found several that were not torqued properly, including the rear caliper.
I now do a walk-around inspection of my bike EVERY time before going for a ride. I cannot understand how I could not have noticed a missing bolt in such an important place...but I did. Love is blind, I guess.

 

[bd43]

I found several that were not torqued properly, including the rear caliper.

Did you happen to notice that the two rear caliper bolts have a different torque spec? I almost over-torqued the leading bolt when I decided to reconfirm the number in the service manual. I thought it was loose too at the time.

 

[OneTrack]

Good point...yes, I did notice that in the manual. It would be quite easy to use the higher torque on the wrong bolts if you didn't pay attention to which bolt has which torque spec.
I also downloaded the FZ6 Assembly manual, which confirms that the front wheel and brake calipers are assembled to the forks at the dealership.

 

[talus]

Checking bolts and wear is one of the main reasons I wash my bike. I like having the bike clean but more importantly I've found more loose bolts while washing than any other time.

 

[Lucky]

Pacific Yamaha in Richmond, BC.

ok, I made a note of it.