I dropped off the wife's V Star at the dealer on Thursday night for the issue she had with her front end. Now, we check the pressures in the tires fairly regular and at least once a fill up. He said the tire was down to 20 lbs. I call BS in my own head. It wasn't even THAT low after winter storage! But, I tell him to check for slow leaks.
Next, he compared the forks to a new one on the floor. They "appear" to be about the same but he is supposed to quote me on A) replacing the fork oil with a heavier weight and B) replacing both the oil and the springs with heavier stuff. (In my mind, he can quote if he wants but I will do this in July when the warranty is up anyway and on my own.)
Last, he said the wheel is out of round. Well, ever since we bought the bike, I've questioned the wheel weights on this front end. Being a spoke wheel, it has the standard wrap around wheel weight on the spoke. THIS wheel has THREE on three adjacent spokes and not small ones either. I didn't question it at the time but I did bring it up with him yesterday. He said the wheel doesn't jump up, it jumps down and one point, that point being the same area the three wheel weights were added. Now, they've added a forth weight to the same area because it was .5 grams out of balance. "Joe Mechanic" says it took "most" of the bounce out of the wheel.
So, I pose the question, can all this added weight in one area, at highway speeds around 75 to 80, force a spoke wheel out of true? Anyone ever hear of this? The wheel is pushed out thus the "jump down" as he specified.
Long story short, I told him the wheel is junk and I wanted it replaced by Yamaha. He is on my side, thankfully, and is calling them Monday morning to discuss and see if they agree. Now, if they get a new wheel and show me three or four damned weights on it, I'm going to tell him the warranty isn't over for this particular problem and that I want it logged. Something is wrong if you have to add THAT much weight to balance a wheel.
Off to tell another story regarding the dealer in another forum. Can you say "UPSET?"
Next, he compared the forks to a new one on the floor. They "appear" to be about the same but he is supposed to quote me on A) replacing the fork oil with a heavier weight and B) replacing both the oil and the springs with heavier stuff. (In my mind, he can quote if he wants but I will do this in July when the warranty is up anyway and on my own.)
Last, he said the wheel is out of round. Well, ever since we bought the bike, I've questioned the wheel weights on this front end. Being a spoke wheel, it has the standard wrap around wheel weight on the spoke. THIS wheel has THREE on three adjacent spokes and not small ones either. I didn't question it at the time but I did bring it up with him yesterday. He said the wheel doesn't jump up, it jumps down and one point, that point being the same area the three wheel weights were added. Now, they've added a forth weight to the same area because it was .5 grams out of balance. "Joe Mechanic" says it took "most" of the bounce out of the wheel.
So, I pose the question, can all this added weight in one area, at highway speeds around 75 to 80, force a spoke wheel out of true? Anyone ever hear of this? The wheel is pushed out thus the "jump down" as he specified.
Long story short, I told him the wheel is junk and I wanted it replaced by Yamaha. He is on my side, thankfully, and is calling them Monday morning to discuss and see if they agree. Now, if they get a new wheel and show me three or four damned weights on it, I'm going to tell him the warranty isn't over for this particular problem and that I want it logged. Something is wrong if you have to add THAT much weight to balance a wheel.
Off to tell another story regarding the dealer in another forum. Can you say "UPSET?"
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