FJRiders.com

Today I sent the following letter to Yamaha Canada and Transport Canada..

Without Prejudice

To Whom It May Concern,

I received the recall notice (Recall M20-71, Transport Canada Recall Number 2020-571) in December of 2020 and immediately contacted Wildwood MotorSports (1143 Pembina Highway Winnipeg Mb R3T 2A3) regarding the recall. I was advised that since I had not purchased the motorcycle at their dealership that they could not look at my bike until September or October of 2021. This is clearly unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the recall notice which states "If your Yamaha Dealer is unable or refuses to perform this modification within a reasonable period of time", Nine or ten months being unreasonable in anyone's opinion.
The recall notice also states that I may contact Yamaha Motor Canada or Transport Canada, quoting the recall notice which indicates that other avenues of remedy may be sought.
Subsequent to this most unsatisfying visit to Wildwood MotorSports I emailed Yamaha Canada who replied on January 18,2021 -

"Hello Robert,

Thank you for contacting Yamaha and providing your feedback. All feedback is welcome, whether positive or negative, as it contributes towards the periodical evaluation of our dealers.

Yamaha dealers are independent businesses, independently owned and managed, and are not franchises of Yamaha. They are responsible for their whole operation, whether sales or services, and our intervention is limited in these matters.

Regards,

Diane"

Judging this response from Yamaha to be unhelpful and unsatisfactory and I went to the other Yamaha Dealer in Winnipeg - WSL, Winnipeg Sport and Leisure (1272 Dugald Rd. Winnipeg, Mb R2J 0H2) who asked me immediately if I had purchased the bike from them and when I replied that I had not, I was advised that it didn't matter to them, that they would still be happy to perform the required recall. I was advised that they could foresee performing the recall on my bike in late March.

It is now May. I am a 67 yr old man who enjoys riding my motorcycle and life is short. It is unreasonable to ask me to avoid riding my motorcycle until the dealer can perform this modification given that no dealer in Winnipeg can perform the recall work in a timely fashion. Clearly as the owner of a unit that was not purchased from them I have the lowest priority and while I understand the reasons for this - Yamaha Canada has an obligation to fulfill its responsibilities to me- and so far, they have failed.

Therefore, I ask that Yamaha Canada either replace the entire motorcycle with a unit that has the recall work performed on it,

OR,

Replace the powertrain and transmission unit complete with a powertrain that has the recall work performed on it.


I await your response,


Regards,

Robert A.D Collings

good luck

Seems you have icky dealers up there in Canuckland....

Maybe giving the dealer one of your Grand Mariner fortified smoothies will get you better served.

Rotsa Ruck getting a satisfying response, but Yamaha did say don't ride it. I would anyway but.... let them tell you that so that IF something bad were to happen, you are positioned to ask for a new engine...... I would advise not hosing it too bad in second gear.
In all the US recall talk, there were dealers who "discouraged" by giving long lead times. Well, spring is their busiest time also and there's no money to be made on this job....... hang in there.

I would ride it anyway but would not abuse it too much. Anyone have any idea how many failures there have actually been in North America? I haven't heard of any but I haven't really been looking. Lots of bikes out there 2016+.

Probably won't do any good but doesn't hurt to email a link to this thread back to all of the interested parties.
I don't think Yamaha would like the public perception that they are essentially ignoring a customer with respect to a potential major safety issue.

Might also be worth an email to Transport Canada. They might be interested to know that Yamaha is not being cooperative with respect to mandated safety recalls. (Copy the Yamaha folks on this as well)

Good luck!

Thanks for linking us in Bob. Good on you for speaking up.
Personally I am extremely disappointed in this whole transmission fiasco. They should be bending over backwards to help its customers get this resolved as quickly and painless as possible. Sounds like this is not always the case.

After hearing many stories similar to yours it makes me realize how fortunate we are here in little old Nova Scotia. My dealer is 2.5 hours away but I made the decision to buy from them instead of the two that are closer to me.

I am also fortunate to have a good relationship with the Maritime Sales rep, Parts rep and also the Financial Manager representing Yamaha Canada and made them fully aware of my displeasure. Again my displeasure is with Yamaha Canada not the dealer even thou I may have taken it out on the dealer.
I have since apologized.

This particular dealer - Shore Cycle has been more than accommodating for any and all FJR owners whether they purchased from them or not. I can't understand why a dealer would turn away work. Its money in their pocket and if their tech can't do the repair in the allotted time then time to sharpen up his or her skills.

Looking forward to hear what Yamaha Canada comes back with. Good luck.

Canadian FJR

FJRoss wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 10:51 am I would ride it anyway but would not abuse it too much. Anyone have any idea how many failures there have actually been in North America? I haven't heard of any but I haven't really been looking. Lots of bikes out there 2016+.

Probably won't do any good but doesn't hurt to email a link to this thread back to all of the interested parties.
I don't think Yamaha would like the public perception that they are essentially ignoring a customer with respect to a potential major safety issue.

Might also be worth an email to Transport Canada. They might be interested to know that Yamaha is not being cooperative with respect to mandated safety recalls. (Copy the Yamaha folks on this as well)

Good luck!

I emailed Yamaha Canada and cc’ed Transport Canada. I also posted that letter on as many Yamaha corporate and FJR enthusiast facebook pages as I could find. I have already had a reply from Transport Canada.

I hope this gets resolved quickly.

Not really helpful to Bob's issue, but THIS is why I wouldn't go looking for a bike to buy that needed the recall done, and likely not even one that had the recall done on it. It's just not worth the hassle.

I'm reaching here maybe, but what about CBC MarketPlace or some other media/gov't agency in Manitoba that has oversight on consumer protection/problems. You could really stir the pot if Marketplace did a number on them like they've done on car recalls. Nobody wants that kind of publicity. I'd keep stirring the pot and making noise.

Never understood this thinking by dealers. I've thankfully not run into it on my end so far. I mean, what if I bought the bike used from someone who bought it from them, does that count for nothing?

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 4:30 pm Never understood this thinking by dealers. I've thankfully not run into it on my end so far. I mean, what if I bought the bike used from someone who bought it from them, does that count for nothing?

Yes.

wheatonFJR wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 4:31 pm

gixxerjasen wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 4:30 pm Never understood this thinking by dealers. I've thankfully not run into it on my end so far. I mean, what if I bought the bike used from someone who bought it from them, does that count for nothing?

Yes.

I can tell you one really easy way for a dealer to never ever ever get my business.

ice station zebra wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 4:00 pm I'm reaching here maybe, but what about CBC MarketPlace or some other media/gov't agency in Manitoba that has oversight on consumer protection/problems. You could really stir the pot if Marketplace did a number on them like they've done on car recalls. Nobody wants that kind of publicity. I'd keep stirring the pot and making noise.

I have received a response from both Transport Canada and Yamaha Canada…since the recall was voluntary, Transport Canada can do nothing. Yamaha Canada said that they have no control over what their dealers do.

So..tonight I’ll draft a submission to CBC MarketPlace

The dealer from whom I purchased immediately ordered 2 recall kits. One for me and one for their 2018 new showroom FJR. Someone else abandoned their FJR at the shop saying, “don’t call until the recall is performed.” They got my transmission. Dealer says “we can’t get the parts!”

Have ridden 4000 miles since my VIN appeared on the Yamaha recall site.

Makes me all the happier that I have a good shop. And that I called them the same morning thst USA affected VIN’s were released. They assessed how many time slots they were willing to devote to this specific job, and made a schedule for the year. If I called them now, no doubt I’d be waiting quite a while for a slot.

Unless you’re giving me a loaner, f@$k yourself if you think I’ll stop riding it.

Good luck, Bob.

bill lumberg wrote: ↑Tue May 04, 2021 6:17 am Makes me all the happier that I have a good shop. And that I called them the same morning thst USA affected VIN’s were released. They assessed how many time slots they were willing to devote to this specific job, and made a schedule for the year. If I called them now, no doubt I’d be waiting quite a while for a slot.

Unless you’re giving me a loaner, f@$k yourself if you think I’ll stop riding it.

Good luck, Bob.

I have the other recall. I am not going to stop riding. My cruise or brake light switch has not malfunctioned in 7 years. I don't expect to in the next few weeks or months. So I will have the recall done when it's time for the valve check in 2,000 miles.

I do need to call and make sure the parts are going to be available.

N4HHE wrote: ↑Mon May 03, 2021 11:11 pm The dealer from whom I purchased immediately ordered 2 recall kits. One for me and one for their 2018 new showroom FJR. Someone else abandoned their FJR at the shop saying, “don’t call until the recall is performed.” They got my transmission. Dealer says “we can’t get the parts!”

Has been 6 weeks since I last called. Called today for status. Dealer has 3 kits (one with my name on it) and 1 competent mechanic. Has hired several but none showed up for work. I hear this is a common problem with "unemployment" payments being so easy and generous. Every restaurant, shop, and construction company is advertising to hire.

The funny thing is the service manager offered to pay me to install my own transmission. Think he was serious. There was a time I would have seriously considered taking him up on it.

Today I received an e-mail from Yamaha Canada asking me to confirm that I owned the bike, they said that their information showed it still being owned by it’s previous owner. I asked how that could be, given that the recall documents were sent to me..I also asked if the motivation for them contacting me was Transport Canada contacting them….lol, no reply. They then said that one of the Winnipeg dealers would be contacting me.
I still haven’t heard from CBC MarketPlace…fingers crossed

…and my reply


Hi Scott,
I went to that dealership in January, talked with Owen, told him that I knew that he wouldn’t make any money on the job so I would give him some extra work to do while the bike was apart, buy some tires from him to make the whole job worthwhile. Owen told me at that point that he anticipated that he could do the work on my bike in late March.
I estimate that well over 90% of FJR riders are members of one of the several facebook groups such as FJR Canada, or one of the FJR forums such as FJriders.com so we are all very familiar with the supply issues from Yamaha that the dealers are facing. We are also very familiar with those dealerships who ask if the bike was purchased at their dealership, and the resulting lack of action on their part if the bike was purchased at another dealership - and this has been happening across North America.