2stangs69-91
Well-Known Member
fuel problems fixed get a flash...
Stress Crack In Frame on 2007 FZ1
- Thread starter Blavenia
- Start date
FZ1inTX
Adminstrator
With Ivan's flash, there are no more fuel problems. 
lindy
Well-Known Member
With Ivan's flash, there are no more fuel problems.
Glad Ivan's there to rescue the Gen II's! I wish Yamaha would make the motorcycle more liveable from the crate - without all the fuss that seems necessary to make them right.
Though I recognize that one person's perception of what is right may not be another person's. Meaning, for many, a stock FZ1 Gen II may be just fine.
Erci
Wizard
Right on! Test-ride a stock FZ09 and it'll make you believe a stock FZ1 has the smoothest throttle tip-in in the world :Rockon:
Sebastian F7
Wizard
They all have their issues try owning a Ducati, you'll love Yamaha after that. You can ride the Yamaha 3 times and not need to fix it.
FZ1inTX
Adminstrator
It is a shame that we should have to pay for the flash and Power Commander to sort out what Yamaha did but we also need to understand that without the fuel cut programmed into the ECU, the bikes would never be allowed into the States for the emissions laws. All cars, trucks and bikes have a fuel cut built-in. Some just handle it better.
Kpd1031
Well-Known Member
Blavenia. I am glad you guys realized the crack before anyone got hurt. I can only imagine what could have happened two up riding with a cracked frame.
It's no secret, I am a strong advocate of people NOT BUYING an 06/07 FZ1 due to the frame issue. It seems whenever I bring it up, I am met with resistance. Responses are, "I have an 06/07 and my frame is not cracked." Or, "Its only a small # of bikes that are affected." I say, there is no way of knowing exactly how many bikes are affected. An improper weld is an improper weld weather it is cracked or not. In other words, how does anyone know if their frame will crack or not. There's no way to tell. Look at your bike. It's 7 years old with plenty of miles and a crack just developed.
Anyone thinking of buying an 06/07, I ask you to reconsider. IMHO it is not worth the risk. Anyone that has an 06/07, please make checking your frame part of your pre ride inspection. But remember. A frame will only crack under stress. So even if there's no crack before the ride, you should check it after as we'll.
Please understand, I only have everyone's safety in mind. I would absolutely hate to read that we lost a fellow member due to this horrible manufacturing defect that IMO should have been a recall.
It's no secret, I am a strong advocate of people NOT BUYING an 06/07 FZ1 due to the frame issue. It seems whenever I bring it up, I am met with resistance. Responses are, "I have an 06/07 and my frame is not cracked." Or, "Its only a small # of bikes that are affected." I say, there is no way of knowing exactly how many bikes are affected. An improper weld is an improper weld weather it is cracked or not. In other words, how does anyone know if their frame will crack or not. There's no way to tell. Look at your bike. It's 7 years old with plenty of miles and a crack just developed.
Anyone thinking of buying an 06/07, I ask you to reconsider. IMHO it is not worth the risk. Anyone that has an 06/07, please make checking your frame part of your pre ride inspection. But remember. A frame will only crack under stress. So even if there's no crack before the ride, you should check it after as we'll.
Please understand, I only have everyone's safety in mind. I would absolutely hate to read that we lost a fellow member due to this horrible manufacturing defect that IMO should have been a recall.
Evitzee
Wizard
I can't remember, but what did Yamaha change after the first couple of years that fixed the cracking problem of the first years?
Alex_C
Member
According to what I studied they changed welding technique which sorted issue out. I can not imagine what can happen with a crack, but fact is, engine is imortant part of all system and I have never seen a case that frame split in parts.
super googan
Wizard
I've also blown the whistle on the 06-07 frame issues in the past and just met with a bunch of hostility. I thought it was common knowledge but from reading the posts in this thread apparently its not.
2stangs69-91
Well-Known Member
YAMAHA WILL REPLACE YOUR FRAME FOR FREE. while it may be a inconvenience you also have a older bike with a new frame so why stay away from them??
FZ1inTX
Adminstrator
I sort of agree with this but it's not ALL 06-07 bikes. If there was a way to compile the serial numbers of those who did crack and those who did not, then it may be possible to determine what plant the cracked frames are coming from, or a period of time they were manufactured. Armed with this a buyer can decipher via the VIN what line of production a bike came from and how susceptible it *could* be to cracking. But, that would be quite an undertaking and requires a lot of research and cooperation.
I have an 09, my wife is on an 07... I check the welds often on both. If one cracks, I'll be fighting Yamaha for a new frame without a doubt. If I lose the battle, I'd strip the bike and have a pro weld it better than before like another member of this forum (Mr. Helmut?) did in the past. It came out great!
*EDIT* Found it here: http://www.998cc.org/forum/fz1-streetfighter/12235-fz1-07-turbo-pictures.html The crack issue starts at post #51.
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Blavenia
Wizard
I think that would have been possible if Yamaha acknowledged the issue and posted a recall. Shocked they have not. There's just no way I would take the time to strip the bike to its frame so I immediately considered it a parts bike. There was well over $1500 in extras on that bike so the buyer got a great deal with the Retro kit and GPR, etc. If he gets it fixed from Yamaha, he'll do well to just give it to Billy for an even better price in stock trim. Which is what I hope happens. Billy would get the bike, my friend would make some money for his trouble and he'd have all the parts on his FZ1 that I put out so much money for. All this is IF Yamaha steps up, which they still have not decided to do.
And for someone to say this was just an inconvenience is ridiculous. Imagine how it feels to have your 6 year old riding on the bike until she was almost 10 with a potential time bomb underneath her.
Thanks everyone for your support and input on this one. I didn't see this coming from a million miles away!
And for someone to say this was just an inconvenience is ridiculous. Imagine how it feels to have your 6 year old riding on the bike until she was almost 10 with a potential time bomb underneath her.
Thanks everyone for your support and input on this one. I didn't see this coming from a million miles away!
Dreamdemon
Well-Known Member
I have a 2006 and did 40k miles on it (total about 48k) and no signs of cracks on the welds. I think it is pushing it a bit to say not to consider 06/07 bikes. Yes in case it is a low mileage bike it might be still one of the bunch that got a problem but I know several 06 riders that all have high mileages and no cracks. In case that it is a manufacturing problem I would suspect to surface quickly and almost all reported cracks came in the beginning of the bike.
I took my bike to many tours and on some dirt tracks as well since there was no other route and no problem whatsoever.
From what I found on the web about 10% of people experienced a crack. However that is only the percentage of people that took part in the survey and is not representative. The real number I suspect to be much smaller. People experience problems usually start looking in the web for similar issues while people without problems might simply ride the bike and never ever read any forum threads. I work as a scientist and know how statistics work and without an unbiased survey of the whole 06/07 customers it is impossible to identify the percentage of this problem. I guess if it was really frequent Yamaha would have reacted and made a recall. On the other hand I wonder why the yamaha dealers were not asked to check the welds during the inspections. In principle you can check the weld with several procedures (ultrasound ect) without having to disassemble anything but it seems the shops are not equipped with the right tools. Still Yamaha should make the customer aware of potential problems even in the case of small probabilities.
I took my bike to many tours and on some dirt tracks as well since there was no other route and no problem whatsoever.
From what I found on the web about 10% of people experienced a crack. However that is only the percentage of people that took part in the survey and is not representative. The real number I suspect to be much smaller. People experience problems usually start looking in the web for similar issues while people without problems might simply ride the bike and never ever read any forum threads. I work as a scientist and know how statistics work and without an unbiased survey of the whole 06/07 customers it is impossible to identify the percentage of this problem. I guess if it was really frequent Yamaha would have reacted and made a recall. On the other hand I wonder why the yamaha dealers were not asked to check the welds during the inspections. In principle you can check the weld with several procedures (ultrasound ect) without having to disassemble anything but it seems the shops are not equipped with the right tools. Still Yamaha should make the customer aware of potential problems even in the case of small probabilities.
Kpd1031
Well-Known Member
I did not intend for this to become yet another argument on the subject. Simply put. I do not think that anyone that owns a car, motorcycle, or even a bicycle, should have to worry if their frame will crack. The fact that the owners of 06/07 bikes admit to checking their frames often, even with higher mileage, tells me something. People are worried. This is unacceptable. You should not have to worry about your frame, end of story. If you seriously think it's not a problem on your bike, then stop checking your frame. Bet you can't do it. Just for the record. I never check my frame.
Dustin
Moderator
Agreed completely. Even if only 10% of bikes of the year(s) were affected, that's still an unacceptable amount for what is a very serious manufacturing defect and potentially very dangerous to boot.
FZ1riderNY
Moderator
Absolutely! Just 10% should be enough for Yamaha to wake up and fix their error. It's the same old story. It's not until someone is hurt or worse before companies fix their mistakes. Totally different subject but entirely relative. Where I grew up, I lived on an Avenue that had no stop signs and no street lights for 7 blocks. At the end of the 7 block stretch was my school. Even back in the 70's, the neighborhood was requesting a street light or stop sign midway through this section to curb the speeders from driving through like idiots. Years went by and after numerous traffic accidents they still negated to put a sign or light. It wasn't until 78 or 79 when the neighbor's friend came speeding down the block in his 1970 Camaro and hit and killed a 6 year old girl, that these idiots agreed to put a traffic light. The best part was that the morons put the light at the corner of the school, still leaving the 7 block stretch unrestricted!! How's that for ignorance! Wake up Yamaha!!! I love your bikes but come on!
super googan
Wizard
Will they ? for a second, third, tenth owner of a 8 year old motorcycle ? I'm sure at some point ( if not already ) they will stop.
Yamaha should be ashamed for not addressing this issue, no doubt they know what serial numbers are affected and when they fixed the issue during production.
I'll stand by the " don't buy an 06-07 " statement. Fueling was also MUCH worse on those years ( well documented )
Even if they would replace the frame the last thing I want happening to my bike is some jacktard dealer scrub stripping my bike to the frame and starting from scratch. Good luck getting one of those jobs done correctly. Miracle if they don't screw something up, not to mention the month it will take the average dealer to complete the job. Add that to the month you spend actually getting approval for the job from Yamaha. Then when its all done you can hope its not covered with a billion new scratches., lost fasteners and so on. ....... no thanks ! Hell I've had 2 dealers scratch the hell out of rims just mounting tires.
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2stangs69-91
Well-Known Member
I wouldn't bet on it.Chrysler will still fix cracked frames on early vans.Why would they fix them now? I don't worry about it but I take the 5 seconds every so often to look at them.
super googan
Wizard
I'm sure Yamaha knows exactly when they had the issue and what serial numbers are effected, they are just to spineless to do the right thing !!! Guess the lawyers figure if the frame cracks while the bike is being ridden,,,,,,,, well AFTER the crash no one can prove if the frame cracking caused the accident or the accident cause the crack............. #*#@%^%^@** Lawyers !!