Yamaha Motorcycles has issued a recall for all YZF R1 and YZF R1M motorcycle sold worldwide so far over faulty gearbox issue. The 1st recall news came from France and 706 bikes have already been registered.
Yamaha has requested the respective owners not to ride their motorcycles. They are in a process of contacting owners to explain their bikes are in need of work to replace the gearbox.
The work to replace the gearboxes of the affected bike is extremely in-depth and will need the entire engine removed from the frame, the engine cases split apart and the gearbox replaced before being reinstalled.
Yamaha explains – “In affected motorcycles, both second gear wheel and pinion gears in the transmission may break as a result of extremely high stress and/or improper shifting. This is due to inadequate component strength and stress concentration at the gear teeth bottom land. In addition, the third and fourth wheel gears may be deformed or break as a result of excessive stress caused by hard usage. This is due to inadequate component strength. If gears fail, the transmission could lock up, causing loss of control that could result in a crash with injury or death.”
To correct this defect, the authorized Yamaha dealer will replace the transmission assembly with one that includes gears of a different design. The procedure will take almost 16 hours. Yamaha dealer may need to keep the motorcycle longer depending upon their current service schedule.
Dealers will be replacing parts of the affected motorcycles free of charge.
