Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences


@B7ACKTHORN Thank you Ill keep that in mind...

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Hello all,

I'm hoping to glean some advice on the R3. I'm at the verge of upgrading to the quarter-liter bike. I currently own 2 bike - a Honda Twister and a TVS Apache RTR 180 ABS. The Honda is as good as new, save for the paint, because that's how I like to keep my machines. But my RTR has been very hard on me. I do my part in maintaining the bike but it seems the TVS ASC guys are incapable of doing theirs. As a result, just after 4 years of owning the RTR, I'm selling it off.

Obviously there's a quite a few choices out there right now for me. I've decided not to explore the Benelli TNT quarters or the Mahindra Mojo. But I guess my posting here makes that clear. I've narrowed it down to three bikes - CBR 250R( for the sheer trust I have in Honda ), the R3 and the Ninja 300. I've religiously gone through all the posts here concerning the comparo between the Ninja and the R3, and quite frankly I'm stymied. Both bikes seem to have bits of what I want, but neither caters to all my needs. I am left making a pros and cons list to weigh out the bikes.

I'm not a long distance tourer - not yet, that is. I do plan on taking that up as soon as I can. I do a lot of short distance rides - under 500km. And I commute a lot. I'm down for commuting on either bikes, but I've heard tell of a better low end torque on the R3. How much better is the torque compared to the Ninja?

I'd also like to know the cost of maintenance of the vehicle and the service interval. I'm not a grease monkey. Basic maintenance like oiling the chain, washing the bike, changing oil and all that, I can do. But I really need the service center guys to be at least more proactive and a lot more competent than the TVS ASC guys if I hope to own the R3. I'm looking to make this a long term purchase - in the range of 6-10 years at least. So I need to know if I'd be safe in the hands of Yamaha.

I also have another peeve - I have test ridden both the Honda and the Ninja - not for a long but enough. I have not been able to get on an R3. So I am blind in this venture on that front.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

If maintenance is a problem and you dont want to spend much time in the service center go for Honda cbr 250 or Yamaha R3.
i was a previous owner of TNT 300 and their service guys have no clue about maintaining the bikes and spares are not available either.

Ninja is goo d but again high on maintenance.
The best choice is the R3 go for it its nimble and fast and easy to maintain.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Any R3 owners from Bangalore here? Please give me an insight on service in Bangalore! Much appreciated in advance. [MENTION=61712]ArnabC[/MENTION] [MENTION=79452]Gollum[/MENTION]

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I did not hear back anything on the last issues I reported. to Yamaha So as a true Indian, I lived on with them . Although the vibes have reduced, the bike still sways like hell and the paint from the silencer is almost completely faded.
But yes, these are not 'life threatening' issues.

But yesterday night, I was reminded of the sub standard quality products this bike actually uses.
While returning from office, going at 60 kmph, I pressed the clutch and shifted from 3rd to 4th gear. I released the clutch but ALAS there was nothing to release. The clutch had given up.
In the interim, I had received the jerk of my life from my bike. The bike had almost stopped on the middle of a road with free flowing traffic. Partly due to my wits and mostly due to the biking angels flying over me, I could get to the side of the road - unharmed.
Post that I had to push my bike a good 2kms to reach home. Next day I pushed it another 3 kms to reach the service centre.

The Yamaha Service centres in Hyderabad are deplorable. They are worse than government hospitals and the mechanics are worse than government hospital ward-boys. I have given up on them already - no complaints!

Finally, Mr. Murthy (the only person in Hyderabad to work on bikes above 150 cc from Yamaha) diagnosed the problem. The clutch bearing had broken and gone into the clutch assembly. How did it break? How well were the remnants of the bearing flushed out? No one knows!

If it was a clutch wire, I would not have complained. But a clutch bearing breaking at 5900 kms? For a top of the line bike from Yamaha? Unacceptable.
What if I was travelling at 150 kmph in 5th gear and shifting to 6th at 9k RPM and the clutch bearing broke? What then?

I have written to Yamaha about this problem. There are two bikes in Pune that had the exact same problem. There are multiple bikes globally (check r3 forums) that have the same problem. I want the complete clutch assembly to be replaced. The bearing had actually shattered (I am not a rough rider by any means) and the parts are ( I am sure) hanging around somewhere in the clutch case.

If you are in the market looking for a 300 cc bike, I would say stay away from a R3. Kawasaki makes much more reliable bikes. The great engine on the Yamaha does not compensate for the cheap parts used else where.
I might as well go file a consumer complain against them.

More to come.....

Cheers!

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I feel for you mate, this is unlike yamaha. They always gave us good quality motorcycles from RX and RD series to R15 up untill R3 came over. They are losing thier brand image over thier motorcycles slowly but surely, you better not stay quiet over this matter, go and create a big ruckus so that the yamaha top brass gets a notice over the issue.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with your R3, though I'm also glad you brought this up. Makes me wonder if the N300 of after all worth the extra dough. If what you're saying is true then the R3 will need some work yet, to sort out these niggling problems - which I'm sure yamaha will tend to... But there's still time for the R3 to mature into a true rival to the baby ninja - which frankly has had years of work compared to the R3. This is exactly the sort of stuff I'm worried about.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

And Yamaha had two rare engine failures in a weekend in MotoGP.

Anyway, these things might be one-off, but it sucks when it happens to us. Don't lose hope.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences


hello mustang

Sad about hearing such issues with a premium bike from yamaha stable.
If i may ask..... do you think if we order the parts from out of india the overall quality of the bike would increase many times ?
Although you mentioned that such issues emerged elsewhere too.

Actually i was thinking along this idea with the KTM twins in mind.
we know the Cheap spares available Here, so for those who can get it shipped from abroad would it really make a lot of difference ?!


cheers & ride safe.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Buddy, I've only done 1st service.
I bought the bike from Vinayak Yamaha, Domlur. So got the bike serviced there itself.

Now the sad part is, they got the fins of my radiator bent. it was spotless before service and after that a few of the fins were bend as if someone bumped a spanner on them while doing something else.

It could have been the force of the water pressure wash.

I tried to make them straight but could not do so. I guess I will have to buy a new radiator when all of them bend after a few more service events and the radiator fails to cool the engine completely.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

You don't have to buy a new radiator. Even if all the fins are bent the efficiency doesn't go down below 98%. So not an issue.
On the other hand Domlur SVC doesn't have a good reputation.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Do you have any recommendations for second service?
service center details and what to ask them to do to the bike?

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

Very Sad thing. Good to know you are good.
Its really scary even to think what will happen if you are on higher speeds and such thing happens.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

you know, after you reported this, i was going thru some other forums on similar failures (not only on r3 but also the r125/r25)
i was thinking maybe (just maybe) that using the clutch a lot (like in traffic, you remember the recent jam last week right?) might be causing this failure ? Maybe due to the heat and stress.. just wondering.. though it isn't a valid excuse!!(if yamaha wants to reason on this point).

Another forum had a poll, but unless some owner confronts the company with proof and takes them to court there is chance that very little might be done.

First you should take this thought that 'imported is better' out of your mind.
Without understanding the root cause, its not right to assume an 'imported' spare will the issue (and i assume most spares are in fact imported for the r3 plus its a ckd).
It's not like he used an aftermarket bearing or something.. it was a stock bike that prematurely had a failure. Going by the design and how that clutch is setup, i think it might just be that the bearing is not up to the mark. A possible fix might be an improved bearing.
Some Indonesian owners have used a similar bearing but from SKF. Only time will tell if it will hold up and not fail prematurely.

Really ? All fins bent and loss in efficiency is only 2%?? Where did you get this fact?
I am wondering why have the fins at all if the reduction in efficiency was negligible.

My common sense says that fins not only increase the surface area but also a 'normal' fin (unbent/undamaged) allow air to flow 'thru' the radiator. Now if fins are bent, the air flow is disrupted. A few bent fins (say around 10-20%) might be ok but definitely not 98% of them bent.
With so many bent fins, you never know if it might end up damaging the radiator/spring a leak.
Get a decent radiator guard or slap on a mudflap to minimize debris being thrown on to the radiator.

Re: Yamaha YZF R3 Owners Reviews and Experiences

First of all thanks for pointing out this which I forgot to mention. The said 98% is a calculation coming from Yamaha, might be on a theoretical basis. So I said 98% which on real world, after commencing the fluid test, may come down to maximum 90% and maybe, mostly for sure, not less than that. You can check the same with YFS Kolkata which now is the only factory shop and houses mechanics trained directly by Yamaha. The SVC head there and the SBK mechanic told the same to me as did Nitin, who was once the SVC head for Yamaha in Western India.

If you see the fins, those are very thin and being so doesn't allow them to be bent uniformly, so air always passes through, yes the air flow will be disrupted for sure which is the effieciency will come down but not to a huge extent. A leak will happen only when a stone or anything rupture the coolant pipes within the radiator which will be an unfortunate incident, once a small bird did the same to my friend's CB1000. So, as you said, a radiator guard or mudflap is always welcome.

----consecutive posts auto-merged-----

Both Pacer Hebbal, Bangalore Wheels are better. For Pacer Hebbal give the bike to Vinod, for Bangalore Wheels give the bike to Sampath.

I will recommend change of oil, oil filter and air filter. Also, if you want, at second service i.e after 5K kms, you can use other oils than Yamalube but again depends on your choice.