Cracked frame

# two

# two

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The other day I was about to take a little ride and during a quick pre ride check I noticed the big weld just forward of the seat on the right side is cracked all the way through on the bottom and about an inch and a half up the outside turning into a hair line fracture almost the rest of the way up. It's at the dealership right now waiting for a yamaha rep to come take a look. It's an 07 that I bought used in 08 with 1500 miles now it's got 9500 on it so no warranty. I'm hopping this is a manufacturing defect and yamaha will replace the frame. Has anybody else seen or heard of this?
 
ah yes.... It's happened quite a few times... the general response from Yamaha is to replace the frame... in some very rare cases, (mainly when the frame cracked all of the way through and resulted in an accident) they replace the entire bike....

There was talk of a Yamaha Recall because of this, but I don't remember the outcome of that... in any case, it's a known problem.
 
I'm pretty sure that this has happened to a few people on the other FZ1 owners site.

It seems to be becoming more and more common on modern bikes with the newer light-weight frames. I've known it to happen on FZ1's, R1's, Z1000's and GSX-R1000's. Quite worrying!
 
I have an 08 and I have not seen this problem, sorry to hear that happened to your bike but its a good thing you caught it. It will be interesting to hear what they say. I have not heard any other comments on this forum indicating a known Yamaha issue on this.
 
I wonder how many of the cracked frames are stunters? ;)

Sucks that it did happen and I hope that Yamaha goes good for it. Also glad you noticed before it turned into one of the BAD ones where the bike broke nearly in half. Keep us informed please!?!?
 
Great, right when the weather is getting there. yeah, that's where our bike cracks. Yam always takes care of this, as far as I know. But I'm betting the tech guy may need a few weeks to get it all on the new frame, but I don't know what Yam does, in terms of what they deliver to the dealer. Maybe they send a new frame with all the electronics, etc.
 
The majority of the breaks seem to occur from the weld being off center... basically, there's not enough mating material for the weld to stick to, and the majority of the welding material ends up off center from the actual joining of the frame members.... whether or not the owners are stunters doesn't change much... maybe just the problem showing itself sooner... but, with the sloppy welds that were going on for a while, stunter or not, it was just a matter of time.
 
It's a known defect on any gen II's upto late '07's. Supposedly Yamaha fixed their welding issues and the FZ's from late '07 on are frame crack free. What's the date of manufacture on your '07 ?
 
Drainfade said:
It's a known defect on any gen II's upto late '07's. Supposedly Yamaha fixed their welding issues and the FZ's from late '07 on are frame crack free...
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Yea, from what I have seen it's only been '06 and '07 models affected by this. I'm surprised that it took until 9500 miles for it to show up and it doesn't have anything to do with whether the bike is stunted or not.

Let me tell you now every time I get ready to go out on my '06 I check the frame. Only has 5600 miles so I guess it's still within the mileage range for these cracks to show up. However, the welds on my frame look pretty good so hopefully mine doesn't fall into that small percentage that will end up with a cracked frame...
 
I guess whats the bottom line....? are you going to get a upgraded frame from Yamaha, or have to fix it yourself? I can't imagine that Yamaha wouldn't fix this problem as the bikes come in ever increasing numbers back to Dealers with cracked frames and owners looking for some resolution to the problem... I 'had' a pretty loyal comittment to Yamaha up untill now, but if this isn't taken care of at no cost to the owner, it will vastly change my loyalty to the brand. I can't see this just being sweapt under the rug. Wait till somebody has a bike seperate on the highway and deaths occur, then action will take front page news.
 
Gohot229 said:
I guess whats the bottom line....? are you going to get a upgraded frame from Yamaha, or have to fix it yourself? I can't imagine that Yamaha wouldn't fix this problem as the bikes come in ever increasing numbers back to Dealers with cracked frames and owners looking for some resolution to the problem... I 'had' a pretty loyal comittment to Yamaha up untill now, but if this isn't taken care of at no cost to the owner, it will vastly change my loyalty to the brand. I can't see this just being sweapt under the rug. Wait till somebody has a bike seperate on the highway and deaths occur, then action will take front page news.
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So far from what I have heard Yamaha has been replacing the frames even when the bike is out of warranty. It's in their best interest as far as I'm concerned. While the crack in the frame is unsafe I don't believe it will lead to the bike coming apart. You can still safely ride it back home or to the dealer at moderate speeds. Since the engine is used as a stressed member of the frame it actually helps to keep everything together...just my 2 cents.
 
Got a call from the dealership last night (monday) they said a new frame is on the way, but could take two weeks to arrive. The only cost to me will be to replace any fluids if any that need to be drained during the swap, but it was time to change just about all of it anyway. I don't know any details yet as far as how long to do the swap or if the new frame will be wired, if so will they reinstall my p.c. and f.e ? Will installing a new frame change the vin ? I'll keep everyone informed.
 
FYI...for any of you worried about it I've read that the issue that might contribute is loose motor mounts, specifically the ones on the sides near the weld(s). A few people have made sure they're torqued to spec at every oil change and supposedly avoided the frame gremlins.
 
Let me ask a dumb question, where do I look to find the date of manufacture?

I have to admit, the frame issue is one reason I took the extended warranty.
 
# two said:
Got a call from the dealership last night (monday) they said a new frame is on the way, but could take two weeks to arrive. The only cost to me will be to replace any fluids if any that need to be drained during the swap, but it was time to change just about all of it anyway. I don't know any details yet as far as how long to do the swap or if the new frame will be wired, if so will they reinstall my p.c. and f.e ? Will installing a new frame change the vin ? I'll keep everyone informed.
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From what I've heard they will restamp the new frame with your existing VIN. As for the wiring...there will be none on the new frame. They will literary have to transfer everything over from your existing bike. Since the bike is out of warranty I don't think the dealer will care about the PC or FCE.
 
Steve F said:
Let me ask a dumb question, where do I look to find the date of manufacture?

I have to admit, the frame issue is one reason I took the extended warranty.
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It's on the right side of the steering head (as you're sitting on the bike). There will be a sticker on there with the VIN and the date of manufacture from what I remember.
 
NJFZ1 said:
Let me tell you now every time I get ready to go out on my '06 I check the frame. Only has 5600 miles so I guess it's still within the mileage range for these cracks to show up. However, the welds on my frame look pretty good so hopefully mine doesn't fall into that small percentage that will end up with a cracked frame...
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Me too. But I'm not stressing, until I see a crack. If I do, I'm going into withdrawal without the bike for a few weeks.
 
NJFZ1 said:
So far from what I have heard Yamaha has been replacing the frames even when the bike is out of warranty. It's in their best interest as far as I'm concerned. While the crack in the frame is unsafe I don't believe it will lead to the bike coming apart. You can still safely ride it back home or to the dealer at moderate speeds. Since the engine is used as a stressed member of the frame it actually helps to keep everything together...just my 2 cents.
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I agree. With the chance that there may be a accident, injury or death, Yamaha will not take any chances to ruin their reputation. They will continue to replace frames as long as there is a need to do so. Warranty or not. I'm sure that NHTSA has been notified of the issue and that they feel this is not a life threatening situation. So ride long and hard and look for any indication of frame cracking. If you find a crack, take it to a authorized dealer (Yamaha USA will help you with this) for a replacement frame.

I know this because I have had a similar experience with another Yamaha product and (Yamaha) handled it in a very professional matter.

We are not talking Toyotas here! LOL :doh2:
 
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