FJR routine service nightmare

[FJR-UK]

Anybody taken their bike to a dealer for the 24,000 mile service? This is the one where they adjust the valve clearances for the first time. I took my bike in with 29,000 on the clock.

Mechanic said all but one or two valve clearances were spot on and the others were only slightly out. However, he decided to replace the cam chain. Well, he was in there anyway, and a cam chain only cost £35, so how bad could it be?

I got a bill for £1,025.38. (Double that for US dollars.)

Ouch.

This after completing a three-week holiday I'm still paying for. Double ouch.

Oh, did I whine. He let me have my bike back for £800 cash.

£60/hr they charge for labor. They had 11 hours labor on the bill and said they were doing me a favor. I gotta find a cheaper place...

[FJRPierre]

Yep you do. Took mine in @ 64,000km to do its first valve adjust (all 16 were off and 12 needed replacement); this combined with the TPS recall charged $175Cdn =£79GBP. Dealer admitted that he under estimated the work needed by 2 hours but he stuck by his quote & took the hit for the extra $150Cdn.

[Jackson]

Damn, that sounds like a nightmare, UK.  Thanks for letting us know.  When I take my FJR in I'll be sure and get some estimates first.

[Against The Wind]

You must have one of those BMWFJR's......

[tonysrep]

I am wondering why you would possibly need a timimg chain at that mileage . I can see the labor cost being he had to completely dissemble the engine to install it. Did they call you to tell you theywere doing it?

[Baz]

I am wondering why you would possibly need a timimg chain at that mileage . I can see the labor cost being he had to completely dissemble the engine to install it. Did they call you to tell you theywere doing it?

I have never heard of a cam chain needing replacement at this sort of mileage. A tensioner yes, a chain? never. I would think that this would have been a warranty item.

[Belly]

That is unbeleivable.  To replace the chain is a big job agreed.  It should not have needed doing in the first place.
Thats why I do my own services, I can't justerify giving those guys heaps of my hard earned $$$

[FJR-UK]

The bike is four years old, so out of warranty. I had been hearing an odd rattle for a while. The mechanic had adjusted the tensioner at two previous services. My mechanical abilities go as far as changing the oil and filters. I can't even be bothered to get to the spark plugs on the FJR.

There are two other Yamaha dealers near me. I will choose one of them for the next service, or a freelance mechanic. Nobody ever said owning motorcycles was cheap, but I felt like I was dealing with a hostage situation.

On the positive side, the bike runs great.

[UPSMAN]

Here is a link to a web site that belongs to a good friend of mine, He is a tech at a local dealer that sells Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki and Kawasaki. He is a loyal Yamaha owner and he is a gear head. He has an 06 FJR with over 20k miles on it and of course he does all of his own work,You can ask questions and he will reply with detailed anwsers.
yamatech2003.com

[Black Ice]

Don't forget these guys.  The inimitable Warchild and his fellow maniacs can probably rebuild the damn thing for you via teh intarwebs.

[chornbe]

Anybody taken their bike to a dealer for the 24,000 mile service? This is the one where they adjust the valve clearances for the first time. I took my bike in with 29,000 on the clock.

Mechanic said all but one or two valve clearances were spot on and the others were only slightly out. However, he decided to replace the cam chain. Well, he was in there anyway, and a cam chain only cost £35, so how bad could it be?

I got a bill for £1,025.38. (Double that for US dollars.)

Ouch.

This after completing a three-week holiday I'm still paying for. Double ouch.

Oh, did I whine. He let me have my bike back for £800 cash.

£60/hr they charge for labor. They had 11 hours labor on the bill and said they were doing me a favor. I gotta find a cheaper place...

Jeezuz, don't these people call before doing the work?

[Bounce]

iirc my valve check service was about $200(us). since i do all my other services, that was all they needed to do.

[FJRmgm]

I'm having a hard time believing a cam chain needed replacement at 29k miles, especially on the FJR.  There are a number of guys with 75k+ miles on FJR's that have never needed anything other than routine maintenance to theirs.
 
I "ALWAYS" tell the Service Guys I will not pay for any service I have not specifically authorized and approved unless I discuss it first.

[Warchild]

I'm having a hard time believing a cam chain needed replacement at 29k miles, especially on the FJR.

Yep.... because it DOESN'T need to be changed at 29K miles!

Hell, on the FJR forum, we have owners whose bikes have over 129,000 miles with their original cam chain... and pretty much every other engine component as well!

You got bent over and boned, UK.... plain and simple.

Over here in the Colonies, we've heard of prices generally ranging from $200-$400 for this job. I know that the price model is a good bit higher there in England, but your case sounds like highway robbery, mate!

You can always swing by FJRForum.com and pose any question you have, as we have a multitude of some very sharp tech guys that know this bike inside out. Or, swing by FJRTech.com and peek around there for  some tips and hints.

Hope you get your dealership situation sorted, m8, as it definitely sounds like your last one needs to be punted.

[cbsnbiker]

I'll play Devil's Advocate for a moment.
 
Maybe this particular bike's cam chain, and/or part of its mechanism, was on its way out.
 
If that's the case, better to replace the parts than have it break and have the engine grenade. (I assume that an FJR has an interference engine.)
 
I had a cam chain tensioner break at 46K on my gone and mostly-unlamented R1100RS. The good news is that the cam chain skipped only one tooth, so there were no interference issues. The bad news is that the engine had to be disassembled to fish out all the broken pieces.
 
Just FWIW.

[FJRmgm]

^+1 - you are right - possible - but not too probable.

[Warchild]

Maybe this particular bike's cam chain, and/or part of its mechanism, was on its way out.

Of course, anything is possible, but my experience on this platform suggest this is extremely unlikely, particularly at only 29K miles.

The bike is only just broken in at that point.

[Red FZ1]

I am a service manager at a Yamaha shop- and we have a flat rate manual we use- I would get tarred and feathered here in Texas, if I took a bike in for a valve check, and blasted a bill for 2 grand- In fact here is something to chew on, I have a cruiser in the shop that has a broken frame- we are doing a total frame replacement, total cost to customer 2400- including parts and labor. Granted, that valve adjustment does take a while, and I agree with WC, there should be NO reason to change a cam chain.

[FJR-UK]

Thanks for the reply. I can't tell you how painful it is to hear this. All I can say is that the shop that did the repair will never see the bike again.

Over the years, I have broken down in France, Switzerland and Italy (twice). In each instance, the bike got repaired more cheaply than having the same job done in the UK.

I have a sneaking suspicion that this bike will be sold before the 48,000 mile service.