2004 Yamaha YZF-R1

I HAD MY 2004 YAMAHA R1 REPEATEDLY LOSE POWER WHILE OPERATING IN THE SUB-7000 RPM RANGE. THE MOTORCYCLE WOULD BACKFIRE, SPUTTER, AND THEN LOSE POWER. THE FAILURE FIRST APPEARED WITH APPROXIMATELY 7000 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. THE FAILURE WAS CORRECTED BY REMOVING THE THROTTLE POSITION SENSORS AND CLEANING THEM WITH CONTACT CLEANER. THE CLEANING WAS DONE APPROXIMATELY 2500 MILES AGO AND THE FAILURE HAS NOT REAPPEARED. *JB

WHAT HAPPENED WAS, I WAS TRAVELING ON I-84W AT ABOUT 60-70 MPH AT 6TH GEAR WHEN MY MOTORCYCLE SHUT OFF WITHOUT WARNING. A 18-WHEELER TRUCK WAS DIRECTLY BEHIND ME WHEN THIS HAPPENED AND ALMOST RAN ME OVER SINCE I SUDDENLY SLOWED. THERE WAS ONE EVENT PRECEDING THIS WHERE MY BIKE WAS WARMING UP AND STALLED. I THOUGHT I RAN OUT OF GAS, BUT AFTER SOME RESEARCH I FOUND THE PROBLEM TO BE VERY COMMON TO YAMAHA R1'S. HERE IS A 60+ PAGE THREAD OF ALL THE PEOPLE THAT ARE HAVING PROBLEMS: HTTP://WWW.R1-FORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?THREADID=98831&PERPAGE=20&PAGENUMBER=1. YAMAHA REFUSES TO ISSUE A TPS RECALL EVEN THOUGH IT HAS CAUSED MULTIPLE CRASHES AND ALMOST KILLED PEOPLE, INCLUDING MYSELF. *JB

MY 2004 YAMAHA R1 CUTS OUT/STOPS RUNNING UNDER NORMAL RIDING CONDITIONS WITH NO WARNING, OR APPARENT FAILURE. I GET NO FAILURE CODES, OR WARNING LIGHTS PRIOR TO THIS HAPPENING. IT HAS HAPPENED TWICE AND IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS WHEN RIDING IN TRAFFIC, OR ON TURN. YAMAHA IS AWARE OF FAULTY TPS SENSORS, BUT REFUSES TO ISSUE A RECALL AND/OR A SAFETY BULLETIN TO CORRECT THE PROBLEM. MANY OWNERS OF THIS BIKE HAVE ISSUED THE SAME COMPLAINT WITH NO ACTION TO DATE. *JB

I OWN A 2004 YAMAHA YZF-R1 (PURCHASED NEW). ABOUT THE BEGINNING OF MAY OF 2005 THE MOTORCYLE WOULD STALL ON ME WHEN THE BIKE WASN'T MOVING OR WHENEVER THE CLUTCH IS PULLED IN. BASICALLY THE BIKE'S IDLE WOULD DROP TO ABOUT 500 RPM, THE BIKE WOULD RUN REALLY ROUGH, AND IT WOULD STALL WHENEVER THE CLUTCH WAS PULLED IN OR WHEN THE SPEED WAS DECREASED TO BELOW 5 MPH. I HAVE ALSO NOTICED THAT WHEN THE PROBLEM IS STARTING TO OCCUR THAT THE BIKE WOULD BUCK AND THERE WOULD FEEL LIKE THERE WASN'T ANY ENGINE BRAKING. I KNOW THAT I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE WITH THIS PROBLEM. THIS IS HAPPENING TO ALL YAMAHA RIDERS ACROSS THE WORLD AND CAN BE FOUND ON MY YAMAHA FORUM SITES. THIS PROBLEM NEEDS TO BE FIXED BEFORE OTHER CRASH RESULTING IN INJURY OR DEATH. *NM

DEAR NHTSA: I AM WRITING THIS COMPLAINT IN REGARDS TO THE CONTINUOUS ENGINE FAILURE OF A YAMAHA MOTORCYCLE. SEVERAL WEEKS AGO, THE ENGINE STARTED HESITATING DURING A REGULAR RIDE AND WHEN THE THROTTLE WAS RELEASED IT WOULD NOT IDLE BUT STOP; THE ENGINE QUITS RUNNING EVEN WHEN SHIFTING GEARS, WHICH COULD LEAD TO A SERIOUS INJURY EVEN DEATH IF HAPPENS ON A CURVE. I TOOK THE VEHICLE TO A MECHANIC AND AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF TROUBLE SHOOTING AND DIAGNOSIS I WAS TOLD THAT THEY DIDN'T FIND WHAT WAS WRONG! THEN I SEARCHED THE INTERNET AND BECOME AWARE THAT THIS WAS A COMMON PROBLEM, SOMEONE EVEN REPORTED AN INJURY, CAUSED BY A FAULTY THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR (TPS), AT LEAST THE END USERS HAVE SUGGESTED THAT WAS THE CULPRIT WHILE YAMAMA MOTORS IGNORED THE CONCERNS OF THE RIDERS. I AM SURPRISED THAT YAMAHA HAS NOT TAKEN THIS MATTER SERIOUSLY AND HAS NOT MADE A RECALL OR ISSUED A TECHNICAL BULLETIN. THIS IS MIND BATTLING TO ME SINCE IT CAN LEAD TO SERIOUS ACCIDENTS AND EVEN FATALITIES. NEVERTHELESS, I BELIEVE THAT THE NHTSA WILL TAKE THE MATTER SERIOUSLY IN AN EFFORT TO KEEP THE ROADS SAFER, AND FORCE THE MANUFACTURERS TO ACT PROMPTLY AND RESPONSIBLY. THE MORE OF THESE STORIES CAN BE READ ON THE VARIOUS FORUMS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING SITE (HTTP://R1-FORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=98831&PERPAGE=20&PAGENUMBER=1) I WILL BE HAPPY TO ANSWER ANY QUESTIONS OR HELP WITH THE MATTER IN ANY WAY I CAN. BEST REGARDS, PLEASE MAKE THE ROADS SAFER.. FATIH BUYUKSONMEZ. *JB

I AM AN OWNER OF A 2004 YAMAHA R1 MOTORCYCLE. WHILE I WAS RIDING HOME MID DAY ON APRIL 11 2005 I NOTICED THE BIKE IDLING VERY LOW EVERY TIME I STOPPED. SO I WENT IN TO A PARKING AREA AND SHUT THE ENGINE OFF WITH THE IGNITION KEY AND WAITED FOR APPROXIMATELY 1 MINUTE. IT SEEMED TO WORK FINE SO I PRESSED ON HOME. BUT WHEN I WAS ON THE ROAD TAKING A LEFT HAND TURN AND I CAME TO THE APEX OF THE TURN THE BIKE SHUT OFF UPSETTING THE SUSPENSION AND CAUSING ME TO LOW SIDE (DROPPING THE BIKE ON THE SIDE THAT IT WAS LEANED AS I TURNED) I HAD NO MAJOR INJURIES WITH THE EXCEPTION OF KNEE SORENESS FOR ABOUT A MONTH. THE BIKE SUSTAINED THE FOLLOWING DAMAGE: BENT FORKS, BENT FRONT WHEEL, DENTED GAS TANK, BROKEN MIRRORS, BROKEN WINDSCREEN, BROKEN UPPER FAIRING, BROKEN REAR FAIRING, DAMAGED MID LEFT FAIRING AND LOWER FAIRING, AS WELL AS BENT LEFT CLUTCH LEVER. WHEN I SPOKE TO THE DEALER THEY SAID THAT THE PROBLEM WAS ME AND NOT THE BIKE. I EXPLAINED OF THE CUTTING OFF WITH THE ENGINE AND THEY AGAIN SAID THAT IT WAS ME AND NOT THE BIKE. ONE OF THE ISSUES WITH THIS IS THAT YOU NEVER KNOW WHEN IT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, THAT CAN CATCH YOU OFF GUARD. I HAVE ALL THE OLD PARTS THAT I REPLACED. I CAN HAVE PICTURES AVAILABLE IF NEEDED. AND I STILL HAVE THE PROBLEM. *JB

(1) AROUND 5,000 MILES I NOTICED MY BIKE STARTED STALLING OUT AT 4,000 RPM OR LESS. (2) ENGINE WOULD IDLE REALLY LOW AND STALL OUT. BIKE WOULD USUALLY NOT START BACK UP RIGHT AWAY. LAST YEAR IN THE FALL I WAS IN A TURN AND MY BIKE STALLED OUT AND I LOSS CONTROL AND CRASHED. I INJURED MY RIGHT HAND, CHEST, RIGHT LEG AND HAD DAMAGE TO MY BIKE, CLOTHES AND HELMET. (3) I FOUND THAT I WASN'T THE ONLY PERSON HAVING THIS PROBLEM. THE DEALERSHIPS DENY HAVING A PROBLEM AND CLAIM I AM THE ONLY PERSON. THEY SAID THE CAN'T FIX SOMETHING IF THEY CAN'T DUPLICATE IT. THEY HAVE HAD 2 REVISIONS OF THE SUSPECT PART AND NOW MY WARRANTY IS EXPIRED SO IT WOULD COST ME OUT OF MY POCKET. I DID NOTICE LIKE OTHERS, THERE SEEMS TO BE A TEMPORARY FIX BY TURNING THE IGNITION KEY OFF THEN BACK ON. THERE HAS BEEN NOTHING DONE TO FIX MY BIKE. YAMAHA CUSTOMER SERVICE CLAIMS I AM THE ONLY PERSON WITH THIS ISSUE AND WON'T HELP!! THERE IS A WEBSITE DEVOTED TO THIS BIKE AND A TREND JUST FOR THIS ISSUE. BELOW IS THE LINK TO THE TREND WHERE YOU WILL SEE I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON WITH THE SAME ISSUE AND YOU WILL READ ABOUT HOW OTHERS HAVE BEEN INJURED AS A RESULT OF THIS. HTTP://WWW.R1-FORUM.COM/FORUMS/SHOWTHREAD.PHP?S=&THREADID=98831 *JB