"California gas" ruined engine.

Fordf350

Well-Known Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2019
Messages
175
Location
Pinehurst Texas
early in this thread someone talked about lugging the engine. I thought I could be guilty of this at times, so when riding in my local area I stay out of 5th and 6th gear when possible. My fuel average has gone up from 50.7 to 51.1. Riding at higher than usual rpms,feels more sporty and I like the increased engine braking as well.YMMV
 

gunslinger_006

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
I am shocked to hear anything good about aegis. Shocked. I know a few people who got summarily screwed by them the same way: absolute denial if claims with a “hey sue us” as a final resolution.
 
B

ballisticexchris

Guest
I was one of the lucky ones. Aegis paid out my claims. My Super Tenere has no warranty. I'm counting on the reliability of the bike to skate me through ownership.
 

gunslinger_006

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
I was one of the lucky ones. Aegis paid out my claims. My Super Tenere has no warranty. I'm counting on the reliability of the bike to skate me through ownership.
Glad to hear it. I know they must be paying claims to someone. Its possible that my friends had bad dealers but these aftermarket warranty companies seem about as honest as the us health insurance industry.
 

Heathbar

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Messages
42
What ever happened, hope you had a good outcome
Well I finally got my motorcycle back. Six months later! I had to pay $1200. Yamaha corperation and the dealership are blaming it on the gas. Yamaha corporation are recommending I use (what do you know!) a Yamalube product called "Engine Med" in every tank of gas. I am currently writing up lawsuits for Yamaha corporation, the dealership, and the extended service contract company. So from what I understand, Yamaha put into commerce, and a dealership sold to me, a motorcycle that breaks after 16,000 miles of using the recommended 91 octane fuel. Someone needs to be buy me a lifetime supply of "Engine Med" I guess. I theink that someone should be Yamaha or the dealership.
 

gunslinger_006

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
That sucks.

This is one of those 1:10,000 cases where your bike had a real problem, they couldn’t figure it out, and made up some absolute nonsense.

Just in case: i have some ring free on order. I bounce of the rev limiter nearly once per ride, so i doubt i have an issue....
 

Heathbar

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Messages
42
That sucks.

This is one of those 1:10,000 cases where your bike had a real problem, they couldn’t figure it out, and made up some absolute nonsense.

Just in case: i have some ring free on order. I bounce of the rev limiter nearly once per ride, so i doubt i have an issue....
I agree. The dealership here (North County Yamaha in San Marcos California) do not have technicians that can diagnose. They can see the end result and replace bad parts, but they cannot tell you why it occurred in the first place. My suspicion is the valve seats were not pressed correctly and left gaps causing carbon buildup. When they sent the head away to be re-cut it was sent back to them. THey didn't like the fit and had it sent back to be redone and then they liked the fit. This proves things can be done wrong in the first place, which is what I think happened. It wasn't the gas. But if that's what they are going to stick with, then they can buy me that Yamalube "Engine Med" product.
 

BaldKnob

Well-Known Member
Joined
Aug 11, 2012
Messages
776
Location
SENC
Glad you got your bike back. Good luck with the ensuing litigation. Funny, you’re the only person Yamaha recommends using a fuel additive with every tank of fuel?!?. Why wouldn’t we all be required to? same bike, similar fuel. Curious.

That said, I use Ring Free on occasion. Usually when I know I’ll burn thru multiple tanks in a day. Believe the ratio is 15mls for 6 gallons.
 

LJM

Active Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2015
Messages
171
Location
Sonoma County CA
What nightmare 6 months down, 1200 bucks and all that frustration obviously the dealer is a POS & than Yamaha telling you it's CA gas use an additive WTF ? Made my blood boil reading this thread if you do small claims I think you'll win anybody with brain will know CA gas will not harm an engine.
Maybe I missed it but I didn't read anything about the bike running bad prior to the no start problem wouldn't the motor be running terrible with bad compression & leak down numbers ?
Good Luck
 

LJM

Active Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2015
Messages
171
Location
Sonoma County CA
Got me thinking about my riding & a question for those who may know, the 2 products mentioned to help with carbon build up Ring Free & Engine med do these actually clean off built up carbon deposits or is it just to prevent it from happening ?
Thanks
 

gunslinger_006

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
Got me thinking about my riding & a question for those who may know, the 2 products mentioned to help with carbon build up Ring Free & Engine med do these actually clean off built up carbon deposits or is it just to prevent it from happening ?
Thanks
Both. And they are the same product. The msds is identical.
 

LJM

Active Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2015
Messages
171
Location
Sonoma County CA
Both. And they are the same product. The msds is identical.

Ok, thanks when I looked em up Ring Free & Engine med are priced differently RF being more expensive anyway I'm going to order some, I had no idea after 6 years of ownership carbon deposits will happen on this motor if not ridden hard.
 

gunslinger_006

Well-Known Member
Joined
May 21, 2016
Messages
961
Location
Seattle, Washington
Ok, thanks when I looked em up Ring Free & Engine med are priced differently RF being more expensive anyway I'm going to order some, I had no idea after 6 years of ownership carbon deposits will happen on this motor if not ridden hard.
I am 99.9% sure that the price difference is just marketing/amounts. The ring free is sold in larger sizes (you can get it by the gallon) which may impact pricing.

This isn’t unusual: Excedrine is identical to Excedrine Migraine Relief. They can be priced differently at stores it seems. Strange.
 

Tenman

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2013
Messages
2,102
Location
Natchez Ms USA
I scoped my engine with 54k miles. Carboned up. Shocked me. It looked like a 1971 two stroke. Runs fine. Gonna try some Marvel Mystery. I had my headers off and there was zero carbon in them.
 

Heathbar

Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2020
Messages
42
What nightmare 6 months down, 1200 bucks and all that frustration obviously the dealer is a POS & than Yamaha telling you it's CA gas use an additive WTF ? Made my blood boil reading this thread if you do small claims I think you'll win anybody with brain will know CA gas will not harm an engine.
Maybe I missed it but I didn't read anything about the bike running bad prior to the no start problem wouldn't the motor be running terrible with bad compression & leak down numbers ?
Good Luck
It seemed to run just fine to me. I don't race it around though. I'm hearing it helps to ride it real hard every now and then. I just always put 91 octane and after I drove it to work one day (a 35 mile trip) it didn't start after I got off work. Pretty weird. I finally got it started after about 30 minutes of cranking (I had to use jumpers on one of those portable battery charger things). I drove it home 35 miles again. Turned it off. Waited a minute or two and then started it up and it started right up. Because the engine was hot obviously and had better compression from expanded metals, etc. Then the next morning, it wouldn't start again. That's when I took it in.
 
Top