joneil said:
Open question for whomever...
What are the odds that failing to have the valve inspection done might cause problems if there were to be a warranty claim with YES?
Having had several YES covered repairs on my FJR in the past, (minor items and a major one that wasn't covered), it really depends on a couple of factors. If the claim directly relates to the valve train, and the dealer believes it would have been prevented if you had followed the recommended service intervals, it will probably be an issue. The Dealer could make or break your claim, depending on their point of view. As Dallara has said, the Dealer should support which ever side is correct, Yamaha or you.
From my personal experience, while the service records really come into play for a major repair or issue, most claims have specific issues and if it was un-related to the valve train, it wouldn't come up. I log all my service in the back of my owner's manual, which is on the bike all the time. I have a separate tire log for every tire ever used, type, mileage when it was put on and taken off, and comments about it. Despite nearly all of my service being 'owner service' the one time the Dealer told me I may need to provide copies of my service records, including receipts for oil, filters, etc, he scanned my owner's manual records and sent those to Yamaha and they never asked for receipts.
In other words, it's unlikely, UNLESS the repair is directly related to the lack of a valve check/adjustment.
But, the if the Dealer believes your skipping a service is responsible, he could make it a problem by conveying that to Yamaha. Clear as mud.
If we start seeing valve related issues, it would be prudent to do the service. I did all the 26k valve checks on the FJR, (there was a known valve/guide issue on early FJRs), but because of my experience on that bike, and it not needing any shim adjustments until 98k, I skipped the first valve inspection on the S10 and did the second one slightly early at 49k since I was about to put 15k or more on the bike the next month. They were in spec, but at the very edge, so they re-shimmed several to middle of spec.
Too bad the inspection costs the same as an actual adjustment.