Rear shock collapses and bike bottoms out.

[Abercrombie tenere]

So I took the 2013 Tenere purchased November of 14 with 9000 miles on it to a FJR rally in Montrose CO last week because I wanted to do some light off road riding on Cinnamon Pass of the Alpine loop. On my way home last Monday as I am crossing South Dakota I notice that my Tenere is bottoming out for no reason. I also notice that when my bike is on the side stand, it feels like it wants to tip over to the right because the rear shock has compressed excessively. I did not have a passenger and only three boxes with a weeks worth of clothing, camera, and tablet. I would say under 100 lbs of luggage by a long shot.

So I clean the bike up and bring it to my local Yamaha dealer last Tuesday since I purchased Y.E.S. and wanted to see if a shock was a covered item. One week later I still do not have an answer on whether Yamaha will cover it or not. I did a search and I have not seen anyone else have a problem with a shock collapsing or failing with such low miles. I can't believe Yamaha is delaying a repair decision for a stupid $400.00 shock. Dealer says Yamaha has 30 days to make the decision to cover it under Y.E.S. or not. 30 days is about 1/4 of our riding season in North Dakota!

If they don't cover it, I have looked into aftermarket shocks but they get into more money than I would like to spend but I am not afraid to throw money at quality products.

 

[Abercrombie tenere]

I just received a phone call from U-Motors Yamaha dealership in Fargo ND. The rear shock will be covered! ::012:: Now for the bad new, it is on back order with an expected delivery date of September 27th.

 

[limey]

I just received a phone call from U-Motors Yamaha dealership in Fargo ND. The rear shock will be covered! ::012:: Now for the bad new, it is on back order with an expected delivery date of September 27th.

I can mail you my stock shock from Canada if you need it but I'm sure you can find one closer or get the to remove one of a bike on the floor.

 

[eemsreno]

I have one you can have.
126,000 miles and leaks just a little.
You have to come get it so I can talk bikes with you though.

 

[Don in Lodi]

Our World Traveler Trevor had his shock do the same. Higher mileage, similar conditions. You never noticed the oil blown all over the place?

 

[Buelligan]

I have a stock rear shock with about 40,000 miles on it, you are welcome to it, just pay shipping.

 

[Don in Lodi]

I have a stock rear shock with about 40,000 miles on it, you are welcome to it, just pay shipping.

::008::
The non-ES shock comes out surprisingly easy.

 

[Abercrombie tenere]

Our World Traveler Trevor had his shock do the same. Higher mileage, similar conditions. You never noticed the oil blown all over the place?

No visible sign of oil leaking. The first symptom was the bike settling lower while sitting on it with the kickstand down. Saturday it performed beyond what I could expect when I rode it over cinnamon Pass on the Alpine loop East out of Silverton CO. Sunday I noticed no problems taking the long way out of Colorado looking for as many curvy / scenic roads as I could find. Monday I remember thinking the bike was sagging a little while the side stand was down. When I was riding the curves up 85 to get to Spearfish Canyon hwy i noticed I was riding like shit. I was able to overcome that by looking farther through the curves and keeping my eyes up and attributed the crappy handling to mental fatigue and poor form. A couple hundred miles later it was obvious that the rear shock had given up when I was bottoming out causing difficulty in handling.

 

[Abercrombie tenere]

Thanks for all the offers for used shocks. I have other bikes to ride with no planned Tenere rides till this fall. I can get by without it for awhile. I learned several years ago when my throttle body went bad in my FJR and was down for several weeks that I could not live with just one bike in North Dakota's short riding season. Although the dealer said the shock was on back order he said he wouldn't be surprised to see one show up in just a week or two. I'm not sure how that works but the sooner the better.

 

[dmulk]

This is interesting....I just picked up a used 2014 ES and while I was at Jaxon's shop he and I both noticed it seemed to be sitting really low. I also noticed the tendency to want to tip over on the side stand. Also felt it handled a bit weird in corners. I'll have to keep an eye on it later this month while I am on a week long trip to colorado.

Cheers!

<D>

 

[WJBertrand]

The shock internals shouldn't control the ride height, that's up to the spring and preload adjuster. Wonder if the spring fatigued or the preload adjuster mechanism failed. The ES models, for whatever reason, come with really wimpy springs on them.

 

[dmulk]

We'll have to compare on our trip, Bertrand.

<D>

 

[eemsreno]

The shock internals shouldn't control the ride height, that's up to the spring and preload adjuster. Wonder if the spring fatigued or the preload adjuster mechanism failed. The ES models, for whatever reason, come with really wimpy springs on them.

There is about 150 PSI of Nitrogen in there so if that leaks out it could sag some.

 

[WJBertrand]

There is about 150 PSI of Nitrogen in there so if that leaks out it could sag some.

Yeah, I thought about that, but that's mostly to avoid oil frothing, doubt it adds much to ride height.


-Jeff

 

[NorWest]

More around 250 psi and while it does add to the spring effect it wouldn't be enough to keep the bike from sacking especially considering the leverage ratio in the rear.

I think WJBertrand is on the right track with either hyd preload adjuster or spring sacked out and may even be broken as I have seen a few of those.

 

[Abercrombie tenere]

I just received a phone call from U-Motors Yamaha dealership in Fargo ND. The rear shock will be covered! ::012:: Now for the bad new, it is on back order with an expected delivery date of September 27th.

Well the bad news wasn't so bad after all. I got a call from U Motors in Fargo and they said the shock arrived today and they got it installed. Not too bad at all, covered under Y.E.S. and only took 17 days. ::012:: ::015:: ::018::

 

[WJBertrand]

What exactly failed on the shock?


-Jeff

 

[Abercrombie tenere]

What exactly failed on the shock?


-Jeff

That's a damn good question. When I spoke to the service manager while picking it up he told me that Yamaha was questioning him since there was no obvious failure like leaking fluid, broken spring, and when Yamaha asked him to check sag they said it was within tolerance. They must have been checking sag without a 200 lb + rider because is sagged horribly with me and bottomed out on every bump with the three boxes full. When I got home from CO the night it failed, the bike appeared to have less than an inch of remaining travel before bottoming out.

 

[Checkswrecks]

Well the bad news wasn't so bad after all. I got a call from U Motors in Fargo and they said the shock arrived today and they got it installed. Not too bad at all, covered under Y.E.S. and only took 17 days. ::012:: ::015:: ::018::

That just repaid you for buying the YES coverage!