Update on corrosion on spokes & hardware bolts + brake lines

[Doug44]

Here are a few pictures of my new 2013 ST with under 2k miles and 3 months old. The bike has not been off road, I took delivery of the bike between Xmas & New Years, rode home and parked in a garage until March 7th when I left for FL riding for Bikeweek.

Other ST owners please check your bike Yamaha has a quality control issue with these bikes. Another thing Yamaha is very hard to talk to about these issues, check your owners manual there is no telephone number listed for them but they want you to write them or of course go through the dealer which I have. However I wanted to contact someone personally about this issue @ Yamaha. After talking to a very sterile and for the most part not helpful lady at Yamaha she advised go to your dealer. After much searching I came up with this telephone number 714 761-7300, if you have issues call them and let them know the more we report this the better we stand getting some decent replacement parts.

 

[greg the pole]

it's a well known fact that the spoke design is garbage.
i'm pretty sure my spokes are doing the same thing, as well as the end fittings on the brake lines.
The actual banjo bolts for the brakes are ok... I think.

Ride it get it dirty, and you will never look back.
No bike is perfect.

 

[Doug44]

it's a well known fact that the spoke design is garbage.
i'm pretty sure my spokes are doing the same thing, as well as the end fittings on the brake lines.
The actual banjo bolts for the brakes are ok... I think.

Ride it get it dirty, and you will never look back.
No bike is perfect.

No no bike is perfect but I expect more for a bike I have near $17K in with all the factory bags, windshield, bag liners, etc that was 3 months old when this occurred.

I had to work too hard for my money am now retired on a pension & this bike was a dream bike I purchased to enjoy and hopefully last me a few years,this is a major investment for me and my family and no I am not going to just get it dirty and never look back excuses you but this is not acceptable for me.

 

[~TABASCO~]

That's just a little white dirt !!

 

[kballowe]

I have several bikes that do that. Just a little bit of salt on the road...... or whatever it is..... or if you live near the coast... or whatever.

Personally (and I speak for no one else here) I always rinse them off when I get home if riding in the winter months and then spray some WD-40 and wipe it all off.
I buy WD-40 by the gallon.


If there's certainly an absence of road salt/whatever, then the mud and grime can stay.

 

[scott123007]

Sorry bud, but YOU are the quality control issue. You're lucky that's all that's wrong with it! The bike has been laying around for almost a month with salt air on it since your wreck in Daytona. You don't get that kind of "grace period" in Florida. And who's been screwing around with your front fender. It looks like there is a dry rotted grommet under the allen bolt for your right rear front fender mount. If that is what it is, it's not supposed to be there.

 

[Karson]

I don't think you really need to worry - if I were you, WD-40 as best you can then buy some corrosion-x from amazon and wipe those surfaces down. i don't think you're bike's going to start falling apart just because there's a little bit of surface rust from a limited-case scenario.

i ride from time to time throughout the year, my engine mount bolts behind the front wheel are the same way, and here i sit - no worries. i'll wipe 'em off the next time i'm under there.

 

[snakebitten]

You don't wanna see pics of my Tenere. It was PERFECT once too. But unlike my KTM, when I first got IT, it ain't parked in my living room.

My spokes are disgusting. Kind of a badge of honor. It's amazing where I have taken them.

But I think it looks better than it did the day she came off the boat.

 

[greg the pole]

don't encourage him...
he seems angry. ::015:: ::015:: ::015:: ::015:: ::015:: ::015:: ::015::

enjoy the bike, don't sweat the small stuff. it will not fall apart on you.
Every time I get to go for a ride, on any bike, I consider myself lucky.

 

[EricV]

Doug - Sorry you're not pleased with the corrosion. Certainly understandable. But if I read your post correctly, you rode the bike home from the dealer between Xmas and New Years, in IL. That means salt on the roads or just as bad, the de-icing spray. If you didn't spray the bike down with an anti-corrosion product, or give it a good wash when you got home, I would expect this type of corrosion from sitting there in the garage for 3 months. You don't say if this showed up before or after your trip to FL.

In rare cases, Yamaha has stepped up over corrosion issues that were unusual and extreme. Yours is neither. Just like tightening your spokes, cleaning and protecting the bike is the owner's responsibility. If you want it to be spotless, it's up to you to work at keeping it that way. You may want to pick up some ACF-50

 

[spasm]

Doug - Sorry you're not pleased with the corrosion. Certainly understandable. But if I read your post correctly, you rode the bike home from the dealer between Xmas and New Years, in IL. That means salt on the roads or just as bad, the de-icing spray. If you didn't spray the bike down with an anti-corrosion product, or give it a good wash when you got home, I would expect this type of corrosion from sitting there in the garage for 3 months. You don't say if this showed up before or after your trip to FL.

In rare cases, Yamaha has stepped up over corrosion issues that were unusual and extreme. Yours is neither. Just like tightening your spokes, cleaning and protecting the bike is the owner's responsibility. If you want it to be spotless, it's up to you to work at keeping it that way. You may want to pick up some ACF-50

this is a good reply, but i have to say yamaha do use shit metal, to build very expensive bikes, i too am very pissed about all the tarnished bolts and spokes, and i use ACF.50 monthly, which is far more than required. yamaha are replacing all my rotten parts, bolts, centre stand, spokes, e.t.c and when theyve done all that i might get the bike valeted and sell it before next year, when it will be rotting again. i dont want a bike that i paid £12500 for that will be worth about £3000 in 3 years. cheers yamaha ive always ridden your bikes cos i like them, but this time you just took the piss big time, using cheap chinese disolvable metals. ::007::

 

[Koinz]

Consider yourself lucky you didn't buy a BMW - In the past the Chrome on the C Series bikes was so bad that in one year they changed the verbage in the warranty statement to include chrome pitting and peeling so they were off the hook from covering it. The previous years didn't have that verbage and had to replace the pitted and pealing chrome. So rather than taking care of their customers, they added one sentence in the Warranty Coverage and the problem was fixed....at least from their perspective, but it did leave alot of very angry owners.

 

[Rasher]

No no bike is perfect but I expect more for a bike I have near $17K in with all the factory bags, windshield, bag liners, etc that was 3 months old when this occurred.

Fifteen bucks on some ACF-50 would have prevented all this, if it was a Triumph you would have already been referred to the small print and told you had not cleaned it often enough and therefore voided your warranty ::024::

 

[greg the pole]

LOL, no one is showing him love.
Really should have cleaned it right away.
buty they will oxidize eventually no matter what you do.

 

[num]

I live in NYC and my winter riding destroyed my spokes and parts of the bolts and my headers.

That is with rinsing it after a ride, It's not Yamahas fault that cities dump salt by the pound and then it sits on the side of the road for 3 weeks so whenever it rains you're getting more salt on the bike. With a good scrubbing, most of it does in fact go away but you need some real elbow grease.

Yes, they could have coated their metals better, used more stainless bits but I just bought a 4 year warranty and have my dealer inspect the bike every year. I blame NYC more than I blame yamaha road salt and potholes have destroyed every vehicle i own. Oh, and the city smells like piss, But that's why I've got this bike to get me outa here.

::021::

 

[snakebitten]

Living in NY, NY.

That has to be an adventure every day. I can't get my head around it. Around here driveways are roads. You have to have a tractor to keep your own road passable for Honda civics to get to your house.

However, we have smells too. Just different species.

 

[jajpko]

Living in NY, NY.

That has to be an adventure every day. I can't get my head around it. Around here driveways are roads. You have to have a tractor to keep your own road passable for Honda civics to get to your house.

However, we have smells too. Just different species.

Yep, and as Col Potter would say, it's like tiptoeing though the tulips... ::025::

 

[iridemotorbikes]

What is this rust and corrosion stuff you speak off?? lol

Reading this stuff makes me happy to live out in the dry west! My unrestored 1979 Chevy truck doesn't have an ounce of rust, not even surface rust on brake lines or engine parts..

 

[Doug44]

Sorry bud, but YOU are the quality control issue. You're lucky that's all that's wrong with it! The bike has been laying around for almost a month with salt air on it since your wreck in Daytona. You don't get that kind of "grace period" in Florida. And who's been screwing around with your front fender. It looks like there is a dry rotted grommet under the allen bolt for your right rear front fender mount. If that is what it is, it's not supposed to be there.

I am not going to trade insults with you but you have your facts wrong. If you will go back to my orginal post on this you will read where the bike was washed 2 times in 6 days while in FL after the accident. The hotel where i stayed in Daytona furnished a water hose, soap, and towels.In addition at Savannah, Ga before it was loaded on the open trailer it was again washed. It was then dropped off at my dealer in Decatur, Il where I didn't see it for a few days and at this time discovered the corrosion.

Gee guys I love the bike I am not the enemy and it can happen to your bike. I have been riding for 50 years, have owned more than 50 motorcycles, have lived in FL in the winter at Flagler Beach have had several motorcycles with me those trips and I have never had anything like this before. Our forum here is loaded with many other reports about this problem, other Tenere's have been fixed under warranty concerning rust and corrosion.

 

[jettcity1]

I wish yamaha used stainless steel on many things but in the production and engineering world it is not that easy . They are built to standards and cost is a factor as always.
At this point, it is all about maintaining the surface finish that you have and I doubt Mother Yamaha will do anything about our bikes.
I religously clean my bike and inspect areas that I can see. I suggest WD-40 or LPS-1. Spray it on and wipe it down and those parts will have a long and happy service life for years beyond our time.
I wish you luck, under that crud is an awesome machine.