Consumer Complaint Detail

YAMAHA / ROAD STAR / 2001

Recalls
0 Injured
Investigations
0 Death
Complaints
No Fire
Components - Details
NHTSA Complaint Number: 004026995 Incident Date: Jul, 31 2004
Consumer's City: WEST HAVEN Consumer's State: CT
Vehicle Transmission Type: MAN Manufacturers Name: Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA
Model Name: ROAD STAR Model Year: 2001
Vehicle Involved in a Crash: No Component's Description: Fuel system, gasoline:carburetor system
Vehicle Involved in a Fire: No Persons Injured: 0
Vehicle's VIN#: JYAVP04E41A Date added to File: May, 23 2021
Date Complaint Received: Jul, 01 2005 Complaint Type: IVOQ
Incident Reported To Police: No Purchase Date: Apr, 18 2001
Was Original Owner: No Anti-lock Brakes: No
Number of Cylinders: 4 Date of Manufacturer: -
Was Vehicle Towed: - Description of the Complaints: There were no "events" leading up to the failure of my fuel system. while riding in traffic i noticed an odor of raw fuel. when i pulled over to investigate,i discovered gasoline pouring out from under my motorcycle! shutting off the fuel petcock and running the engine @ an elevated rpm caused the symptom to subside and led to the conclusion that a failure in 1 or more carburetor(s) had occured. i contacted my dealer and was advised that yamaha usa would not warranty a failure of the carburetor(s) claiming that "poor fuel quality" was the fault,not a manufacturing defect. upon questioning,i was further advised that corrosion of the needle and seat assemblies was a known failure in this product and that warranty coverage was consistently denied by the manufacturer despite the obvious safety issue of potential fire hazard. i also asked if yamaha had released any updated components to avoid a repeat of the same failure and was advised that chrome plated components impervious to this kind of failure were available,but,not from the manufacturer. for obvious reasons,i had the dealer repair the condition with upgraded parts and paid for the repair since the dealer was not at fault. i then contacted yamaha usa and spoke to matthew who listened attentively but,could only tell me he was sorry that my yamaha had not lived up to my expectations! matthew also advised me his data base showed no other complaints of this nature despite the fact that there are similar reports in the n.h.t.s.a. data base on the web. the position that fuel quality is at issue is belied by the fact that in this household alone 3 cars,a snowblower,2 lawnmowers,a power edger,and a chain saw were all operated on the same fuel without incident. i feel that the motorcycle products of yamaha usa should be investigated for potentially lethal design flaws in it's fuel management systems and held accountable for the cost of correcting a condition that could cost someone their life.