Is Yamaha afraid of grease?

evenslower · Apr 6, 2002

A buddy of mine bought a new YZ250F last week, his first bike in about 20 or so years. I warned him not to come out and ride with me and that if he did he'd have the bike bug. Anyway, after his break-in ride I offered to help him change his oil and filter and that we should probably give it a good greasing just to be on the safe side. I suggested a few things that he might want to pick up from the shop and while he was there he mentioned to the sales guy what he was doing today. Sales guy: "You don't need to do that. Its greased when assembled and prepped." We'll see.

We rolled it into my garage and got to work. Started at the rear wheel and worked our way to the front. :scream: Yikes!!!! Was the guy responsible for it being "greased when assembled and prepped" on vacation when this one was done? The swingarm pivot had no, and I mean no grease on it at all. Don't get me started on the steering stem bearings. The front wheel had a little, but I guess that was done at the shop when uncrated and the linkage and shock bearings weren't too bad either. Everything got a good coating anyway.

The moral of the story is this, if you've got a new bike (apparently especially a Yamaha) take the time to grease it thoroughly. It was really pretty sad. My buddy was happy I took the time to help him out when he saw the situation. I hate to think of all the shiny new bikes running around out there that haven't had this done.

MRKRacing125 · Apr 7, 2002

This seems to be the normal case with most bikes. I figure, if you have the money to go and run out and buy a brand new showroom bike, that you should take the time to grease everything, and check every bolt.

skthom2320 · Apr 7, 2002

Tell your buddy to start reading www.thumpertalk.com as well as DRN. Lot's of good info on how to properly take care of his new bike.

As stated before however, this is something that should be done for ANY new bike.

MCassle · Apr 7, 2002

Originally posted by MRKRacing125
This seems to be the normal case with most bikes. I figure, if you have the money to go and run out and buy a brand new showroom bike, that you should take the time to grease everything, and check every bolt.

Really? I just bought a new truck, should I have to tear it down to make sure it is properly lubed?

This isn't the first time a post like this has surfaced, it is a crime that these bike manufacturers sell a product that is not complete. This is commonsense type of stuff, a new bike should be lubed from the factory.

Matt

cwy426 · Apr 7, 2002

Not to mention how many of us are paying $200.00 or more for 'Dealer Prep'!

skthom2320 · Apr 7, 2002

Really? I just bought a new truck, should I have to tear it down to make sure it is properly lubed?

mcassle - did your new racebike come with a 36000 mile warranty like your new truck? If there was a warranty on these racebikes you can bet the manufacturers would pay more attention to lube.

The bottom line is they don't have a warranty and we are still buying bikes. It's called a market economy. If you don't like it, don't buy a bike. Even if my dealer "prepped" the bike, I woudn't trust them to do it right and would have to do it myself again anyway.

BTW - it is not difficult to do this task. Working on the thing is half the fun! :) My wife won't come in the garage becaue "it smells like grease in here." Great! Woohoo! No dishes to wash out here...

Scott in KC · Apr 7, 2002

I contend there has to be SOME reason for this...what I have NO idea! Grease is cheap, why not slather it on? It just doesn't make sense. It must be something with the manufacturing process...too messy, something? My WR had some, more than your buddy's, but not much more. Still glad I tore it down before hand. I think it helps to break loose all those factory bolts on the swingarm right away too. Those could be a real bitch if left to freeze up for 2 seasons of riding!!

Anssi · Apr 8, 2002

Originally posted by evenslower
The swingarm pivot had no, and I mean no grease on it at all.

Not even that yellowish gunk(pressed into a "cage") around the needles? That's lubricant. Better get it out if you put real grease in.

gad1909 · Apr 8, 2002

I just baught a new yamaha but im don't know how to check if it is properly lube. Can anyone tell me how to do this??

Bucko · Apr 8, 2002

Originally posted by cwy426
Not to mention how many of us are paying $200.00 or more for 'Dealer Prep'!

Dealer Prep's on new bikes only grease what they have to assemble like the front wheel and throttle, the "prep book" says that everything else is greased. At about $50 a hour shop rate it would cost alot more for prep if they had to do the swingarm, rear wheel etc. all that stuff comes assembled and they would have to tear it apart and put it back together.

Boozer · Apr 8, 2002

Re: Re: Is Yamaha afraid of grease?

Originally posted by Anssi

Not even that yellowish gunk(pressed into a "cage") around the needles? That's lubricant. Better get it out if you put real grease in.

i'm interested in this yellow junk. looks alot like a rubbery plastic. anyway, how do the needles turn when they are frozen in the plastic? kind of defeats the purpose of needle bearings i think. any thoughts?

whyz · Apr 8, 2002

gad1909>>>>> Break out the tool box.. :scream:

yz_387 · Apr 8, 2002

Its funny, I think I have torn down and greased about 6 new yamahas in the last two years (250's 250f's and 426's) and they almost all needed more grease. Imagine my suprise when I got my 2002 250 last week and tore it down and found that it actually did come with enough grease! I still threw some extra on since it was apart, but for once I was impressed with the job done at the factory. I guess its just the luck of the draw.

geremacheks · Apr 8, 2002

What gets me is that the Japs have taught the US carmakers to do the job right if they want to sell vehicles. It was the US vehicle market that used to skimp.

Doesn't this "make a complete product" apply to Jap motorcycles too? Their products sure look and run well. Why would they skimp on the grease? Warranties? I don't think so. The goal is to make a good product so the buyer will return. The Japanese market has learned how to make customers be loyal and come back. They want and seek out our feedback. Why would they skimp on grease in an assembly line when there is really no effort lost, or much of an expense, to apply it?

Something's missing here.

Yz426King · Apr 8, 2002

Originally posted by Scott in KC
Grease is cheap, why not slather it on?

Yea, grease is cheap when all you have is one bike, but imagine how much more grease they would have to use if they used as much as "we" do. They grease millions of bikes a year, that would be a lot of money.

Here is an example for you:

When Rockefeller owned Standard Oil he would go to all the refinereys and find ways to cut costs. One of the things he found was in the soldering process of putting the steel straps on the wooden oil barrels. They used 16 beads of solder per strap, so Rockefeller told them to try 13 beads. It didn't work, the barrels broke. So he told them to try 14 beads. Again the barrels failed. But when he told them to use 15 beads of solder per strap it worked perfectly. He he went back to the office he did the calculations and had figured that he would save the company around 2.5Million Dollars a year. All that from just cutting down on 1 bead of solder per strap.

That is what the manufatyrers are doing with the grease. I dont agree with it morally, but certianly in an economical way.

Eric T · Apr 8, 2002

Grease is not expensive. Even with the number of bikes they produce, I'm sure it would still cost less than $5 per bike to put enough grease on it.

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that Yamaha just doesn't feel that the bike needs any more grease than it has. In such a competetive market, I can't believe that a big company like Yamaha would risk having bikes breaking down everywhere just to save a couple of dollars on grease.

The other alternative would be that maybe the dealer is SUPPOSED to be putting grease there and they don't. This sounds more realistic to me. I would never trust my bike to a dealer for any kind of work. Especially something like that, where most people will have no idea if they did it or not. If something breaks, hey, they can blame it on Yamaha and then make even MORE money off of you by charging you for a repair. Win/Win situation for the dealer.

Ickabod · Apr 8, 2002

I'd gladly pay another 5 bucks for the factory to grease the hell out of my bike but short of that,I'd rather do it myself than trust my dealer to do it right! ;)

wayneo426 · Apr 8, 2002

The local shops here just build em out of the crate and send em out.

"Grease? The factory did that right?"

utah nate · Apr 8, 2002

I just bought my wife a new TTR125L, I'm new to dirtbikes (been riding on the street for years), so what should I be lookin' to grease up???

rwes · Apr 8, 2002

My last two bikes have both been prepped very well. Plenty of grease on everything and Loctite on most threads. The Honda I bought before that had very little grease and a loose motor mount. I don't think you should have to tear a brand new bike apart to grease it or find loose bolts.

MCassle · Apr 8, 2002

Originally posted by skthom2320

mcassle - did your new racebike come with a 36000 mile warranty like your new truck? If there was a warranty on these racebikes you can bet the manufacturers would pay more attention to lube.

The bottom line is they don't have a warranty and we are still buying bikes. It's called a market economy. If you don't like it, don't buy a bike. Even if my dealer "prepped" the bike, I woudn't trust them to do it right and would have to do it myself again anyway.

BTW - it is not difficult to do this task. Working on the thing is half the fun! :) My wife won't come in the garage becaue "it smells like grease in here." Great! Woohoo! No dishes to wash out here...

My 'racebike' was advertised as a 'trail bike'. I'd imagine the warranty on a new truck & the warranty on a new dirt bike are two different animals. This is a classic example of apples to oranges comparison. My dirt bike actually came with a 3-month warranty. My truck on the other hand: will not be modified (most are not), will not be off-road, will not go through the abuse that a dirt bike would, ect. ect. I'm surprised my bike came with a warranty at all. Bottom line is, the manufacture not putting grease in the bearings of their finished product is wrong, and should be corrected.

While I do enjoy working on my bike, it is unreasonable to expect a new buyer to tear the bike down before ever riding it just to lube what should have been lubed in the first place. I am not alone on this opinion. Until enough people complain to the manufactures (unlikely, because most don't know), I doubt the issue will change.

Matt

so-slow · Apr 8, 2002

there is some grease, in year 1, if you don't powerwash the %$#@ out of your bike, it will last. in the offseason, tear her down, and lube her up. you guys really obsess too much over grease.

agitt73 · Apr 8, 2002

low greese amounts
save them money and maks the bikes lighter

crazycarl · Apr 8, 2002

The yellow material is actually a solid grease poly-lube pack. This lubrication offers several advantages over conventional grease. Longer service intervals because the grease leaks less staying in the area, this also keeps dirt from getting into the rolling contact point.
There seems to be much confusion on this subject. Many think that these bearings are inadequately lubricated, when they probably offer the longest service life from the factory before needing to be regreased.

Hope that this information helps.

LWilson250 · Apr 8, 2002

I think that they don't greese them so they wear out quickly. After all, they make the most money on parts. It's just an easy cost effective way to make sure you will be selling lots of parts soon.

Lee W.

Is Yamaha afraid of grease?

evenslower

MRKRacing125

skthom2320

MCassle

cwy426

skthom2320

Scott in KC

Anssi

gad1909

Bucko

Boozer

whyz

yz_387

geremacheks

Yz426King

Eric T

Ickabod

wayneo426

Sponsoring Member

utah nate

rwes

MCassle

so-slow

agitt73

crazycarl

LWilson250

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