Motorcycle Repair Question?

You are remembering to turn on and off the choke/enrichener right?

It could be a fuel filter, a plugged petcock, a leaky intake, a carb problem, a bad ignition coil (or other ignition problem,) or a number of other things, but an oil change would definitely not fix the problem. And the fact that they would suggest that is an indication that they may be trying to rip you off.

I would ask them to RIDE the bike, and if they are unwilling or unable to fix it, I would ask for a refund (of the labor) and if the shop is unwilling to refund the money, file a civil suit (if you're in the US) and use the money at a reputable shop.

It IS possible on some carburetors for an air cleaner housing to block the atmospheric air intake on the carb.

Taking the air cleaner (and housing) off and riding it without the air cleaner should resolve any uncertainty about weather or not it's the air filter.

Brian you said the bike stalled out and wouldn't start after 200. 200 what? It sounds as though you had an electrical or ignition problem. May be a coil (I doubt it) or the ignition (black box) cutting out after the bike gets hot. Had that happen to me on a brand new Harley Sportster except it was the opposite. The Sportster wouldn't start if the outside temp was cooler than 50 degrees. I had a heck of a time trying to convince the Harley shop I new what I was talking about.

But first and for most you need a new shop. These guys are hackers. I would demand some of my money back as they didn't fix a thing and keep blaming there lousy work on imaginary problems they keep creating.

Get a service manual, talk to some mechanics and get some knowledge on how to things work. That way you can do some of your own work and if you do take it to a shop you have a good idea what needs to be done and you can let them know you are not ignorant.

The modern bikes of today are very reliable. I'm sure there are a few that have problems now and then but I would bet most of the time it is from neglect. But the weak link in the modern bikes is the electrical and the ignition. Those guys just screwed up something minor if they were playing with your carbs. Look around and find another shop. Talk to the mechanics get a feel of the places you look at. If you don't feel comfortable keep looking. Good Luck.

You have left out a lot of details to solve to problem.

What is the year, make, model, and miles. I assume that the bike is liquid cooled, and the 200 degree tempature has been checked and varified. Does the bike have a water pump?

Possable part failure:

Tempature sensor, wire lead may to/from maybe making contact on a hot engine part and causing a false reading, and preventing the bike from starting. Inspect/replace the water pump if needed.

Possable repairs:

Check the wiring, replace the tempature sensor. Replace the water pump. Replace wire leads to from temp sensor.

Demand that the dealer/service center refund your money for the oil change, and plug change as this had no bearing on the heat/starting problem. The fuel filter, level, carb fouling, or dirty was not the issue either, but may have been nesseccary work depending on certain factors, had the bike been sitting for long periods, how many miles on it, and why do they think a jet problem is a possable issue, is this a used bike?. They didn't think this problem out before starting on the problem. It would not start at all if thouse issues had been a real problem. Order them to do running temp check on the bike compair the reading, check that the cooling fluid is circulating and to replace the water pump (if not), fluid, and the temp sensor/contols for parts cost only as they have they have provide poor timley repair service, and extremly poor customer support. If they do not agree, take the bike to another dealer. Keep your bills, if the next dealer repairs it get a detail repair report and parts list. Take it back to the previous dealer with all the bills, demained that they refund you the money spent on the unneeded work, if they refuse. File a mechanics lean at the local court house, and prove your case in court. Also file a letter of complaint with the local Better Buisness Office.

It sounds like a jet problem but if you only changed to a K&N filter it shouldn't be this bad. While you say they should have noticed while cleaning the carbs, a routine cleaning may have involved nothing more than some squirts of carb cleaner in the intakes. From these guys suggesting an oil change, they may not have done that much. Did you change the pipes at the same time you went to a K&N? If so, your jets need to be changed to keep the fuel:air ratio right.

An oil change wouldn't solve this-unless they put too much oil in last time and flooded your air filter due to emission and engine venting blowing excess oil into filter. However, a carb cleaning/K&N filter servicing (I'm doing mine tonight-its drying as I type this) would have solved this problem.

I'd get this bike to another mechanic/shop and complain to the service and general managers at the old shop. Let them know who said what (non-emotionally). Then calmly state why you and your riding friends will never do business there again. By saying its fixed, they forfeit the benefit of the doubt. If they sent you out to test ride your own bike (you know how it rode before work better than a mechanic) that would be different-They could have said, "We may have gotten it right, let us know soonest if not" and worked to fix it without charging you for this incorrect easter egg hunt they seem to be on but didn't.

Bikes are complicated machines, and not every shop has the personel qualified to troubleshoot every problem. They may have adjusted the fuel level or sprayed cleaner into the carbs, but if your needles are clogged you need a carborator rebuild. Maybe like stored the bike without using a gas stabilizer?

I had a similar problem last year with my carborated Yamaha Virago. My gas went bad after a hot spell, leaving alot of gum in the tank. After riding the bike on this gunk, the carbs became gummy and i couldn't get any speed or power. Instead of rebuilding the carbs, I cleaned what I could and ran it with a good quality fuel additive until the problem cleared.

Drain all your gas from the tank and float bowls. Retighten your carb drains and fill your float bowl with Chem-tool, and let them soak for a day or two. Pull the gas tank fuel filters and clean them. After draining the float bowl cleaner, re-assembling and refueling, add Chem-tool or Seafoam gas additive into your tank. You may have to use fuel additive for several tankfulls of slow riding before the gum and varnish clears, but you should notice some speed and power improvement after two hundred miles. Good Luck

You have NO recourse-it's a he said/she said. I bought a custom motorcycle and the thing bogged down everytime a rode it. I took it to 5 different places before it was straightened out. My advice-borrow a pickup of work or a bud-and try another mechanic. Just like a car-find a mechanic that you feel confident in and trust. You trust the bike with your LIFE. You should feel confident in the person working on it. Good luck-don't go back-it's not worth the hassle.

Call Yamaha customer relations.

Tell them of your problem and of the shop giving you the run-a-round.

They will endeavor to get the problem fixed.

The shop can get reprimanded for treating their customer poorly.

The shop will have to accommodate you, because if they don't, their Yamaha endorsement can get revoked!

Because of you calling Yamaha, Yamaha will send one of their dealer representatives to the shop and repair the bike themselves.

When Yamaha finds out one of their bikes are unrepairable, they would actually send the bike to their corporate headquarters, for the R&R department to diagnose the problem.

Yamaha and all major manufactures want to know of any problems with their products to prevent malfunctions on future products.

Good luck.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/sport/contactus/home.a...

The leaking gas could be from sitting, which would be a carburator float stuck and leaking out of the overflow line.= affordably fixed A carburator/s rebuild kit should take care of that. Unless the tank is rusted enough to leak from there in which case you would want a new tank or a good used one! Good luck! and happy riding!

do you have an aftermarket pipe on this bike? if so it may not have been jetted when the pipe was installed and putting a k&n on it would make it run bad if no jetting was done.

Are they the dealer? what kind of Bike? what mods did you do to it?