Dave Jarrett

Oh well, I just thought I might warn anyone considering buying one that they should be aware that despite keeping the bike garaged overnight, washing all the road dirt off and servicing it regularly, it was obviously not designed with the thought that someone would actually ride it. I'm sorry you feel aggrieved by the fact that all I've done is whine and complain about what I consider to be an appalling product, but, obviously mistaken in my understanding of the word "forum", I'm not really interested in telling the world about my life and what I do and don't like. If I wanted to do that, I'd stick to my Facebook account, where I can optionally communicate with my friends, rather than be told by your good self that I have to socialize on your "forum". I'm sure your intentions are good, but I'm sure I detected a degree of sarcasm in your reply, so I'd go and get some decent communication skills training, if I were you.

Well it's nearly 2 years on from when I posted a query about starting problems, so I thought I'd add a list of all the problems I've had with my bike. I bought it 3 months old, thinking I'd splash out and give myself several years trouble free riding, being as it's a Yamaha and Yamahas are well built reliable bikes, aren't they ? Under warranty, I've had the following things fixed : 2 wiring loom faults, a broken gear linkage joint, a front brake light switch and a new tank, (cos it started rusting at the seams). The irregular starting problem still exists and, 6 months after the warraty ran out, there was yet another wiring loom fault, which Yamaha refused to do anything about, despite me pleading that a good will gesture might be nice, because of all the other problems I've experienced. The frame is rusting at the joints and would you believe it, the bike's now been off the road for 2 weeks because one of the LT terminals RUSTED off one of the colis and the other coil is about to suffer the same fate ! Alright, the bike's done 36k miles, as I actually use it, rather than keep it in a garage for 6 months of the year, but to say I'm disappointed in the bike generally, is a bit of an understatement. It's badly designed, (you can't read the speedo or see any of the instrument readings in the sun), the footrests are far too low, the build quality is rubbish. I didn't realise Yamaha made "Friday afternoon" bikes, but obviously they do. I never thought I'd hear myself say that I'd never buy another Yamaha, but obviously they don't give a fig about quality anymore. It's a real shame, as I'm getting around 60-65mpg and, when it's running OK, it does everything I want it to do and I think it's a real good looker.

Hi One and All, I've got a 2010 XVS950A which is playing up when starting, (or NOT, as the case may be). On 2 separate occasions, the bike has failed to start, depite repeated attempts, for 20 mins. Turn the key and the speedo needle and warning lights all perform as they should, press the start button and the engine turns, but won't fire. Then, for no reason, the bike decides to start on the umpteenth attempt. I've taken it back to the main dealer, who couldn't replicate the problem and told me that they could find nothing wrong and that I'd have to take it back if it happened again. I assume that the Yahama engine management system, (or whatever performs fault tracing/diagnosis), doesn't write a log of historic problems, and only reports on current faults, which is about as much use as a chocolate fireguard. Has anyone else experienced a similar problem ? Cheers, Dave