Yamaha 1300 Tourer - Yamaha 1300 Tourer Fansite

Saturday I decided to stop at a local Yamaha dealer to have them check out a clicking noise on my bike. When the bike is off and in neutral and I move the bike by hand, it makes a clicking noise. I don't notice anything while rolling down the highway, however. It has been doing it for a little while and I was ahead of schedule to make the Iowa M&G so I decided to stop at this dealer as I was going by.

It turns out that I have something called the Counter Shaft Bearing going bad. The sound seemed to be coming from the area of the front drive pulley. After pulling a couple of covers and loosening the rear axle to take the tension off the belt, the problem was diagnosed. Putting some 500 miles on the bike for the weekend didn't sound like a good idea, so I had to cancel my trip to the Iowa M&G. If the bearing completely failed, it would cause additional damage and I would be stranded away from home. This dealer said it would take 12-15 hours of labor at $75/hr plus parts. That's $900 to $1125 just for labor.

On my way home, I stopped at another Yamaha dealer for a second opinion. Same diagnosis, 10 hours of labor at $90/hr plus $222 for parts. Total $1,189. Ouch! My bike is a 2007 model with 43,000 miles. Has anybody else had this mechanical problem? I would love to hear from Morg, Zippo, or any mechanics out there with their thoughts. Both dealers said they have not done this repair before.

Doug

"Keep the shiny side up!"