NHTSA Complaint #10157688 — 2004 YAMAHA FZ6

AT 9M MILES, MY 2004 YAMAHA FZ6 BEGAN TO EXHIBIT THE FOLLOWING: 1) AFTER APPROXIMATELY 30 MINUTES OF OPERATION, ERRATIC AND PROLONGED PERIODS OF ROUGH IDLE AT 500 RPMS INSTEAD OF THE NORMAL 1300 RPMS 2) MOTOR WOULD STALL DURING GEAR CHANGES, EVEN AT HIGHWAY SPEEDS 3) DURING THESE TIMES, THE SMELL OF GASOLINE WAS NOTICEABLE. CHANGING THE SPARK PLUGS SEEMED TO FIX THE PROBLEM TEMPORARILY, BUT THEY SOON REAPPEARED. AT 12M MILES, THE BIKE WAS TAKEN TO THE YAMAHA DEALER TO BE FIXED BUT THEY COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG WITH IT. I WENT NEXT TO AN INDEPENDENT MOTORCYCLE MECHANIC WHO ALSO COULD FIND NOTHING WRONG. HE SUGGESTED THAT IT WAS PROBABLY AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM AND COULD BE EXPENSIVE TO FIX AND I SHOULD TAKE IT TO A DIFFERENT DEALER. HE ALSO QUESTIONED IF THE "CHECK-ENGINE" LIGHT HAD COME ON WHICH WOULD HAVE REGISTERED SPECIFIC TROUBLE CODES, BUT I TOLD HIM THAT THEY HAD NOT. AT 12800 MILES, WHILE PULLING ONTO THE ROADWAY, THE BIKE STALLED UNEXPECTEDLY IN A TURN AT LOW SPEED, LOCKED THE BACK TIRE AND WENT DOWN. I SUSTAINED MINOR INJURIES, AND THE BIKE LOST A MIRROR, FOOT PEG, FRONT FAIRING, AND GENERALLY GOT BUMMED UP. SINCE THEN, I HAVE FOUND NUMEROUS REPORTS OF "THROTTLE POSITIONING SENSOR" DEFECTS THAT HAVE CREATED SIMILAR PROBLEMS WITH THIS MAKE AND MODEL OF MOTORCYCLE. AND YET, THE DEALERS SEEM TO KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT! INSTALLING A NEW TPS MAY OR MAY NOT FIX THE PROBLEM. BUT FOR NOW I'M STUCK WITH A BIKE THAT I CAN'T TRUST, HAS LITTLE RESALE OR TRADE-IN VALUE, AND PROBABLY ISN'T SAFE TO RIDE. AFTER READING THE NUMEROUS AND SIMILAR SOUNDING COMPLAINTS, THIS MAY WELL BE A MANUFACTURING DEFECT THAT SHOULD RESULT IN A RECALL. *NM