NHTSA Complaint #10161351 — 2004 YAMAHA YZF-R1

I WAS RIDING AROUND FOR ABOUT AN HOUR, CAME TO A STOP LIGHT TO WAIT FOR THE LIGHT TO CHANGE. STOP LIGHT CHANGED SO I PROCEED ACROSS INTERSECTION. I WAS ALMOST ALL THE WAY ACROSS INTERSECTION WITH THE CLUTCH LEVER FULLY RELEASED BY THIS TIME AND THROTTLE PARTIALLY OPEN WHEN ALL OF A SUDDEN THE BIKE STALLED, I SLID FORWARD ON THE SEAT AND MY "LOWER" REGION SLAMS THE GAS TANK DUE TO ENGINE BRAKING. I IMMEDIATELY PULLED IN THE CLUTCH LEVER TO COAST. I WENT FROM 7-10 MPH TO ABOUT 2 MPH IN A SPLIT SECOND. I WAS AFRAID OF BEING REAR ENDED BY THE VEHICLE BEHIND ME SO I LOOKED IN MY REARVIEW MIRROR TO SEE THE GRILL OF AN EARLY MODEL MERCEDES DIVE FROM HARD BRAKING. LUCKILY THE MERCEDES DRIVER WAS A GOOD JUDGE OF DISTANCE AS I NEVER HIT THE BRAKES HENCE NO BRAKE LIGHTS. I DIDN'T TURN MY HEAD TO LOOK AS I WAS STILL TRYING TO MAINTAIN MY BALANCE CRAWLING ALONG AT ABOUT 2 MPH AND TRYING TO PUSH THE STARTER BUTTON TO RESTART THE BIKE. MY BIKE WOULDN'T START. I THEN CAME TO A COMPLETE STOP BECAUSE OF NO MORE FORWARD MOMENTUM. I TRIED TO START IT A SECOND TIME AND THANKFULLY IT STARTED. THIS SITUATION HAS HAPPENED TO ME TWICE NOW. ON THREE MORE OCCASIONS, MY BIKE WOULD STALL WHEN DISENGAGING THE CLUTCH AND SHUTTING THE THROTTLE TO PREPARE FOR A STOP. I SEARCHED THE R1-FORUM TO SEE HOW MANY OTHERS WERE INFLICTED WITH THIS PROBLEM AND FOUND THAT MANY OF THE FORUM MEMBERS HAD SIMILAR IF NOT THE SAME PROBLEMS AS I DID. I AM CURRENTLY NOT RIDING MY R1 UNTIL I CAN GET IT TO THE DEALER. I TALKED TO MY DEALERS SERVICE WRITER AND HE KNEW ALL ABOUT THE PROBLEM! I ONLY SEARCHED FOR THIS PROBLEM WITH THE R1'S BECAUSE MY FRIEND HAS CRASHED TWICE BECAUSE HER BIKE CUT OUT ON HER IN MID TURN, ONCE MAKING LEFT TURN AND ONCE MAKING RIGHT TURN. SHE IS LUCKY, SHE ONLY SUFFERED BRUISES. HOW CAN YAMAHA KNOW ABOUT THIS PROBLEM WITH REVISIONS OF A FAULTY THROTTLE POSITION SENSOR AND NOT DO A RECALL!? UNACCEPTABLE!! *JB