Total Motorcycle Community Forums

Hey guys

I don't anticipate that this forum is going to get big enough for anything to get lost. What I'd love to see is members adding all the info they can for their bike models in a seperate thread.

title: bike type and relevant years (Honda magna v30 1983-85)
Any tech info you can find
any reviews you can find
personal reviews
Anything that another owner might want to know, ie "I found that my bike handles alot better when the tires are at x up front and x in the rear"

Lets turn the Yamaha forum into an even better resource!

Ste

Here is a tidbit to be aware of.

For a couple of years, maybe 2003 and 2004 some V-Stars had issues with improperly (inadequately) lubed splines in the final drive.

If the final drive squeaks, make sure you force them to check the splines.

My bike was doing that. I had it in to them twice and it still squeaked. Then old-n-slow posted a link about the splines. He also told me about a riding club member whose bike seized. The splines were not lubed. This was a factory not doing their job right.

Anyway, I had to take my bike in for service, so I asked the dealer about it and he admitted that yes, some V-Stars had this issue. Mostly 1100's but also some 650's.
I made the service desk guy write on the work order to lube splines. The final drive has never squeaked since.

bluestocruise...I have an 03 V-Star 650 with 3,800 miles on the clock, are there any other tell tale signs other than the squeek ? Also is it an expensive fix to have the splines lubed ? I'm going to sell my V-Star this Spring and go to a bigger bike, but I don't want to pass my bike on to someone if it has the potential for drive shaft problems.

There were no other tell tale signs other than the squeak. At first the squeak was minor....I could only hear it in my underground parking garage going slow where it was quiet. But it got worse to the point where I could hear it squeaking outside in traffic when I was turning a corner or coming to a stop.

I didn't pay for them to check and lube the splines because it was still under warranty at the time.

I had them check at the time of a service.

blues2cruise, I checked with my local Yamaha shop, they charge $65.00 to properly lube the splines on the V-Star. That's pretty cheap insurance in my book. They also recommend that everytime the rear wheel is off to replace the rear tire or for any other reason, the splines should be checked and lubed. Maybe our conversation will help other Star riders avoid drive train problems. Thanks for bringing the subject up. XS

dang.....I had new tires put on today. I forgot to ask them to make sure the splines were still lubed well.

I did however get another little service job done while the wheel was off.

The last service on the bike was supposed to have both the steering bearing and the swing arm bearing serviced. Due to the expense, I only had the steering bearing done at the time of service. Today while the back wheel was off I got them to the swing arm bearing. It save some labour $$.

The point is, it is possible to delay or spread out some service items on your Yamaha.