Swingarm paint flaking off

[Alf Meister]

Has anyone else noticed the swingarm paint flaking off where the rear wheel axle bolt and chain adjuster get compressed when its done up and tightened. I have adjusted the chain tension about 8 or so times since getting the bike from new. I removed the wheel today as I’m taking the wheels in to the dealer to have the spokes replaced due to corrosion and noticed the paint issue. 

 

The swing arm is either painted or powder coated, but doesn’t appear to be that durable or has not been etched or applied very well. I’m sure the previous T7’s had much more durable paint on the swing arm from memory, as I never saw an damaged paint from adjusting the chain. I tighten the axle bolt nut to the specified 105 NM, so am not over tightening it. 

 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Alf Meister

[Mr. Kwak]

My Tenere's swingarm isn't painted that well..  I guess a combination of bad paint and bad degreasing..

 

Bike is from augustus 2022

 

Lucky that the swingarm is from aluminum. Will clean and paint it soon 

[motonap]

1 hour ago, Mr. Kwak said:

My Tenere's swingarm isn't painted that well..  I guess a combination of bad paint and bad degreasing..

 

Bike is from augustus 2022

 

Lucky that the swingarm is from aluminum. Will clean and paint it soon 

 

As you said, Aluminum, wouldn't worry about it, unless it really bothers you! 

Aluminum is not the easiest material for paint to bond too, so a pretty good bit of sanding, a couple of coats of etch primer & then paint.

 

On another note, did you get some nuts welded onto the swingarm to install the cotton reels / spools?

[Alf Meister]

2 hours ago, motonap said:

 

 

On another note, did you get some nuts welded onto the swingarm to install the cotton reels / spools?

 

They are standard on the newer models including the world raid. 

[FredBasset]

Just taken wheels off for warranty on corroded spokes, and revealed this. Having had the T7 Rally Edition prior to my current T7 WR, I can say for certain that the Rally Edition had no such issue at all. I will be speaking to my dealer today about it and requesting a warranty claim. 

 

I think the older bikes had a different coating compared to the newer bike, clearly this is not strong enough compared to what Yamaha use to use. 

 

 

[Lewie]

That’s terrible 

pare these all WR models?

Edited May 16, 2023 by Lewie

[Alf Meister]

12 hours ago, Lewie said:

That’s terrible 

pare these all WR models?

Mine is. 

I wouldn’t know for the others, but It does appear MBK who make the bikes in France may have changed the finish on the swingarm to paint rather than what i believe my previous T7 swingarm was finished with, a powdercoat finish which was much more durable. 

 

Would be interesting to see if the newer standard T7’s in europe have the same issue on the swing arm, aswell as the Aus and North American bikes, which I believe are made in Japan. From what i can remember the Japanese bikes don’t have the corroded spoke issue either, unlike the euro bikes. 

Edited May 16, 2023 by Alf Meister

[Redneckj]

VERY VERY unYamaha like for this to be happening.  

[Alan M]

Would argue they shouldn’t put any paint on that area at all.

 

Paint can act as a lubricant.

[Windblown]

9 hours ago, Redneckj said:

VERY VERY unYamaha like for this to be happening.  

 

It would not surprise me to find out that this is a made in France Yamaha issue.  Not that France is a bad place to make something but I have noticed a trend across all manufacturing that workmanship and attention to QC tends to slide when a company makes something for another manufacturer versus directly for the public.  It might be that the supplier got beat up more than they like on pricing the deal and therefore cut corners.  It might be they don't care as much because it won't be the public cussing them if things aren't right as their name isn't on it.  Might just be a lack of pride since their is little to no visibility.

 

Or perhaps it's just easier to slack off when one thinks  "The Buck Stops Here" does not apply.  KTM blames their suppliers for issues all the time.

 

No one has QC like the Japanese.  That doesn't mean they make the best of everything but whatever they make it will be to spec and the first part and the last part made will be precisely the same. 

[Alf Meister]

8 hours ago, Alan M said:

Would argue they shouldn’t put any paint on that area at all.

 

Paint can act as a lubricant.

I am surprised they do tbh, i would have thought that part of the swingarm would be machined to clean the paint off the contact area for the chain/swingarm axle bolt. 

 

Its obviously not a common issue based on how few have commented, maybe a bad batch. Anyway, Yamaha will be kindly paying for a new one, just hope it doesn’t happen again. 

Edited May 17, 2023 by Alf Meister

[winddown]

seriously, any paint will get crushed under the pressure of those bolts and then naturally flake a tad.  Don't worry about it, ride the bastard.

[Windblown]

That looks like a surface prep issue to me.  Certainly not performance impacting, but also not normal. 

 

I have three ADV style bikes in the garage at the moment from three different manufacturers with about 72k miles (116k km) between them. All of them have black swingarms and none of them have finish flaking off.  The large aluminum blocks used between the axle and the swingarm should be plenty to prevent surface damage which could cause the finish to flake if the underlying metal was prepped well. 

 

Would I go for warranty on it? Nah... but all my bikes ridden in this manor look well and truly beat up before I'm done with them anyway.  

Edited May 23, 2023 by Windblown
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