Spoke Corrosion

[Stephen H]

If anyone is having issues with corroded spokes either front or rear please put it here so we can try and get a picture as to how good/bad the issue is. 
If there are enough cases Yamaha may rebuild our wheels with stainless spokes. (Here’s hoping). 
I am awaiting my bike going back to the dealer for another set of rear spokes fitting. It was there not long since for a set which have not lasted more than six weeks and 200 miles. 

[Lank45]

Yup mine are corroded, bikes done 800 miles and the spokes look furry. Have a warranty claim waiting with my dealer.

[Steve White]

Yep same problem rear spokes losing chrome and front going same way 

Reported them to my dealer and their getting intouch with Yamaha, bought bike mid January 

[Stephen H]

I honestly expected more folk to be experiencing this issue.

[Great Escape]

The trouble with a warranty claim is you just get your spokes replaced with the same crappy wire spokes. And the more you clean or polish the standard spokes the worse they become!. Stainless is the answer ...if you have a friendly dealer you can get them to replace with stainless if you supply the spokes...but you can be without your wheels for ages. I had this problem with my brand new Tenere 660, I stripped the wheels down,  had them powder coated and then dropped them off to the wheel builder to rebuild with stainless steel spokes.  So satisfying when you wash the mud and grime off the bike and the wheels and spokes are gleaming!!

[Lupan]

I'm going to watch that 1500 km but no OffRoad, and still brand new the bike... Already ride até Rain also...

[Gazc]

Got the bike early March, 500 miles in and the spokes are now looking very secondhand. Will be having a chat to the dealers when we are allowed back out again. Seems a little pointless to replace the spokes with the same as they will not last very long either. The Africa Twins had the same issue but the replacement wheels came with stainless spokes. Maybe Yamaha will eventually do the same.

[Matth]

Ok thought i would resurrect this as i think the problem could be far reaching and a repeat of the Africa Twin.

im uk based and when spokes get dirty i clean them up with a fine mist of oil to shine them up.

after 650 miles and not jet washed..

 

[Matth]

[Matth]

This will have to be escalated to dealer/ yamaha as been through corroded spokes syndrome before with the AT and did get a set of stainless spokes on replacement rims, maybe a set of gold ones from the Rally.

[Matth]

The rear ones no where near as bad but indications of likely corrosion forming. 

[Stephen H]

My Yamaha dealer has been in contact and they want me to take my bike over to them so they can take pictures of my spokes which I can tell you are now even worse than before. 
I don’t know what they have done with the previous pictures they took. Suppose they might have lost them. I will be going down to see them this week. Since my spokes were replaced under warranty a while back I have only ever washed them in warm water but still they corrode which in my eyes points to a poorly made product. 
My Ténéré 1200 I had for a number of years had spoked wheels and they were in perfected condition when I sold it on. 
I will update this thread when I get some news from my dealer. 
Cheers Steve 

[Steve White]

Reported my spokes to dealer not long after purchasing the bike in January took it for 1st service and photos were taken heard nothing since now on 5,000klm must chase them up.

[Stephen H]

Well I visit my Yamaha dealer today to get the spokes photographed so they could send them off for someone to look at and hopefully make a decision. When that will be I’ve no idea. They were greatly understaffed so she said things are moving very slow and she also said it’s the same at Yamaha HQ. 

I have attached a couple of pictures of my spokes just in case some one might have missed them before. 
They ain’t getting any better. 
oh forgot to say the bike now has 1769 miles on. 
Cheers Steve 

[Matth]

Yep same as mine. Reported this to Yamahahaha and dealer and had nothing back.

will be escalating the lack of response 

[H20ham]

I asked the local motorcycle inspector, if a bike with corrosion on spokes would pass provincial inspection

he said "No" "because it is a structural component"

 

I for one, don't want my wheels falling apart because Yamaha went cheap. 

[Stephen H]

Spoke Update

I visited my Yamaha dealer yesterday to have a Sat Nav fitted to my new Donner Tech Mount and whilst I was there I thought i would enquire about my Akro bolts that had fallen out of the exhaust shield and if there was any word on the spokes.

To my amazement they had the Akro bolts and two brand new sets of spokes for me.

I enquired about me purchasing Stainless spokes and having them fitted but they said I would have to cover the cost of the stainless spoke (happy to do that) and the labour to fit them (not happy to do that). Plus they would keep the two sets (front & rear) and the old corroded ones. It worked out at a total cost of £280 which I'm not happy to pay. 

As this will be my 3rd set on my bike that has 3000 miles on I wonder how long before I am asking for them to be replaced again. 

Just out of interest I was wondering around the showroom whilst i waited for my bike and they had a Suzuki 1050 demo parked up outside which had been test ridden twice so had less than 100 miles on. The rear spokes looked just like mine so i bet they came out of the same factory.

Cheers Steve

[Aleksandar13]

My spokes looked corroded after 1.8k miles and 3 months of riding in the UK winter.. My bike is now on SM wheels and I don't need to worry about this. 

Very frustrating to deal with this but because we love the bike and need to accept compromises from manufacturers I would always suggest to get the wheels laced with stainless spokes for peace of mind... £150 for spokes ans  £120 for labour should get you new spokes in stainless. Considering people are spending way more than that on other stuff for the bike this could be done over winter break when we ride a bit less or not at all.

Yamaha will probably not step up and change them to stainless. 

For people who need a wheel builder in the south UK please let me know and I can direct you to the person who has build mine, very reputable and with great customer service. 

Aleks 

[vagrant318]

On 7/30/2020 at 1:53 PM, H20ham said:

I asked the local motorcycle inspector, if a bike with corrosion on spokes would pass provincial inspection

he said "No" "because it is a structural component"

 

I for one, don't want my wheels falling apart because Yamaha went cheap. 

It would probably take 20 years and well over 100k miles with no maintenance for the wheels to fall apart if even then lol

[Medog van Bike]

Rears are worse than fronts on mine. This is from October/November 2020 in the UK and the bike was new in June. For it to happen this fast; it must be starting to corrode before the bike even arrives in the UK. For the price of getting it done by a wheelbuilder with stainless its hardly worth letting a Yamaha dealer tech go near this job. How many of them can build a wheel properly anyway? I'm still reporting it in though.

 

[mrboni]

Did anyone get a constructive response from Yamaha about this?

 

@Aleksandar13 where is your wheel builder?

[Aleksandar13]

1 hour ago, mrboni said:

Did anyone get a constructive response from Yamaha about this?

 

@Aleksandar13 where is your wheel builder?

Wheel builder is in Essex, close to Harlow... If you need his details I'll post them here. 

Aleks 

[Mapbook]

https://www.hagon-shocks.co.uk/

Used them before first class

[mrboni]

Thanks both

 

Yes @Aleksandar13 I'd love the details

 

Did either of you get your T7 wheels respoked?

[Aleksandar13]

1 minute ago, mrboni said:

Thanks both

 

Yes @Aleksandar13 I'd love the details

 

Did either of you get your T7 wheels respoked?

Mine are supermoto ones and he has done an amazing job... Very good guy and has loads of experience. 

http://www.williswheels.co.uk

Aleks