Taking off the exhaust to do the dealer's job

[Dave77459]

You may have heard that I got my bike home last Wednesday following three months of repairs, and that there was a loud backfiring. The dealer had been unable to determine the source, but 5 minutes with Squidley and we had a prime suspect: the dealer hadn't hooked up a vacuum tube to the AIS (I presume).

 

Pic:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3303/5699095405_9f3c32f19e.jpg

 

This particular tube goes to the front, behind the right front exhaust header. We could see the lonely nipple with a mirror. We just couldn't reach it.

 

Squidley says he'll be available to take off the exhaust so that it can be hooked up, hopefully solving the very loud backfire. But isn't this something I could do myself?

 

First, is there an easier way to connect it? Force my daughter into anorexia so that she can reach in, perhaps? Loosen something or other, move it out of the way, tighten back up? I have an RSTD, so the front is somewhat more open than an RSV (I am posting in the RSV forum because it's seen more and almost as applicable).

 

Second, if I do remove the exhaust headers, do I have remove both, or just the front? What all do I have to remove to get to that header bolt?

 

Thirdly, thanks to those of you who will demand that I take the bike back to the dealer to have them fix their shoddy workmanship, but no. I've already been without her for three months, and I can't waste another month having them fix this.

 

Dave

[Sling]

Did ya try long needlenose pliers? I also have a couple pair of hemostats that I use to fish stuph though a small space they usually work . Hope this helps.

[V7Goose]

The mechanic that worked on you bike is a total putz! I feel really bad for you - while it is good that your dealer got this catastrophic failure covered under warranty (as they should have), The sheer incompetence of the idiots who worked on your bike does not forebode well for the future. All we can do is hope they did better INSIDE the engine than they did outside! Better keep a detailed record of all you find just in case you need to force them to pay for ANOTHER total rebuild!!!! The preponderance of evidence showing the total incompetence outside the engine will win your case in small claims court if faults are found inside the engine.

 

I assume you have already compared that loose hose with the ones connected to the other three AIS induction ports? Tough to tell from the picture, but is does not look like the ones I normally see there (more like just a normal vacuum or vent hose).

 

Pulling the exhaust header is simple IF you have a long ball-end Allen wrench - not much possibility to do it otherwise. No need to take anything else off to reach the header bolts if you have the right tool. If you need to completely remove the header instead of just pull it aside a bit, you will need to remove the muffler and Y-joint too - not too bad.

 

Good luck,

Goose

[straycatt]

I would, and did, plug the AIS vacuum line.

[Squidley]

Goose,

You can see the nipple, and where the hose connects goes to with an inspection mirror. We did check the other connections on both front and back AIS units. I'll probably get with Zipcode this weekend and we'll make it happen. Unfortunately there's not a lot of room to get anything in there to reconnect it besides taking the pipe out of the way.

[V7Goose]

My mistake - for some reason, I thought the OP was referring to the tubes connected to the AIS induction ports, which are metal, not small rubber hoses. But I see now that Dave clearly said it was a vacuum hose for the AIS, which does get routed right there to activate the front AIS valve. With that hose off, the AIS will absolutely cause lots of afterburn every time the throttle is shut.

Goose

[wes0778]

Just my but I hope both of you are documenting all the incompetence, that you find, with pictures and when everything is fixed properly that you send all of it to the Yamaha factory rep. to Yamaha corporate and cc the OWNER of your respective dealerships.

 

That is unless you retain the services of a competent lawyer...

[Dave77459]

Here's the problem:

 

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3446/5713282916_384be406aa.jpg

 

Do you see it?*

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2679/5712721323_73b8e0bc86.jpg

 

There it is!

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2682/5713282048_7d07870bbf.jpg

 

 

Anyways, the hose is now connected. I ended up taking off the entire right side exhaust. Not sure if I had to, in order to remove the front header?

 

I'll have to run it hot to be sure, but the backfiring seems solved.

 

Dave

 

Note * -- the photo was taken out of order. The hose is already reattached. But you couldn't see it until you looked down on it.

[Squidley]

Nice work Zipcode, your becoming quite the Venture/Tour Deluxe mechanic