How reliable is your XT?
 

My XT is the most unreliable bike I have ever owned!

I would like to know other owners experiences.

In eight months and 8000 miles, it's failed to start on average once a month requiring the RAC to be called on three occasions. Solution dry the spark plug due to flooding. I now carry a spare spark plug!

Final insult after riding home in the pouring rain last night it fails to start this morning. Everything else is active but I only get the occasional attempt at starting from the button. Leaning the bike to the right means it will attempt to start, upright or to the left and it won't.

Yamaha dealer will look at it on Fri 13 (which made me smile). Their test and I quote "we will pressure wash the bike and see what happens".

PS, 14 year old DR650 started first time!!!

Hi peach,sounds like you are very unlucky,I have a 2008 xtr and it has never failed once even after riding in extreme wet conditions although I have onlt done 7000 kilometers on it.Will be very interested to hear how your bike works out after Friday the 13TH.
Cheers Geoffrey

Been riding XTX's for 4 years now, 25000 miles/40000 kms in total & have never been let down once.

Going by your discription I would get them to check your tilt sensor, air & coolant temp senders & load test the battery to see if it is cranking the bike fast enough. Let us know how you get on.

Sorry to hear your not happy with the XT. I have done about 6500klms in all weather with no worries to date.

:woo:

Posts like these make me very angry, on average, not picking on the poster himself/herself, they just show F*CK ALL knowledge about bikes. There is always something suspicious when a bike is giving up the ghosts, and if the ever knowledgeble ( Ed.: sarcasm) Yamaha official mechanics can't find it in their 2 page checklist, then you either take it to a real bike mechanic or ask here in this forum becase we have some of the best in the world in Kev and Freez.

So... out of respect for those who own, run and manage this forum first and also to the many happy owners members, starting a post saying "this is the most unreliable bike I have ever had" makes you unpopular and won't get you much help round here, from those who actually can give you advice.

As said by others these problems are very rare, but they do occur from tme to time and it doesn't mean that all XT's are the most unreliable bikes ever, it's just bad luck.

I have heard of many many BMW GS1150 and GS1200 returned to their dealers for serious issues within the first 2 weeks.

Do I hear Ducati? ouch

? ManicMic clone ?

The XT is the most unreliable bike I have ever owned, fact. If that truth makes me unpopular, so be it. I posted before with regards to EFI and flooding, nobody responded.

Do I detect a BMW issue here? My T plate 1150GS hasn't missed a beat, my colleagues 07 1200GS has been in for numerous issues. Still makes my XT the most unreliable bike I have ever owned.

The bike has been looked at by two RAC mechanics and one AA mechanic on six separate occassions. The bike mechanic I use has gone over it the day after I've had an issue and can't find a thing. He reckons I have an electrical issue or a bike built on Friday.

I didn't say the XT is the most unreliable bike ever, I asked for other riders experiences. Your responses are useless, stating that these problems occur from time to time is stating the obvious.

GordyGus, Kev and Dan71 responded with their experiences and some advice, thank you.

Thing is Peach, we are here to help, all of us, we really are, we are keen to help everyone specially when we are approached nicely, but we find it difficult with those who are starting on a negative approach dismissing the bike as pile of crap.

Surely 6000 odd registered members would be screaming with complaints here rather than praising their satisfaction.

If you are so dissatisfied with the bike to the point where you have given up on sourcing the problem, then it would be advisable to sell and find a different one.

That's what I need help, especially with regard to the XT and probably for myself as well ;-)

I chose the XT after trying other bikes and reading owner reviews and love the bike when it's bloody working!!! I haven't had a car in 17 years and have a soft spot for Yamaha since purchasing my first "large" bike, a TDR250, in 1990.

It doesn't help that it's been noted by work that I've been late recently, due to the XT leaving me stranded in the arse end of nowhere.

Any help, advice or XT experience is greatly appreciated...

I'm on a Z, so not really any direct help here, although I do have a TT too, with the old 600 air cooled lump - and that is a pig to get going if you don't treat it right.

Killing the battery is pretty common in my experience, it takes a good amount of Uuummphh to turn a 660 over enough to start, and if you have it flooded/cold/weak spark/damp/ etc then it doesn't take much to be left with a dead bike. This has pretty much happened to me with the 600, to help eleviate the problem I do keep both the Z and the TT on Battery conditioners (Optimate and the Oxford-i-miser thingy) it helps honest!

Coming from a Honda, I have found the Yamaha to be less reliable, but it's only let me down (properly - the wiring harness wore through! ) once, and it has had a very hard life upto now. I must confess though that I put most problems down to wear and tear.

Still 11,000 very happy miles, 1 set of tyres, cush drive rubbers, wiring repair, gear lever replacement, panniers replaced an done or two other minor things. Funny thing is, the first failure on the bike was the 12v power socket, and that was a BMUU part!

Never mind, sh1t happens, sometimes you get more than you deserve - guarentee if you sell the bike the next person won't have so much as a stall with it!

As you are not a site suppoter you wont have access to the "ask Kev section" so that wont help and is well worth it as his Knowlege is second to none

Do you have error codes or lights on the dash ? i had similar problems but need to know what lights or codes are showing

Hello peach,

My '05 XT660R has now 72.000 km, and I passed trought rivers to many times, sometimes with the water in the middle of the engine and it never gave me problems.

Rain, water, are normal here during the summer or winter.

Did you try to let the engine running after get a rain? Only to test if the water evaporate?

Hello.

No error lights at all, it goes through the self test and sits there with just the neutral light on.

If anyone was in Bristol last night they'll know it pi55ed down around 6pm, I was riding back from Swansea.

I always park the bike in the garage on a paddock stand so it's not left leaning to the left and leave it running for a minute whilst I get out of my gear. If I ride a bike during the week I clean it on the weekend and its FS365'ed. Also connected to an Optimate over the weekend.

I checked ever fuse and every connector I could get to this morning, pulled it looked at it put back together.

The bike is currently connected to an Optimate and I have an industrial dehumidfier running to dry it out...

jasext, as an aside one of my offices is in Swansea..!

Hallo Peach, if got a 06' XTR and did river crossings, rode in heavy rain storms, and washes it with a hi-presure cleaner never had any problems.
IT must be just something that is exposed, really hope you get it right
:smilies0944:

Ive not heard of any problem like this on the forum, but take Kevs advice and ask the mechanic to look at the things he listed. Hes a proper mechanic and knows what hes talking about as he more than once had his bike in pieces playing about with it, adding this that and the other, all just out of the usual biker spirit of you have to tinker.

At the moment ive had the bike fail on me 2 times, once when one of the electrical connection blocks on the left side under the tank rusted through causing the bike to die, and the next the same area the main head light cable split at the connector (lucky i was at home and not night riding.)

Not too be harsh on yamaha it is a good bike, just some of the workmanship in certain areas is lacking ie the electrics in the routing/connections, and the quality of the finsih.

Update!
 

Got home from work this evening and tried the XT. Key in, ignition on, no errors but no EFI priming either (you know the noise you get as the fuel pump pressurises).

Ignition on and off a few times and eventually EFI primes. Press starter and nothing.

Ignition off and on, no EFI, off and on, got EFI, press starter, got a tick!!! We have progress!!!

Repeated this several times and we have a starter.

Long story short, after several minutes I manged to get the bike to start whereupon it ran for half a minute then stopped. Repeated the same steps (fewer times) and got it started again. This time it ran for five minutes before I switched it off. We have takeoff!!!

I have managed to get tomorrow morning off work and will take the tank off and check the connectors underneath. Will also run the diagnostics and check the sensors.

For all the advice received so far, much appreciated and :signthankspin:

Tonight I have reached the :surrender:stage until tomorrow...

Mate if you do not come right at the Yamaha dealership, post this question in the ASK Kev section & we will try to work through the problem for you.

Sounds like a low voltage battery or loose battery terminals or poor earth points.

Well let me know when your down this way and could probably meet up


I had a similar problem and local yamaha dealer had to replace complete wiring loom as there was a break in there somewhere ,also he changed the clocks due to water getting in at the back as the rubber gromet kept sliding off and down the wire just enough so when it rained heavy i would have the same problem as you

Please try this first ,undo the side panel covering your ecu ,try to start the bike and have a fiddle with the wires ,thats how i first noticed mine

Good luck

Stripped the bike this morning, all panels, fuel tank, clocks.

Pulled, cleaned and continuity tested every connector as per the service manual. Connectors under the tank were clean. Connectors to the left were filthy externally and one or two green spots internally. Optimate says the battery is good. Checked the diagnostics as per the service manual.

Put it all back together, started first time. Go figure!?

Will hosepipe it on the weekend and see what happens...

Hi Peach,
sounds like the problem i was having up until two weeks ago.i had it back to the dealer eleven time's between 02/12/08 and 19/02/09.i had to do alot of kicking+screaming but it seems to be sorted after they changed the trottle positioning sencer.i ended up ringing danfay(yamaha ireland)and got on to the warranty's man there(martin)explained my problem and that the dealer i bought it from could'nt fix it and that he would be receiving a letter from my legal council.so danfay picked it up from the dealer and brought it back eight days later,and it works now so i'm happy.

Lets hope that was the problem, it sure sounds like you found a resistance problem.

Current symptoms are when starting from cold it takes a few seconds before it catches. If left to idle on it's own it will stall, then take a few attempts before it will start again. If you blip the throttle it almost stalls then slowly the revs pick up.

Appears ok when warm except for the fact that it now surges between 55 and 65 mph, sometimes quite badly, similar to pulling the clutch in then letting it out non too gently!

ECU bad?

Take it to a dealer ,sounds like tps or faulty ecu ,otherwise subscibe here and you will have access to "ask Kev" he will help ,but as captmoto has previously stated that it is unfair to those who subscribe if Kev helps out on the general forum

I havent subscibed myself this year ,but will be doing so very soon as there are other benefits including the manual download which is VERY VERY helpfull and that would cost you more than a subsciption normally

Good luck and hope you get it sorted soon

Dont forget if your in swansea give us a shout

Latest update. Having eventually got the bike to start this morning it cut out then restarted whilst taking the bike to the dealers. This wouldn't have been too bad except that I was going around a corner at the time. End result was that it highsided me out of the seat and with my feet off the pegs in true superman style I crossed the on coming lane of traffic. Fortunately lady in Mondeo was quick enough to stop and I managed to gain control and stop after mounting the kerb.

Surfice to say I wasn't that impressed!

Amusingly (it is now) the RAC (or Yamaha Assist) insisted that they would not take the bike straight to Fowlers but instead they would attempt to fix the issue. The patrol man who arrived was soon under no illusion that the he was taking the bike straight to Fowlers. Having taken me back to the house I followed on my DR.

Fowlers apparently have no record of my bike, nor the two services they have performed, nor the fact that they sold it to me less than eight months ago. As if on que the Yamaha sales person walked past and cheerfully asked how the bike was going. Quite possibly the biggest mistake he's ever made. :-)

Having rebooked the bike for Fri, the icing on the cake was the technician who on presenting me with the sign in form stated "I couldn't check it in properly because it doesn't start".

And breathe...

sounds like these people are really pissing you about.

I know its easy to say as its not happening to me, but i would say have your bike, when you can fix it i'll have it back, but for now its not working sort it.

and leave it at that.

Ive read of a few people that yamaha basically didnt want to know until they just left there bike there and said its not working sort it!! and then the dealer had a problem so had to fix it.

Technician from the dealer got back to me today, as they didn't get to look at it on Friday.

They're replacing the clocks and entire wiring harness under warranty as they're badly corroded internally. Water ingress into the back of the clocks via the connector, the right hand switch block (hence issues starting), wiring harness connectors at left of fuel tank and relays.

Bikes never been pressure washed by myself but I do use it Mon to Fri every week for the last eight months.

At least I have way forward. :-)

Good job your getting it changed under warrenty.

My bike was out of warrenty when the kill switch cable corroded through on the left side set of electric blocks. I got it fixed at my own cost but the other connects etc arent the best and at this moment i cant seem to find heat shrink to place on the cables big enough so i dont have to cut the connectors off.

For others i made up a piece of rubber with a few cable ties to hopefully help stop the wetter getting into the cables. It just sits in front of the tank where the front goes in and is only loosely placed in so as when the bar moves in and out it doesnt restrict it. Will post a piccy laters.

17 months now second hand xt660r '04 13.000 from me and 10.000 from the previous owner no trouble at all !

Lets hope this will fix it & you can enjoy a trouble free bike.

Hello Maxwell123455.

Try Silicone Rescue tape, when you put it under tension it melts into itself forming a watertight seal. No need to remove the connectors... Hope this helps?

http://www.postpack.co.uk/acatalog/S...ist_tapes.html

Bike still with the dealer, I'm starting to think they're making the harness themselves... ;-)

My XT is back!
 

Collected my XT this morning!

Dealer replaced entire wiring harness and clocks.

Technician took the time to show me the original harness, the wires using the connector blocks by the left hand side of the fuel tank were appalling. The wire had effectively corroded inside the sheath. The technician continuity tested one of the wires then bent it 90 degrees and straigtened it. It failed the continuity test. When he pulled the wire it came out of the sheath because it had snapped where it had been bent.

Dealer has replaced 11 harnesses and 4 clocks on 08 XT's since the start of this year! All bikes were used daily throughout the winter.

I thought it was just the rider who didn't like the rain!!!

I still like the bike just disappointed with the wiring...

I love happy endings :crybaby:

Yep ive been hit by this aswell but at least i now know where the problem is and tried to solve yamahas cost cutting my taping the connectors up, siliconing them and also placing a large rubber flat in the hole on the left side of the tank that allows most of the water into that area.

This is a bit of a worry seeing as my bike is my main form of transport and will get used come hell or high water (or british weather!). Are the electrics that bad on the XT series if used year round or is it just a bad batch here and there?

Very good bike, BUT the electrics could be better positioned!!!

The cluster of connectors at the left of the fuel tank all have their "bums" showing to the front which is where the water drives in. Might be the Bristol area as well, they put so much salt on the road that in winter I turn white after a 20 mile ride to work!

Looking at the Z it has a plastic skirt which covers this area partly due to the headlight being mounted from the headstock and static rather than the forks and dynamic. ukiboy, I take it you have a Z from your avatar..?

I've been toying with the idea of fitting the OTR front end which is very similar to the Z. Plus it has a H4 and H7 lamp which gives me a backup light. If I don't change the front end I will fashion a deflector from thin plastic to protect the connectors.

XT Reliable
 

My XT is an 06 model.Its the most reliable bike I have owned.In 3 years its been through some of the worst terraine South Africa has to offer.It has 50 000 km on it and 5/6 off road.
Its never let me down , not even once !
And I have no intension of replacing it , not even the Z will mach my bike.

Reliable
 

Now on 72 450 km and going strong

Hunday very good!
My workshop is in now, on the road, broke gear third gear and ended up ruining many parts of the engine.
She is now with 99,079 km.
Best regards,

Big Kms.:respeck:

Very nice mileage Robson! I guess that makes you a good indicator of how reliable XT660 is. Apart from the unfortunate gear problem could you please let us know what other problems you XT had in the 99.000 kms of countless motorcycle trips?