India Yamaha Motor has issued a recall for its flagship motorcycle, the YZF-R1 because of a defect detected in the headlight assembly.
At the end of last month, Japanese bike maker Yamaha had issued a global recall of over 24,000 units of its flagship, the Yamaha YZF-R1 sportsbike and the Super Tenere XTZ12 adventure touring motorcycle, due to an issue detected with the model’s headlights. Now however, the Indian division of the Japanese bike maker, India Yamaha Motor Pvt Ltd., has extended the recall of the YZF-R1 models that were sold in India over the same issue. The affected motorcycles were manufactured between October 2008 and August 2013.
Yamaha says that in the affected motorcycles, use of the headlight may generate enough heat to cause the bulb connections to expand, resulting in arcing between the terminal connector and the bulb contact. According to the documents released by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the defect in the headlight may cause the socket to overheat and melt, causing the headlight to malfunction. The issue was first detected by Yamaha Motor Company in Japan.
Yamaha will notify the respective owners of the affected motorcycles and the dealers will replace the headlight socket, free of charge. The recall has already begun in the U.S and the other parts of the world at the end of February 2014, while the Indian operations are expected to commence in the coming week. Meanwhile, Yamaha is asking the owners not to use their motorcycles until the headlight sub lead has been replaced.
A letter from Yamaha USA to the Chief Administrator of the NHTSA stated “We anticipate commencing dealer/owner notification shortly after the owner’s notification letter is approved by NHTSA, the affected VIN range is ascertained and the Technical Bulletin service procedure is confirmed and finalized by Yamaha service staff. We anticipate sending the Agency the owner’s notification letter for review/approval by February 19, 2014 along with a draft of the Technical Bulletin.”
The Yamaha R1 is powered by a 998 cc liquid-cooled, four-stroke, DOHC, four-valve, engine producing 182.1 PS at 12,500 rpm and 115.5 Nm of torque at 10,000 rpm. The R1 measures 2,070 mm in length 715 mm in width and 1,130 mm in height with a 1,415 mm wheelbase. The dry weight of the R1 is rated at 206 kg. The motorcycle gets a ‘diamond’ type frame with a telescopic fork at the front and swing-arm type suspension at the rear. Apart from the tachometer, the R1 sports a full LCD instrument cluster.
A headlight failure in any motorcycle reduces the rider’s ability to see clearly and the motorcycles’ visibility to oncoming traffic, increasing the risk of a crash. We strongly urge all the Yamaha YZF-R1 customers in India to get their respective superbikes thoroughly checked by the closest service center to avoid any risk of injury.
