2015+ R1 engine blow ups...

I was picking up my CBR 1000rr from my mechanics shop and got to talking about the newer 1000s. He knows I am looking at getting a 2018 R1. He told me that the 2015 and up, R1 engines are blowing up. He hasn't heard anything about the 2018s, and said he believes that Yamaha is trying to fix the problem. I know they have had a transmission recall, but nothing other than that. Have any of you heard about the 2015+ R1's having this type of problem? Thanks.

 

No...

 

Someone started a post like this at the beginning of February. Seems there’s not much out there to substantiate blow up claims. I worked as a auto/ motorcycle Machinest for ten years and have seen every type of engine blown up. Abuse was far more common than any particular brand.

 

yeah generally they dont just blow up.
Seems the reputation always starts with negligence on an owners part... like not running enough oil for starters.

 

EDR has posted a ton on the issue. Particularly the 15's. 16 and up got some updates that supposedly fix the issue. That being said, they are the only shop I have seen that seems to constantly be talking about it on social media.

 

I was thinking it may be some type of neglect on the owner. Not properly breaking it in, oil, or whatever. Sucks for the two guys he was talking about. One was just out of warranty, and the other was considered a “race bike”.

 

I was the one that asked about this not long ago and yes EDR has posted a good bit on instagram about broken cranks in 15's and 16's. The issue is the way the crank is crossdrilled for oiling purposes. Truthfully that issue seems to be isolated to Pacific Northwest unless someone on the east coast would like to own up to seeing broken cranks. The issues I've heard of locally (Maryland and surrounding areas) all ended up with a common theme of a bike that was crashed a good bit before said failures.

 

They were also seeing the majority of the 09 GSXR "blow ups" as well , just something to think about....

 

Yup, hence why I mentioned it. I would think it would be making the rounds on the internet if it were happening everywhere. There is a thread like this on the R1 forum at the moment where one of the other shops that does a lot of club racing and works with one of the MA teams mentions they only ever hear of this coming from one shop (bet you ten bucks who they meant.....). They did mention that Yamaha is on a third generation of crankcase design and that there is/was a potential flaw with the oil pan causing starvation issues under the types of braking that only people getting paid to win championships might possibly encounter. Which was why Attack likely was posting pics of the most beautiful CNC'd oil pan I've ever seen on IG the other day for Herrin's bike.

 

Valve train design changed from 2016 to 2017. With a bucket-less design I wonder how important spring pressure might be in order to keep the shim securely in place.

 

The workshop guy has done an in depth analysis on this finally

 

Cliff's on the explanation above (and it does look sound from how he lays it out), is that end to end free-play on the crank results in the balancer shaft coming into contact, or should I say smashing, into the end of the crank and snapping the end right off. If you're at all curious its worth a watch.

in other words....it doesn't have anything to do with the oiling holes drilled into it.

 

East coast? Yup. 2015 MY. A track bike, don't know if it had ever been down or, if so, how hard or how many times.

I'd name the owner but let's just say he's a well known member of the EvolveGT community...his track history going back to the Reduc days. In other words, not a knucklehead and been around the track scene long enough. He was perplexed and Yamaha was dragging their feet addressing the issue.

 

More analysis on it. Some interesting details here, he mentions that it may not necessarily be the year of the bike that dictates if it has an issue, but the batch of cranks that were used.

I have to say, of all the speculation as to how the failure happened, this is the best breakdown of what I think could have actually did it. All the other theories I've read sound like assumptions out of left field, this guy actually shows you all the symptoms that point towards his conclusion.

 

I dunno but the EWC had isolated crank failures even on the top team YART... Haven't really seen that with the other manufacturers. (Didn't stop them winning the overall.)

 

According to this guy (who actually had a case to compare it against), the idea of end to end float from the crank and smashing into the balancer is not plausible as he demonstrates.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=525719354956857

 

I’m a R1 fan and active on the R1forum and have seen this crank issue shown in the above post along with video of the incident from the rider behind him. He was at a fairly low rpm as well when it happened. This was on a 15 R1m. Plus all of the EDR issues with them as well. Then there have also been some valve train issues which I believe were addressed as well which was also mentioned above. I’d definitely go for the extended warranty on the newer models. Really sucks being I just love my yamahas. I watched the video above post 11 not long ago and there is some good info in it.

 

EDR issues. Lol.

 

yea but it made 340hp on pump gas and a slip on!

 

Come on now Rick, when the man speaks we should all listen