[Proteus]

Just curious, I first heard about the Gen 5 tranny recall in February 2018, the affected '16 and '17 models had been out there for a long time racking up road and track miles with owners apparently, blissfully unaware that they were riding a ticking time bomb. I've heard only one owner on this forum claim his transmission actually failed and locked up. Were there any reported bad crashes or injuries among '16 and '17 owners from locked trannys?

 

[GearsNStuff]

Just curious, I first heard about the Gen 5 tranny recall in February 2018, the affected '16 and '17 models had been out there for a long time racking up road and track miles with owners apparently, blissfully unaware that they were riding a ticking time bomb. I've heard only one owner on this forum claim his transmission actually failed and locked up. Were there any reported bad crashes or injuries among '16 and '17 owners from locked trannys?

I heard like 2 or 3 over in Asia, Taiwan I think - don't quote this. And whose transmission actually failed and locked up? There is a recent thread about a chewed up transmission, but that was gear 5 or 6 i think, not the gears affected by the recall, and I don't think his transmission ever locked up.

 

[Proteus]

Yep, a poster named Evelretrieval13 claims his tranny locked up on a Gen 5 but have not been able to confirm this, I noticed his post total was very low so not sure if this was legit or trolling.

 

[Proteus]

This is only one I found on this board:

Old 06-12-2018, 11:18 PM .

eviltrievel13

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Join Date: Aug 2017

Posts: 13

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Well, I got almost 10k miles in before my Transmission blew up. I never got a letter or anything. I heard about the recall, called the local dealer. They ordered the parts back in April, still haven't gotten them in. Nobody said what exactly would happen, or not to ride it lol. Well, I can tell you... It will just lock up the rear, very quickly and violantly. So hard the case broke at the front sprocket. After that, the chain popped off, as I said to a smokey stop ruining a brand new rear tire. Hell of a ride. Guess now it's a waiting game to see what happens, and if I'm bikeless for the summer. Better not be the case. Feeling like maybe I shoulda bought the R1M instead at this point....

 

[Schooley]

That guy sounds like the smartest guy on the short bus.. Dealer ordered parts in April for a recall that could potentially lead to a life-threatening situation and the guy is still riding around in June?

An important safety concern, if the the gears break in the transmission it is possible that the rider could lose control of the motorcycle and crash, thus a recall was ordered by Kawasaki.

Yeah, maybe he should have bought a Yam.. but I am very surprised he didnt stick with a GSXR due to the lack of critical thinking skills.

 

[ddipaola]

That guy sounds like the smartest guy on the short bus.. Dealer ordered parts in April for a recall that could potentially lead to a life-threatening situation and the guy is still riding around in June?

An important safety concern, if the the gears break in the transmission it is possible that the rider could lose control of the motorcycle and crash, thus a recall was ordered by Kawasaki.

Yeah, maybe he should have bought a Yam.. but I am very surprised he didnt stick with a GSXR due to the lack of critical thinking skills.

Glad I'm not the only one who found that stupid af :lol:

 

[primacarne]

i have brought in bikes for recalls before... the dealer will not order the parts unless they have possession of the bike.

consider this myth, BUSTED

 

[Proteus]

I smell a troll here, I'd like to see photos of Evel's busted case and gutted tranny, the comment on the R1M gave him away.....

 

[ddipaola]

I smell a troll here, I'd like to see photos of Evel's busted case and gutted tranny, the comment on the R1M gave him away.....

Just the other day I saw posts from numerous Gen5 owners on an FB kawi page (or maybe it was on here), showing their gears sheared or obliterated pre-recall... So the gear failure is definitely a real issue to not look past. Just figure a broken tooth travelling at XXXX-rpms... it's basically a bullet inside your gearbox.

My friend who works at AAM said that when they tested a set of gears to failure they had to put it in an reinforced no-entry cell. He showed me aftermath pics too! Looked like someone put a .45 in the damn thing when the tooth shot out.

 

[Proteus]

Just the other day I saw posts from numerous Gen5 owners on an FB kawi page (or maybe it was on here), showing their gears sheared or obliterated pre-recall... So the gear failure is definitely a real issue to not look past. Just figure a broken tooth travelling at XXXX-rpms... it's basically a bullet inside your gearbox.

My friend who works at AAM said that when they tested a set of gears to failure they had to put it in an reinforced no-entry cell. He showed me aftermath pics too! Looked like someone put a .45 in the damn thing when the tooth shot out.

Can you post the link to that site where you saw the posts for us?

I found this article, two warranty claims for broken gears in US, first reported in Thailand:

https://ultimatemotorcycling.com/20...-zx-10r-recalls-3964-due-transmission-issues/


Thanks!

 

[Proteus]

https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2018/RCRIT-18V089-7506.pdf

 

[ddipaola]

I'll look around, pretty sure they were on FB, I'll work to get some screenshots out there for anyone interested!

 

[Proteus]

I'll look around, pretty sure they were on FB, I'll work to get some screenshots out there for anyone interested!

Thanks, I'd like to see that.

 

[Honey Badger]

I've heard of one crash incident where an inspection of the transmission by insurance has led to things going legal. I do not know the details as once that determination was made, things were hushed up. It is probably far from being settled, so no outcome at this point, either.

I was the one with the chewed up transmission, I yanked it before it had a chance to lock up as that was my fear. It's a race bike, not worth taking the chances. I have a thread about that, so no need to go into it here.

 

[Proteus]

Wow, so there was at least one serious crash, I'm assuming with injuries, do you know if it was track or street?

 

[Honey Badger]

Wow, so there was at least one serious crash, I'm assuming with injuries, do you know if it was track or street?

Street, on a pretty new bike.

 

[speed_freak91]

i have brought in bikes for recalls before... the dealer will not order the parts unless they have possession of the bike.

consider this myth, BUSTED

Actually this isn't true. I work at a Kawasaki dealer and you can order the parts without physically having the bike. All you need is the VIN. If a recall comes out, some dealers will order the parts for all the recalled units they sold. It's annoying when they do this because it can wipe out Kawasaki's inventory and put the stuff on backorder.

 

[GearsNStuff]

i have brought in bikes for recalls before... the dealer will not order the parts unless they have possession of the bike.

consider this myth, BUSTED

Actually this isn't true. I work at a Kawasaki dealer and you can order the parts without physically having the bike. All you need is the VIN. If a recall comes out, some dealers will order the parts for all the recalled units they sold. It's annoying when they do this because it can wipe out Kawasaki's inventory and put the stuff on backorder.

I couldn't tell the direction primacarne was going, but I can confirm that YES, the dealer can and will order the recall kit without physically having the bike (Confirmed directly with Kawasaki HQ sending parts to my dealer).

I brought the bike in when the parts arrived, and the dealer was ready to do the work. (Granted my experience sucked, and required the dealer to do the work twice!)

 

[Proteus]

I couldn't tell the direction primacarne was going, but I can confirm that YES, the dealer can and will order the recall kit without physically having the bike (Confirmed directly with Kawasaki HQ sending parts to my dealer).

I brought the bike in when the parts arrived, and the dealer was ready to do the work. (Granted my experience sucked, and required the dealer to do the work twice!)

What went wrong the first time, it doesn't sound like it would be a particularly difficult fix for an experienced wrench?

 

[Proteus]

Parts Availability:
To ensure parts availability across the dealer
network, Kawasaki initially requests that parts are
ordered based on immediate demand:
• For retailed units, order parts as customers
schedule repairs or for repairs expected to take
place within the next two weeks.
• For unsold units, use VIP in K-Dealer to identify
the number of affected units in your dealership
inventory. Order repair parts only for units that
will be repaired for retail sale within the next two
weeks.

It sounds like you can pre-order the repair parts if you plan to drop off the bike within two weeks.