2005 Yamaha XVS1100 Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“I was driving my newly bought (used) motorcycle, bought it from the previous owner. It has about 30,000 miles on it. Drove it home no problem, by the end of the week I was going up a hill and heard a loud whining noise as soon as I let off the throttle. Look at the bike once I get home and the mid drive shaft that transmits power from the transmission to the final drive had snapped off at the end. The bolt had broke off. While researching forums on the internet this problem has come up many many times with this year of motorcycle. …”

“The bike started shuttering so bad, the mirrors shook loose and I thought I was going to crash. I was able to safely stop the bike and had it towed back home. A mechanic looked at it and said the center driveline may possibly be coming loose. The bike shakes when any torque is applied to the motor, and it's coming from under the rider seat. Exactly where the driveline is housed. Yamaha must recall and fix this issue before the rear tire locks up while riding.”

“I have the same complaint as many others about this particular motorcycle. The head of the bolt that holds together the mid gear broke off. Now the motorcycle is making a loud whiny noise on deceleration which is unbearable. After replacing the final drive and the problem persisting my mechanic finally took the motorcycle apart to inspect the mid gear and saw the part broken off. I'm really disappointed in Yamaha although they pride themselves in claiming to make quality motorcycle they refuse to accept that this is a manufacturing defect and issue a recall on this. …”

“Driving 45mph on a flat black top. Speedo started to bounce heard a noise that sounded like grinding when applying the clutch while letting off of the throttle. A few moments later the speedo failed. I was able to drive my bike home. While investigating the speedo failure and the source of the noise I discovered that the middle drive gear shaft sheared off. The shaft sheared off on the threaded portion at the retaining nut location. In researching the cause of the failure, I found that this is a common failure on these motorcycles that I feel needs to be addressed by Yamaha.”

“Motorcycle started making noise when slowing down and then when shifting. Took it to a motorcycle shop and found out the middle drive shaft had gone bad. Have since found out this is a real problem with this bike. Can't afford to get it fixed now.”