2003 Yamaha XVS65 Transmission and drivetrain Problems

“As I was about to leave work and head back to my hotel, my motorcycle stopped working. I had to load it onto another vehicle and sent back home to be inspected. Upon inspection my mechanic had found a gear in my final drive had cracked and broken. The part has made my motorcycle inoperable. If this had occurred on a long ride home, the damage could have been severe.”

“A non maintenance part on the drive train of my 2003 Yamaha 650 motorcycle went out causing the bike to stop in the middle of a busy intersection which could have caused death--no warning.the mechanic said the part should have been greased at the manufacturer, but with the rust ,there was no sign of grease ever present.I have since learned that there are many, many people having or had the same problem with the drive train--and I found out that Yamaha released a letter in 2005 that the drive train should be inspected at every tire change- this shows Yamaha identified a problem but that was…”

“Rear differential pinion gear is not lubricated with grease during initial assembly. Lubrication of this gear is a common practice in the motorcycle industry. This oversight causes the gear to slowly wear away over time causing catastrophic failure of the drivetrain. If this occurs in a busy intersection serious injury or death may occur. This is a well known problem to Yamaha, yet the company has failed to correct this deficiency or make a replacement part available. …”

“Yamaha xvs 650 drive shaft coupler fails. Could cause rider to lose control. Factory does not lubricate part at during assembly and does not inform owner to lubricate. This problem has occurred to many owners. This happened to me, without a major incident. Yamaha does not seem to care about this problem.”