Yamaha Motorbike Towing and Warranty

[nocturnalK]

I have a new motorbike that is 5 months old and only 4200 kilometers on it. I've taken it in twice for scheduled maintenance. Today, the rear wheel completely stopped and is locked in place. Tomorrow is Sunday, and I'm a bit far from the dealership.

My next planned step is to call the Yamaha dealership where I bought the bike from for towing service. The bike cannot move, and it looks like I'll need a truck.

While talking to the Yamaha after hours call center, they said it would probably cost 1500 baht for transport to the dealership, but that I should call the dealership. I think that's expensive considering I just need a truck, and the bike should be under warranty.

Does anybody have any experience with having a bike transported or towed? I'm in the Maejo area and looking for cheaper transport. No red taxis here.

Is it likely that my warranty covers the locked wheel?

Thanks for any information. I was not able to find anything on TV regarding Yamaha warranty and roadside assistance.

[nocturnalK]

Does the warranty cover towing?

[taotoo]

Did the bike not come with a warranty booklet?

[cmth]

The dealer will be the key to what happens next. Towing the bike should be free for a failure under warranty. I had an issue with my Yamaha while it was under warranty and although it was not handled properly, it was handled quickly and without too much expense. The battery completely died and the bike would not even run using the kick start. I still don't understand why as the generator should provide enough power for the bike to run without battery power. Regardless, I phoned the dealer and he came to Big C where the bike had stopped. After a short inspection he decided that he needed to take the bike to his shop. They loaded it into the back of a PU and he said he would call me within the hour. About an hour later he called me and returned the bike to Big C. The charge was 600 THB for a new battery. The bike was under warranty and I showed him the purchase date clearly showing the battery should be covered. He had the old battery (supposedly) with him in the truck and showed me that date stamp that was on the battery. According to it the battery was out of warranty for 2 months. I explained that no matter when the battery was made, the bike was purchased on a different date and the warranty starts on that date. It's not my fault if the battery sits in a warehouse before it is installed in the bike. He still insisted that I have to pay for the battery. No mention of transportation costs or labor was ever mentioned, just the cost of the battery. To save the trouble of arguing about the issue, I just payed the 600 THB and went on my way. I'm fairly confident that he also filed the warranty claim with Yamaha and was reimbursed by them for the cost of the battery and possibly labor and towing. My Thai friends confirmed that the battery, labor, and towing was covered by the warranty and the dealer scammed me for the 600 THB. Good luck with the resolution of the problem and have a Thai friend come with you and do the talking, it may keep the dealer a little more honest.

[nocturnalK]

Thank you so much for the excellent reply. It is helpful.

[nocturnalK]

Yamaha dealership where I bought my bike (Kad Suan Kaew) is not answering the phone. Maybe because it's Sunday, but their info page says they are open.

Will the warranty work at any Yamaha dealership? Does anyone know a Yamaha service center that is open on Sunday? I'll need a phone number as I have no transportation now.

[nocturnalK]

Did the bike not come with a warranty booklet?

The warranty book is in Thai.

[anto]

If your stuck i could take your bike to the dealer tomorrow Monday in my pickup for B800 .I live in Nongchom ,Sansai .tel;0868286320

[Rotweiler]

If your stuck i could take your bike to the dealer tomorrow Monday in my pickup for B800 .I live in Nongchom ,Sansai .tel;0868286320

Strongly recommend removal of that info

[anto]

If your stuck i could take your bike to the dealer tomorrow Monday in my pickup for B800 .I live in Nongchom ,Sansai .tel;0868286320

Strongly recommend removal of that info

Why ?

[KMartinHandyman]

Because the bib will be calling asking for your work permit?

[anto]

Because the bib will be calling asking for your work permit?

The Thai wife will be driving then .

[KMartinHandyman]

"Up to you"

[anto]

"Up to you"

Up to the OP .He has not contacted me so he must have found a solution .

[nocturnalK]

"Up to you"

Up to the OP .He has not contacted me so he must have found a solution .

Thanks for the offer. I've saved your number for any future needs. I'm hoping to get this squared away with the Yamaha people in the morning.

[Dante99]

Rear wheel locked.....hmmm......Brake locked or transmission locked?

A local repair man might just get you up and running in 5 or 10 minutes, that would be my first try. No worries about the waranty if he does not open it up too much and you keep your mouth shut. Opps, maybe too late for that.

No red songtaewos in Mae Joe but they have plenty of green ones.

[nocturnalK]

Good info about the songthaews. I didn't need one as Yamaha sent out a truck with a price tag of 200 to 300 baht. That might be reimbursed by the warranty.

The Kad Suan Kaew dealership was closed for renovation, so they sent the bike to their main branch near Three Kings Monument. I got a phone call saying they won't honor the warranty as a different Yamaha dealership (Ratchdamnoen) had done the maintenance on my bike during the prior week (due to KSK dealership being closed). The KSK and Three Kings is owned by one company. Ratchadamnoen just down the road is owned by a different company.

Repairs came out to about 4,500 baht for a transmission failure. A gentleman from the Three Kings branch heard me pleading and complaining my case, and he decided to honor the warranty. This is part luck and part human decency. He didn't have to do this as I had unknowingly taken my bike to the wrong Yamaha branch for maintenance.

I have not picked up the bike yet, so I'll have to wait and see if they will keep to their word. But I think everything is going to work out.

Key thing to learn: If you buy a bike, only do maintenance at your Yamaha dealer. If you go to a different one, make sure that it's a franchise of the same owner. They're all called Yamaha Square, and they won't necessarily honor your warranty if you take it to a different owner's branch.

[Aussie69]

Good outcome then ☺

[anto]

Thats good info about always going to where you bought for service under warranty .I was under the impression that you could go to any Honda or Yamaha branch .

[nocturnalK]

Final Update:

Yamaha honored the warranty in full. I paid 40 baht for gear oil. No towing, spare parts, or labor fees. That saved me 4500 baht.

Three Kings Monument branch on Propaklau Rd. did a fine job with exceptional service. Also, they generally don't speak much English at all, but they'll find someone in their shop to help (very big branch).

[cmth]

Technically the warranty is good at any authorized Yamaha Dealer in Thailand. The truth of the matter is that if the dealer didn't sell you the bike, they don't want to fuss around with the warranty paper work and wait on their money from Yamaha. This contradicts the way most dealers like to do business in the West. Regardless of who sold the vehicle, dealers are well paid for warranty work. The rates they are paid for warranty work are usually higher than the normal service rates. I worked at a warranty repair shop for a major electronics center in the US and we were ecstatic when work came in under warranty regardless of who sold it. The pay checks were much larger when the manufacturers were footing the bill.

[flare]

Warranty work is more profitable with fast, skilled mechanics- manufacturers pay xxx per hour to dealerships that perform warranty work for the set number of hours they estimate the job will take- a transmission job the Yamaha head office estimates to take four hours is a moneymaker if the mechanic can manage it in that timeframe (or less as is often the case for recalls where the techs get a lot of practice doing a single repair and get faster as time goes by), but if he's ham-fisted and takes eight hours to do it, Yamaha won't pay for the extra time.

[cmth]

Warranty work is more profitable with fast, skilled mechanics- manufacturers pay xxx per hour to dealerships that perform warranty work for the set number of hours they estimate the job will take- a transmission job the Yamaha head office estimates to take four hours is a moneymaker if the mechanic can manage it in that timeframe (or less as is often the case for recalls where the techs get a lot of practice doing a single repair and get faster as time goes by), but if he's ham-fisted and takes eight hours to do it, Yamaha won't pay for the extra time.

I agree 100%. And most mechanics can finish the job much faster than the allotted time by the manufacturer. I don't know how it's done in Thailand but in the US the dealer also gets a better reimbursement price on the parts than the price they normally charge customers. The electronics field works pretty much the same way. I managed a shop that wasn't supposed to make money, we were just there for customer service. Within six months we were turning a profit higher than many of the sales departments. With the right staff, warranty work can be a very lucrative business. Back to OP, it doesn't make sense why any shop wouldn't want the warranty work. Some of the logic here boggles the mind.