Owner's warning on XVS1100

I have had problems with my 2001, 5,000-mile Yamaha XVS1100 that I think others should be warned about.

It is my first Yamaha after 34 years with Honda and Kawasaki and I’ve been disappointed with the bike – mainly due to a problem with the starter clutch.

I soon found that my bike was becoming hard to start. This turned into a banging noise when starting and eventually there was one almighty bang from the starter area. This turned out to be the starter motor self-destructing.

I discovered afterwards from fellow owners in the cruiser club I belong to that this is a common problem on XVS1100s from 2000-2002. If you own one you should check your starter motor fixing bolts and make sure they are aligned on the outside of the starter motor.

What can happen is the bolts can twist and the starter clutch slips backwards when you stop or start, eventually smashing the starter main drive. This is very expensive to fix as you have to renew both the starter clutch and possibly the starter motor. It’s cost me £750 so far.

Yamaha have been informed by myself and others, with detailed engineer reports, but their response is that if a bike is out of warranty they won’t cover the repair costs.

It’s my view that the starter clutch is badly manufactured. Please contact me for advice and if you think you might have this problem by emailing ray180756@aol.com or calling 01603-610247.

I think Yamaha should do the decent thing and do a free recall and fix for any customers who have this problem, even though it isn’t techncially a safety issue.