Yelloverload: The Curse

"yamahog" (yamahog) 06/29/2016 at 21:00 • Filed to: None

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What a lovely photograph. Or maybe not, if you’re one of those people who hates bright colors, overweight ‘Merican cars, and/or donorcycles. If it’s the latter, you’ll definitely enjoy this post.

I took this picture today, after over three weeks of having one or both in the shop, a far cry from the no-fuss reputations these two brands have. For all the times I’ve giggled with a bit of schadenfreude at my friends with BMWs/Audis/Jags/Ducatis/Moto Guzzis spending more time in the garage or shop than on the road, it was my turn.

June 7th: With the Michigan roads being boring at best and surface of the moon at worst, I rarely ride on the street. Track day, bro! But the weather looked nice, and I’d just adjusted the suspension, so I rode the bike in to work on a Tuesday. On my way home, I stopped for gas, and when I went to restart? The ominous clicking of a dead battery. Ughhhhhhh. I just got a new one when I bought the thing in March... wtf? I had track time scheduled for the 18th, so rather than waste time with my shoddy mechanic skills, and needing new tires mounted anyway, I took it in to the shop. And so the wait began.

June 11th, day 5: Some friends and I were down in Louisville for US Strongman Nationals to cheer on our friends who’d qualified. Through the din of the crowd and the grunts of the competitors, my phone rang. The tech reported that my stator was “fried,” and also the dealership I’d bought it from had blown the fork seals when they shipped it to me back in March. Great. I’d noticed some spots in my garage, but wasn’t sure if it was from the usual post-shipment excess. Totally what I get for buying it offseason, still too much snow on the ground to get an adequate test drive or ride it home. Now we waited for parts.

June 12th, day 6: I was driving north from Louisville on I75 when suddenly ( !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! ) the Camaro’s tach started dropping. The engine had cut out without warning and so I coasted to the shoulder, in the middle of nowhere, Ohio. I still had power steering, and when I tried to restart, it would crank but wouldn’t turn over. After convincing OnStar that yes, with less than 13k miles on the clock and barely a year of ownership I still had roadside service, I waited in the 90+ degree heat waiting for a tow to the local Chevy dealer. OnStar had offered me a hotel room and a rental car the next day (all the rental locations were already closed by that time on a Sunday), but I had to get to work on Monday. Luckily my fiancé was at home and made the 3-hour trip to pick me up, while my car sat with an unknown affliction at an unknown dealership and I drowned my sorrows at the local bar.

The Immobile Hulk in transit. The guys from the towing company must not see too many 1LEs, and were sending snaps with it

And now, with both yellow vehicles in the shop, we waited again.

June 15th, day 9: I received a call from the dealership in Ohio. It was the fuel tank sensors. The right and left side sensors were installed on the wrong sides, and one was fouled. My car had run out of gas while still reading 1/8th tank remaining.

(°° 

GM replaced both sensors under warranty and had the car towed to my driveway by June 17th, day 11.

June 18th, day 12: My track day at Gingerman came and went with the R6 still sitting in the shop awaiting the stator. _

June 28th, day 22: FINALLY the damn thing was done. Which I would’ve known, had the shop actually left me a message instead of calling and hanging up. (_)

June 29th, today: After 23 days apart, my cursed and obnoxiously yellow twins are parked next to one another once more. Without further ado, my first track day on the R6 is now this Saturday.

About damn time.

CB > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:05

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Damn that blows hard. Have you considered moving up to orange vehicles? Might be more reliable.

yamahog > CB 06/29/2016 at 21:06

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Perhaps, but as my father the KTM enthusiast can attest to, orange isn’t too much better!

CB > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:07

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Hah, I’d suggest red, but my mum’s fuel pump went this year. Unfortunately, to get a reliable car, it looks like you might have to go beige.

AM3R shamefully returns > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:11

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Blue is a very reliable color you know

yamahog > CB 06/29/2016 at 21:11

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yamahog > AM3R shamefully returns 06/29/2016 at 21:14

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Noted!

Also, my rusty old full-size Blazer (rattlecan black) is now officially the most reliable vehicle I own. -_-

CB > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:16

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You can stay in the GM family, at least!

CRider > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:22

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Should have bought a Mustang and a supermoto.

yamahog > CB 06/29/2016 at 21:22

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hissssssssssssssssssssss

LongbowMkII > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:22

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Of course the K10 is the most reliable.

yamahog > CRider 06/29/2016 at 21:23

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lol yea, supermoto :P because being 5'3" on a sportbike isn’t rough enough!

yamahog > LongbowMkII 06/29/2016 at 21:25

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No AC though, and the wipers don’t turn off when you tell them to. #icanthavenicethings

CRider > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:28

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The seat on a DRZ 400SM is only 1.5" higher than the seat on an R6, and if you drop it it’s not like you’re out $800 for a new fairing.

Supermoto is always the answer.

yamahog > CRider 06/29/2016 at 21:30

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*ONLY* 1.5 higher than the tallest sportbike, he says.

XD

DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 21:33

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Pearl white is the way to go.

yamahog > DancesWithRotors - Driving Insightfully 06/29/2016 at 21:36

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hmmmm.....

I think I’m a bit too poor for now, lol

CRider > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 22:08

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Hey, you only need to reach the pegs. The ground will come to *you*.

The Compromiser > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 22:18

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Oddly, I was on 8 mile, crossing Woodward, and saw a yellow Camaro with a for sale sign in a liquor store parking lot and I thought of you. I thought, she just got it, why would she sell it. Or sell it in a liquor store parking lot. Seems that I was more right than I thought....

That Yammy stripe tho......Mmmmm mm mmmmm.

#yellowistheshit.

E92M3 > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 22:29

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I used to have that same R6. Loved that thing! I only got to put 3k miles on it unfortunately.

yamahog > The Compromiser 06/29/2016 at 22:36

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Hahaha! yea, those few days before I knew it’d be fixed under warranty I was already looking up what I’d replace it with if they bought it back... I was not a happy camper!

The Compromiser > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 23:00

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Admit your first thought was the Challenger 392. You know it was! ;)

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > yamahog 06/29/2016 at 23:38

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lololololololol

Ralle36 failures: 1 (valves don’t count, still drivable. also self-inflicted)

Fatmaro: 2 and counting

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 06/29/2016 at 23:39

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CBR: 0

FR-S: 0 or even -1 because it is beast

Gamecat235 > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 03:36

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Soon she will be ready for beige. Give her time and she will come to accept that beige is the color of staid, boring, but ultimately reliable (with pretty damn good confidence and data points to support).

yamahog > Gamecat235 06/30/2016 at 05:58

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Hisssssss

yamahog > The Compromiser 06/30/2016 at 06:00

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Not quite...

yamahog > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 06/30/2016 at 06:03

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Blazer: -2 for the starter coming back to life with a precision hammer, and for killing a Chrysler 200 with no more than a scratch

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 07:35

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Except for the wrecked push bar and brown stains in the seat

The Compromiser > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 08:06

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I had one of the ones on the left blow past me in Livonia. but with the red badge (R). couldn’t get the windows down fast enough.

yamahog > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 06/30/2016 at 08:07

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You mean your new light bar and thank FSM for tacky seat covers? 

yamahog > The Compromiser 06/30/2016 at 08:09

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Did you know you can get a GT350 in yellow, too? 10/10 did configure

Also there’s a bitchin sparkly purple option for the 17MY vettes. Mmmmmmm. Probably the safer option given my record ;)

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 08:32

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My very curved light bar, yes

yamahog > Santiago of Escuderia Boricua 06/30/2016 at 08:48

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Don’t look the gift Blazer in the mouth. Some people pay good money for that!

Santiago of Escuderia Boricua > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 08:49

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Scrap value is good money? ;)

The Compromiser > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 10:43

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Oddly, that’s what I did this morning. Vette, and GT350...And a Camaro. Now back to work.

nermal > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 11:15

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How are you trailering your bike? The fork seals leaking are caused by the front end being cranked down to the bump stops via ratchet straps or whatever. Obviously if you do the same, it will happen again.

Get a Pit Bull TRS if you don’t have one. Cost is ~$300, and it takes less than a minute to secure the bike to the trailer.

Gamecat235 > yamahog 06/30/2016 at 11:24

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yamahog > nermal 06/30/2016 at 12:16

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Yea, I’m aware. I haven’t trailered this one myself yet. The dealership brought it down to me in the back of a truck, cranked down, so I’m assuming that’s how it happened. There’s a somewhat local guy selling his used pitbulls, I just need to get my ass out there and give him my money.

notsomethingstructural > yamahog 07/01/2016 at 17:23

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Sorry to dump this here, but I cannot view your reply on the DMV post I did. I’ve been driving for 4 hours which is why I did not reply. (And as it is now in drafts, I cannot, presumably because I’ve had authorship suspended). I actually replied to party and after that I was notified of whatever it was you sent. Please see my reply there, assuming it posted. Sorry for the holdup.

notsomethingstructural > notsomethingstructural 07/01/2016 at 17:29

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Well it looks like the reply was memory holed but basically -DM me @nss_ds or email somethingstructural@gmail.com - I was always planning to respond publicly once I was no longer on the road, but asked to talk privately with you first.

yamahog > notsomethingstructural 07/01/2016 at 17:34

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Since it’s in drafts, we won’t be able to view comments. I replied to say it was sent to drafts under mod consensus, so do not restore it without permission. Your authorship status is unaffected since nothing was deemed banworthy, but it was a joke in poor taste at best and spawned some unfortunate threads.

notsomethingstructural > yamahog 07/01/2016 at 17:36

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I’d like to discuss further please email or DM (see other comment in this thread) or point me to the right hidey hole of kinja and dismiss this.

yamahog > notsomethingstructural 07/01/2016 at 17:59

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The email is oppomoderator at gmail

notsomethingstructural > yamahog 07/01/2016 at 18:11

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Will send later. Thanks.

notsomethingstructural > yamahog 07/02/2016 at 23:29

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I sent over my thoughts, which by the end, there were several. I appreciate you taking the time to read and reply. Please ensure party sees as well, since they had a slightly different perspective on the issue.

yamahog > notsomethingstructural 07/02/2016 at 23:58

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Responded, and will do.