[Resolved]  Yamaha Fazer — Casting wheel cracked

Address:

Pune, Maharashtra

I have purchased a Fazer on 23rd Sep 2009 and have done regular servicing till date as recommended. Last week when I was coming back from office, I found that a patch of the usual road which had a speed breaker earlier was shaved off and had a rough surface though not deep enough. I slowed down my bike speed to approx 50 kph and passed over the patch (around 1 foot width). When I just crossed the patch, I found my casting wheel had cracked at LH corner and a huge bend in the form of hump bulged out. The front tyre hit the kerb (around 1.0" height) at the center, but the failure is very weird. I don't have a single cut mark on my tyre, but the rim is almost damaged. It was just a normal ride and I would not consider that even an accident. But it ended up with a major failure As my bike is just 6 months old, I assumed that it must be some manufacturing error with the casting wheel and I can get a warranty replacement.. I approached Gurunanak Auto Lounge, Kasarwadi, Pune the next day to replace the wheel. But they didn't accept this failure as a manufacturing error and denied for warranty replacement. I tried to convince them, but all they could was to fill an insurance claim form against the damage. Now my fate is with the insurance agency. I also got to know from a local garage that there are a couple of similar issues found earlier. The load is expected to be entirely transferred to the wheel as the bike has tubeless tyres. In this case, the wheel is not repairable rather you will have to replace it entirely. The expense is around Rs 2500 which is high compared to bike price. I expect company to accept this as a failure and replace my damaged rim. This has definitely put me into a condition of apprehension where I will consider rinding this bike as a regular bike not a performance bike which claims it is meant for touring spirit. If this the result on regular tar surface, what will you expect from an off road ride then??????