NHTSA

These motorcycles are apparently assembled with a headlight wiring harness which is too short. Problems may appear as the bike’s handlebar is turned fully to the left or right, official Yamaha anddocuments explain. The insufficient length of the wiring harness cause excessive strain in the coupling or wires themselves at the full angle of rotation.Repeatedly reaching the maximum turning angle of the handlebars might cause the harness to break near the coupler or the coupler may disconnect. As a result, the headlight will cease to operate, posing an increased crash hazard, especially when riding at night or in low light conditions. At the same time, the motorcycle will be less visible on the roads, enhancing the chances that other motorists will fail to observe it approaching, again a major road hazard for riders and passengers.Yamaha is notifying the customers and will schedule repairs which are free of charge. Authorized Yamaha dealers will install a headlight coupler sub-lead harness which will provide proper lead wire length. The same source adds that the whole operation will take approximately 45 minutes to perform.Starting with September 2014, Yamaha has updated the production specs for the FZ-09 motorcycles and a longer lead wire harness will be used for the headlight to prevent this problem from occurring in the future.No accident or injury was reported, but such an issue makes me wonder to what extent are motorcycle manufacturers willing to take cost reduction. While it’s only natural that resources and materials, in this case – wires are nor wasted in a product, trying to manufacture a wiring harness which BARELY does the job in terms of length doesn’t sound nice at all. Elementary math tells us that the economy Yamaha thought they will make by not adding an extra inch of wiring is overwhelmed by the costs of the repair. Not exactly profitable, don’t you agree?Follow the link for more info and photos of the Yamaha FZ-09