Middle drive shaft snapped off where the nut goes on. This is very dangerous and has happened on many of these bikes. The back wheel can lock up and put the motorcycle into a skid causing an accident that could easily result in death. I was driving down the road and noticed a loud noise coming from the engine area of the motorcycle. The drive train was skipping and locking up. Upon inspection I seen that the drive shaft had snapped off. I plan on contacting yamaha to see what they plan to do about this. This was poor design because the have made a stronger drive shaft to replace it.
The worst 2002 Yamaha XVS11 problems
Ranked by number of owner complaints. Mileage and cost come from what owners wrote.
- Transmission11
- Electrical2
- Engine1
Problems by type
Tap a problem to see which part fails, at what mileage and in which other years.
- Transmission11
- Electrical2
- Engine1
Recalls 2
Seats: motorcycle
- What is wrong
- On certain motorcyles, the original replacement mounting hardware holding the passenger seat to the fender could break if the mounting hardware is over tightened.
- Risk
- If the hardware breaks, the passenger seat can fall off the rear fender. The passenger could lose balance and fall, causing serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Owners may already have received a letter from yamaha dated march 3, 2005, about this defect. In order to provide an improved remedy to the repair of the previous recall, yamaha is recalling certain motorcycles again. Dealers will replace the hardware holding the passenger seat to the fender with components of a different type that will not allow the seat to fall off. The recall began on june 15, 2005. Owners may contact yamaha at 1-800-88-yamaha.
Recall number 05V256000 · Recall details
Seats: motorcycle
- What is wrong
- On certain motorcycles, the mounting hardware holding the passenger seat to the fender could loosen due to the passenger's weight shifting on the seat.
- Risk
- If the mounting hardware becomes loose enough to fall off, the passenger seat can fall off the rear fender. A passenger on the motorcycle could lose balance and fall, causing serious injury or death.
- Remedy
- Dealers will replace the passenger seat's mounting hardware free of charge. The recall began on march 4, 2005. Owners may contact yamaha at 1‑800‑227‑5963.
Recall number 05V067000 · Recall details
What 2002 Yamaha XVS11 owners say
Most recent owner complaints, unedited.
While commuting to work I noticed a very loud whining sound coming from the drive shaft area during decelleration on my 2002 v-star 1100. After further inspection and research I learned it was my middle drive that had actually dismembered itself, causing a broken part to rattle around inside the assembly, which many other yamaha owners have experienced according to an online forum. Thankfully I was not injured but some individuals voiced that this can cause the rear wheel to completely lock up going at any rate of speed.
Motorcycle started making noise when letting off the gas. Rear wheel locked up just as I got home. End of middle shaft broken off and nut jammed in u-joint.
When starting and shutting off the motorcycle, there tends to be a loud clunk. This has been going on since I purchased this bike from a private owner in 2010. I have all of the service documentation for this bike from the previous owner, all maintenance was performed on schedule. Just recently, I had an issue where the bike would not turn over at all. The starter motor would just spin and whine, and the engine would not turn over. I removed the starter motor and looked at it, and inside, there are 4 brushes. One brush was completely destroyed and worn to nothing. I replaced the starter motor, and the same issue existed. The starter motor would just spin and not turn the engine over. I took the bike to a local motorcycle shop, and they opened up the left engine case and looked at all of the starter clutch gears and found that the starter clutch (or slipper clutch) as they called it was shot. They needed to order a kit that yamaha has to specifically fix this kick back clunk issue. The problem is, now I need to pay around $800 to fix this issue. I have done some research online, and have noticed that this is a pretty widespread issue with this series of bikes. I think yamaha should either recall the bikes and fix this issue, or reimburse me for the expense I need to incur regaring this mechanical defect.
The vehicle is a 2002 yamaha v star 1100 classic motorcycle with approx. 74,000 miles.the events leading up to the incident were just normal riding conditions for this motorcycle. The failure occurred when the tip of the middle drive shaft sheared off with the nut that holds it in place. This is a common problem from what I understand with this particular motorcycle, with all of the breakage occurring in the exact same spot. This defect could lead to the drive shaft jamming up and causing serious harm and quite possibly death from an accident. Thus far yamaha has failed to recognize the issue. It is a very costly and expensive repair involving basically disassembling the bike to get at the broken part. The complete repair would cost around $2000.00. And if they are replacing with the same yamaha oem parts I would imagine the risk is there for the failure to happen again. This is a very serious issue and should be recognized and addressed by yamaha.
Had the middle drive shaft bolt shear off my 1100 v star. As a result of the bolt shearing of for no apparent reason it locked up the rear tire,lost control and nearly killed myself !!!
Was driving in town around 30mph ,,,all of a sudden I heard and developed a whine (sounded like tire whine)., could only hear it during deceleration. Noise gradually got louder. Loud crunch was heard when nut holding u-joint to middle gear dislodged and busted speedo pickup. I am a technical mechanic for a car big car company ....so as soon as I could take it back to my shop ,,,, I started a diagnosed of the problem....it took 10 to 15 minutes to find that the noise was coming from the drive pinion shaft (middle shaft) .. The job started ...so I took it a part and found out that the middle shaft at the nut was sheared off (broken off totally) ....it is a very enormous job to get to that gear and change it ....I have to take the drive shaft off... And every things around the engine and finally take the engine off the main frame of the bike to get to that gear....and eventually I have to take the engine apart ,,,split the engine to change that drive gear...... Furthermore ,,,,I could have been hurt if I would have been driving on the highway......good luck that I was going slow ......I take yamaha responsible for the defect on my motorbike ...also they should have done a recall on that defective part of the bike .....I hope that all the bikers that have been experiencing this problem will be reimbursed for the expense for the repairs and to make the bike safe for the road.....
I own a 02 yamaha vstar 1100 classica and it's has been known that years prior to 2003 that the starter and starter clutch will fail and need replacing. This would normally run over 800 dollars to replace at the dealer. This has been happening alot to these bikes and some have been successful of getting the parts for free from the dealer but many have not been so lucky like myself. If one dealer replaced the parts for on customer then this should be done to every bike that needs this type of repair. It has been known that the bikes made after 03 do not have this problem but many of us still have this problem. Is there anything that can be done so everyone gets this defective parts replaced? Would appreciate your input. Thank you.
Product is 2002 yamaha vstar 1100 motorcycle (xvs1100) purchased in 2002. After several years of riding, middle drive shaft assembly is in the process of failing, which could cause injury or death. Many enthusiasts of this model report failure of assembly which is a known manufacturing defect. Have not replaced the assembly yet.
The middle drive shaft bolt sheared of my 2002 vstar 1100 classic.
Compare the 2002 Yamaha XVS11
Other model years
Questions about the 2002 Yamaha XVS11
Is the 2002 Yamaha XVS11 reliable?
Owners have filed 13 complaints about the 2002 Yamaha XVS11, 4.3 times a typical XVS11 model year.
What is the most common problem with the 2002 Yamaha XVS11?
Transmission and drivetrain, with 11 complaints, typically around 28,000 miles. Next is electrical (2).
How many recalls does the 2002 Yamaha XVS11 have?
2 recalls, covering seats.
VIN decoder
See the problems and recalls for an exact car
Buying a used 2002 Yamaha XVS11?
Check the exact car before you pay: accidents, salvage or flood titles, odometer readings and previous owners.
Check its history