I wish I had known sooner about the inherent "crappiness" of the yamaha hard saddlebag hinges !! Mine are cracking badly, & my warranty is long gone of course ! I've only got 7000 km (about 4500 miles) on the bike but it's an '05.

Does anyone know of an aftermarket hinge for these bags ? I've emailed customer support at Yamaha Canada to see if they'll replace them for me but I have not received a response yet.

It's a bit frustrating to have spent $15000 on a bike that's starting to fall apart after 70000 km's !

Rup

I have a friend with an 06 Midnight that has had his bags replaced twice already. I think if you are stubborn with your dealer they will replace them. IMHO, the design has molded in stresses that crack with use and sun exposure. Once a crack starts it quickly spreads the length of the hinge. If the dealer will not help you should immediately go to Yamaha corporate and demand replacements. Of course they have not redesigned the hinge so it is likely to happen again. There is a shear point at the end of the hinge pin that seems to give out.

Rup,

I have an 06 Roadstar Midnight Silverado and my hinges cracked too. I contacted Yamaha Customer Service (1-800-962-7926) and talked with a rep. I asked him if he had ever heard about a problem with the hinges and he said "no", which was very hard for me to believe.

My bike was slightly out of warranty so I offered to send him pics so that he could see that I had not abused the bike or modified the bags. I also offered to send him pics of the hinges. He declined the pics and gave me the part number for buying replacement hinges. Just like you, I didn't think I should have to pay for replacement hinges and told him so. He went back and talked with his folks and they decided to send me a one-time-only free replacement set of hinges.

My recommendation is to call Yamaha directly and plead your case. You may find that you get better and faster response than going through e-mail. If enough people complain, then perhaps they will do a recall. I am sure that it is just a matter of time before the replacement hinges crack too!!

I spoke to my dealer and he's going to try and arrange a meeting between myself and the local Yamaha rep. In the meanwhile I've ordered a replacement set of hinges, as I am going on a trip in a couple weeks and I'm afraid the lids will fall off on the road !

Believe me, I'm going to keep pestering Yamaha on this until I get some kind of resolution. Thanks for the 1-800#, I assume thats for Yamaha USA ( I live in Canada) but I'm going to call anyway. Maybe I'll get lucky. I wish someone out there manufactured a steel replacement for these, I'd buy them in a second.

I think everyone who has these bags & has cracks in their hinges should submit a post so I (and others) can show Yamaha it's not an isolated problem !!

Rup:

you may be able to add life to yuor hinges by purchasing a spray bottle of 303 Aerospace Protectant. It costs about $14 a bottle and works on plastic, vinyl, leather and rubber. It beautifies, keeps the applied area supple and protects against the damaging effects of UV rays. I use it on my seats, backrest pad, grips, footpegs and tank bib, with wonderful results.

Good luck.