YBR 125 rust problem after 460miles...never seen rain!

In June I purchased the bike in the title, i knew the previous owner, am now locked in a battle with Yamaha UK over a warranty claim, rust is pretty severe on the frame, exhaust and a few other places, anyone else had this problem? very nice bike to ride good economy but its rusting faster than it goes!
Now got 860miles on the clock and still not seen rain, whats it going to be like after a UK winter???
At the moment, the attitude of Yamaha UK feels to me like they need :gun_bandana:
And when I spoke to the woman 'Kate' at Yamaha UK warranty, all I got was :bs:

I'm originally from the UK, but live in China. The UK climate is particularly damp especially if you are near the sea. If you owned the bike in Arizona or the Sahara desert, you might be OK. :lol8:

However after 860 miles, that's awful! I would say this rusting is absolutely typical of Chinese manufactured motorcycles. Believe it or not on yours the rust is probably not that bad compared to other Chinese bikes. I saw a Qingqi 125 motard in Dartmouth that was purely just rust everywhere and was only a few years old!! I doubt my 250 would last long in the UK climate. It all comes down to Jianshe Yamaha trying to save money and not wanting to use good quality steel.

Yamaha UK need to aplogise to you and sort this out, then Yamaha need to kick Jianshe's ass. But knowing UK customer service is nearly as bad a Chinese customer service they will say "Well it was a cheap bike, so you got what you paid for". In my view Yamaha are just embarrassing themselves putting their logo on a bike that they can't keep up to a decent build quality.

Sort things out quickly with Yamaha, if things don't work out, clean the areas then touch up the areas with hammerite or something similar. Oil & grease the bike where you can and keep it covered or garaged when not in use.

The UK is very tough on bikes, humid climate+rain+salty sea air+salt on roads in winter=potential rust bucket. I would suggest that anyone from the UK never buy a Chinese motorcycle unless it has a clear reputation as being rust resistant. However if you are looking for a cheap replacement single cylinder engine for your 125, 200 or 250cc bike then that would probably be OK! :lol8:

861 miles on clock, never used in the rain(yet) the frame is rusting bad, but Yamaha UK have offered a replacement exhaust and front engine plate (quote) as a goodwill gesture.
Now in the process of legal action against them, you can see the 'overall' condition of the bike, but from photos submitted to Yamaha they say the bike as been neglected, already a friend of mine as purchased a Honda rather than a XT660 Yam on the basis of my problems. :clap: just need to spread the word far and wide.:riding:

Perhaps you should convince gingeradam to buy the Yamaha and ride it to the UK where you can buy (what's left of) it and get all the good bits; just a thought?:naughty::lol8:

The bike is in a bad condition seeing the rust on the frame. There's something have to be done here.

Sorry to hear about the rust problems. It's totally a matter of cheap metal and, since it's new and very low mileage, I think think it's a little absurd that Yamaha claims it's due to "neglect" - the rest of the bike looks perfect.

ZMC's post gave me an idea. After cleaning off the rusted areas, you can go to an auto-part/supply store and buy cans of spray on rubber underbelly protectant. It should effectively seal out moisture from reaching the metal and might even look cool if done correctly. Another option would be a few coats of that tough truck-bed liner spray...also available in cans at auto part/supply stores.

Rusting on the exhaust pipe near the head is pretty common and, at least, not a structural problem. I think some exhaust wrap should take care of that though.

CC

Final update, Yamaha reluctantly replaced the exhaust, and I sorted out the rest of the rust problems.....like using primer before repainting!!!