Listen up, Yamaha YZF-R3 owners: the tuning-fork badged manufacturer issued two recalls for its smallest sportbike earlier this week. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the recall includes 11,280 2015-2016 model year vehicles manufactured January 1, 2015 to April 15, 2016.
The first issue affects the transmission. As the NHTSA describes it: “The clutch pressure plate bearing may break due to an insufficient load rating, causing the clutch to not disengage and preventing the transmission from shifting properly.” You could get stuck in a gear or between gears, which would make the bike difficult to control or slow down, increasing the risk of a crash. R3 owners have been notified by now, and should head straight to the dealer, where the clutch pressure plate bearing will be replaced free of charge.
The other recall addresses the R3’s oil pump. The NHTSA states that “Due to an oil pump problem, the oil pressure in these motorcycles may not be properly regulated.” This could cause the oil pump drive gear to fail, which in turn would cause the engine to seize from a lack of oil supply. Then the rear wheel could lock up, increasing the likelihood of a crash. As with the transmission issue, Yamaha has notified owners, who can get their bikes fixed for free at the dealership.
Though the bike was introduced just last year, this is not the first time its seen problems. Late last year, certain 2015 R3s manufactured from January 1 to August 31, 2015 were recalled due to “an incorrectly manufactured upper triple clamp (handle crown) that may crack while riding,” as reported by Motorcyclist.
The Yamaha R3 has received positive reviews since its release, lending competition to the growing entry-level 300cc class of streetbikes that includes the Kawasaki Ninja 300, Honda CBR300R, and KTM RC390.
BYD has launched the third-generation Qin Plus DM-i in China, and the first thing that caught my eye is its price. According to CarNewsChina, the plug-in hybrid sedan starts at 79,900 yuan, which is about $11,980. That’s an incredibly low price for a brand-new car, especially by US standards.
What’s even more impressive is the range. The Qin Plus DM-i can drive up to 137 miles on electricity alone, which should cover most people’s daily commutes without using a drop of gas. Once the battery runs out, the 1.5-liter engine takes over. Thanks to its 17-gallon tank and roughly 91 mpg with a drained battery, the combined range reaches up to 1,423 miles.
Apple won the PC market’s worst quarter, but that’s not the entire story. It won the race by stumbling less than everyone else.
PC makers shipped just 57 million computers worldwide in Q3, which might look good, but it’s a 21% year-over-year plunge (via Counterpoint Research). And despite Apple’s Mac shipments falling by 11%, to 5.6 million, its market share rose from 8.7% to 9.8%. How did that happen?
Update (October 22 23:54 PT): In response to our query, GM clarified that offline recording support is already available on eligible vehicles. Like Tesla's Sentry Mode, it requires owners to connect a USB drive to save incident recordings, which can be viewed on the vehicle's infotainment screen. The upcoming Connected Cameras feature will build on this by giving owners remote access to these recordings via the revamped OnStar app, allowing them to check footage without walking out to their car.
General Motors has announced plans to add a new Connected Cameras feature to its OnStar service starting next year, giving drivers a way to monitor parked vehicles remotely and capture footage of certain incidents.