i know that people seem to have alot of trouble with the 2001 model and am wondering if it is the same for the 2003 model? can somebody tell me the pros and cons between the two?

 

the 01s had tranny issues

 

Knock on wood my 01 hasnt had any tranny issues the guy I bought it from was a racer(he also had a yfz450)(and his buddy too the orig owner) the rap was his beater for his buddys to ride...it had been ridden HARD but well maintained(plus it had the usual hop ups cam,pipe,jetting and k&n it shifts fine...the carbs give me issues though it has these spells of runnin funky for a few miniuts then snaps outa it(think the float is sticking off and an on)plus 1 float doesnt seat 100% it trickles when shut off if the petcock is on. he prob dumped it b4 the tranny crapped, but its taken 7 years of thrashing (with good maintanece) with no catasrofic failure. but 01 an 02 are the "troubled" years with out the $600 retro fit gears not counting labor...

 

i have an 03 rap and it runs great and i have not had any trouble with it (knock on wood). the dealer told me that yamaha ironed out the tranny problems with the 02 model. so if the old owner took good care of it,, it should run great.

 

01 was the only year with the tranny issue. none of the other years had problems. check out raptortranny.com