I ride with many older guys and when i told them a friend and i got a Blaster they all told me that they are crappy. So i would apreciate it if you guys(girls) would tell me what kind of problems you've had with blaster's. If i dont like it then i will probably just sell it.

 

If you don't like it, but I do, I'll just buy your half from you.

 

I personally have never had a Blaster but have seen many of them in the sand where I ride (Sandlake, Oregon). The problem most people have is their reliability. I have seen a perfectly stock brand new blaster with paddles ruin a transmission while racing up the hill. It was a kid riding it too. Maybe 12 yrs old at the most. I have also known someone that had problems with getting it to run right. He said it was starting to stick in 2nd so he couldn't shift into 3rd.

In other words I think most people just don't like it because a lot of them have a history of problems. Also I think they have bad brakes but I am not sure about this.

 

The whole concept behind the Yamaha Blaster is its price.Liquid cooling,hydrolic brakes,aluminum wheels and adjustable shocks with remote reseviors are sweet but not reqired.the Blaster is a sport quad priced to sell and if it weren't for them there would be less people able to afford to ride.Thumbs up Yamaha ooops did I say that out loud?

88' 250R lots of extras

 

The only "history" of problems I have seen from a Blaster is it's braking system.
It is air cooled, yes, but plenty reliable. I have had one in the fleet since 97 with nothing more than a top end rebuild last year.
It gets run pretty hard...Of course it is a dated design and chain adjustment is horrific..But a great deal for someone looking to get into a quick revving 2 stroke quad. This has to be one of the easiest quads I have ever worked on. You can have the engine out..change the piston...and back together in just a couple of hours.
I'm not sure I agree with the hard to keep running right part... The carb is a breeze to adjust...Mine has always started on the first few kicks and the little 200cc powerplant responds good to mods.

 

The only really bad thing about a Blaster are the brakes, but if you ride like I do, no big deal. I saw a modded-out Blaster at Glamis with a girl riding it that was just giving the 250Rs a bad time. Of course, the girl probably only weighed about 90lbs., but she was picking on guys and giving them a really hard time! It was terrific!

 

Greetings,

I suspect their negative comments are aimed more at the performance capabilities of the machine and less at the maintenance record. To be fair, its an entry level sport quad -- it offers a lot of fun for very little money. Its not a 400EX or a Raptor and its not supposed to be.

But in any line of interest, you'll find "equipment snobs" who put down anything less than the greatest -- without bothering to consider your needs or financial resources. Show any audiophile your new stereo and he'll say "oh, its alright but you should have gotten an XYZ." Never mind that it costs twice as much, never mind that you can't hear the difference, never mind that it won't fit on your shelf -- its what he would do so anything else is wrong.

The same applies to cars, ski equipment, boats, computers, you name it. And, if your read through these posts, it applies double for ATVs. They can't believe that someone would want a Trail Boss, Bear Tracker, whatever -- never mind the buyer's criteria.

Plus, most of the comparisons in here are on the margin. You can have a whopping good time and go through most conditions on practically any quad. The people in here are true "enthusiasts" and want to push it to the limit. They want to conquer the steepest hill or the deepest hole and so they compare quads on that basis. Will the Blaster conquer the steepest hill or deepest hole -- not at all. Can it give you some good experience and a real good time -- definitely.

So if you like it and it works for you, just smile and tell them "I like it and it works for me." Now, go out and have some fun.

End of screed.

 

well, i personally love the blasters.

I would have another one in my garage if i wanted a 2-stroke!

Mine ran great when it ran, i blew it up 3 times in one summer. First time, oil injector, 2nd time head came lose, and 3rd time head came loose

turns out the stupid head bolts were stripped..they would tighten down to spec..but then the whole bolt would come up after it ran for about 15 minutes.

I smeared some lock tight on those babies and sold her!

 

1 reliability
2 brakes suck
3 suspension is to soft = botoms up alot
4 you can only be about 5 `5 to ride it
5 tippy
6 low power
7 bad tires
8 poor handling
9 needs longer swingarm
10 vibrates ALOT
11 no reverse
12 week clutch
otherwise a good machine

 

its on the smallish side (cough) the brakes are very old (polaris put triple hydrolics on the tb for the same price). it has good power, but the trany can be a bit tempermental at times. the tires need replacement with some turf tamers in the back, and polished aluminum rims all around. the suspention is rough, but it works reasonalbly well. it should be a good quad to learn the basics on.