WILE WASHING MY QUAD ON SUNDAY I NOTICED A HOLE STARTING IN THE REAR FENDER ABOVE THE BACK MOUNT FOR THE EXHAUST, I LOOKED A FRIENDS VINSON AND HIS IS STARTING TO DO THE SAME THING. MY QUAD ONLY HASE 150 MILES ON IT. THE DEALER SAID HE DOESNT KNOW IF SUZUKI WILL REPLACE TE PLASTIC, THAT THEY WIL HAVE TO TAKE PICTURES AND TALK TO THE REP , AND IT COULD TAKE AWILE. AND NO I DIDNT LEAVE IT AT IDLE FOR A LONG TIME, THAT WAS THE FIRST THING THE DEALER ASKED. AND EVEN IF I DID IT STILL SHOULNT DO THAT. IF YOU BOUGHT A NEW CAR AND IT BURNED A HOLE IN THE FENDER AFTER 150 MILES THE DEALER WOULD CORRECT THE PROBLEM WITH OUT A PROBLEM. ALSO WHY IS IT RUNNING THAT HOT.THE RADIATOR IS FULL AND THE FAN WORKS. ANYONE ELSE. YOU MIGHT WANT TO CHECK YOURS BEFOR IT BURNS YOUR GARAGE DOWN

 

Hi, thanks for the warning, checked mine and found that the plastic around the exhaust bracket was actually melting. I went to a local hardware/everything store and bought some muffler tape and put it around the bracket and a little under the fender above the exhaust. I think this should solve the problem, **** poor set up if you ask me.

 

I've got 1200 miles on mine and don't have that problem yet. (knock on wood) But thanks for the info. I will keep an eye on it. And if it happens, Suzuki had better fix it!!!

 

I checked mine yesterday and found the same. The plastic where the rack goes down through is starting to melt. Nothing serious yet, but I can foresee Suzuki changing this design. It appears to me that the heat is funnelling up through the heat exchanger (heat shield) on the muffler. If they close that open area around the mounting bracket and open up the rear to allow more cool air to pass through, it should resolve the problem.

 

If I were you guys I'd be checking for a cracked weld or hole under the heat sheild. I have a 98 450 ES. I noticed my baffles started to rattle so I decided to take the exhaust off to check everything out. After removing the muffler guard I noticed where they welded the seem on the lower side of the exhaust mount was cracked the whole length. You could tell that if I had noticed this 2 years ago Honda probably would have replaced it. The only way I would have ever seen it would have been to take the guard off.

 

ANYONE ELSE.AND TO ADD TO IT THE LOCAL DAELER CANT TAKE IT IN TILL THE END OF MAY

 

i picked up my vinson yesterday,i had it in for the first service. i ended up taking it to the dealer were i bought it 60 miles away. they contacted sazuki and they said they would replace my melted plastic, they still think that i let the thing idle for a long time. get this, on the first service they said nothing needed to be adjusted and that the quad was in good shape. they changed the spark plug and charged me 130 bucks. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Glad to hear they replaced the plastic. If I owned a suzuki and started seeing the plastic even starting to melt, I'd be back at the dealer's door with it too. Replacing the plastic doesn't fix the problem though. Do you think the muffler tape will keep it from happening again? It sounds like suzuki needs to redesign or modify the exhaust system slightly to get the muffler a little farther away from the plastic. Yamaha tapes a couple of areas near the muffler with an insolated heat reflective tape. Seems to work, but maybe that's only preventative. Could excess heat be from long runs in low range? Hopefully we will hear of other Suzuki owners getting their plastic replaced too.

 

the new plastic comes with a heat shield