raptorlz:

I'll back you up!

My Wife's Raptor had the plastic dash / handlebar goose neck plastic thing came off the first trip out (the wind blew it off!)

I am helping a buddy with replacing his tranny on his '01 Raptor (for the second time! Billet Tranny was to blame for the second failure!)

The fit & finish on the Yamaha products seems to me to be better than most. Yamaha also has the most complete product line (quads for kids to adults to high performance.) But, Yamaha is lacking on reliability. The Raptor isn't as reliable as the competition.

Save your old starter and send me a detailed e-mail of what you have experienced. If you have a picture of the starter include that too. I'll send you a PM with my e-mail address.

I'll send it along to a friend of mine that has a friend at Yamaha. Please keep the bashing to a minimum (I don't want to send those kinds of things along.) If you have a legitamite concern and a specific goal (i.e. you would like Yamaha to send you a new starter for free) I can pass that along. But, be prepared to send your old one in AND this may take a little bit of time to go through the channels. If you can't wait, buying a new one is your best option.

You shouldn't have to be mechanically inclined to own a quad (but, it sure does help!)

 

raptorlz has every right to vent about the raptor, he owns one. It's not like he's bashing a competitor's product. No quad is defect free, however if proper maintenance is followed- a reasonable level of reliability should be expected. You shouldn't have to be a mechanic to own a quad- sure it helps, but in no way should it be a requirement. As long as you can perform the tasks located in the maintenance manual or take it to someone that can, then the product should last. If you beat the crap out of the quad, well obviously you have less reason to complain. Atv's however are meant for all terrain so they should be built as such. Maybe more of the money should go into R&D, quality control and less for advertising.

What's truly funny is when a company has obvious reliability issues in a product and users of the same product or company find ways to make it the buyer's fault.

RaptorLZ, at the very least I hope your issue gets resolved. You paid good money for the quad. You deserve a reliable product and the customer service to support it when it's not so reliable.

 

Good post! I agree %100.

 

ok, I can agree that the one way is crap on a raptor, but does that make the whole line of Yamaha ATV's bad? Can't judge a company on one product [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-sad.gif[/img]

I had a 250x, I babied it maintenance wise. It started smoking after a few years. Doesn't mean I wouldn't buy another Honda

 

Most of the yamaha starters are the same except the mounting points. You could probably pick up a used one from a warrior and swap it into your casing for real cheap. I rebuilt my rappy's starter motor on raptortranny.com if you wanna see the guts

Anyhow the entire problem sucks, if you ride it, its gonna break. Unfortunately more so if its a raptor.

 

You want Yamaha to change the design of the starting system? Get a lawyer. Start a class action lawsuit.

 

The only way that there could be a class action lawsuit against Yamaha (with a successful outcome) is if a fault in the design was causing serious injuries and/or deaths. This does not happen due to starter/one-way bearing problems. The '01 tranny issue has a case here, but that has been discussed numerous times in different threads.

There is one sure way to get a manufacturer to change a design, or quit building a product. That is to simply stop buying it, or to write customer service complaining about the reliability issues (as was identified earlier).

To bring a lawsuit against Yamaha would only waist your time, money, and patience...

just my opinion...

 

sorry to you yamaha haters but the i give yamaha thumbs up on there raptor. for its sheer power and relitive light weith body... i wonder everyday how it just stands... thumbs up to yamaha, have you noticed anyone else even tryign to make a bigbore perforamce quad? must be pretty damn hard if yamaha is the only company that can do it, and it isnt as reliably as other quads,,,, but look at it...how could it be with out costing you 10 grand? i think a raptor is about the maintence level as a 2-stroke... you should have known that befor you bought it. i say it is damn relibale for its power and size. i am not yamaha biased by any means either... i dont own a raptor either, i ride one often, and maintain it always, but i do not own it. i also own a blaster, which is very high maintence, and a kawasaki. like i said before though, thumbs up to yamaha... no one else can do it

 

GOOD POINT! every quad does have its problems, raptors and 400ex's alike, i mean the raptor has the transmission, one way starter, axle and suspension issues while the 400ex has the second gear and front suspension issues. a few problems on a specific model of quad doesn't mean the entire company is crap.

 

All the above are true, for the most part. I have had more trouble with Zukis than any other brand.
But the most trouble free quads I have owned have been Honda. Sorry Yamaha people just
stating a fact.