Well, we all talked about it and now it has happened.

I just crashed my Raptor due to the weak upper A-arm folding in on me. I was just riding a wheelie in my back yard. When the front end came down, the rear section of the upper A-arm folded up, then left tire was then at such an angle, that it pulls hard to the left, resulting in a rollover.

Man Yamaha, I took that A-arm off and it must not weigh more than 1.5 lbs. Why in the world would they sacrifice ruggedness when they could have made it a solid piece and only weighed about 1 or so pounds more.

Be warned, that front end is easy to break. I wonder what it's going to cost me? It bent the cluth lever and tore up the left grip too!

 

Maybe a underpowered 400ex a-arm will go on there. hehe. seriously, i saw aftermarket ones on www.graydonproline.com

 

Sorry to hear about your accident.That really sucks.I personally had concerns from the get go on the choice of aluminum for the upper A-arm.Good in theory but not peactical.I am sure you wont be the only one with this problem.Other than that how is it?

 

I am going to get titanium +6 A-arms to beat DS650s with! They should add an extra 15 hp too!

 

I wondered how long it would be too... We have smashed a steel upper control arm jumping a 400EX, I was pretty afraid of the choice of aluminum for the upper control arms....

At least you weren't hurt. A lot better to do it now than when landing a big air double...

 

I was shocked at how thin the upper A-arms are considering that they are aluminum. They must be only 2 or 3 pencils thick! You would think they would make them thicker because they are aluminum, not thinner!

 

I would definately let yamaha know about this, you should call them directly and let them know. I wouldnt just tell the dealer I would complain to the company. If they act like its not their problem just write a Dear Dirtwheels letter and let them know how it happened. Hopefully yours is the exception but If its going to be a problem on everyones they better do something about it, And do it now. Or else we'll all be trading them in for the rugged new 250ex's.

 

You might want to check out TimmyBoy Designs. They sell "serious" A-arms for the Raptor. I called, they said they all ready sold out their first run. Apparently lots of other people know what you just found out. www.timmyboydesigns.com

 

OUCH! I hope they fix this in the next Run of Raptors. If a wheelie will break it, what will a whoops section do to it? (I thought the bike was supposed to be a mx contender?)

I wonder if Yamaha will go as far as to Recall them? I certianly hope so. Otherwise I think we stand a chance at seeing the Raptor on the same list as the 350X. I can't believe that the A-arms are that weak. How much do you weigh Bash? (Not that it matters, but I wonder if they even tried the machine with a variety of rider weights.)

Oh, yeah, and they should warranty the whole repair. Clutch lever, perch, bars, A-arm(s), everthing dor ked.

 

I should mention that I do weight around 485 lbs... Not! Actually, I think it's more like 220lbs. Not that I couldn't stand to lose 20-30 lbs, but it shouldn't have broken so easily. It's odd that a wheelie did it. I have rode other wheelies, hit some small jumps on the trail even. I couldn't imagine what would happen if you were woods riding and barely clipped a tree!!

I'm hoping that it was a weak spot or something in it. As far as the other aluminum pieces go, they're just fine (I hope).

I'm going to call my dealer this morning and then call Yamaha after that. I'll let you kwow what happens.