I know some of you have had no problems and some with many. Me, I'm one with many Raptor problems.

The most recent problem is now with the 2nd gear. Before that, the axle. Next, a-arms. Before that, the carbs.

I think the dealer has had this thing as many hours as I have ridden it. No Joke!

Second gear just tops all the problems. Like someone else had problems, it feels like the chain is slipping, but only in 2nd gear. All the other gears are fine. Goes to the dealer on friday. They said it's the 3rd one with 2nd gear problems now.

Needless to say, my warranty expired 29 days ago.

If I would of known I was gonna have this many problems, I would of kept my 89' Zilla. Freakin biggest mistake I ever made was selling it. I'll fix the Raptor 1 more time and probably get rid of it.

For $6499.00 Yamaha made a killing with all the weak links they put on the Raptor! All this lightweight aluminum (to keep the weight down). As someone has already posted, probably recycled aluminum (beer cans)! You'd think if your going to build a quad with 660cc's that the thing is going to be ridden hard! Not Yamaha's thoughts. I think it was made only for puttin around the tight trails and the front yard and nothin more.

Oh well, live and learn. Sorry for ramblin, but I for one am not going to sugar coat the Raptor.

Hope you have better luck than I.

 

Hey bud,
If your used to a big quad like the LT500, sell the Raptor & buy a DS. I'm happy with mine & they appear to be made alot stronger than a Raptor. The only thing it's missing is reverse.

 

My Raptor?? NO problems, and I love it more with every ride. I don't know why certain of you guys are having so much trouble! I do not baby my machine, but I am very meticulous on the maintenance. I'm sorry to hear of the problems, and I guess I'd be pissed too. Don't know what else to say, but I sure am pleased with mine. Still like the bad 'ol Banshee best for dune work, though!

 

My only problem is parts are expensive. I had stuff break but your bound to tear stuff up. I wrecked mine from stupidity, and messed the frontend up, any quad will break.

 

I think that most people are giving the raptor a premature bad rap, so to say.
The problem with the raptor is that it is a powerful quad. That's not a bad thing...But it is not a 2 stroke. (though it may pull like one).
A 4-stroke takes a different touch than it's 2 stroke brothers. Everyone gets on the machine and starts slipping and popping the clutch...quick hammers on the throttle. Most thumpers I have ever ridden like a nice steady roll on the throttle. Quick off on the gas and your bound to get a backfire(theres the carb problem)...axels are bending...Try landing a bit more level or even on a down grade. Not sure about the A-arms problems..I rode my buddies raptor with no problems at all. And I put it across some good sized whoops.
I'm no pro at all...But this is a very new production quad. I did not buy one...I refuse to jump on the band waggon. Give it time..I'm sure they will get better. Quads are way more prone to break than bikes....much more weight involved...very hard for the novice to control in the air. I think that most people whatch the guys with bikes going huge and try to replicate that on a 400+lb quad. The quad would cringe if it could.

 

I'm sorry, but I'll have to disagree...

I have owned both 2 and 4 stroke ATV's since the mid 80's and never had trouble with "popping the clutch", "hammering the throttle", "feathering the clutch", "bending axles (unless for obvious reasons)", etc on my 4 strokes....

A 4 stroke in proper tune will not backfire and blow carbs off. Never had that happen on any of my bikes. That is a classic example of a dangerously lean condition, lucky it's just on the pilot circuit.

As you may know, I currently race a 400EX that develops somewhere in the neighborhood of 35-40hp that can (and has) outrun piped Raptors. This is on the stock tranny, stock clutch, practically stock everything. This bike has seen over 20' of vertical air on multiple occasions, and sees at least 6' on practically every outing. For the first 8 months of it's life, that was on stock shocks. Not a problem one, not with the carb, not with the clutch, not with the transmission, not with the control arms, not with the axle - I think you get my drift... Only typical wear items (like bearings), crash parts (like tie rods, steering stems, handlebars, etc), and I'll admit, I wore out a set of shocks.

The thing is, especially with the vast numbers of people reporting these problems, Yamaha has definitely made some mistakes. Now it's up to them to own up to it and get it corrected for the next model year and take care of the folks that are having these problems. There's no reason to make excuses unless you're in denial.

Maybe if everyone complains loudly enough, Yamaha will actually fix the problems instead of sitting on them for over a decade like they did with the Banshee. I wouldn't mind owning a Raptor if they'd fix the handling problems and reliability problems. Those are the exact 2 reasons that I went ahead and modified my 400EX instead of buying a Raptor last year when they became available. There was a time when I was seriously considering the possibility of getting a Raptor. After reading all the problem reports, I am glad that I didn't like the initial specifications & didn't go out and buy one right away...

Personally I'd be VERY nervous if my bike that was less than 7 months old was already having such severe & numerous problems. What kinds of problems lie 2 or 3 years down the road?

I must also add that being a first year model is no excuse. There is a certain un-named brand that has consistantly put out first year models that fare fine. Note that the 1986 TRX250R is not know as "the year to avoid", nor is the 1999 TRX400EX...

Sorry for the rant, this is not intended to be a flame toward Raptor owners, but I just have a difficult time accepting that you have to essentially "baby" a 4 stroke or EXPECT problems. Maybe my Honda's have spoiled me

 

Gabe:

I did not say that you have to baby a 4-stroke......Everytime I post...you directly jump and try to correct me. I would love to see you get 20 ft verticle on the 400ex and land without bending something.(and I'm not talking sand)
I really don't mean to be argumentative myself...I too have a 400ex(and think it is quite reliable...underpowered..but reliable). If you have truley ridden 4 strokes then you will understand what I was getting at with the ruff handling. Everytime somebody drops a machine off for me to fix...I see the same problems....a 250lb guy trying to ride a 400lb machine on 30+ft doubles...complaining because the axel bent (though this may not be the case this time) I don't doubt that the raptor has problems...I have only seen a few of them in person. I just think that people are using the raptor for uses for which it was not intended.
My explaination of popping the clutch, etc. might have been a bit vague. I really think that people are abusing these machines.
This post alone made me cringe...riding in the sand after only 4hrs of engine time? Wow. talk about heating that motor up.
I know your smart enough to get my drift...Most of your posts that I read are right on the money....sometimes people just have to disagree... It's in our nature and I don't fault you for not agreeing with me. Just try to be nice about it...I can take the heat and have been around motors/shops/bikes/boats...what have it...for years now.(people don't have me work on their machines for nothing) I am not too far off base. Why do you think that 4 strokes are just now showing up in MX style races? They just were not ready in the past. The raptor is proving that their still not ready.
I would race my 400ex..But I should not have to put money into a big bore kit so it can keep up.
I think I shall not post this often anymore...It seems that a discussion board should be just that...A place to discuss, not argue.

 

i had my raptor for about 4 months went to kentucky land between the lakes for 4 days.took it to the local track went to sand dunes in IN off ripley and rt20..I took it alot of places and have id say over 85hours and nothing is wrong with mine

 

Sincerely, I hope you have better luck with yours then I am having!

I do ride hard, not that I ride any harder than anyone else, but let it be known I do ride hard.
Currently, I have approx 250 hours on it.

I really feel the 2nd gear problem stems from reverse. I was hitting false neutrals between 1st and 2nd, when I used to use reverse. I quit using reverse and the false neutrals never happened again. At this point though, I think the damage had started.

When riding my 89' zilla, I rode as hard if not harder! I had it 4 years before replacing any gears, it was 1st gear. Other than that, no problems with it, just (pm) maintenance and rebuild every 2 years.

Anyway, since I will have the cases split. I am going to install a high comp piston, cam and have the head ported. I just can't decide who to go to for the parts. What's another 6 or 700.00 bucks more at this point? F*** IT!!

Any suggestions?

 

Hopefully Yamaha will do the right thing and go with a six speed tranny, and get rid of reverse for next years model line. Should be much more reliable then.