Quite awhile back, mtecate4 explained he thought the false neutrals a few of us were having on the Raptor, were caused by reverse. After hearing that, I quit using reverse and never had another false neutral.

THIS IS JUST AN FYI....
I'm not saying all or even more than 2 Raptors have had this problem. So please don't post mines fine or you beat the He** out of yours or you don't maintain yours. Trust me, I take very good care and precaution to keep this thing in tip top shape!

About 2 weeks ago 2nd gear acted like the chain was slipping over the sprocket, but all the other gears were fine.

Yesterday I went to the dealer to pick up my top-end for some motor mods. I walked into the shop area and there was my motor, taken apart as far as humanly possible.

(Ol girl was going through her first surgery, wasn't pretty).

Anyway, before I could say anything, the mechanic (working on my Raptor) said he thinks the cause of the problem was reverse. I asked why and he showed me. It seems after using reverse, the gears weren't sliding back together properly. This maybe caused from a poorly or incorrectly machined rod that looks like it has surface tunnel patterns to move the gears forward and backward. The rod (I just described) had a sharp turn, for the gear to move in a certain direction for reverse and back into 1st thet looked to be machined incorrectly.

The spacer between 2nd and another gear has a chunk (1/4") missing in it. This is causing the slipping feeling.

What will be replaced: The rod I desribed, the spacer, 2nd gear (damaged because of spacer) and very likely 4th gear (also damaged by that spacer).

All I can say is my dealer is backing me and I hope Yamaha will stand behind the work. My warranty ran out a month prior to my call to the dealer.

One last thing, the dealer I took it to has had 3 Raptors (mine the 4th) in there for tranny problems and is unsure the cause of the first 3. I guess the others had 2nd gear completely blown up in the motor, wrecked so many other parts, it was hard to determine the cause.

 

Great post.. please keep us up to date.. I would really like to know your outcome with Yamaha.

If they *refuse* to warranty the problem, I would consult a lawyer.

Brad

 

Were your false neutrals only on the 1-2 shift or were they all over. I have had a couple on the 1-2 but only when I ride really hard. I am assuming it is operator error, not pulling up far enough. I would hate to think my tranny was going out. If you were only having them on the 1-2 let me know. If so I guess I will try to limit my reverse use for now until it all gets straightened out. Thanks for the informative post.

 

I don't want to cause a panic!

My false neutrals were only when shifting from 1st to 2nd. I heard a couple others on this forum say they had false neutrals when shifting from 4th to 5th, but am unsure if they ever had any terminal problems like myself.

I too, thought it was caused by me, not hitting the shifter hard enough. It wasn't me, because when I quit using reverse it never happened again!

It was then, approx 5 - 8 weeks later my 2nd gear went through failure.

Hope this helps?

Swytak

 

Thanks for the help. I don't want to worry people either. I'll keep an eye on mine now that it is out for the summer for the next couple of months and see what happens.
Just go tback from trailriding 20 minutes ago was a great day. Only had one false, rode using reverse all day. My one false was up hill laying over the bars to keep the front down, kinda showing off. I think there is a good possibility that one was me though, being at that extreme of an angle. It's hard to bend your ankle that far. Thanks again for the help and do keep us all informed on how your machine turns out. I hope you have it back soon.

 

Good Post!!! Thanks for taking the time to explain.

 

aHH PANIC TO LATE!
Having the same problem here under heavy acceleration, I thought it was me???
Hmmm. Good post, gotta keep an eye on that..

 

What is the point of having reverse and not using it. I would definatly push them to fix it or get a good lawyer, and get some duckets from Yamaha. I Can't beleive the problems people have had with the Raptor. I have had two Warriors and a Banshee that ran get except the Banshee jetting choice (my fault). I almost bought a Raptor for my play quad but I settled for a 400EX. I admit the 400 is not as fast as a Raptor but its a good cruiser. For drag racing T4's and Banshees are much better.