Are the 2002 Raptor's problems fixed? Were there any other problems than the axle, carbs, and gearing?

 

On the 02, they made the axle stronger by maybe 5% but not to racing aftermarket level. Gear ratio was dropped slightly on 1st to 3rd and reverse. Carb manifolds are better. So I guess yes, Yamaha did hear our concerns.

 

The rear shock has also changed. The compression setting doesn't work too well on the 2001 model.

 

It is good to hear Yamaha fixing this kind of stuff...and so quickly. Too bad they don't offer to repair/recall some of these things free of charge.

Trust me guys...the 400EX has had its share of problems too--Honda did deal with some of them--most of which you never really hear about. The swingarm can crack under hard riding, the front shock mounts can do the same, the intake manifold has been redesigned 2 or 3 times because the rubber/plasdtic boot material keeps cracking (letting unfiltered air in), tons of screws and bolts vibrate loose, the clutch can have problems (due to poor internal lubrication) if ridden extremely aggressively. and some other issues...

Anyways, bottom line is that Yamaha and Honda aren't going to be able to sit around with badly designed parts on their quads (like they did in the 90's...ie, Banshee's air intake), or people will buy other ones....now that there is some choices out there.

Major kudos to Cannondale for fixing all the FX400's problems free of charge to the owners. I think that is really stepping up the service levels.

Just my .02 on the topic

 

I spoke to a tech at a dealer and he explained that on a Yamaha race ready machines (bikes, atvs), the compression damping on the shock can be adjusted to a point that shock doesn't even move (too stiff) because the oil flow valve can be completely shut off. But because the race techs know the limits, they are able to use the full tuneability shock.

On consumer machines, the adjustability is limited (as far as compression and rebound damping) so that its goof proof. (for liability reasons I guess). The Raptor compression damping controls the spring load which reduce or increase oil flow into the reservoir resulting in more or less compression damping (rebound adjuster is the same design). This means that there is no way to completely shut off or open the preset valve. The adjuster spring load gives you about plus minus 5 or 10 percent adjustability.

This is why you may not feel significant changes when playing around with the adjustments. If you're bottoming excessively, then adjust the spring preload and compensate kick back with some rebound damping. If you don't like the increased ride height because of increased spring preload, then you may need to find a higher rate spring so that it can be set with more sag but reduce bottoming.

Does all this make any sense to you?