My letter from yamaha said-

Me and mrs yamahaguci appreciate the fact that you spent 6199 with us in the year 2001. We missed seeing your name on a check in 2002. We were surprised the tranny lasted that long. Nevermind we just saw where you spent 1200 in 2002 on tranny repairs. season Greetings

yamaha

 

LMFAO 14!!

 

Good one 14!!!!!

 

Here is the letter I sent to the President via email: and to no avail I might add!!!!!!

TO:
Noriyuki Egawa, President
Yamaha
Yamaha Motor Corporation, USA
6555 Katella Avenue
Cypress, CA 90630

FROM:
Ernie Mosley
blah, blah, blah


Dear Noriyuki Egawa,


I would like to register a complaint to your company about my 2001 Yamaha Raptor 660R's transmission failure.
VIN# JY4AM01361A011550
Bought: Feb 03, 2001
in Clarksville, TN.

I was riding with my family this past Saturday (6/22/02) when my tranny locked up completely and causing me to go over the handle bars. No serious injuries, just bruises.

I have been hearing these nightmare stories for a long time about the '01 tranny failures. Yes I am a member on several forums about atv's and I know that this is a large re-occurring problem. This could have been a deadly accident - thank God it wasn't! This is a serious safety issue and it needs to be addressed.

I always thought that it was younger kids not taking care of their machines or just abusing the daylights out of them...but now I know better. If you've got an early '01 - it's going to fail sooner or later - it's just a matter of time. I am 36 years old and take great care of my machines. I own 2 quads, 2 street bikes, and a pleasure boat. I enjoy motorsports alot.

Changing the gears (not the ratios - but adding more shift dogs) on the 2002's does prove that there is a problem and I don't understand why Yamaha hasn't done something yet. I am now wondering if you haven't seen enough proof to tell this is a serious problem....

I would not have a problem with Yamaha as a provider to me and my friends as long as this issue is resolved in the way that it should be.

Here's what I would like to see you do to provide resolution: I would like for Yamaha to step up and help all 01 Raptor owners with this matter. I need repairs done to my quad as many others do as well. I feel that there should be a re-call on these '01 Raptors before someone is killed.

I thank you for your attention to my concerns, and would greatly appreciate a timely response.

Sincerely,
Ernie Mosley
eraptoid@aol.com

CC:
Frank O'Bannon

 

I truly sympathize with all of you that have had terrible luck with your trannies, Yamaha and dealers alike. I have a 2001 Raptor bought in Aug. of 2001, about a week ago the tranny got really bad and I took it to the dealer(I have the extended warranty). So far, this service department has been spectacular without any hassles whatsoever. Anyway, I told them what the problem was, one of the guys took it for a spin and came back shaking his head, "yep, the tranny is gone". The service manager discussed several things with me, telling me that first off the mechanic would look at the clutches, and if they showed excess signs of wear or burning, they would have to first replace those and try it out to rule that part out, and that Yamaha would not warranty the clutches, "they just don't warranty them". Well 2 days later I got a call from the sevice manager, and he said that the clutch pack was busted, and some of the plates were "shattered", but Yamaha said they would cover it(no money outta my pocket yet).

I called today(01/07/03) and talked to them(dealer) looks like they are replacing most of the entire tranny, and it looks like Yamaha is footing the bill, he told me I would have to pay for fluids, (who cares). Also when it was six months old, this same dealer replaced a front shock, seat cover, and starter gears. All I had to pay was fuel to drop it off and go pick it up.

I just hope that you all have much better luck in the future. I know that is is a hell of a long way off for a lot of you, but from the looks of the cost maybe you could contact this dealer (RTT Yamaha in Muskogee Oklahoma(just dealer search on Yamaha site). Maybe they would have some info or suggestions. My one suggestion though would be to fork out the extra 500 dollars for that extended warranty if you are ever in the position on buying a new quad. I am proof that it has well over paid for itself.

Good luck.

 

This is truly funny. I just changed my pants.

I agree with the '1st year bike' comment,,,,somewhat,,,,,,but really, this doesnt fall into that category. Yamaha has to realize that the 2001 raptor customers were Yamaha's most loyal patrons. You wouldn't have this problem with Cannodale, right????

 

Do any of you people have fully comprehensive insurance on your 01 raptors. If I loose my tranny, Im sending the bill to my insurance company. At least Im assuming that they will pay.

Has this happened to any 01 owners?

 

Eraptoid,

I snail mailed my letter, you should print it out and mail yours in as well. He probably just hit the delete button on hs computer.

Ryenol,

Thats great that there are dealers out there taking care of their customers. I hope they are not putting the 01 tranny gears back in or you'll be doing this again one day.

Mcfly,

I think you'll be dissapointed when you try and get your insurance to cover a internal engine repair, not a theft or damage due to accident (crash). jmo

 

wshrdskin,

Would you mind if I qoute your letter from yamaha on my site?

 

wshrdskin, very well written letter.

If I could just add my two cents though. Everyone needs to band together and send your letters to this man that sent wshrdskin his letter. The address should look like this when you send it in.
Yamaha blah, Customer Service
1244 Whatever ST.
Anywhere,USA 08123
c/o Jim Owen

This will make sure that Jim will receive all of these letters.

Then maybe warrior007 would be kind enough to make a page that says letters to Jim Owen and you can list your name and any other info you think might be necessary. Put the website in your letters and tell him that you know he has received other letters because you have been keeping track of the letters he has received. And if you really want to make sure they get it send it registered mail so he has to sign for it. It will cost but at least you know they received it.

The only way you might get anything done is to band together and get organized. And if you have busted trannies don’t think the letters everyone else sends in will help you. Get off your but and do something about it. I for one sure would not want to spend $1000-$1600 on a 2 year old machine that I had not abused.

If you think about it you have Yamaha by the *****. They sure as heck would not have changed the gears if there was no problem. "Why fix something if it isn't broke" Well it was broke or could break.

I know I don't own a Raptor but I have been reading post like this for the last year or two now.

Also does everyone have the address Consumer Product Safety Commission or are there local offices for every state?

Get involved or quite your bitchen. People don’t realize how powerful a person with the internet can be.

Like I said that is just my two cents. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]