Apex Chaincase

[mark g desantis]

Up north in Wisconsin a couple of weekends ago. 2009 Apex ER. Shifted into reverse, made horrible grinding noise, would not move. Shifted back into forward, worked fine. Reverse again, same bad noise. Upon disassembly, the bolt, number 63 on diagram, was broken. gears were slightly chipped. Has anyone had this bolt break before? Is there something else to look for. Driveshaft bearing on opposite side of drive shaft is good.

 

[74Nitro]

It's common for that bolt to break. Yamaha again made a change to the driveshaft in 2011 or 12 and also to the #80 in the pic.
I would just put a new bolt in and drive on. Sounds like your linkage freeplay may need adjusting also.

 

[mark g desantis]

Thanks. Linkage adjusted. Bolt replaced. Hopefully all good to go. Wondered if that bolt break was relatively common.

 

[RobX-1]

The bolt and even the drive axle are known to break. That is why in 2011 Yamaha changed to a thicker, longer drive axle where the axle in the chain case now extends to the cover as Yamaha added a bearing to bottom half of the outer chain case for the axle to slide into to help alleviate pressure. I've never snapped the bolt but with close 23K on the 08 Apex, I've replaced the axle twice.

 

[74Nitro]

The bolt and even the drive axle are known to break. That is why in 2011 Yamaha changed to a thicker, longer drive axle where the axle in the chain case now extends to the cover as Yamaha added a bearing to bottom half of the outer chain case for the axle to slide into to help alleviate pressure. I've never snapped the bolt but with close 23K on the 08 Apex, I've replaced the axle twice.

I haven't seen the axle break on any 09's or 10's.
The bolt was breaking because the axle didn't extend into the holder far enough, which was an engineering mistake that they corrected on the 11 or 12 models.

 

[maim]

well on the 11, i had it come loose and the retaining snap ring stopped it from wearing all the way through the cover.

 

[RobX-1]

I haven't seen the axle break on any 09's or 10's.
The bolt was breaking because the axle didn't extend into the holder far enough, which was an engineering mistake that they corrected on the 11 or 12 models.

Both axles broke right at the end that goes into the chain case and hence why I thought the longer drive axle extending into the outer chain case cover now with bearing installed was to address this. Never once broke the bolt...

 

[74Nitro]

Both axles broke right at the end that goes into the chain case and hence why I thought the longer drive axle extending into the outer chain case cover now with bearing installed was to address this. Never once broke the bolt...

View attachment 179928
View attachment 179929
View attachment 179930

Are both those axles off the 06-08's?

 

[74Nitro]

well on the 11, i had it come loose and the retaining snap ring stopped it from wearing all the way through the cover.

Loose or broke?

 

[RobX-1]

Are both those axles off the 06-08's?

Yes, obviously the original one from the 08 and then the 2nd one was a used one I got off Travis which I believe was from a low mileage Vector of the same years.

 

[74Nitro]

Yes, obviously the original one from the 08 and then the 2nd one was a used one I got off Travis which I believe was from a low mileage Vector of the same years.

If I remember correctly, when they made the shaft longer in 11 or 12, I think they went thicker again.
IMO, if they had just made the 06-08 shaft thicker, I think it would have been just fine without adding the length and all the rest of the changes.

 

[sideshowBob]

Yamaha did some upgrades from model year to year gradually on the Apex from the 2006 model and frequently on the chaincase cover ect.
The 2010 Apex was a relatively rare beast and was the last year prior to the major changes and upgrades like power steering and exhaust EXUP valve and one little known fact is the 2010 came with the fully upgraded driveshaft and chain case that was also installed on the later 2011 and up power steering Apexs. I know this because back then I was upgrading my Attak yearly as Yamaha made changes and improvements to the newer model.
My Attak has all upgrades Yamaha made to to 2006 - 2010 Apex models including the much improved 2010 and up chaincase and drive shaft.

 

[steiner]

Just did a track change on my Attak. I have been using a 2011+ jackshaft that I got from BoP. Travis machines newer jackshafts to fit the pre 2010 chaincases. Here you can see how much thicker the newer shafts are.

 

[74Nitro]

Just did a track change on my Attak. I have been using a 2011+ jackshaft that I got from BoP. Travis machines newer jackshafts to fit the pre 2010 chaincases. Here you can see how much thicker the newer shafts are.View attachment 179963View attachment 179964View attachment 179965

Awesome idea.

 

[sideshowBob]

Just did a track change on my Attak. I have been using a 2011+ jackshaft that I got from BoP. Travis machines newer jackshafts to fit the pre 2010 chaincases.

What track did you install on your Attak?