Flex pipe pain!

[PowderFalcon]

Well, another break down story to add to the novel I’ve been compiling.

The latest chapter takes us to Quebec. Cruising down a beauty trail. Come to a stop, waiting for my buds to catch up, look to my right and my friggin sled is on fire! Not a little smoldering glow, actual flames coming out the top of the side panel! I jump off, open the panel, and start shoveling snow in the side to put it out. Phew, that was a close one! But how the hell did that happen?!
out for dinner and all I can smell is gas. Get to the motel and realize it’s my right pant leg. Oh look at that, my $400 Klim suit is burnt too!
Go outside to see where the gas is coming from. Yup! Gas tank leaking! Drip drip drip....
Luckily in the small town we’re in, we found a beauty French fella that let us use his shop to patch up my gas tank and heat shield to get us back on the trail later that day. Last 200k of the trip the sled is getting progressively louder. I’ve got my suspicions but I’ll wait till I tear into it at home.

Well, there ya have it! Flex pipe broken in half which put a hole in the heat shield, which melted my gas tank!

season is over for me anyway... and this could very well may have been my last ride on a yamacat

check these pipes in the off-season guys. I should have just let the sucker burn.

 

[Dr. FeeLGooD]

Believe me, I feel your pain. Good luck.

 

[ApexXTX/Viper]

Well, another break down story to add to the novel I’ve been compiling.

The latest chapter takes us to Quebec. Cruising down a beauty trail. Come to a stop, waiting for my buds to catch up, look to my right and my friggin sled is on fire! Not a little smoldering glow, actual flames coming out the top of the side panel! I jump off, open the panel, and start shoveling snow in the side to put it out. Phew, that was a close one! But how the hell did that happen?!
out for dinner and all I can smell is gas. Get to the motel and realize it’s my right pant leg. Oh look at that, my $400 Klim suit is burnt too!
Go outside to see where the gas is coming from. Yup! Gas tank leaking! Drip drip drip....
Luckily in the small town we’re in, we found a beauty French fella that let us use his shop to patch up my gas tank and heat shield to get us back on the trail later that day. Last 200k of the trip the sled is getting progressively louder. I’ve got my suspicions but I’ll wait till I tear into it at home.

Well, there ya have it! Flex pipe broken in half which put a hole in the heat shield, which melted my gas tank!

season is over for me anyway... and this could very well may have been my last ride on a yamacat

check these pipes in the off-season guys. I should have just let the sucker burn.




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How many kms? You would think that would be warranty under the YPP?

 

[Carbide]

How many kms? You would think that would be warranty under the YPP?

I would hope so!

 

[number1kyster]

Stock muffler tune?

 

[PowderFalcon]

How many kms? You would think that would be warranty under the YPP?

about 8000km

not holding my breath on warranty

 

[Doowithblue]

Brent this is/was a safety issue that could have resulted in personal injury. Imo yamaha should be bending over backwards to make sure you're happy and do whatever it takes. This flex joint should be a safety recall as it's happening to all 998's with some miles on them eventually.

 

[yamamarc]

Wow!!! That's not cool!!!
Lucky you were able to put it out!!

 

[Doowithblue]

I can remember back in 1998 when the first ck3's were breaking front arms in rear suspension and bombardier was taking this very seriously. As a matter of fact i got a call from the vp directly asking me what they can do for me. Why? Because it was a safety matter. Customers were getting injured as a result.

 

[74Nitro]

Yes, given that this can result in personal injury Yamaha should look closely here. Either revamp the existing piece, or replace with the braided style, more commonly found in automotive applications.
If this starts occuring more often, their hand may be forced by government transportation regulatory bodies.
This similar flex piece is a common source of maintenance on older Yamaha's.

 

[Turboflash]

PowderFalcon - I'm glad you weren't hurt physically. Besides reporting this to dealer and Yamaha, you might want to consider reporting it the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their mission is to go after manufacturers of unsafe products to force them to change whatever is causing the product to be unsafe. Here is a link to the online form to report it: https://www.saferproducts.gov/CPSRMSPublic/Incidents/ReportIncident.aspx.
(I have previously reported the cracked Team clutch issue to them and have heard they are pursuing it with Cat/Textron). Maybe they can help us get the design changed to something that is safer?
You might help prevent this from happening to the next guy.

 

[TrueBlue]

Brent this is/was a safety issue that could have resulted in personal injury. Imo yamaha should be bending over backwards to make sure you're happy and do whatever it takes. This flex joint should be a safety recall as it's happening to all 998's with some miles on them eventually.

Not only 998's. I have a 2018 Vector with the 1049 & 4,800 miles on it & the flex pipe is already broken. On the last 3 Vectors that I have owned I have never had to replace the flex pipe & these machines had over 10,000 miles on them. I think that they are using a cheaper material on the newer sleds.

 

[Norse]

My 16' Viper has had a small exhaust leak since day 1. I recently discovered this because I learned the boost pressure was a bit lower than standard. The header had a crack where the 3to1 meets the 2,5" pipe and that was right under the fuel tank! Potential bombshell caused by poor workmanship. After adjusting the wastegate I tore an even bigger hole in it, that's when I found the small (and big) exhaust leak. Be sure to check the whole exhaust system once a year guys.

 

[PowderFalcon]

PowderFalcon - I'm glad you weren't hurt physically. Besides reporting this to dealer and Yamaha, you might want to consider reporting it the Consumer Product Safety Commission. Their mission is to go after manufacturers of unsafe products to force them to change whatever is causing the product to be unsafe. Here is a link to the online form to report it: https://www.saferproducts.gov/CPSRMSPublic/Incidents/ReportIncident.aspx.
(I have previously reported the cracked Team clutch issue to them and have heard they are pursuing it with Cat/Textron). Maybe they can help us get the design changed to something that is safer?
You might help prevent this from happening to the next guy.

My first call to the dealer was in Quebec and was with regards to the fire and my initial inspection revealing the burnt heat shield and hole in the gas tank. He told me that the heat shield was a wear item and that would not be covered under warranty. I did not realize the flex pipe was broken at that time. Now that I have it apart, I’m hoping they will re consider knowing that it was the failed flex pipe that was the root cause.

 

[Dr. FeeLGooD]

My first call to the dealer was in Quebec and was with regards to the fire and my initial inspection revealing the burnt heat shield and hole in the gas tank. He told me that the heat shield was a wear item and that would not be covered under warranty. I did not realize the flex pipe was broken at that time. Now that I have it apart, I’m hoping they will re consider knowing that it was the failed flex pipe that was the root cause.

Don't hold your breath. Yamaha doesnt seem to give two turds about their customers.