Loyal Yamaha owner - disappointed in '06 Apex durability

[shawnmcgr]

I rode a season (1400kms) on badly bent a-arms (t-boned a rev riding through deep pow in the trees), although not much trail riding. You will probably wear out bushings faster so keep an eye on that. Check to see how much lateral force you are putting on your shock, how square is it to the mount points.

Mine was bent so bad the shock was rubbing on the a-arm and by the time I swapped it out it had almost worn through the tubing wall.

The day I busted it I rode the day with only one bolt holding the lower a-arm to the bulkhead (busted bulkhead).

As 'fer durability...so far my riding buddy has gone through 2 revs to one Apex and I'm sure I will have this Apex for a while.

 

[ZR800EFI]

I rode a season (1400kms) on badly bent a-arms (t-boned a rev riding through deep pow in the trees), although not much trail riding. You will probably wear out bushings faster so keep an eye on that. Check to see how much lateral force you are putting on your shock, how square is it to the mount points.

Mine was bent so bad the shock was rubbing on the a-arm and by the time I swapped it out it had almost worn through the tubing wall.

The day I busted it I rode the day with only one bolt holding the lower a-arm to the bulkhead (busted bulkhead).

As 'fer durability...so far my riding buddy has gone through 2 revs to one Apex and I'm sure I will have this Apex for a while.

But your 600lb sled t-boned his 400lb sled...so that took care of 1 Rev!

 

[Rockmeister]

Hhahhahahhaa!

 

[shawnmcgr]

Yes, retiring 2smokes one sled at a time!

Now that I've got a CE 2.5 track on I should be able to chip those revs as I run them down!

 

[danq]

Just got a call this week from the dealer...$1300 in work needed. Broken front and rear W-arm, bent A-arm up front, 2nd time those damn titanium exhaust pipes and donuts blew out. All of those broken suspension parts are what fry my cake because I am not an aggressive rider. Yet, the front W-arm is cracked in 6 spots and the rear is cracked in 3 spots!

Sigh...

They told me the obvious. To cut weight down, Yamaha took as much out of the rear skid as they could. As a result, they don't have the strength to hold up to more than a few years of even fairly easy riding.

I am getting all of the parts replaced with the upgraded, stronger suspension components as well as the cheaper, more durable stainless exhaust. I was thinking of trading up in 2012, but I dont know if that is financially feasible anymore after this, and my experience with the exhaust and idler wheel issues already.

After two WaveRunners, a dirt bike, an ATV and three sleds, I have called into question Yamaha's durability for the first time. Hopefully nothing else major goes wrong with this sled over the next few years so my memory fades, and I can walk into my dealer's showroom and feel comfortable buying a new Yammie in the future.

You are correct to be disappointed in my opinion. I'm going thru the same thing except I'm doing the work myself. I don't want suspension breakage during the riding season and the YES warranty won't replace parts that aren't broken YET. The point is, the 06-09 sleds have "issues". Many of these things are finally fixed on the '10 models. The beef up kit, shock rebuild, new wheels and bearings will bring my skid up to '10 spec.
if you have the stainless exhaust, hopefully that will fix that problem.

However, I still think you can count on dougnut repairs every 3-4000 miles as regular maintenance. I'm looking at other sleds when it is time to replace this one. Had almost 10,000 miles on my viper with no trips to the dealer. The apex has been to the dealer a couple of times and is torn apart in the garage right now. @10,000 miles . I wonder if a doo 4 stroke will go 15,000 miles?

 

[redrx1rkt]

Shawn - funny you should mention the bushings, because the side with the bad A-arm is the side that needs bushings! Other side is okay, I guess, but they are replacing those anyway.

Danq - It sucks that a Yamaha, of all the sled manufacturers, has durability/reliability issues with the suspension, exhaust, idlers, etc. I dont think I will go to another brand...though, admittedly...I rode a Doo Grand Touring 4 stroke and LOVED it. However, my Yamaha dealer is the best dealer I have ever dealt with for any motor vehicle I have owned. That's enough to keep me in the Yammi camp. Not to mention, I have had good luck with every Yamaha product I have owned except this one. Hopefully I can get three more troublefree years out of it with Kimpex idlers, 2010 W arm, new A arm & bushings and a stainless exhaust!

 

[shanksyamaha]

Shanks, the twins were originally made in Osceola, I had 01 600X snowcheck and had no problems. They contracted to Fuji in 02 Had 02 800 xc X that was POS. Fuji did not use stainless steel exhaust valves, cant remember what they did use but if a little carbon built up on them they would melt and kiss top of the piston, Polaris fix: go up three sizes on main jets in following years. Every one that I ride with that had an 02 - 05 800 twin broke the crank between 1500 and 3000 one person had 700 crank break two seasons in a row although thats about the only thing that did not happen to mine. I have had 9000 miles of riding with no rope on my bumper, the front one that is. My avitar is my freinds second broken crank tow. Polaris sled I absolutely loved and wished i never sold:XCR 800 that was a bullet proof rocket! Believe as soon as the manufactures except Yammi told us we wanted light sled,twins instead of triples so they could make more$ per unit thats when reliability suffered. Never had problems with triples unless lean melt down, twins are way more high strung.

Im right there with ya on the tripples.... Great motors. After that era, I had no luck what so ever on the twins. I also agree that the xcr 800 was one of the best sleds ever built. some builders are still using xcr 800 motors and dropping them in edge chassis and having reliable, fast, great riding and handling trail sleds. If I ever go back to two stroke, thats the sled I would want to own.

 

[tryanATTAK]

Wow shanksyamaha you definitely had some bad luck or maybe me and my friends are having real good luck. I had heard the pre 04' 700's had some problems but I heard mostly the 800's having crank problems. I actually switched from Ski-Doo to Polaris in 04' and I guess I got a good one and have since bought a used 05' for my kids to ride and it has almost 6,000 miles on it and is still going strong. My friends have 2 600's which one has just over 12,000 miles and the other with actually almost 14,000 miles and it's ridden like it's stolen most of the time and has never even replaced the reeds or rings. The friend with the 700 has almost 13,000 miles and is ridden pretty hard also. The onlyreason I bought my Attak was I wanted to try the 4 stroke technology and I'm glad I did. Since that purchase we have gotten a used 07' Phazer for my son. My wife and daughter are still on the 04' and 05' poos. I run Amsoil in everything.

 

[kinger]

Its hard to compare 600/700's to a apex/ltx only because riding them like you stole them can mean SOOOO much more. I rode a 440 like I stole it and it never broke once, that is because it just couldn't build speed fast enough to get in trouble.

Now I can turn a corner get to 95, hit a big bump with outrageous force not feel it, slam on the brakes turn a corner with so much force you can almost get dizzy, and do it all over again. In a 600 or even 700 viper I had it wasn't even close I hit that same bump at 65 much less force to bottom out on, wasy less brake, skid through the turn, etc.

I remember riding my 440 wide open all the time, with the apex I will barely crack the throttle and still be twice as fast.

 

[shanksyamaha]

Wow shanksyamaha you definitely had some bad luck or maybe me and my friends are having real good luck. I had heard the pre 04' 700's had some problems but I heard mostly the 800's having crank problems. I actually switched from Ski-Doo to Polaris in 04' and I guess I got a good one and have since bought a used 05' for my kids to ride and it has almost 6,000 miles on it and is still going strong. My friends have 2 600's which one has just over 12,000 miles and the other with actually almost 14,000 miles and it's ridden like it's stolen most of the time and has never even replaced the reeds or rings. The friend with the 700 has almost 13,000 miles and is ridden pretty hard also. The onlyreason I bought my Attak was I wanted to try the 4 stroke technology and I'm glad I did. Since that purchase we have gotten a used 07' Phazer for my son. My wife and daughter are still on the 04' and 05' poos. I run Amsoil in everything.

Thats definatley good news. I don't care what brand it is I like to hear stories of people having good luck with their sleds.

I tell my buddies that still ride poos. I love my yammi. but if you are having good luck with your polaris, then keep on a riding it... No reason to switch brands unless YOU want to..

Im not brand loyal anymore. I was die hard polaris and when I opened my eyes I realized that they all have goods and bads and its all in what you want. I love my yamahas but If I see a ski doo next year that I love... Im on it.. There are lots of good sleds out there.... no reason to say only one brand is any good....

Yammi def. has the best motors, but their heavy
ski doo is light and rides good but their motors are finickey
polaris is full of new ideas but dont have much big iron for us guys who like lots of HP
and Cats are fast and handle well but are put together like a 5th grader did the assembly...

Its all in what you want....

 

[tryanATTAK]

I'm not a brand loyal type of guy either. I started on Yamahas then switched to Ski-Doo's then to Polaris and now Yamaha again. The only brand I've never purchased is Cat and that's because I have a few friends that bleed green and they are always the ones that are broke down. Most people that I ride with now are on Yamaha's or Polaris. Hope I didn't jinx my self though talking about my good luck so far. But the compression is still very good in the Poos and I keep a close eye on piston wash. The only problem I've had with the 04' 700 was a water temp sensor failed putting it in limp mode and the original helix on the team clutch wore egg shaped around 2,000 miles but that's it.

 

[shanksyamaha]

I checked my compression in my 04 700 yesterday and it was 125lbs both sides so as far as I can tell its good to go.

Its funny how back in the 80s and 90s when all the sleds were just about the same. They all looked the same they all had the same front suspension (accept cat) they all had the same designs. Basically your only choices were yellow, green, blue, or red.. And everyone was so brand loyal, Now sleds are all different and it seams fewer people are brand loyal than ever before.

 

[tryanATTAK]

The Rev was the reason I jumped ship from Ski-Doo to Polaris and with the problems that came along with the introduction of the Rev I'm glad I did.Then when Yamaha came out with the 4 stroke RX1 I was tempted but I never buy first year technology so i passed on it and I'm glad I waited until the 07' Attak I ended up with. I just wish Yamaha would have taken care of all the issues before this years model. I haven't had any real issues with my Attak but it would be nice to have had the beefed up suspension, the idler wheels with replaceable bearings,and the better hand warmers.

 

[TonyVT]

Its hard to compare 600/700's to a apex/ltx only because riding them like you stole them can mean SOOOO much more. I rode a 440 like I stole it and it never broke once, that is because it just couldn't build speed fast enough to get in trouble.

Now I can turn a corner get to 95, hit a big bump with outrageous force not feel it, slam on the brakes turn a corner with so much force you can almost get dizzy, and do it all over again. In a 600 or even 700 viper I had it wasn't even close I hit that same bump at 65 much less force to bottom out on, wasy less brake, skid through the turn, etc.

I remember riding my 440 wide open all the time, with the apex I will barely crack the throttle and still be twice as fast.

VERY WELL SAID!

 

[Fusion]

I shouldn't read these type threads too much, but the comment made within, about defects in suspension bracing for 2006 to 2010, formulated a question in my mind.

If the W bracket cracks or breaks a weld in the suspension, is this covered if under warranty? Or do they claim "wear and tear", or user abuse? Just curious what peoples experiences have been with this issue, while under warranty.