Loyal Yamaha owner - disappointed in '06 Apex durability

[rx1warrior]

Thats the reason I just sold mine, my chasis was falling appart. 2 w arms, cracked rails, ex donuts, transfer rod,umpteen idler wheels and jackshaft bearings, cold hands and track ratcheting. all this in 4000 miles. Damn motor was bulletproof! Gonna see what green brings I guess

 

[shanksyamaha]

Shanksyamaha - I am a little disturbed by the problems with this sled and my faith in Yammie has been shaken a bit. If I were a first time Yamaha buyer, I would probably go elsewhere for the next sled, but I have owned a lot of reliable and trouble-free Yamaha products so I think this one is a fluke. Funny, right before I bought it I warned myself that this was the first model year of a totally new sled and I usually have a rule to avoid the first year of any model, any manufacturer. Well, I will think twice before I do that again! (of course, if I bought a 2007 or 08, the problems would've been the same!)

Greasing the jack shaft, etc - been doing that since new!

I definately understand where you're coming from. I hope I dont have that many problems, I was planning on keeping my apex for 3 seasons but if I have that many problems I wont be keeping it..... I have not owned a ski doo in 15 years so I dont know how they are, I did not like the original rev because Im 6'6" and it dosn't fit me but the xp might be better. If there were one sled other than yamaha that I would own it would be a ski doo. Give your apex another season and see what that brings...

 

[Ported Hornet]

Your going to go thru were are tear parts no matter what brand you are riding. Bottom line Yami's motor is rock solid and thats where repairs get expensive.

 

[kinger]

Sounds like a POS I would get something else and see if its more durable. There is no reason to be loyal to any one brand. I only stay with the 4 stroke because its the only sled I rode where I cant stop smiling.

Or pick up a wrench and do some of the work yourself, look in the classifieds for used parts and it will cost you a fraction of that dealer bill. For your damages probably $400 vs $2000 and that would be cheap for 6000+ miles.

 

[yamadog07]

i understand your grief. i am also a loyal yami fan. many machines all bought new & rode for 5-10 yrs. yep had minor problems with all but nothing not to expect with a snowmobile. now my 2007 is a different story... anything that has gone wrong, cracked rails, cracked suspension, idler wheels, overheating etc etc etc are all yami's fault (in my opinion). i have to fight for warranty each time. they never admit there is a problem.... then next years sled comes out with that part upgraded, what the f***!

one note here.. i'm delin with yami canada, i believe they are much worse to deal with then yami usa.
still love the machine, would not go a different way, just adds to the hobby of keeping this thing in tip top shape ! where's the snow ?

 

[ZR800EFI]

There's people on every brand that say the same thing. The Apex is the best overall machine out there in my opinion, for the riding I do expecially. I wouldn't change it for anything out there right now. Although I do have a stupid idling problem I can't figure out! ;-)

 

[breakinbarrs]

Shanksyamaha - I am a little disturbed by the problems with this sled and my faith in Yammie has been shaken a bit. If I were a first time Yamaha buyer, I would probably go elsewhere for the next sled, but I have owned a lot of reliable and trouble-free Yamaha products so I think this one is a fluke. Funny, right before I bought it I warned myself that this was the first model year of a totally new sled and I usually have a rule to avoid the first year of any model, any manufacturer. Well, I will think twice before I do that again! (of course, if I bought a 2007 or 08, the problems would've been the same!)

Greasing the jack shaft, etc - been doing that since new!

I think other than skis and skid this is the most reliable machine on the snow. I think yammi left a little to much R&D on the new skid to the consumer. I was a diehard Polaris owner till their twin two stroke debacle. I could fill volumes with the little crap that went wrong with my poos. Rode the Apex on a demo in 06 and I will never look back unless yammi builds total sh@# like Polaris did for a while or they eliminate four stroke. If you do some wrenching yourself you can save a ton, I have a fleet of three sleds and if dealer did all work I would have zero $s to ride. Sent my skid out for beef up and put more and larger idler wheels cured hifax wear.

 

[quebec#1]

Like all sleds you are going to have problems unless you dont ride them ! I have 7000 miles on mine and the donuts and updated exhaust were just done . A few bearings (normal for 7000 miles) New slides first time in sleds life !
Im a little pissed off that the stater went and a front A arm that was cracked in two places.
I have no front end issues snowtrackers and a few adjustments incl the 13 mm sway bar makes my Apex a pure joy to run it now rails around corners.
Now besides some normal stuff going what im really upset about is the price of the parts that we canadians are charged vs the good old USA a mark up of 30% to 50 % way to much in my book.

 

[tryanATTAK]

Makes me wonder what kind of oil was being used in the failed Poos. I have over 7,000 miles on my 04' and I have 3 friends with 2 600's and 1 700 and they all have over 12,000 miles on the original engines never even been re-ringed. My 04' 700 has the SLP pipe,can, clutch kit, flowrites, air horn kit and has been jetted and geared, and with the stock reeds and rings still in it. It will out run my buddies 05' ZR900 EFI easily and give my 07' Attak a good run. That being said I absolutely love the Attak. I have had none of the issues you guys are talking about and have over 6,000 miles on it. Well it did light up the amber warning light for temp until I diluted the antifreeze mixture. But that's it. Now I can't jump due to my back (broke my spine in 2 places 2 years ago) and I can't fly through moguls anymore either so maybe that's why mine is holding up so well. The hand warmers could be hotter but I just bought gauntlets and that solved that issue of course I ride with just the thin mechanic type CastleX gloves also.

 

[Apex809]

Can put a polaris edge or skidoo suspension in there to fix the rear problem. Love my polaris skid. Other then that. Just speedo side bearing and exhaust dounts (just changed around 2700 miles).

 

[rxrider]

It's kinda costly fix buying a ZX2, but X2 on what Darnello said, it's going to be a completely different animal for sure.

 

[ahicks]

Can put a polaris edge or skidoo suspension in there to fix the rear problem. Love my polaris skid. Other then that. Just speedo side bearing and exhaust dounts (just changed around 2700 miles).

There are now dozens that have done just that for all kinds of reasons. Not only can you do it, but it can be done very reasonably compared to the price of repair parts to put a Yammi skid back together in many cases, and certainly much cheaper than the skids sold on the aftermarket. Done properly, they work great, and doing them properly isn't all that difficult.

 

[Rockmeister]

Can put a polaris edge or skidoo suspension in there to fix the rear problem. Love my polaris skid. Other then that. Just speedo side bearing and exhaust dounts (just changed around 2700 miles).

There are now dozens that have done just that for all kinds of reasons. Not only can you do it, but it can be done very reasonably compared to the price of repair parts to put a Yammi skid back together in many cases, and certainly much cheaper than the skids sold on the aftermarket. Done properly, they work great, and doing them properly isn't all that difficult.

X2!

Love my Doo skid!
Great ride & is tough!

 

[shanksyamaha]

Makes me wonder what kind of oil was being used in the failed Poos. I have over 7,000 miles on my 04' and I have 3 friends with 2 600's and 1 700 and they all have over 12,000 miles on the original engines never even been re-ringed. My 04' 700 has the SLP pipe,can, clutch kit, flowrites, air horn kit and has been jetted and geared, and with the stock reeds and rings still in it. It will out run my buddies 05' ZR900 EFI easily and give my 07' Attak a good run. That being said I absolutely love the Attak. I have had none of the issues you guys are talking about and have over 6,000 miles on it. Well it did light up the amber warning light for temp until I diluted the antifreeze mixture. But that's it. Now I can't jump due to my back (broke my spine in 2 places 2 years ago) and I can't fly through moguls anymore either so maybe that's why mine is holding up so well. The hand warmers could be hotter but I just bought gauntlets and that solved that issue of course I ride with just the thin mechanic type CastleX gloves also.

Wow. I have never heard anyone say that about a group of polaris. I rode polaris my entire life, I had 14 polaris sleds before my first yammi. My father and I snow checked two new polaris sleds every year. All my friends rode polaris and some still do, All my family rode polaris. I have never seen one go more than 9000 miles without a rebuild and that was a 97 indy 500 with a fugi motor. None of the polaris twins that anyone I know has owned has gone for more than 6000 miles. I owned a 98 xc 600, 99 xc 700, 2000 xc 700 sp, 2001 xc 700 sp, 2002, xc 700 sp, 2003 xc 700 sp, and I still have a 2004 xc 700 sp. All of them blew motors accept the 2001 and the 2004 I still have but it only has 2500 miles on it so Im expecting it any time. Some of these sleds went through more than one motor, cost to rebuild was around $1000/cylinder every time. My 03 700 blew one side, two weeks later the other side, month or so later the crank broke and ruined everything.

Some of these sleds stayed stock... Some were modded. The 700 I currently have that my wife rides has an slp single pipe, V force 3 reeds, and is clutched but none of these mods, properly installed, should decrease the reliability of the motor drastically.


All of my motor rebuilds were done by Bill Lutz @ Fun Unlimited, who is one of the best. Or Ron Weeks polaris, who are also very good.

I used only the best polaris oil I could buy originally, then switched to amsoil full syn.

I was die hard polaris, I now ride yammi
My father was die hard polaris, He stopped riding due to frustration with repairs
Two of my friends would only ride polaris their entire lives.. total die hards, Now one has an F8 and the other an mxz 800

Polaris has gone from being number 1 in sales (when fuji made their motors) to being renound for failure...

I will admit that these poos were runners. My wifes sled out runs my buddies heavilly modded fusion 900 (ya I know its a fusion 900 but hes got like $6500 in modds and my wife out runs him... thats funny stuff...)
and it would give my old RX-1 a good run (before the turbo, of course..)


I just hope my xc 700 (wifes sled) lasts this season so I can sell it and get her on a yamaha...

 

[breakinbarrs]

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.