Not happy with the assembly of my new Viper

[Blue Dave]

Looking for some feedback from you guys on the build quality of these "made in MN" sleds. This is my 12th new Yamaha sled but it is the first one that is not made in Japan.

I have my new 2015 RTX DX in my garage but have not ridden it yet. I am putting on some goodies like the sport front grab bar, rear skid plate, HID headlights, etc. I took the panels, hood, & seat off just to see how it is done. Some observations:

1) The LH side panel has a thumb screw in addition to the clip to secure it. The RH side panel has no thumb screw but the hole is there for it. Is this the way it is supposed to be? If so, why does the LH side need a thumb screw and the RH side does not? Why put the hole in the RH panel if the thumb screw is not needed there?

2) I found two screws missing in the underside of the hood. One was a black self tapping large Torx head screw that sucks down the "flair" to the top of the hood and the other was a smaller silver self tapping Torx head screw that holds together the panels at the nose of the hood. Both missing screws were on the RH side of the hood. I looked in the belly pan and did not see the missing screws so I am assuming that the Arctic Cat worker forgot to install them.

3) The Torx head bolt that secures the seat latch was so F'n tight that I snapped my T30 socket bit trying to break it loose with a ratchet. After buying a new T30 socket bit I put an impact driver on it and broke the bolt free. If I had waited until I needed a jump start someday to remove the seat I would have been completely screwed (pun intended). I realize that this is a dealer prep issue since the dealer needs to remove and install the seat to install the battery. In my dealer's defense he acquired this sled from another dealer who had assembled it.

I guess the answer may be to install the optional Racewerx seat bolt that is a thumbscrew. However I have the large tunnel gear bag and it would poke into the bag. Interestingly I was told that the Arctic Cat version of this sled does not use a bolt in the seat latch but rather just relies on the latch itself to keep the seat attached. I like the extra security of the bolt but think that a low profile thumb screw would have been a better way to to this.

4) There are a ton of the black self tapping large Torx head screws holding this sled together. In Japan I am sure these would be replaced with threaded bolts with corresponding threaded inserts and blue Loctighted . Time will tell if these screws prove to be adequate. Has anyone had these screws strip out or otherwise come loose?

5) The RH side panel has a flexible heat shield attached for protection from the exhaust system. It has a piece of Velcro attached to the flexible heat shield but no corresponding piece of Velcro on the body panel where it would attach. I am assuming that this is another item forgotten during assembly in Thief River Falls, MN?

6) The final item is another dealer prep issue that my dealer was not responsible for because of the reason I stated earlier. My battery was installed with the positive terminal on the RH side of the sled (front side of the battery facing up) requiring that the cable from the starter solenoid terminal be stretched across the battery to reach the positive battery terminal which would not allow the rubber cap to cover the battery terminal. I swapped the battery around 180 degrees so that the positive terminal is on the LH side of the sled which makes the positive cable connect with enough slack that the rubber cap can actually cover the terminal.

The only reason I mentioned this is because I want to make sure that I have the correct battery. My battery is a YTX20H-BS which has the positive terminal on the left as you are looking at the battery from the front. Is this correct? If so, is it supposed to be installed face down so that the positive terminal is on the LH side of the sled and therefore is closer to the starter solenoid terminal?

Thanks in advance for your feedback not only on my points but your own opinions and experiences with the build quality of these sleds. I have heard of other guys finding loose or missing fasteners and other build quality issues, so I just want to have an idea of what to expect compared to my 11 previous made in Japan Yamaha sleds.

 

[NOS-PRO]

The thumb screw on the left I don't even use anymore....is really is not needed.

The seat screw/bolt was tight on mine also and I have replaced it with a thumb blade screw M6 x 1.0 from a hardware store for a couple of bucks.

The sharp plactic edges need to be trimmed a little better and I took a heat gun and a razor blade to clean/dress the edges.

Yes, a lot of torx head screws but after awhile I haven't had any problems removing and installing them back into the sled plastic. The screw that was missing???? Don't know what to say except let your dealer know as Yamaha only listens to the reports back to the dealers for issues. For the Torx screws for the hood, Evolution Powersports has a hood and seat kit with thumb screws for quick and easy removal.

Battery, mine has the posts up and I have always put it back into that position. The red cap does not fit correctly but as long as it was covered I was ok with it.

One thing to mention....check your hose clamps and check them once in awhile as with heat cycles, they can be snugged up a time or 2 after a few miles.

All in all, you will love the sled when you ride it.

 

[subaru2006]

most of what you posted is the way they come. i haven't had any issues with the torx screws and i have had them on and off a million times. the battery on mine has the positive on the left side of the sled i believe and both caps fit on nicely. as mention above check your coolant lines. that was the only issue i had with my sled and i fixed that before i could really do any riding. the velcro is on the underside of the hood and right wing. if you dont see them have yamaha fix it. its a simple fix but when you pay the money we do, you want it perfect.
i do agree the quality compared to over seas isn't the same but i don't think you should have any issues especially since yamaha is backing the sled.

subaru2006

 

[yukon yamaha]

1) The LH side panel has a thumb screw in addition to the clip to secure it. The RH side panel has no thumb screw but the hole is there for it. Is this the way it is supposed to be? If so, why does the LH side need a thumb screw and the RH side does not? Why put the hole in the RH panel if the thumb screw is not needed there?
........I think it is to prevent snow from getting on your clutches and slipping the belt, sugar snow or powder snow could sneak in that gap. (I put one on the other side too)

5) The RH side panel has a flexible heat shield attached for protection from the exhaust system. It has a piece of Velcro attached to the flexible heat shield but no corresponding piece of Velcro on the body panel where it would attach. I am assuming that this is another item forgotten during assembly in Thief River Falls, MN?
...... Yeah the Velcro is kind of waste of time, it was a good idea but I have not seem any machines that it is still on the panel.

The t20-T25 screws are a pain in the azz, however I have come to accept that these are every were on my machine, I went out and got a good (T) set of screw drivers and have not had an issue with stripping out. That said I do not over tighten any of them, I would rather have one or two fall out and replace it than strip it out and have the mess of trying to get it out on the trail or even in my shop

 

[FrozenTows4]

I do not over tighten any of them

Amen! And a little dab of LocTite blue seals the deal. Also helps with disassemble too. Locks, lubes, seals, and prevents galling.

 

[TD Max]

My first mod was to pop the seat and add a battery tender connector. As I recall the screw was tight, but I have Snap On screwdriver type Torx. They have a hex on the shaft at the handle that you can use a wrench to apply increased force.
My battery:

 

[yukon yamaha]

I did close to the same thing, however I used apex boosting leads and ran them out the same spot with the rubber caps to prevent them from touching each other. More of a time saver than anything, not a big fan of taking the seat off to jump a machine.

 

[stingray719]

I did close to the same thing, however I used apex boosting leads and ran them out the same spot with the rubber caps to prevent them from touching each other. More of a time saver than anything, not a big fan of taking the seat off to jump a machine.

As I posted earlier, I use a double male end cord and jump from my battery box to the accessory (cig lighter) plug on the sled. Have not had to use it on the Viper but it had it's workout on the Phazer.

 

[michmobiler]

Overall I have been happy with the build quality of my 2015 Viper RTX-DX. It was assembled in April of this year, so technically an "early model". I have looked it over well and nothing is loose or falling off. And maybe just cause it is the all black model, even the shades of black match well.

Okay, so is it the build quality of an all Japanese model.....no, but overall I think that the folks at Artic Cat did a great job! And if it were all assembled in Japan it would weigh an extra 20 pounds.....

Now if we could just get some snow here in Michigan so I can ride it!!

 

[swamp hog]

I did the same thing with my battery tender cord. Does anyone know if you could boost through that cord? Would the cord be heavy enough not to melt? Never have had to boost any of my yamaha's but always like to be prepared!

 

[Blue Dave]

Thanks guys for all of the feedback. Keep it coming!

As far as boosting (jump starting) the battery I would pop the seat off and put some heavy gauge jumper cables right on the battery terminals. As far as charging the battery I plan also to put a pig tail on the battery for my tender.

 

[turbo800]

I removed the thumb screw on the LH side panel....no issues. The clip is plenty to hold it in place.

In the process of removing the bumper to install a bumper/skidplate combo. I noticed at the bottom of the bulkhead there is two access holes. The rear most is access to the motor oil filter. The front one is access to misc. hoses. One of the torx head bolts on the front one had been broke off at the factory

The seat bolt was tight on mine also, but I was able to remove it with the supplied wrench in the toolkit. I've since replaced it with the racewerx aluminum thumb screw with some anti-seize on the threads.

When I went to re-install the seat, I couldn't get it to set properly. One of the grooves in the seat base had collapsed any wouldn't go around the pyramid support running down to the tunnel. With a lil prying and a screwdriver from the side of the sled, I was able to get it to open up and go around the tubing. I'm assuming the dealer didn't get it right when they put the battery in, but I don't know, it could have been like that from the factory that way.

All in all, the fit/finish is OK but is isn't great, all my Doo's have been better!

 

[Blue Dave]

Well I took apart the hood assembly further in preparation for installing my HID headlight kit that should be arriving today or tomorrow. Guess what I found? Yep, more missing fasteners! I have made three trips now to the dealer to obtain the fasteners that the Arctic Cat workers in Thief River Falls forgot to install when they built the sled. My dealer confided in me that he was not at all surprised that I have found four missing fasteners so far. He said that they have seen many missing (and loose) fasteners on the Vipers.

Now I am worried about what other fasteners may be missing or loose since I have only looked at the hood so far. I guess I will have to go over the entire sled with a fine tooth comb to be sure that it is put together correctly. This is completely unacceptable to me on a $12K sled.

One more thing that I forgot to mention so far is the mounting position of the heated seat switch. It is not parallel with the angled cowling next to it and it is also not parallel with the center line of the chassis either. It is at a slightly cocked F'd up angle that drives an anal person with OCD like me absolutely crazy! I checked the LTX DX on the dealer showroom and the heated seat switch is positioned the exact same F'd up way which leads me to believe that all DX's have this issue. If you are going to go to the trouble of creating a drawing or template that locates the rectangular switch hole why not make it line up with something that makes it look like a factory installed item rather than a poorly executed afterthought.

As luck would have it, the Yamaha rep was at my dealer while I was there on my third trip obtaining more fasteners. I shared all of this with him and told him that I thought that Yamaha needs some more Japanese quality control guys watching what is going on at Arctic Cat.

 

[cannondale27]

I did not have any missing fasteners on mine at all but the fasteners on there are in many cases Chinese quality or under sized. Some have stripped from being run into sheet metal clips of the cheapest variety.others like the steering arm bolt,stem clamp screws,hose clamps and all the pyramid support bolts have stretched and require constant re torque. I suspect much of this is efforts to lighten sled which is great but hollow bolts or Titanium bolts of correct size would impress me and others much more and accomplish the same weight goals without sacrificing durability and strength. That said in over 3000mi the only components that actually wore was the top gear bushing in chaincase and the steering stem block.
Nothing else has failed or wore. No arm bushings,slides,wheels,steering joints,donuts or other pieces that have been known wear points on past Yamahas have worn at all. I can change oil in 10 minutes. I have a better sled and know it like back of my hand. This need to know the issues is no different than past Yamahas. That is why TY is so valuable. So once we address the issues we can have maximum ride time available.

 

[stingray719]

I did not have any missing fasteners on mine at all but the fasteners on there are in many cases Chinese quality or under sized. Some have stripped from being run into sheet metal clips of the cheapest variety.others like the steering arm bolt,stem clamp screws,hose clamps and all the pyramid support bolts have stretched and require constant re torque. I suspect much of this is efforts to lighten sled which is great but hollow bolts or Titanium bolts of correct size would impress me and others much more and accomplish the same weight goals without sacrificing durability and strength. That said in over 3000mi the only components that actually wore was the top gear bushing in chaincase and the steering stem block.
Nothing else has failed or wore. No arm bushings,slides,wheels,steering joints,donuts or other pieces that have been known wear points on past Yamahas have worn at all. I can change oil in 10 minutes. I have a better sled and know it like back of my hand. This need to know the issues is no different than past Yamahas. That is why TY is so valuable. So once we address the issues we can have maximum ride time available.

^X2
Anybody thinks this is a bad first year sled did not have a 2007 Phazer.....LOL!