problems with professional

[wayne]

Has anyone out there heard of any problems with the vk professional that I should be aware of .. I have heard rumors of transmission problems and drive axle bearings but I don't know of anyone who has had these problems. Would be nice to know before next season starts so i can have it checked out.. My vk has 3600 km and i didn't have any problem so far. I am still waiting for yamaha to decide if they are going to have low-high range change over kit available.. When I purcased this machine both the rep and the dealer said "you won't need high & low gear on account this machine has such low end torque " well low and behold after one season here it is low and high gear.. It just goes to show they will tell you anything to get you to purchase and being a widetrack owner for 16 years I should have known the difference ( 4 polaris widetracks all with high and low gear)..................

 

[HYFLYR]

My pops has one with over 2,000 miles and hasnt had one problem to speak of. His has run great from the day we bought it.

The only problem was starting at -36 below, had to warm up the engine compartment with a heater for 20 minutes but then it fired right up.

 

[Tom Lee]

VK Professional possible defect list

check your vk pro for these possible trouble spots.
I may update this list as new troubles show up.
Not all of these problems are with my sled.

Snowflap extension bending/tearing loose. A longer one piece flap would have made more sense.

Seat cover tears on the lower edges.

Front pivot cracks near the front welds.

Rear shock idler wheels with flat spots.

Relay rod bushings.

Also several sleds had one nut on the steering linkage loose and made them difficult to handle. It is located in front of the engine, but check them all anyway. This nut and most others on the steering have a clip and cannot come completely off. Also some sleds had improper ski alignment which caused them to dart. Adjust the skiis slightly toe out to improve handling(straight to slightly out, never toe the skiis in).

 

[SID]

sounds to me like not a bad of a sled, as all you talked about are minior things,compared to the number that is sold , as I had an old one not a new 4 cycle [1992] great sled a little top heavy easy to tip but that is also how you drive, so enjoy your sled it will not let you down. SID

 

[Jack_Shaft]

Has anyone out there heard of any problems with the vk professional that I should be aware of .. I have heard rumors of transmission problems and drive axle bearings but I don't know of anyone who has had these problems. Would be nice to know before next season starts so i can have it checked out.. My vk has 3600 km and i didn't have any problem so far. I am still waiting for yamaha to decide if they are going to have low-high range change over kit available.. When I purcased this machine both the rep and the dealer said "you won't need high & low gear on account this machine has such low end torque " well low and behold after one season here it is low and high gear.. It just goes to show they will tell you anything to get you to purchase and being a widetrack owner for 16 years I should have known the difference ( 4 polaris widetracks all with high and low gear)..................

The VK Pro does have oodles more torque at engagement than the Polaris Widetrak had in low gear, so you're not missing anything from what you had on your Polaris.

I agree that it looks like you got hosed by buying the 2006 model that came without low gear, but again, you are upgrading in every possible way from what you had previously.

The biggest problem that I observed last year without the low range was that people would spin the track out when starting off; basically they were used to their old two-stroke wide tracks that made little power before you really opened up the throttle so they continued to do the same with their new VK Professionals. Guys that upgraded to the VK Pro from RS Ventures seemed to have no issues with this at all since they realized that the 120 had plenty of torque down low and would just feather the throttle when starting out with a load in tow. Low range will help keep owners from spinning out the same way but in my opinion is not a "must have" feature.

 

[LazyBastard]

The low isn't just there for increasing torque on the driveshaft, its also there to improve BELT LIFE. Its easy to burn a belt when engaging against a very heavy load.

 

[Tom Lee]

Burnt belts are a non issue with the way the engine is held in the chassis. If the clutches are in proper alignment the belts will last a long time. I put 2600 km on mine while towing heavy loads through deep snow and still use the same belt. I had an RX1 that had similar belt wear, and still have the spare belt I bought with it which I now have for the VK Pro. I believe they are both the same. Jack Shaft is very correct in his assessment of this sled IMO. You can burn the belt on any sled if the track or drivetrain is frozen, but other than that the VK Pro clutches engage flawlessly, more so than any other sled i've driven. I drove my vk540 today and used it in low gear and can safely say that low gear is good to have but not necessary for more than 99% of the time.

 

[Joner]

I've been having it out with Yamaha since the spring on this low range issue. I owned a 94 VK and was very happy with belt life with heavy duty towing and grooming. I was fed the same song and dance about not needing low range and told by dealers and employees of Yamaha Canada. This machine burns belt with sustained heavy duty pulling and is apparently an unfixable warranty problem. They won't provide me with a kit to upgrade my machine and tell me I'm on my own. This was a major engineering oversight, and they won't fix their mistake. They have 19 years of low range VK's and I'm the lucky own of the one year they dropped the ball. I think we should get an organized attack of 06 VK owners and go after them on this one. I know at least 10 owners personally who would get involved.

 

[wayne]

How do we go about doing this? I am all for it I don't think it would cost Yamaha that much to change the 06 sleds.
One of my concerns is what will happen in a couple of years when I decide to trade will they tell me they can't trade or will have to offer less money because it doesn't have the hi/lo tranny

 

[Joner]

They tested a conversion kit and obviously found it too expensive. The company line is that it is restrictively expensive to retrofit these things. My argument is that it was their mistake not ours and they should stand behind the product. The fact that they won't even price out a resonably priced parts package is a real slap in the face when you shell out this kind on money. You're right out the re-sale. Who's going to want the only VK in history without low range. They only way to wake them up would be a huge class action law suit over this issue with as many 06 VK owners as possible invovled. They are content to deal with a few people like myself complaining, hoping it will go away. An organized attack is the only way.

 

[PureBlue]

I think Yamaha should bring back, a up-dated version of the fluided drive system like they had in there SW643, 433, 440 Prestige. they all had High/Low, and no belt burnning. My brother had the 643, and it would pull anything. My cousion had the 433, it seem like we put a million miles on it, and it still ran when he sold it.

 

[Alexa]

Just completed a parts cross listing to convert the 2006 VK to the 2007 VK (using as many parts from the 2006 as possible). Quoted pricing (full retail) is $3,500.00 CDN. Conversion requires modifying the bulkhead (space available to gusset where mods are required), change chaincase, shifter parts, drive/jack shaft, brake rotor & calliper, park break assembly, & clutch spider.

Yamaha is concerned with liability issues - let us sign a waver, just give us a reduced price on the kit parts

Dealers were told of the possibility of a kit, which then was forwarded to us the end users. My dealer told us the kit was comming - just waiting on a part #.

I spoke to Yamaha Canada who, after trying to tell me that I was out to lunch, informed me that the kit would not be offered because it was not cost effective. I was also told that "you bought a machine that has since been modified (because of user surveys) and you are on your own.

We supported Yamaha and the VK when we purchased one - lets have a little support back.

 

[Tom Lee]

I agree that Yamaha should make an effort to satisfy the people who feel the need to have low gear on their sleds, especially since it wasn't offered the first year. I am not saying that they should pay all expenses to upgrade but they could at least make a kit available that makes these sleds as valuable in terms of second year vehicles as this years sleds will be next year. I have one and am planning on keeping it for a while, but for the people that buy new every couple of years the value of these sleds at trade in time must have gone down sharply. It would be interesting to know the purchase prices and trade in values for these sleds that people are getting, if trading is even possible. Maybe others can post here to get an idea of the losses involved. You could even ask your dealer what he would give you on trade even if you are not ready to trade yet. The numbers may be interesting. If everyone went to their dealer seeking a trade in value at the same time it obviously would bring the values down, since there would be an over supply of second hand (second rate?) VK Professionals available. Interesting........

Trade up as soon as possible for this years model.

Oh, next year may have a better suspension.

Trade up as soon as it comes out.

The year after will have fuel injection.

Trade up as soon as its announced.

Wouldn't a turbo model be nice .

Trade up......

 

[Wendel]

my girlfriend dad has a vk pro but they dont use it much just to get wiood once in a while and besides that to the store or work now they are havin trouble with it she is goin through plugs like crazy she had a oil leak due to snow gotin the breather an clogged up oil lines they need to have efi on the vk pros

 

[Jack_Shaft]

What's EFI got to do with those problems? The 120 is one of the easiest starting engines I have ever seen. If you spend the time to learn how to do it properly, you can reap the rewards of a great sled.

An oil leak due to snow ingestion? That doesn't make sense.