Quality of the Attak

[SpartaSXr]

I have been on Yamaha sleds since 1968 / 1969 and have seen some problems come and go . I purchased an Attak last year expecting the quality sled I have seen in the past. WRONG ! I have replaced all of the bogy wheels. What kind of junk are we getting there ? Cant even replace the bearings ?? Last year the sled started backfiring, found the exhaust doughnuts are completly gone. Pain in the butt to change also. Amazing is the hyfax wear. They are flat all the way on both sides. Never seen anything that has such GOOD wear. The plastic ends on the rails are about to fall off. Whats up with that ? I sthere a fix for that ? With me replacing track clips every trip ( 6 - 10 ) every time out I will never wear a track out but my track clip tool in never rusting either. Just want to VENT a little. Pay that much for a sled and expect to put 20 -30 hours of maintainence plus parts on every year seems like I own a Artic Cat. There are many GOOD things about the Attak but I am open to opinions on the items I have been having problems with. Oh the sled is an 06 with 3650 miles on it. I may have more riding time on my 99 Phazer this year if the Attak keeps breaking. :ORC

 

[number1kyster]

I do think Yamaha needs to make a team for this kind of stuff. you know they have been putting all there R&D towards new sleds every year. 2002-viper 2003- RX-1, 2004 warrior, 2005- vector, 2006- Apex, 2007- phazer, 2008- fx Nytro. Dont get me wrong i'm not complaining about the new sleds, I just feel they need a seperate R&D team for the wheels, handwarmers, sliders etc. JMO

 

[THKSNOW]

I have been on Yamaha sleds since 1968 / 1969 and have seen some problems come and go . I purchased an Attak last year expecting the quality sled I have seen in the past. WRONG ! I have replaced all of the bogy wheels. What kind of junk are we getting there ? Cant even replace the bearings ?? Last year the sled started backfiring, found the exhaust doughnuts are completly gone. Pain in the butt to change also. Amazing is the hyfax wear. They are flat all the way on both sides. Never seen anything that has such GOOD wear. The plastic ends on the rails are about to fall off. Whats up with that ? I sthere a fix for that ? With me replacing track clips every trip ( 6 - 10 ) every time out I will never wear a track out but my track clip tool in never rusting either. Just want to VENT a little. Pay that much for a sled and expect to put 20 -30 hours of maintainence plus parts on every year seems like I own a Artic Cat. There are many GOOD things about the Attak but I am open to opinions on the items I have been having problems with. Oh the sled is an 06 with 3650 miles on it. I may have more riding time on my 99 Phazer this year if the Attak keeps breaking. :ORC

Replacing track clips? I've got 1660 miles on my Attak (all last winter) and have not worn out or lost any. I had the the wheel problems but Yamaha paid for the repacements. I also have the original hyfax on going into this season. Love my Attak. Thank you, this is (finally) post #100!

 

[BlueByYou2000]

I have been on Yamaha sleds since 1968 / 1969 and have seen some problems come and go . I purchased an Attak last year expecting the quality sled I have seen in the past. WRONG ! I have replaced all of the bogy wheels. What kind of junk are we getting there ? Cant even replace the bearings ?? Last year the sled started backfiring, found the exhaust doughnuts are completly gone. Pain in the butt to change also. Amazing is the hyfax wear. They are flat all the way on both sides. Never seen anything that has such GOOD wear. The plastic ends on the rails are about to fall off. Whats up with that ? I sthere a fix for that ? With me replacing track clips every trip ( 6 - 10 ) every time out I will never wear a track out but my track clip tool in never rusting either. Just want to VENT a little. Pay that much for a sled and expect to put 20 -30 hours of maintainence plus parts on every year seems like I own a Artic Cat. There are many GOOD things about the Attak but I am open to opinions on the items I have been having problems with. Oh the sled is an 06 with 3650 miles on it. I may have more riding time on my 99 Phazer this year if the Attak keeps breaking. :ORC

Certainly sleds can and will have problems. Yours sound very isolated as i have never heard of the track clip, exhaust doughnuts or plastic end problem. Sounds like something goofy is going on in your rear skid. Take the sled to your dealer and have them dig into the problem. Thats the best way to handle this. Yamaha will stand behind there product. Good luck.

 

[4Fighter]

I have been on Yamaha sleds since 1968 / 1969 and have seen some problems come and go . I purchased an Attak last year expecting the quality sled I have seen in the past. WRONG ! I have replaced all of the bogy wheels. What kind of junk are we getting there ? Cant even replace the bearings ?? Last year the sled started backfiring, found the exhaust doughnuts are completly gone. Pain in the butt to change also. Amazing is the hyfax wear. They are flat all the way on both sides. Never seen anything that has such GOOD wear. The plastic ends on the rails are about to fall off. Whats up with that ? I sthere a fix for that ? With me replacing track clips every trip ( 6 - 10 ) every time out I will never wear a track out but my track clip tool in never rusting either. Just want to VENT a little. Pay that much for a sled and expect to put 20 -30 hours of maintainence plus parts on every year seems like I own a Artic Cat. There are many GOOD things about the Attak but I am open to opinions on the items I have been having problems with. Oh the sled is an 06 with 3650 miles on it. I may have more riding time on my 99 Phazer this year if the Attak keeps breaking. :ORC

I have an '07 Attak GT. I've experienced similar issues but none of them ever prevented me from returning home. These are relatively minor inconveniences that just so happen to hit your time & pocket-book but they can be resolved long-term.

Replace the bogie wheels with the '03/'04 style or acc. wheels. This will enable you to swap out bearings. You can also repack the bearings in the wheels if the bearings are dry but not loose. I have NOT had a problem with repacking, or delamination what so ever.

Drill out the rivets in the nose caps, and replace them with cap screws, loc washers, and loc-nuts, and loc-tite. I and a few others have done this, and have not seen problems. I believe they are getting pounded loose, and the explanation is found below.

Put more relief cuts in the hyfax, so it holds the rail at the bend better. This also reduces strain on the retaining screws (mine broke)

Pull in your limiter 1 - 2 holes. 1 Attak out of 5 did not have any clip issues on a trip last season. The ONLY difference was limiter position. It is thought that the stock settings were allowing the rails to impact the moguls at the tips more so than the other Attak (loose tips & clips). It was also suggested that the low snow conditions, here in MI, were paramount to clip failures, but we believe the proof lies in the pudding: 5 Attaks, same trails, 4 with stock limiters experienced broken/missing clips on that trip.

Through the years, I've come to expect the extensive maintenance regiment on snowmobiles (AC, Polaris, Yamaha, Doo) as tracked vehicles in general, require allot more of it. True, there were better things that could have been done but overall, I'm pleased with my Attak. The hand warmers worked, it didn't; use oil, foul plugs, pop pistons, or wear rings. It ALWAYS; started, and got me back home - what's not to like about that?

 

[stinx]

3000 miles on my Attak, no lost track clips, replaced the hy-fax once. I too went up on my limiter strap. Did this after my first ride.

 

[SpartaSXr]

Thanks for the tips. I should have looked at some posts about the problems I have been seeing before posting. I do love this sled and will like it better with some TLC. Thanks Again

 

[RX1-er-2005]

4fighter said:

Drill out the rivets in the nose caps, and replace them with cap screws, loc washers, and loc-nuts, and loc-tite. I and a few others have done this, and have not seen problems. I believe they are getting pounded loose, and the explanation is found below.


I also siliconed them back on and did like 4 fighter.

Never had another problem...

 

[DANX123]

i have had some of these problems in all fairness to this post. had my first idlers go at 400 miles, at that point i installed external drivers clip and slider problems are gone. exhaust? no problems. wheels. pure crap. the best fix was yamah accesorie wheels. $23.00 each with bearings and clips and they match the back wheels as well. front clip on rails are riveted in and do get very loose. i replaced the alum rivets with avex steel and this prolem is gone. my major complaint is the paint or powder coating on the suspension arms. all rusted and flacking. seems to be a common problem.

 

[Shane]

I too bleed blue. Have been on Yamahas for 25 plus years. However, I have been disappointed in some of the aforementioned. I absolutely LOVE the 4 Cylinder 4 Stroker! Yamaha has some great technology. But they do lack some fundamentals as well. No question. Ski-Doo has really seemed to get it right. I believe in the guys at Yamaha and my dealer has always taken good care of me when a warranty issue arises. Sometimes the tinkering in the garage after work is as much fun as riding. Kind of like the fun is not always the destination but the journey...However, it is NOT ANY fun when you spend BIG dollars and you go away with your friends/family for a long trip expecting a turn key ride and have troubles. How do we go about pointing these issues out and having Yamaha act upon them? Pissing and moaning will get us nowhere. It may make us feel better to yell and scream, but at the end of the day the likelihood of that bringing about a desired response from Yamaha is highly unlikely.

 

[michmobiler]

Pat, A little harsh, aren't we? Those weren't all easy miles... I know as I put the first couple of thousand on it! All sleds seem to have some issues, especially first year models. Like stated previously, the idler wheels can be replaced either with the old style wheels with the 6205 bearing or new style wheels with replaceable 6005 bearings. Two pop rivets or the bolt and lockwasher route should fix the loose end caps. Maybe I need to come up to your place one evening for some wrenching You probably should let everyone here know what Yamaha and Nelsons did replace "under warranty" That would have been a few bucks "out of pocket"! :ORC I'll call ya next day or two to set up some sled wrenching time! Your riding buddy, Chuck aka michmobiler

 

[rightarm]

I have been on Yamaha sleds since 1968 / 1969 and have seen some problems come and go . I purchased an Attak last year expecting the quality sled I have seen in the past. WRONG ! I have replaced all of the bogy wheels. What kind of junk are we getting there ? Cant even replace the bearings ?? Last year the sled started backfiring, found the exhaust doughnuts are completly gone. Pain in the butt to change also. Amazing is the hyfax wear. They are flat all the way on both sides. Never seen anything that has such GOOD wear. The plastic ends on the rails are about to fall off. Whats up with that ? I sthere a fix for that ? With me replacing track clips every trip ( 6 - 10 ) every time out I will never wear a track out but my track clip tool in never rusting either. Just want to VENT a little. Pay that much for a sled and expect to put 20 -30 hours of maintainence plus parts on every year seems like I own a Artic Cat. There are many GOOD things about the Attak but I am open to opinions on the items I have been having problems with. Oh the sled is an 06 with 3650 miles on it. I may have more riding time on my 99 Phazer this year if the Attak keeps breaking. :ORC

Sorry to hear all the issue's you are having but this is really a shock,except for the wheels.Did you buy used?

 

[rehm70]

This is a good thread.......solutions on how to fix problems.........the real problem is, and I am totally in your camp, SxR, we shouldn't have to find our own solutions.

 

[TBay Sledhead]

As true blue as I am I think that the problems with the skid, ie wheel problems, slider wear , bottoming issues and steering problems is too much for one sled. The only thing that I really like about this sled is the power. If I could take this motor and put it in my SXR then we would have a real sled. The rear skid in the ATTAK rides great except for the bottoming in G bumps. I've never had to spend this much money on after market fixes on a sled before on any sleds that ever I have owned before no mater what brand they are. JMO

 

[Lester]

I put 3600 miles on my 06 attack last year,needed all new track clips,had to stop riding the attack because nobody had anymore track clips,and 3 sets of hyfax,in good snow conditions,o1 srx 3200 miles same conditions,1 set hyfax,and no bad track clips,sommethings up.