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Think I'm DONE with the sidewinder experience

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Winderman69

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Joined
Dec 31, 2016
Messages
46
Age
44
Location
New york
Country
USA
Snowmobile
18' sidewinder RTX 50th anniversary
Coming across a field not very fast and all of a sudden a weird noise... Thought it was a belt blowing but never quite heard it like this before, pull cover belt is fine, start back up and try to move but all I hear is grinding. Try reverse and it moves fine, try forward again and nothing but grinding, dealer says probably a bad top gear but of course he can't have it fixed till maybe Saturday ( I took today and tomorrow off to ride cause rain and high Fortys on the way). So I hitch hike back to my truck and trailer go pick sled up off the trail and drop it to him. Couple this with a top speed of 104 mph any him pissing me off its off to the doo dealer as soon as I post this.
 

Its a first year sled... there will be bugs for sure... look what the procross went through! I hope that these don't experience the same fate however, knowing how Yami builds their stuff, it will be resolved sooner vs. later and not with bandaids. Stick around and enjoy the coolaid... #*$&@ happens :)
 
OP has a 2017.... FIRST year for the SW.
 
5th year for the BS chaincase, I have the same chaincase on my viper and it’s junk. All my older yamaha sleds combined didn’t have as many issues as this viper. I’m putting up with it 4 now.
 
5th year for the BS chaincase, I have the same chaincase on my viper and it’s junk. All my older yamaha sleds combined didn’t have as many issues as this viper. I’m putting up with it 4 now.

Yes, there are a few carry over items from other sleds however, there are a lot of additional variables added in with the sidewinder IE HP vs the viper in stock form.




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Very frustrating worst part is I have nothing to trade in on something new right now because it's getting fixed... it's a fun sled but this one doesn't perform like all the ones people post about on here, and now with this problem after 1450 miles it's gonna be hard not to jump ship..??
 
Unfortunately, a few days in the shop is an eternity to a sledder, especially when you get time off work.

I feel for ya.
 
Unfortunately, a few days in the shop is an eternity to a sledder, especially when you get time off work.

I feel for ya.

Agree 100% as our riding days seem to be short every year!



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5th year for the BS chaincase, I have the same chaincase on my viper and it’s junk. All my older yamaha sleds combined didn’t have as many issues as this viper. I’m putting up with it 4 now.

I don't love the design at all....BUT I have now owned 4 of these sleds with that crappy chaincase, and NOT once did I ever have failure.
 
I don't love the design at all....BUT I have now owned 4 of these sleds with that crappy chaincase, and NOT once did I ever have failure.
Well if you get a new sled every year you Probably wouldn’t see it. Guys are replacing the upper gears every year so they don’t have a problem, your just replacing the whole sled. Lol
Drive shaft bearing and jackshaft bearing on the clutch side are both garbage. Tolerance is so loose many are spinning on the shaft. I pulled the seals out of both to repack with grease and found them bone dry at 2000 miles, seals are junk they practically fall out. I never even touched a bearing on my old viper until 6000 miles and they still had grease in them. Tri Hub failed at 1200 miles, starter failed at 700 miles, several issues with relays causing sled to shut down. There’s wires rubbing everywhere on this chassis, I have fixed what I found so far. I have skid rails that have oblong holes from loose bolts. There’s more I just can’t remember it all.
 
Mine is a new 18 (417 miles on it), but for next year, what aftermarket bearings do you suggest for the Drive and Jack shaft bearings on the clutch side? Or just replace those bearings every year when doing preseason maintenance??
 
Mine is a new 18 (417 miles on it), but for next year, what aftermarket bearings do you suggest for the Drive and Jack shaft bearings on the clutch side? Or just replace those bearings every year when doing preseason maintenance??

Some guys are upgrading to new brand name bearings. I personally have been pulling apart and repacking with fresh grease yearly. Maybe next year I’ll replace them with SKF brand. The upper jackshaft bearing in your chaincase has already been changed to a new design.
 
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