viipeR's 756 mile love/hate relationship

[viipeR]

As the title reads, I've found myself in a 756 mile love/hate relationship with my 2014 XTX SE. Let me start off by saying when i first purchased this machine i loved, and swore myself in as a viper owner for life. Well, slowly my mind has opened up. I truely bleed Yamaha, My 2011 YFZ450R is truely a dream and an excellent piece of engineering in my books. The motor in my Viper along with most of the other Yamaha components i have 0 complaints about. By no means do I like to bash other brands, but man oh man problems with this cat stuff is getting old. I'm gonna break this down into sections with a conclusion at the end... cause ya know, i just have to vent my frustrations while it thaws off in the garage so i can work on it

Steering-
what the hell did CAT drink before designing our steering column and assembly? I had to take half my buddy's 14 M8000 apart early in the season and then tighten that nut on the lower right hand side of the chassis. 3" of slop in the steering was getting scary. Well, I've now done that twice on my viper in 756 miles. it's a piss poor design to begin with with the amounts of joints twists and turns. Looking at it all I'm shocked nobody has snapped any of these components right off by now. Me included!

Body panels-
Complete abortion! rough edges, don't line up, piss poor fit and 0 show of a quality finish. Oh, and good luck getting them to go in with ease out on a ride in fridgid temperatures. Better yet, what a nightmare and complete embarassment if one had to pull the hood out on a ride. This is a minor issue but put our sleds beside the other brands and they make us look silly with there panels. They are, however, insanely tough. The material they chose to use is great, and has survived the abuse i throw at it.

Chasis-
Great concept, not so great performance. A arms rock and the tall spindles perform exactly how designed. Chasis is a great point and shoot climber/light boondocker. Also jumps well and eats moguls and large drifts great. Dive into the technical world where things get deep,steep, and mean, and I find this chassis to fall flat on it face. This i am ok with as rider ability can correct it with effort. What I am not ok with is the amount of snow this chassis and our panels engulf. The front mount rad fills with snow ice and debris from the terrain being ridden. The ENTIRE engine compartments gets stuffed every ride, so much so that when it melted today then froze to ice on the way home it popped the rivets off the 2 rubber sleeves sealing the tie rods to the chassis
that area is sooo packed with sh** it'd been sitting in a heated shop @ + 25 for 5 hours now and I'm still waiting for it all to thaw to do damage control. Oh, and the front portion was very poorly designed to cooperate with a side hilling rider. Also, Ever take your seat off after a nice powder ride? our lovely battery and relay along with all fuel tank wiring is a solid block of ice EVERY single time. I can see it only being a matter of time before that starts to cause some significant issues

Electronics-
I had all updates including the factory reflash of the ECU completed at my dealer as needed. My dealer is excellent and as a result i have had 0 issues to date with ANY of the recalls EXCEPT the chaincase and the reverse issue. Hot and cold starting have never been an issue and my viper actually starts at an alarmingly fast rate weather hot or at -40. reverse was never an issue until last week, it still works but picks and chooses how many times i have to press the button for it to engage. Hand warmers are awsome temperature wise, but along with reverse my left one picks and chooses when it wants to work, more times then not it just doesn't work at all. The gauge cluster is an awsome feature and i have no complaints except for the fact mine has developed condensation. took it apart and sealed it the way it should have been from the factory. no more condensation issues.

Skis- Our vipers as a crossover share the very sames ski's as an M8000 does. What good is there to say about them? I've seen water skis bigger lol.

I'm sure there's more, but that's enough for one night. Long story short, I loved this sled at first. After my season thus far, I've come to realize that i truly love the Yamaha motor and the way it performs, but the CAT chassis is driving me nuts. when i first bought this brand new in august, It was a big decision for me as a it was between this and a summit X. i have spent to seasons on friends summits as much as possible, trying to develop an opinion on them. I have literaly compared every possible aspect between the to. I'm very sorry to say, but there is a 98% chance that i will be snowchecking a 2016 summit X 146 upon release next week. If this happens, the viper will either be kept as a spare, passed down to the old lady, or sold. It'll be a big change for me, and disapointing as my Yamaha dealer and I have a long happy relationship together and I have yet to deal with a group more honest fair and willing to do anything to serve you to the highest quality. Bottom line, I'm a much better rider on the "other brand". I could put up with having to work harder while riding the sled to perform as well as i do on the "other brand", but throw all the above listed issues on there and it makes me question my love for my viper. End rant.... see what next year brings!

 

[viipeR]

I forgot to mention the ammount of rub points between vital engine components and structural compnoents of the chassis. Oil lines and electrical lines and fittings to be exact. CAT was given a complete blessing with the use of yamahas engine, but man oh man did they do a poor job of fitting this engine in there..... down right scary

 

[MNUser]

Good write up.

I have a 14 Viper and a 13 Doo 1200 Ren. The Doo is just heads above in everything but that Yamaha engine.

 

[viipeR]

thanks MN. couple wobbly pops after a good saturday ride will do that to a guy. I can't think of any other way to describe it other then love/hate lol

 

[stingray719]

Its an XTX, change the front skid shock spring and see if you don't have a different view on the handling.

 

[cannondale27]

Tell me more about the guage. Did it just pop apart? Need to clean screen on buddies.

 

[viipeR]

Tell me more about the guage. Did it just pop apart? Need to clean screen on buddies.

cannondale, i've been away from my home computer and havent been able to upload pics. Ill do my best to explain. So the guage clusters secures to a round opening in the top coul of the hood. It just kinda pops in and out. It is sealed very poorly from the factory with minute amount of silicone ( I can see the residue there and was able to verify). There is a female connector mounted on the rear side of the cluster and a male plugs into it. This is weak point #1. Build up of snow/water/ice combined with engine heat is bad news for that connector. I took it apart and lined it with die electric grease. Issue #2. i applied my own coat of black silicone on the round opening the cluster pops into. The factory attemps this and fails miserably. Issue #3, our cluster consists of 2 screens. they are counter sunk into the cluster and sealed with poor glue. i opened them up and sealed them with another nice silicone bead. No risk of condensation now.

 

[viipeR]

If you are wanting to remove the screens to clean both sides, yes they do just pop apart. there very fragile so be gentle, but they pop out easily

 

[Groomer08]

Ya, im a yamaha guy too, but i like you hate everything arctic cat has done to this machine.
I want to fix it to prove it can be done, but i dont know, i might be right in line behind you at the Doo dealership snowchecking a freeride!

Wasnt very impressed when i opened my windshield bag for a map the other day and they were all soggy and ruined from all the powder steam.
Still not happy with my rear suspension either, im in a 3 way debate right now:
stingrays spring mod,
axis rears so i get my valving,
or snowchecking a doo.
Preying yamaha releases something new of their own this year so i can trade it in.

 

[MNUser]

I'm waiting to see what Doo offers for '16. If I could get a 1200 in the Backcountry package I might bite. I love the Nytro motor but I hate everything Cat. It was an ok idea but a failure in workmanship. The sled is fun to ride and keeping it is not the worst plan ever. This winter it got 11 miles put on it and it is under warranty till 2019.

 

[viipeR]

If i choose to go to doo, I'll forever miss the Genesis motor. It is phonominal and does everything i ask of it. But, fact of the matter is there is just to much of cat's poor desgin envolved in this deal. Time will tell, see what options the snowcheck brings to the table and go from there

 

[09nytro]

You don't have to take everything apart to tighten the steering post nut , just take rubber boot off the tie Rod goes though.... If you are a big mountain rider why not buy the best mountain sled ( Polaris ) .... All sleds have problems just pick what color you like and ride .....
Good luck with what ever you choose!!!!

 

[viipeR]

You don't have to take everything apart to tighten the steering post nut , just take rubber boot off the tie Rod goes though.... If you are a big mountain rider why not buy the best mountain sled ( Polaris ) .... All sleds have problems just pick what color you like and ride .....
Good luck with what ever you choose!!!!

I'm well aware on how to tighten the 17mm nut envolved with the steering issue. If you read my post I said I had half of a friend's arctic cat m8000 apart. This was to inspect the entire system thoroughly while also tighthing the nut behind the rubber boot. It would be a cold day in hell before you catch me on a Polaris lol, that would be going from good to worse. I'm looking for great

 

[09nytro]

Never ever find it , you make them great , your first post was to long and lost interest, but hey good luck with what ever you choose to ride ....