Viper differences

[WinderFab]

I was at a dealer which had a viper on display for the day, I got there early and the yamaha rep was still there so I got to ask some question about the viper and the difference between viper and zr,

He said all bolts and nuts are grade 5 compared to cats grade 1 or 2, the frame has 9 brackets for reinforcement that cat does not have, yamaha has put a few second delay on reverse so when you press the reverse button and give it throttle nothing will happen, he said that was the biggest problem on the cats, (push the reverse button and give it gas right away before the reverse was actually engaged), the body panels colour is moulded not painted like cat, the seat hood and windshield bumpers are different too, the last thing he said was yamaha would not offer that warranty if things wouldn't last...

I had a chance to look over the sled for a while, the fit and finish is not horrible but not yamaha fit and finish yet, the seat and seating position is awesome, I didn't like the big cut out on the foot rest, wouldn't the mist and snow from the skis come up to your feet, all the rivets that I could see had rust forming inside them, not yamaha quality there, just by touching the sled and looking things over the sled moves around a bit compared to the apex which feels glued to the floor, (rep said that there's a lot more flex in the viper frame compared to the apex...

Just wanted to share what the dealer and rep told me...

Overall I like the sled only wish they had a demo ride here...

Really thinking of pulling the trigger...

 

[Clubin]

That all sounds encouraging. I like that yamaha has taken the bull by the horns and fixed all of arctic cats screwed up stuff.

 

[Nytro40th]

I was at a dealer which had a viper on display for the day, I got there early and the yamaha rep was still there so I got to ask some question about the viper and the difference between viper and zr,

He said all bolts and nuts are grade 5 compared to cats grade 1 or 2, the frame has 9 brackets for reinforcement that cat does not have, yamaha has put a few second delay on reverse so when you press the reverse button and give it throttle nothing will happen, he said that was the biggest problem on the cats, (push the reverse button and give it gas right away before the reverse was actually engaged), the body panels colour is moulded not painted like cat, the seat hood and windshield bumpers are different too, the last thing he said was yamaha would not offer that warranty if things wouldn't last...

I had a chance to look over the sled for a while, the fit and finish is not horrible but not yamaha fit and finish yet, the seat and seating position is awesome, I didn't like the big cut out on the foot rest, wouldn't the mist and snow from the skis come up to your feet, all the rivets that I could see had rust forming inside them, not yamaha quality there, just by touching the sled and looking things over the sled moves around a bit compared to the apex which feels glued to the floor, (rep said that there's a lot more flex in the viper frame compared to the apex...

Just wanted to share what the dealer and rep told me...

Overall I like the sled only wish they had a demo ride here...

Really thinking of pulling the trigger...

thanks for the post

 

[Suckur]

I was at a dealer which had a viper on display for the day, I got there early and the yamaha rep was still there so I got to ask some question about the viper and the difference between viper and zr,

He said all bolts and nuts are grade 5 compared to cats grade 1 or 2, the frame has 9 brackets for reinforcement that cat does not have, yamaha has put a few second delay on reverse so when you press the reverse button and give it throttle nothing will happen, he said that was the biggest problem on the cats, (push the reverse button and give it gas right away before the reverse was actually engaged), the body panels colour is moulded not painted like cat, the seat hood and windshield bumpers are different too, the last thing he said was yamaha would not offer that warranty if things wouldn't last...

I had a chance to look over the sled for a while, the fit and finish is not horrible but not yamaha fit and finish yet, the seat and seating position is awesome, I didn't like the big cut out on the foot rest, wouldn't the mist and snow from the skis come up to your feet, all the rivets that I could see had rust forming inside them, not yamaha quality there, just by touching the sled and looking things over the sled moves around a bit compared to the apex which feels glued to the floor, (rep said that there's a lot more flex in the viper frame compared to the apex...

Just wanted to share what the dealer and rep told me...
thanks for the post

Overall I like the sled only wish they had a demo ride here...

Really thinking of pulling the trigger...

 

[nbsledder]

I was looking at one today also and absolutely love it!! It is different from past yamahas but like you I do not find the fit and finish bad at all.This will most likely be my next sled.

 

[cannondale27]

Wow thats some good info you got.Nice job.I wish the panels were painted though.

 

[red dog]

Does anyone really think Cat is going to make a better Yamaha in their own facilities than the Cat products? Why would they do that?

 

[cannondale27]

Because Cat doesnt own the rights to everything.I am hoping that many of the improvements Yamaha makes do get to the Cats.They are snowmobilers too and they should be able to enjoy their sleds as much as we do ours.

 

[Nytro40th]

Does anyone really think Cat is going to make a better Yamaha in their own facilities than the Cat products? Why would they do that?

Perhaps because of a contractual agreement

 

[red dog]

I don't think contractual agreements will cover grades of hardware. Hey, let's put better bolts in the Yamaha and put shiit bolts in ours. REALLY ????

 

[Nytro40th]

Well I do lol

 

[yukon yamaha]

 

[Nytros rule]

 

[WinderFab]

Red dog
I asked the rep about the assembly of the viper he said that cat is giving yamaha a time frame to assemble the viper, yamaha is assembling the viper not cat,

He also said that the deal is yamaha engine for a cat chassis and yamaha went through everything on the sled and fixed the known problems with the cat,

It's not just a cat with a yamaha engine, there's a lot more input from yamaha than we all know right now,

It's up to cat if they fix there problems,

I can tell you for sure the bolts are different on the new viper compared to the 2013 cat my buddy has,

He seemed pretty confident on the final quality of the viper come this fall,

I guess time will tell,

 

[yox185]

I don't think contractual agreements will cover grades of hardware. Hey, let's put better bolts in the Yamaha and put shiit bolts in ours. REALLY ????

A lot of manufacturers do that. Perfect example is MTD. They make lawn and garden equipment for many companies. Everything from Kmart brands to Cub Cadet. All built to each companies specs, including bolt grades.