4 stroke longevity

[lenny]

I'm not lifting up Yamaha but rather 4 strokes, wow, incredible to see so many miles on a sled, and a 2010 model at that!!!


Well, Nick and his fellow riders went 552 Miles on their Valentine's Challenge Day to honor Nick's mother and all other loved ones who passed away before their time from cancer.

Check out Nick's Snowball Cancer Challenge 2011 at www.snowballcancer.org for all of the details.

Nick ended the day with 39,781 miles on his 2010 RS Vector GT odometer. So what time do you think he will hit 40,000 miles on the odometer tomorrow? Check back for details.

 

[yamahopper]

Wow!!!

That is an incredible amount of miles considering it is not even the end of his 3rd season with that sled. looks like he averages 15000 miles a year. WOW!!!

 

[groomerdriver]

I'm approaching 10K miles on my 05 Vector, and that is with two very lean years of riding. Engine has been flawless if you can look beyond a plugged pilot jet this late fall and putting in new exhaust donuts every 3000 miles, and rebuilding the clutches every 4000'ish miles.

I've railed enough on the issues (suspension, stator, bearings, wheels) on my Vector to get banned from Totallyyamaha.com (they also got sick of me speaking out against modified exhausts) BUT if Yamaha comes out with EPS on the 2012 Vector, that just might be my sled of choice.

An engine with a great history and EPS for an (getting to be) old fart with a bad shoulder = my next sled.

 

[lenny]

That is an incredible amount of miles considering it is not even the end of his 3rd season with that sled. looks like he averages 15000 miles a year. WOW!!!

this is the 2nd season I believe. This old boy rides!

 

[just_ride]

Yamaha

I'm approaching 10K miles on my 05 Vector, and that is with two very lean years of riding. Engine has been flawless if you can look beyond a plugged pilot jet this late fall and putting in new exhaust donuts every 3000 miles, and rebuilding the clutches every 4000'ish miles.

I've railed enough on the issues (suspension, stator, bearings, wheels) on my Vector to get banned from Totallyyamaha.com (they also got sick of me speaking out against modified exhausts) BUT if Yamaha comes out with EPS on the 2012 Vector, that just might be my sled of choice.

An engine with a great history and EPS for an (getting to be) old fart with a bad shoulder = my next sled.

Yea, It's like I got 15,000 on motor but all the other parts must be made in China, cause I'm always replacing bearings, jack shafts, wheels, more wheels, exhaust donuts.... and now with the new ones it still eats bearings and slides, will see about donuts and jack shafts.... time will tell only got 4500 on the 2010......
I just keep riding.....
Just_Ride

 

[indy_500]

Yea, It's like I got 15,000 on motor but all the other parts must be made in China, cause I'm always replacing bearings, jack shafts, wheels, more wheels, exhaust donuts.... and now with the new ones it still eats bearings and slides, will see about donuts and jack shafts.... time will tell only got 4500 on the 2010......
I just keep riding.....
Just_Ride

that's normal maintenance. There will never be sleds that don't go thru those things. Nothing else out there is rode in below freezing temps, on very harsh/bumpy trails, capable of going FAST, and all while not rolling like vehicles with tires.

 

[mikeh906]

I have found out that if I buy those bearings by the box from Twin City bearing in Mn. they last 3x as long for 20% of the price. The wheels from the dealer [oem] last far longer than wheels from outlets like Shadetree. We also picked up alot of good wheels with bad bearings on the trail. A heated garage was also helpfull. But like Indy said, Thats normal maintenance. The more miles the more wear.

 

[roc]

05 Rage with M10

Hey Lenny, How have you been?

I did a bunch of work on my Rage pre-season this year at 8,500

Bulletin on the chain case tensioner so i had it replaced

also did jackshaft bearing, (it was ready to go) did exhaust donuts and replaced all the bogie wheels

I hope to be good for another 8,500

Dont put on the miles I used to, (riding style changes with age and health issues)

Ubee and I like the back trails and logging roads in vilas and iron co

slow and easy wins the race!

 

[fredster]

I don't mind replacing idler bearings every 3-4 years, but I should not have to replace all the WHEELS too....the OEM wheel for 2005-2008 had the bearing encased in the wheel - can't replace the bearing. I replaced all of them last spring for about $220 with the 2010 design which DOES have a separate wheel and bearing. Also Yamaha should have zerks on the LH driveshaft and jackshaft bearings like Polaris so I don't have to pry out the grease seals to regrease them each spring......these are my beefs, maybe minor but important parts if anything fails!

 

[lenny]

Hey Lenny, How have you been?

I did a bunch of work on my Rage pre-season this year at 8,500

Bulletin on the chain case tensioner so i had it replaced

also did jackshaft bearing, (it was ready to go) did exhaust donuts and replaced all the bogie wheels

I hope to be good for another 8,500

Dont put on the miles I used to, (riding style changes with age and health issues)

Ubee and I like the back trails and logging roads in vilas and iron co

slow and easy wins the race!

I have been doing alright, was very busy working, finished the project now catching up on other things I neglected. Your sled is clean, nice job

 

[roc]

I agree

I don't mind replacing idler bearings every 3-4 years, but I should not have to replace all the WHEELS too....the OEM wheel for 2005-2008 had the bearing encased in the wheel - can't replace the bearing. I replaced all of them last spring for about $220 with the 2010 design which DOES have a separate wheel and bearing. Also Yamaha should have zerks on the LH driveshaft and jackshaft bearings like Polaris so I don't have to pry out the grease seals to regrease them each spring......these are my beefs, maybe minor but important parts if anything fails!

I agree with you on the bearings, zerks fittings would be nice, as far as the wheels are concerned, I had about 75% of mine cracked or chipped so i decided to have them all replaced for the simple fact i plan on keeping that sled a long time.

Also thanks Lenny, maybe I can drag Ubee up your way!

 

[ubee]

Roc s got the M-10 in his and that thing eats wheels like garfield eats lasagna! also the chain case tensioner was not a problem. They had problem with engine cam chain tensioners caused by people not changing oil or wrong type of oil per maintance schedule. the engine valves are so small ,the stems get gummy and stick a bit putting undue stress on timing chain and tensioner.once the valve sticks ,piston hits valve bending valve stem and kaboom. tensioner getting blamed but a good upper cyl oil like marvel mystery oil can keep engine running sweet! fuels nowadays have very little additives unless you buy some premium fuels.engine bullet proof, rest of the sled is like a bulldozer,lots of wear items and bearings !!best riding of the season just coming up !!.02 worth

 

[groomerdriver]

Roc s got the M-10 in his and that thing eats wheels like garfield eats lasagna! also the chain case tensioner was not a problem. They had problem with engine cam chain tensioners caused by people not changing oil or wrong type of oil per maintance schedule. the engine valves are so small ,the stems get gummy and stick a bit putting undue stress on timing chain and tensioner.once the valve sticks ,piston hits valve bending valve stem and kaboom. tensioner getting blamed but a good upper cyl oil like marvel mystery oil can keep engine running sweet! fuels nowadays have very little additives unless you buy some premium fuels.engine bullet proof, rest of the sled is like a bulldozer,lots of wear items and bearings !!best riding of the season just coming up !!.02 worth

I have an M10 in my 05 Vector and wheels have never been an issue in 9000 miles. First I've heard of the small valves and stickyness of them causing the cam chain failures. I run Yami oil and mine and change it at the end of every season.

I AM NOT sticking up for the relatively minor issues that don't seem to go away on Vectors, but damn...the engine has proven to be bulletproof, and that's something that the Doo 1200 and the Cat Z1 can't claim...yet.

 

[groomerdriver]

Yea, It's like I got 15,000 on motor but all the other parts must be made in China, cause I'm always replacing bearings, jack shafts, wheels, more wheels, exhaust donuts.... and now with the new ones it still eats bearings and slides, will see about donuts and jack shafts.... time will tell only got 4500 on the 2010......
I just keep riding.....
Just_Ride

What range of MPG's do you see and what is your riding style? Curious about the FI and the MPG's it gets it the REAL WORLD....not what some bleeding blue dude on ty.com says.

 

[robocopf7]

For what its worth, I have 26,000 miles on my Yamaha FZ-1, which is the 1000 cc 4 cyl. Love it, purrs like a kitten.

 

[arcticgeorge]

Rx 1

i have an old sno mag issue and in there is an interview with Japanese engineer's that had to overcome many obstacles to get a motorcycle engine to work well in a snowmobile...The very first 4 stroke Yamaha put in a sled went nearly 11,000 miles without any problems, not even a fouled plug!

 

[rsvectordude]

Roc s got the M-10 in his and that thing eats wheels like garfield eats lasagna! also the chain case tensioner was not a problem. They had problem with engine cam chain tensioners caused by people not changing oil or wrong type of oil per maintance schedule. the engine valves are so small ,the stems get gummy and stick a bit putting undue stress on timing chain and tensioner.once the valve sticks ,piston hits valve bending valve stem and kaboom. tensioner getting blamed but a good upper cyl oil like marvel mystery oil can keep engine running sweet! fuels nowadays have very little additives unless you buy some premium fuels.engine bullet proof, rest of the sled is like a bulldozer,lots of wear items and bearings !!best riding of the season just coming up !!.02 worth

I don't think I'm buying into changing oil or wrong type of oil gumming up the valve stem. I just changed the tensioner myself because it sounded like a dog chain rattling in the engine. When replaced with the updated part the sound was gone immediately!! I also changed my oil every interval and used nothing but yamahalube. And once I changed out the stock idlers with the spoke accessory wheels I never had a problem with wheels ever again and I have almost 5000 on this set. Slides well that's another story. I had to add 2 sets of marginal wheel kits to get any life longer than 250 miles out of a set. One thing I have noticed is how little grease comes in new bearings. We bought 4 different brands and opened up the seals right out of the box and they all barely had any grease in them at all.

 

[xcsp]

Regarding the cam chain tensioners in Yamaha engines, it's not about the type of oil or not changing it, but more so that the tensioner gets weak and doesn't perform its job.

Many Yamaha motorcycles use a similar tensioner and from my understanding is they had updated them to last longer.

Comes down to this part is a maintenenace item, probably more so in the motorcycles as they tend to rack up alot more miles more quickly-many choose to automatically replace it at 25,000 miles on their bikes, earlier if you hear noise coming from that area of the engine.

 

[rsvectordude]

I think the part number actually crosses with an R6 bike motor.

 

[snow_monkey]

that's normal maintenance. There will never be sleds that don't go thru those things. Nothing else out there is rode in below freezing temps, on very harsh/bumpy trails, capable of going FAST, and all while not rolling like vehicles with tires.

2002 700 xcsp 7,000 miles. 1 coolant bottle," metal cap stripped plastic threads", 1 bogie wheel, thats it. Must have had the best poo ever built?