All the internal modifications sound really impressive and should certainly enhance the performance of an already great ride, but I see an omission of a very basic modification of a critical bolt-on improvement in the air flow dept;that is, the replacement of the somewhat inferior air filter system which is only marginally better than the system Yamaha has been sticking to for the past decade or more on Warriors, Banshees, and Wolverines. I addition to poor quality of the filter itself, the system continues to rely upon the air box lid to secure the filter to the intake..uncertain at best.
Pro Design does indeed eliminate this problem with their adaptor kit and their larger high quality foam filter provides excellent air flow as well as complete protection against sand or dust with or without the lid.
Other changes which could be explored are tires, extended A-arms & axle, & handlebars, to name a few.

 

Yes, airbox mods will be coming. Will probaly try the kit from GYT-R too see how it works. Plan on putting it all on the DynoJet dyno also.

 

Do the Raptors not lend themselves well to head porting, seems like if you had it that far apart, changed cam and piston, you would have reworked the head. Just curious as I'm sure I'll get around to doing all of this too, Thanks!

 

The joke of the day is that Yamaha produces GYT-R "racing" parts for the Raptor, they show advertisement photos of the Raptor running hard, and unless they are out of touch, they know that people will add high performance features to the machine. That is my gripe with Yamaha.

The defective transmissions in the 2001, 2002 and 2003 Raptors fail for no particular reason other than very very poor engineering by Yamaha. Yamaha claims that the transmissons fail because of rider error and that the Raptor was not intended to be built!

I note that the transmission is not the only bad component on the Raptor. Because of my extensive research and development on countless Raptors, I also see defective valves, weak axles, broken frames, poor design carbs, weak swing arm pivot bolts, and many other questionable items. CPSC please force a recall down their throat!

 

First, you need to get your facts straight. The only models that had tranny probs were the '01's. They did make some tranny mods in the 02's to help compensate for the torque, but most of the people that had tranny probs were the guys out there dumping the clutch all the time. With that much power something has to give. There is a difference between riding hard and abusing something. They DO show the Raptor being ridden hard, but they dont show it being abused.

 

Oh boy, here we go.

You said that I need to get my facts straight and that the only models that had tranny problems were the 2001's. You then went on to say that Yamaha made some tranny mods in the 02's to help compensate for the torque, but most of the people that had tranny probs were the guys out there dumping the clutch all the time. Finally, you claim to know that there is a difference between riding hard and abusing something.

Now for some factual correctness. The poorly designed, slapped together weak transmission on the 2001 had a 2nd gear with 3 engagement cogs and a street bike gear ratio that was less than adequate for any off road purpose.

After Yamaha realized that the public would not accept the poor street bike gear ratios or the weak transmissions, they changes the ratios and added a 4th cog to 2nd gear. This was intended to cover up the defects but it did not. The only thing that changed is that NOW, with any power applied to the 2002-2003 engine, 3rd gear WILL explode just as 2nd gear did in the 2001. When a 2002-2003 3rd gear explodes, the entire engine goes in the garbage.

I have personally experienced a blown transmission and it was not fun. When it cut loose, I was well along in 2nd gear. Your theory that 2nd gear fails because people "dump the clutch" is a laugher. The gear ratios are so bad in the 2001 that it is almost impossible to start out in 2nd. I find that 1st gear is the best start gear on the 2001 (unless you lowered the final gear ratios for some unknown reason). As for abusing the trans or missing shifts, I have been riding and racing for years. I was concerned about the transmission so I always started in 1st, short shifted 2nd and waited to poor on the power until 3rd was in business.

I know what to expect from a transmission, especially something advertised as "YZ Spec." In this case, Yamaha has screwed the public and is now trying to blame the public for the defects in their poor design. I was at a test of the Raptor when it was presented with the current engine bored to only 600cc. It was a turd and the gear ratios were bad.

In response to the test of the 600, Yamaha elected to simply add another 60cc without any thought about the transmission. Mind you, the transmission was already under-engineered for 600cc power or the stress of off-roading vs. a street bike -- it is the same trans that was designed for the engine when it began life as a 500cc air cooled engine.

Do you remember the Chevy Corvair "Unsafe at any speed?" The Raptor (aka Craptor) is the modern day Corvair.

 

Thats pretty funny, I worked in a Yamaha shop up until a month ago, and I have never seen an 02 with tranny probs and we sold a bunch of them. After reading your post I called a friend of mine that owns another Yamaha shop and asked him and he stated the same, only 01's, never seen an 02 with tranny probs. Spoke to another friend of mine in CA that works in a Yamaha shop and he has never seen any 02's with probs either. I would think that if there is a problems someone in the 3 shops that I have access to would be seeing it by now. If your so sure of your opinions, (and I welcome them) them why dont you look into some king of class action lawsuit. I know blown trans. is not fun, but have never seen an engine need to go in the garbage just because of a gear failure. I ride an 01' (the second in the Reno area) and have never had any trans problems. I have raced it, and unlike you never took any precautions. Now I will give you this, the 03's are just now coming out in this area so they havent been out long enough to see any tranny probs there.(will have to wait and see) As for your remark about it being a "Craptor" Well just get rid of yours and buy yourself something else, i.e. Cannondale, Predator etc.) There are a few other quads out there, that should be able to satisfy you needs. One more thing, unless you work for Yamaha in the R&D dept. you really dont know what they thought about or didnt.(Yamaha elected to simply add another 60cc without any thought about the transmission.) Good luck finding a quad that you can live with.

 

Actually, I was at the testing of the 2001 pre-release Raptor. At the time, it had a 600cc engine that was completely under powered. Everyone who tested it said that the engine needed to be improved. So, I guess one does not need to be in the highly resrictive (thought limited) Yamaha R&D department. As for selling the Craptor to get another machine. I am seriously considering that thought as should every other Craptor owner. The only problem is that nobody will pay anywhere near what we paid to have one of the first machines. What I would rather see is Yamaha step up to the plate and fix the problem instead of making up BS stories that are only believed by Yamaha service techs.

On the engine being garbage, I have a price quote from Yamaha on a Craptor with a blown trans. Parts include the complete (every part) trans, crank, rod, piston, sleeve, cases and counter balancer. Only the head, starter, stator and clutch are still good. That parts PIC list is over $2000.
If you want to talk about the 2002-2003 trans, call people in the "know." Ask people who run the Raptor in Baja or other foreseeable offroading events. Call Sam Coe. They will tell you first hand why they were forced to spend several thousand dollars making replacement gears for the 2001 and now the 2002-03. It is because Yamaha is screwing the public. Your opinion is obviously tainted in favor of Yamaha as seen by your close relationship to many Yamaha shops. >> Do they see any quantity of performance machines?

 

WOW sounds like were getting some info here !

 

I have two 03 Raptors. One has extensive mods and the other is stock. The modified Raptor has almost everying internal mod you can think of, and all airbox, header, pipe mods as well. Both of my Raptors run great, and their transmission perform equally. From time to time my wife rides my stock Raptor. If she can't ruin it, then it is offically bulletproof.

 

Well Just To Add A Few Thoughts On This Subject!

I Dont Spell Well -
I Dont Work For Any Motor Sports Company -
I Do Own A Raptor 660 2003 Stock -
I Dont Race It - just dunes & Trails

I only have about 15 hrs on it so far, but man oh man this
bike is a holy screamer from hell.

And Unless You Are A Race Aholic You Dont Have To Think
About Trany Gear Failure Unless You Speed Shift.

To Think That any company would put out a product with no
care to engineer it, Would Be foolish move on their part.
They Want As Few Marks On Their Name As Is Possible And Like
Any Company Will Make An Error Or Two - Its Human!
IF You Buy Any Thing New In Its First Production Year You
Know Your Going To Have A Few Bugs, Some Times Alot! So Do
As Follows.

Yr 1. Dont Buy - Their Working Out Bugs.
Yr 2. Dont Buy - Time To See If Bugs Were Worked Out.
Yr 3. Buy - Most Bugs Worked Out Buy now!!

Mind you I Was The Dumb One For Always Buying First Year Production Run Products, Takes Time To Mature!!

 

What do you mean by speed shift?

 

Dean, I think its awesome that you went with the Alba Pro-comp A-Arms. I have had them on my Raptor for about 6 months now. No matter how hard I ride, how deep the whoop sections, or how far I blast off the tabletops at Glen Helen, the A-Arms(along with Works Shocks and Alba Tie-Rods) take considerable abuse and never go out of alignment.
Guys will come up to me and complement me on the way the Raptor lands after big air..they say they never seen a quad with such a "plush" landing. I know you will enjoy these Arms in your desert races. You will be completely impressed....I know I am!!! Good Luck in 2003!!!

 

I race a 2002 Raptor on MX tracks and in the desert. I have NEVER had a problem with the tranny and other guys racing have never said anything negative about the Raptor or its engine/trans. Ask Dean Waters if he has had any problems..he races the "Craptor?"(come on now...) Every mass produced vehicle made may occasionally have a couple that are lemons off the production line. If your '02 and up Raptor has tranny problems..then its a isolated defect on your particular bike..not the Raptor in general. I'll Keep racing and let you know if and when I ever have a problem with my tranny.Happy Holidays!!!

 

im sorry to hear that you really hate the "craptors" in general but i can say that after i got through my break in, my raptor has seen some seriously rough conditions...especially on the tranny. It handles downshifting and hard, wrapped out up shifts without falter. (including changing gears while wheelieing) I have never had a missed shift or anything that could be remotely seen as a transmission problem. Ive taken it in once for a replacement of the clutch lever, but since then i havent had a single problem.

Its too bad you hate this bike so much, but i havent got a single complaint about it.

Milan

 

i guess i was lucky, i have a 01 raptor and have had zero problems with it, i hit about 14 races a year and ride about every weekend that im not racing, just normal wear and tear stuff has been the problems ive had

 

Rob, no we never had any problems with our tranny.

(Dean's son and race partner Justin Waters)

 

Thats what I thought...If anyone was going to experience problems with the Rappy, you think it would be us guys that hammer it weekend after weekend getting from start to finish. Just goes to show that there is nothing wrong with the Rappy, just bad luck with some owners. Thanks for reaffirming that, Dean and Justin.

 

I agree w/ Raptor720 , they're junk.It's pretty sad when the best feature of a quad is its cool look.There are just too many other choices out there to go with such an inferior product. Read my post of 2-27-03 on page one. Jay in Central Oregon

 

hey dwaters or any raptor owner, i am looking for a 2001 raptor rear shock (stock) if anyone has one or knows of somebody that wantd to sell one please contact me, thanks a lot

 

Hey everyone! Glad to see the tone change a bit! I was starting to worry about my first quad purchase!
It was tough for me to go for FOUR wheels!! I still love my KX250 though! I have just about 10 hours now and I cant wait to just open the dang thing up!! On that note,
HOW MUCH did everyone pay for the FIRST service and WHAT do I need to make sure they do? I'm going to Glamis as soon as I pick it up so I want to make sure everything is cool.
Thanks!!

 

No Joke, I have an 01 Yamaha Raptor, i bought it used on march 9th 2003, i shelled the tranny (2nd Gear) on march 11th 2003. When the tranny decided to break loose I was just going off a jump and blipped the throttle a little to keep the front end up and all i heard was a loud pop in between my legs and when i landed the quad was in reverse, and i almost flew over the bars, I would like some recomendations on aftermarket gear-sets and i also would like to know what could have caused it to slam into reverse when i lost 2nd gear, i hope its still rebuildable. wish me luck




screw a raptor and its transmission

 

Cerwin,
Check out March 2003 ATV Action page 110, they seem to address the gear problem, and have a possible solution for you. they claim Sam Coe sells heavy duty gearsets for $918 and labor to split cases and rebuild is $550 , other alternative would be the '02 Raptor trans, not sure what the cost for that would be, and probably still not as strong as the aftermarket ones but should work fine

 

http://www.off-road.com/atv/projects/raptor2001/internalmods.html

 

do u have a new rear shock for the raptor? casue i will buy the stock one
none on ebay, eastcoast wanted 275$ for the rebuilt one