Flyin Brian Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Just got back early this morning from flying back to Georgia. My buddy and I do 1, maybe 2 trips a year since it's tough with families and therefore decided to sell our sleds last year because of this. We've had others in our group rent from SM Sport in the past with no hitches which is why it's tough for me to write this. We got an Yamaha Apex (my old sled) and an Apex XTX. Let me say that I've put well over 25000 miles on all my sleds and I have never personally blown a belt. In fact out of all the trips I've ever been on I can only remember it happening once on the trail with another rider in our group. In any case my buddy blew a belt on the second in on a 6 day trip. Ok maybe it was an old belt so we replaced it with the extra belt. About 300 miles later it happened again. This day we were headed up the Auberge KM 31 and had just passed by the ski area and Passion Quebec. We turned around and the gas station guy had a belt. Now at least we have one extra at a cost of $139. When we returned the sled to SM Sport we told him about our issue. Francis, the so called owner, tried to tell us that it had to be his driving that caused both belts to blow. I don't speak much french but in a nice sort of way I told him he was crazy. We thought my buddy might get reimbursed for the belt he should not have had to buy but instead was forced to pay $90 to replace the belt. If I didn't have a flight to catch I might be in a Quebec jail right now. We were also told that both belts were supposedly new. I've been driving sleds for many years and I'll say as I've gotten older I no where near ride as aggressive as I used to so I laughed when Francis said it was his driving. I definitely ride more aggressive than him and had no issues. I asked a couple of the employees if they've been busy this year and they both said no, actually been slow. The moral of this story is I guess desperate times cause for desperate measures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
actionjack Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sorry your trip was affected. Sometimes on an Apex or Vector the blown belt will bend an aluminum guard under the clutch close enough rub a ballooning belt causing it to keep blowing belts. Happened to us one year on a Lac St Jean run and the Y dealer in Chambord pointed it out to us. The machine would also whine a from the rubbing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vt_bluyamaha54 Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 Sorry to hear about your troubles but glad it didn't totally wreck your trip. I would have to say something is very wrong: either an incorrect belt or an alignment issue with the clutches. I didn't see the belts and you didn't give details on how they failed but it is extremely rare for Yamahas to shred belts. Most anyoneone here can vouch for the fact that getting 4-6000mi on a belt is not unusual for these sleds. Were they Yamaha belts or aftermarket? My guess is that the sled was in a mishap and no one re-aligned the clutches during the fix - just replaced body panels(?) Something affected alignment and caused the failures Sorry your trip was affected.Sometimes on an Apex or Vector the blown belt will bend an aluminum guard under the clutch close enough rub a ballooning belt causing it to keep blowing belts.Happened to us one year on a Lac St Jean run and the Y dealer in Chambord pointed it out to us. The machine would also whine a from the rubbing. Wouldn't the force of the belt blowing force that aluminum piece away from the normal path of the belt? . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quebec bob Posted January 24, 2014 Report Share Posted January 24, 2014 I have been riding Yamaha since the mid eighties when 440 air cooled exciters were their go to sleds. I blew a belt on a 600 vmax twin at 12000 miles in 1990 and went 10, 500 miles on a belt on my 2005 supercharged vector with 195 hp. I changed that belt because it was old, but it still looked good. Yamahas are extremely good on belts, we raced a 99 srx for 3 sesons, never any problems, there is certainly something wrong with that sled. I too have been on the short end of a few deals in 30,000 miles of Quebec trails but it is certainly the exception, mostly we have met a lot of really nice people and made a lot of good friends.Hope your next trip works out better, happy trails, Bob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Definately something not right with that particular sled you rented. Of course they won't admit that. I have also seen as actionjack said the blown belt(rare but can happen) bend the aluminum guard under clutch and cause further issues with belts. Usually you will see it messed up while installing new belt. Rentals are "like a box of chocolates" you never know what ya gonna get. SM rents those Apex and Apex XTX to alot of French from France and many have never ridden any sled before so just imagine the abuse alot of those poor sleds take. It should be illegal. Stop Yamaha Abuse, its cruel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flyin Brian Posted January 25, 2014 Author Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 (edited) I should clarify. The sleds were model 2013 and supposedly had little mileage on them although my speedometer showed about 10,000kms on it. Only thing I can guess is they change speedometers because the sled no where near looked like it had that much mileage. After the second belt was blown I put my spare belt on his sled. He rode about 600 miles on that with no problem. They were genuine Yamaha 8DN belts. I checked the metal bracket at the bottom when I changed the first belt and I could visually see no issues. First belt was ripped apart doing no more than 40mph. The second belt was still intact but was missing teeth on the underside. My 07 Apex I sold after last season had almost 13,000 miles on it with the original belt. Edited January 25, 2014 by Flyin Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iceman Posted January 25, 2014 Report Share Posted January 25, 2014 Definately a messed up sled. Something not right with clutch alignment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ODog Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 Yammy belts don't last too long if you drive away with the parking brake on . . .Can't tell you how many times I've done that! Man, this thing just isn't accelerating! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpysanta Posted January 27, 2014 Report Share Posted January 27, 2014 I have owned at least 7 yamahas and never had to buy a belt until this 2013 xtx , i had 1 belt delaminate some of the top but still drove home slowly , so thats not bad at all $80.00 each compared to $250 for a artic cat turbo belt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PLAYHARD Posted January 28, 2014 Report Share Posted January 28, 2014 For sure it's not about the belt or the machine, it's about the customer service, and this place doesn't sound like the MANY other places (or all brands) around QC that do backflips to make riders happy. Too bad. But at least it's the exception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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