Okay, I'll try to keep this rant as short as possible. From the beginning, I have been losing miscellaneous bolts here and there. Both with and without loctite. I don't think it's too big of a deal, a little bullshit maybe, but non the less, nothing major. Well, Tuesday takes the cake. For starters, I lose my rear tail light(been having problems with those screws from day one!). I think to myself, well this sucks, but no big deal. A little later, I go over a jump and my seat goes flying off. Now I'm starting to get mad. And the piece de resistance, a little bit later, I go over another jump and into a 90 degree left hand turn. Well what do you know, as I lean into the turn (left), my seat and gas tank go right. Needless to say I take a very unexpected and unwanted trip (highside). I finally get the bike off of me and pick it up. What do I see, the bolt from the gas tank is gone! This is wonderful. Well, I clean the bike off and what esle do I notice (besides the front fender being nice and bent against the exaust and also melted), I see that I am missing a bolt from the PRO front assembly. Now that I look back, this thing is a piece of ****. I have about 18 hours on the bike, yet it seems that every bolt that does not have either a lock nut or cotter pin seems to come loose or fall out. I am really at my wits end with this bike and am waiting to speak with the manager from the place where I bought it. Don't get me wrong, the bike has a great motor, but the quality of the bike sucks. Thanks for letting me rant. Any ideas or any info on who at Polaris I could speak to would be much appreciated. I really want to like the Predator, but am finding it harder and harder each time I ride it because of the problems.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
Joined
·
114 Posts
WOW!!! I'D BE PISSED TOO! I HAVE 20 HOURS ON MY PREDATOR AND THE ONLY THING
THAT'S HAPPENING IS BUBBLING STICKERS...I'M SORRY YOU'RE HAVING SO MUCH TROUBLE.
NOW I GOING OUT BACK AND INSPECT MY PRED AGAIN!!!
WISH YOU BETTER LUCK WITH YOUR PREDATOR!
C-YA!....
THAT'S HAPPENING IS BUBBLING STICKERS...I'M SORRY YOU'RE HAVING SO MUCH TROUBLE.
NOW I GOING OUT BACK AND INSPECT MY PRED AGAIN!!!
WISH YOU BETTER LUCK WITH YOUR PREDATOR!
C-YA!....
Joined
·
235 Posts
Just a question, not to incite you or anything, but do you by chance check any of the bolts before you go riding? Are they tight then and become loose or you have never checked them. I know you may feel you shouldn't need to check them but the manual does state to check the bolts before you ride. Now I don't check ever bolt before I ride either but I do give it a look over and check for loose things. I've heard other people talk about the seat problem that it is caused by the gas tank moving, tighen the gas tank farther away fom the back of the bike so the seat fits tigher I think is the fix. Personally I haven't had one problem and I have 2 predators with over 30 hours on each I think. When was the build date for yours? I also know from the service manual that they change some bolts after a certain build time. Mine was built in December 2002.
I went over the bike right after I brought it home. Since then I have checked the majority of the bolts every other ride while checking the front fenders and rear light every single ride,due to aready losing so many bolts. Not only where the fronts loctited, but it seems crazy that I should have to go over every single bolt on the bike whenever I go to ride it. I also think that it's crazy that I would lose a bolt out of my front steering system. And no, that is not nearly going to encite me, it's a good question about checking the bolts. I just think it sucks that I have about 18 hours on the bike and am having all these problems.
Joined
·
57 Posts
Sorry to hear your bike is not doing very well I have 2 preds one with 40+ hours the other 7-8 hours, And the only problems I had was the heat sheild on my silencer broke ok and I jetted one of them wrong then took it out and totalled it. The only bolts I have lost were the ones that broke when I crashed. Oh one other bolt i lost on the Battey when I had about 1 hour on it But Iam pretty sure that was from the dealer not tighting it.
Sounds like a dealer problem, not a Product problem.I would work with Polaris directly. They need to know if dealers are ruining thier reputation.The quad is a good performer and built with quality components unlike most quads.It's a shame when you here about these things. Stick with it, and let Polaris know your not going to except these kind of problems. I bet they will send a rep out for you.
Yea bud, it sounds like you got a bad apple out of the bunch. I did too. The a arms off of mine are currently at the dealer getting ball joints replaced.
The only bolts I have come loose are the ones the hold the heel guard on to the rear fender.
Much luck with yours. Just glad you didnt get hurt.
RED
The only bolts I have come loose are the ones the hold the heel guard on to the rear fender.
Much luck with yours. Just glad you didnt get hurt.
RED
Hey, I have another bad apple. Every time I go riding I inspect my quad for loose nuts and I always find one or two. Eventually I will have thread locker on all of them. I suppose it's the price I pay for a first year quad. Plus there are just too many plastic connections on this machine. I love the power and handling so I won't give it up.
I try to look my quad over after every ride and if there is anything loose I take care of it then. I haven't lost any bolts yet, but my seat used to come off on large jumps. It wont happen if you put a spring clip (like you would use on hitch pins) on there. I haven't lost it since...
At the end of the day, I love the power and the way the quad handles. I don't really hate this quad and I wasn't trying to bash the Predator. I am just getting real tired having to deal with flaws on a $6000 piece of machinery. I have locktited many of the bolts, however, some still seem to come out. Like I said before, I am just getting pissed off that the main response I get is "these things happen". In my past experience with bikes, these things don't happen to machines with such little time on them. I started to lose bolts after my first ride (even after I did a once over on the machine). My other problem is that I am not getting the answers that I want from the dealers. You would think that with so many people having the same problems Polaris would step up to the plate and take care of these issues.
Just a quick thought,if the quad is dealer assembled this would explain some of the misfortunes we have read about.Maybe the dealer didn't use the proper tork settings. If so, they could have stretched the threads. Even lock-tite won't help here.It's hard to say, my quad has been flawless from day one. I have an estimated 40 plus hours, and some of it tract riding and some all out desert bashing. I hope you get a hold of a good rep and your issues are handled. Good luck to ya.
Joined
·
141 Posts
Saturday My wife and I went for an hour and a half ride. When I returned I heard a noise and found my left rear fender to Heel support bolts were extremely loose. We went on another ride hour long ride and when we returned my right rear fender to heel support bolts were extremely loose and the bolt holding the tank in place was missing. I had to move some wiring around before the trip that required me to remove the bolt so I hope I just forgot to put it back in. It will suck if I have to replace that bolt.
What really Pisses me off is that the polaris embem on the front of the Predator fell of while riding. DOES ANYTHING STICK TO THE PLASTIC ON THESE THINGS?
Other then that I had an absolute blast with it!
What really Pisses me off is that the polaris embem on the front of the Predator fell of while riding. DOES ANYTHING STICK TO THE PLASTIC ON THESE THINGS?
Other then that I had an absolute blast with it!
Joined
·
16 Posts
my rear fender bolts and gas tank bolts use to always come lose but i tightened them up good and no problems.
Joined
·
3,904 Posts
Im sorry to hear ,but I too have had small issues as well.Motor, wise.....its rusa like a raped ape!!,but the plastics and bolts,seat ect.....total pain in the butt......First thing,was Taillight came off,tank bolt three different times,plastics by your knees keep coming off(every ride) he pinch bolts on the axle for the chain adj. keep binding(three bolts in two weeks and they were torgued to specs)Steering stem has wearing marks in it,seat latch had to have a pin ADDED to it cause the metal was bending,axle nut coming off,bad axle seal, and of course what we all bitch about..................BRAKE DRAG!!!!!!!!!!........
... but all in all, I still ove this quad,I justwish they would get things up to par..............TINA
... but all in all, I still ove this quad,I justwish they would get things up to par..............TINAI bought an 03 Yamaha Blaster last year and had similar bolt loose issues.
Also after 1 season the top end went. Dealer and Yamaha tryed every which way but loose to get out of warrantying it, but in the end I prevailed and Yamaha agreed to redo the top end. It's been at the dealer now for 3 months.
Just trying to make the point that loose bolts and service problems are not exclusive to Predators
Also after 1 season the top end went. Dealer and Yamaha tryed every which way but loose to get out of warrantying it, but in the end I prevailed and Yamaha agreed to redo the top end. It's been at the dealer now for 3 months.
Just trying to make the point that loose bolts and service problems are not exclusive to Predators
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
