2021 relatively safe buy?

[savageman69]

Been a long time coming i want to step into the muscle 4 stroke crafts...ive driven a rxpx 300 and gp1800r......all this research just makes me second guess at every turn. Ive had a yamaha sled engine and it was 5 years flawless, which makes me lean heavily towards yamaha ski.

Is a 2021 gp 1800r svho a good choice?....is the head cracking resolved? any other major issues. This is a huge purchase and its concerning as i want something solid.....im okay with clutch replacement long as i get a few seasons on it. Im very mechanical so i wont need to pay any dealers to do so.

[ultramaxracing05]

Supposedly yes, but I would wait for further confirmation from Jerry.

[K447]

... 2021 GP1800R SVHO ...

Forums tend to report the failures while the machines that are working just fine may not not get posted about as much.

We have two 2017 GP1800, each approaching 300 running hours. So far only one supercharger clutch needed replacement, the other is original and still working just fine.

Friends with two more 2017 GP1800 have 200 and 300 hours, the one with 300 needed a clutch replacement.

No other mechanical issues. All have at least Stage 1 Riva tunes.

Since 2017 Yamaha has revised and upgraded various things on the SVHO engine so I would expect at least similar reliability.

[ultramaxracing05]

I had 1 failure I bought a head out of my own money cause Yamaha didnt want to own up to it saying they never heard about it. Just like the timing chain on my VXR, they never heard of such thing, my buddy on a low hour GP just had a cracked head, he is going to try to fight it cause he sees its happening but Yamaha is not admitting it. Several mechanic shops around me have been seeing this issue as well, its not too often but its happening. This is the only issue that Yamaha should address, and the other is bringing the prices down of the sprag clutch. Similar clutches for other industrial applications run 1/4 the price of what Yamaha charges for this consumable.

[Mr. GP1800]

Go for the Yamaha. You’ll just gas and go for many many hundreds of hours.

[savageman69]

pulled trigger blue svho on order..sucks canada doesnt get speaker option

[jetdawg701]

Not sure if the head issue has been resolved or what the cause is but these Yamaha skis do have open loop cooling and they can’t be as consistent as a closed loop system therefore I believe it’s good practice to warm up your engine to normal operating temperature before any speed runs and to let it cool back down after a hard ride by at least idling around for several minutes before shutting it down and allowing all the water to drain out of the engine. Imagine how hot the head can get, then you shut it off, fire it up ten minutes later and introduce cold water back onto the head, it can’t be good!

[ultramaxracing05]

These Yamaha skis have open loop cooling that’s not as consistent as a closed loop system therefore I believe it’s good practice to warm up your engine to normal operating temperature before any speed runs and to let it cool back down by at least idling around for a few minutes before shutting it off and allowing all the water to drain out of the engine. Imagine how hot the head can get, then you shut it off, fire it up ten minutes later and introduce cold water back onto the head, it can’t be good!

you never introduce cold water to the head, it goes thru the exhaust manifold first and the head is the last to get cooled. So the water will always be warm.

[savageman69]

you never introduce cold water to the head, it goes thru the exhaust manifold first and the head is the last to get cooled. So the water will always be warm.

exactly and it also has a termostat....this isnt 1950s