Bad news for the owners of the Yamaha Viking VI side-by-side vehicles, as the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and the manufacturer announce the recall campaign number 15-727 and an interdiction to ride them.
The recall and riding ban affects around 3,500 2015 model year YXC700DF (Viking VI), YXC700DHFH (Viking VI Hunter), YXC700PF (Viking VI EPS) and YXC700PHFH (Viking VI EPS Hunter) SxS vehicles. So far, no injuries or other incidents have been reported.
The only mention from the CPSC was "The rear wheels can loosen and cause the rear end of the vehicle to wobble or the rear wheels to come off and cause the vehicle to crash, resulting an injury or death hazard."
It's hard to guess the nature of the problem, but we can almost vouch that this is more serious than some nuts which may come off and need thread lock paste and to be fastened to the right torque.
Customers can determine the model number of their Viking VI machines by checking the owner's manual supplied with the vehicle or analyzing the VIN. The letter F in the 10th position of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) indicates that the SxS is a 2015 model.
The affected Viking VI six-seaters have been sold in dealerships June 2014 through March 2015, in Realtree camo, hunter green, red and steel blue colors. Yamaha is contacting registered owners directly, and authorized mechanics will repair them for free.
"The rear wheels may cone off" sounds funny, but it isn't quite so
Believe it or not, these side-by-side machines may loose the rear wheels. Yamaha and the CPSC have not provided detailed info on what may cause this very serious problem.The only mention from the CPSC was "The rear wheels can loosen and cause the rear end of the vehicle to wobble or the rear wheels to come off and cause the vehicle to crash, resulting an injury or death hazard."
It's hard to guess the nature of the problem, but we can almost vouch that this is more serious than some nuts which may come off and need thread lock paste and to be fastened to the right torque.
Customers can determine the model number of their Viking VI machines by checking the owner's manual supplied with the vehicle or analyzing the VIN. The letter F in the 10th position of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) indicates that the SxS is a 2015 model.
The affected Viking VI six-seaters have been sold in dealerships June 2014 through March 2015, in Realtree camo, hunter green, red and steel blue colors. Yamaha is contacting registered owners directly, and authorized mechanics will repair them for free.