Rhino Recall for 450's & 660's.

Found a link to this on one of the other boards and thought I'd pass it along??

NEWS from CPSC
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Office of Information and Public Affairs Washington, DC 20207
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 31, 2009
Release #09-172

CPSC Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Yamaha Motor Corp. Offers Free Repair For 450 and 660 Model Rhino Vehicles
CPSC advises consumers not to use the off-road vehicles until repaired

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), in cooperation with Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A., of Cypress, Calif., is announcing a free repair program to address safety issues with all Rhino 450 and 660 model off-highway recreational vehicles. Yamaha has also agreed to voluntarily suspend sale of these models immediately until repaired. Consumers should immediately stop using these popular recreational vehicles until the repair is installed by a dealer.

CPSC staff has investigated more than 50 incidents involving 46 driver and passenger deaths in these two Rhino models. More than two-thirds of the cases involved rollovers and many involved unbelted occupants. Of the rollover-related deaths and hundreds of reported injuries, some of which were serious, many appear to involve turns at relatively low speeds and on level terrain.

About 120,000 of the 450 and 660 model Rhinos have been distributed nationwide since Fall 2003. Some units have been equipped by Yamaha with half doors and additional passenger handholds, either before or after sale.

Yamaha’s repair includes the installation of a spacer on the rear wheels as well as the removal of the rear anti-sway bar to help reduce the chance of rollover and improve vehicle handling, and continued installation of half doors and additional passenger handholds where these features have not been previously installed to help keep occupants’ arms and legs inside the vehicle during a rollover and reduce injuries. Owners of the affected Rhinos should stop using them and call their dealer to schedule an appointment to have repairs made once they are available and to take advantage of a free helmet offer.

Once these repairs have been made to their vehicles, Rhino users should always wear their helmet and seatbelt and follow the safety instructions and warnings in the on-product labels, owner’s manuals and other safety materials. The Rhino is only recommended for operators 16 and older with a valid driver’s license. All passengers must be tall enough to place both feet on the floorboard with their back against the seat back.

For additional information, contact Yamaha at 800-962-7926 anytime, or visit the firm’s Web site at www.yamaha-motor.com

Add spacers and remove anti-sway bar ..... us unschooled rednecks have been doing that since they came out!!!!!

Yeah, that's what I thought! Now they'll give ya a free helmet to let them do it for ya! Grinnnn

This might be the reason they stopped production on the new models.

Hmm. I might re-think the anti-sway bar.

good info tick

Hmmmm? What is todays date?

I took off my swaybar and have not regretted it. It really helps with the navigation of rough terrain IMO. I am really pleased with the way the Rhino is setup now. The shocks and GC are just right, and the offset of the wheels and rear spacers is just perfect. Now if it only had about twice the HP ....

Wingman wrote:

Add spacers and remove anti-sway bar ..... us unschooled rednecks have been doing that since they came out!!!!!

Big-R wrote:

This might be the reason they stopped production on the new models.

Hmm. I might re-think the anti-sway bar.

I refused for awhile too Ronnie. But taking it off definately helps keep all 4 wheels on the ground.

Clayboy wrote:

Hmmmm? What is todays date?

LOL, its March 31, tomorrow is April Fools day. If you go to the Yamaha site you can see the same info, its for real.

it's real...here's a link from Google i found..pretty much same info....i was just reading it and was going to post it here, but someone beat me too it....i took my sway bar off already, but i'll take the free spacers and helmet, just to take it....haha

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8hP4tkgWZ4lhk3jUP55G978jFkAD9795T5O1

Will we get to bring home our removed sway bar?
Will they cover the cost of axels etc when it's found that the spacers cause undue stress in tight turns?
I would rather they buy me a set of man tars.

Dang! Ya'll had me thinking I'd posted some bogus info. Whew!

Well I already have spacers maybe they can give em to me as an extra set or ill just remove mine and get me a free helemt

The wheel spacers aren't available for dealers yet, this will take some time. The helmet incentive isn't available to dealers yet either. At the current time, all that can be done is the swing arm removal. And yes, you can bring it home ( for now )
The next issue to arise, like Dawber mentioned are the claims due to the spacers on wheel bearings and etc.
I know of a couple dealers at least, that are really dreading this.
It's believed this is the first of a couple different moves Yamaha is going to make as a result of the pending litigation from injuries and deaths.

We all should stay tuned..............................

M

wvyankee2 wrote:

Big-R wrote:

This might be the reason they stopped production on the new models.

Hmm. I might re-think the anti-sway bar.

I refused for awhile too Ronnie. But taking it off definately helps keep all 4 wheels on the ground.

I had to scold Marty for a long time til he finally took his swaybar
off and i knew he would like it.

My swaybar has been off since my first ride.
and i do have spacers..... :D

Anyone know how thick of spacer they are going to be adding??

Inch each side, I think.

M

Kind of what I figured.

Thats what i run 1 inch on each side......

1 inch...hell those are sissy spacers. ive got 2" and threw that bar in the trash.
hmmm, im gonna make some 6" spacers to offset the cost of that long travel setup
wonder if we can still get the free helmet if already got the spacers. looks like you have to watch a safety video to get the helmet.
also read you have to get on a list sense the parts arent available yet.

Chris,

Have you had any bearing problems, why do you run the spacers? Does it affect your wear on the tire, put anything out of canter? I have offset wheels ,so spacers would be pointless for me. I find myself barely getting thru tight squeezes, I can't imagine the spacers also. I don't know much about it, but I have read, there tough on wheel bearings.

M

good info tick....thanx for sharing.

i took my powergrips and spacers off one time and put on the stock wheels and tires. OMG that thing looked like a turd!
i cant imagine driving it like that

MarkW wrote:

Chris,

Have you had any bearing problems, why do you run the spacers? Does it affect your wear on the tire, put anything out of canter? I have offset wheels ,so spacers would be pointless for me. I find myself barely getting thru tight squeezes, I can't imagine the spacers also. I don't know much about it, but I have read, there tough on wheel bearings.

M

Mark i run a 5-2 offset and a one inch in the rear.
pretty much evens it out all round. one on the rear
wont hurt bearings. never heard of a problem. i got almost
600 miles no issues...