Yamaha Jerky Ride What's the Cause?

[DeBernard]

I am looking at a 2008 Yamaha. It was a golf course fleet vehicle. It has a lift kit. Upon test drive it was very jerky at low speed. I am wondering what the cause and how easy to fix. Thanks for the assistance.

[slonomo]

Very hard to tell.

If it was jerky in the powertrain it could need a good tune up and a new belt. The drive belt can be worn and cause jerky starts. The clutches could be worn out, causing delayed engagement and upshift.

If it was jerky in the steering it could have worn out tie rods, king pins, bushings, etc. Worn shocks will cause a lot of problems.

Carts used on the golf course can be gems or lemons. It all depends how the golf course maintained the cart.

[CP241]

It could also be a simple cable/linkage adjustment. If the throttle body starts to open before the starter/generator starts the engine, it will have difficult/jerky low speed operation. If it's lifted it may be pulling on a cable somewhere not letting the throttle close all the way also.

As slownomo said, it could be a hundred different things. Only way to tell is get into it and start inspecting things. Clutch/belt condition and operation are easy enough to look at. Throttle linkage/cables are easy enough to look at.

Whatever it is, i'm sure it can't be anything major.

[Rob_C]

Put the cart in neutral, lift the seat and run the engine. Be sure it's in neutral before running the engine when you aren't in the cart.
Check if the primary clutch is moving or stuck in one location when you rev the engine. If it's stuck in high gear/high speed location it will be very jerky until the cart gets some speed up.