[AZLivin]

Had my first fender bender. I'm a newer rider and wanted to ask for input to confirm no structural damage was done. Going too fast around a blind turn and hit almost head on with a Polaris General. I was probably going about 20-25 mph but I was able to break hard before impact. Most of the impact was on the YXZ stock front bumper. The Polaris had a huge bumper and it appears it also hit the right front a-arms judging by the black smudges. Some minor damage to plastics. Seems to me the front bumper did its job by collapsing and absorbing impact. Steering felt the same as before and I don't see any other bent metal.
1) Recognizing it's hard to diagnose from pictures, any reason to think there is reason for concern or take it to the shop for further inspection?
2) Now to replace the front bumper. I'd be happy to purchase someone's OEM take off. Or do folks find the aftermarket ones to be a a big upgrade, such at the Super UTV version?

 

[fortrdb]

Looks pretty minor and I would say certainly not structural. Glad nobody was hurt. I always worry about that happening....If it drives fine, then I would not worry about it. I like the OEM Yamaha desert front grab bar. Fairly minimal design and you can get it with winch mount provisions.
Update: Appears that they do not make those front bars anymore, but found this one

Yamaha OEM YXZ 1000 grab bar kit new 2HC F84L0 V0 | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Yamaha OEM YXZ 1000 grab bar kit new 2HC F84L0 V0 at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[AZLivin]

Thanks Rick! I was actually trolling eBay and saw that one, just no picture.

 

[RealtreeYXZ]

I have my OEM one i took off to install the Yamaha trail bumper. Send me a PM if you are interested.

 

[Thesandaddict]

Fastlab Yamaha YXZ1000R Twin Tube Front Bumper

Low profile bumper mounts to the existing bumper brackets Lightweight at 6.5 pounds Pairs Perfectly with the FASTLAB UTV FRONT LIGHT MOUNT and Baja Designs Squadron Pods Here is Fastlab UTV's 2016-2021 Yamaha YXZ1000R twin tube front bumper. This low profile bumper mounts to the existing bumper...

fastlabutv.com

much stronger than stock and not a giant weight like some others. in stock and ready to ship

 

[Thesandaddict]

as for any other damage, doesnt look like anything serious and i def wouldnt waste the time or money to take it to a shop. drives straight? run it. youll know if something is tweaked based on how it drives.

 

[AZLivin]

Thanks for the input. To be honest, it pulls to the right when driving on the street, but did that before. Sad part is I paid for an alignment a few months ago because of that issue, and it drives exactly the same after the alignment. Shop said that's due to the crown in the road and normal. Seems to drive straight when on fire roads. Have others had the same experience when driving on the street?

 

[ZUMNyxzSS]

Looks good, maybe double check that endlink on the sway bar? The threads side look like they might be bent? They are not the strongest. It's a $35 part and easy to change with an Allen bit and open end wrench. Takes 15 min.

Can be crowning on the road... also can be differences in the psi in your tires? The only thing to line up is the steering tie rods.

Did you buy this YXZ used?

Next can be worn ball joints or bushings 🤷🏽‍♂️

Mine drives straight with no hands on asphalt on big horns. 🤷🏽‍♂️

 

[Thesandaddict]

Thanks for the input. To be honest, it pulls to the right when driving on the street, but did that before. Sad part is I paid for an alignment a few months ago because of that issue, and it drives exactly the same after the alignment. Shop said that's due to the crown in the road and normal. Seems to drive straight when on fire roads. Have others had the same experience when driving on the street?

street is hard to gauge alignment not just for crown (which is a real thing, they are not BSing you). YXZ only has toe adjustment in the front, no caster or camber (unless you have aftermarket arms)
the rear is toed 1/2" out if memory serves correct, and off road this is a good thing since as you accelerate the suspension will load up and create more load on the rear. keeping the rear toed out means load will be applied more evenly to the rear. toe in would cause the rear end to want to push in, lifting the rear of the car and thus removing load from the tires.
tires for offroad cars also have zero QC requirements to be made and sold. there are massive discrepancies in moldings and since 99% wont get balanced (or cant even get balanced) you will usually find everything wrong with a utv on the asphalt.
pulling isnt too bad though it does give insight as there might be another issue, square. if one arm is 1/8" off (meaning closer or further away from the opposing tire, you are essentially fighting physics and it will want to turn on the smaller distance. always.
offroad these small discrepancies will never be felt due to the nature of the varying terrain. likewise, take a street car at even remotely close to the same speed you can drive a utv on a dirt road and youll see driving characterizes are vastly different.

i would run a string line around all 4 tires at hub height and see how it squares out. you have wider tires in the rear so take in to account that you cannot get a perfect measurement this way (unless you remove all 4 tires, remove the shocks and set the arms to static ride height with no load) but even with the tires on you can get an idea if the car is out of square (the distance between the back of the front tires should translate to the opposing front tire).

 

[AZLivin]

Update: Went with the OEM "desert" front bumper on eBay (new old stock). Sits a little lower than expected but fits perfect. Maybe I'll pony up for new plastics at some point.