Speaking of vacuum hoses - before I went to the dealership today, I noticed that the vacuum hose attached to the rear cylinder had a black zip tie wrapped around it at the MAP fitting. When I asked the service manager if this was a normal factory procedure, he stated that it was something that they did at the service department if they found the "original metal clamps" were no longer tight during a repair, so they zip tie it to make it tight again. I wasn't aware that there were any metal clamps used on the fittings - at least the other 3 connections have none.
So, after arriving home, I took another good look at the vacuum hoses. I gently tugged at the zip tied fitting and the hose literally slipped off. Removed the zip tie and tried putting the hose back on, but it was entirely too loose. That may be related to the P1175 code I got for the rear cylinder.
I am not too confident in their service department any longer, and, it turns out the service manager doubles as a Yamaha technician, since they sell Yamaha, Suzuki and Kawasaki products as well. He admitted that he was not all that familiar with the layout of the 998 Spyder engine..........geez.