Paul 03 & 05 RX1
Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2009
- Messages
- 22
woolyviper: I'm not talking about dealers here and replacing parts for free. I'm taking about a bad design that should not exist after so many years. You still had to go home, rip the skid out and put in the new arm. Guess what... that new arm will rust and break too... will the "nurturing" fix that?
kinger
VIP Member
Ahick and Paul 03 - I'm not trying to start something here but your not basing your thoughts around any facts just that your not happy with the skid. Like it or not WE on THIS site of crazy people obessed with snowmobiling are the MINORITY, if you add up all the members here it, then add how many buy new yamaha's every year its a fraction of the total market for yamaha. I gurantee most yamaha buyers buy it run it for thousands of miles in 1-3 years and buy another one trouble free, I only know this based on what my local dealers owner told me when I was asking something unrelated to a warranty issue at the time he said he hasn't seen a sled since 06 in for warranty. Granted we are in Iowa and the volume is low but he sold over 500 sleds since then and that is 33 times more then the poll of 15 people on here that claimed the w arm is junk and defective and your roof will fall in as you sleep.
Why would they beef up the suspension in later years? They made lots of small changes over the years I doubt any of them came from advice on this site, maybe the new shock tuning revealed something needed to be done and they found new weight loss somewhere else and made the swap without impacting the dry weight. I'm not sure only yamaha really knows.
What kills me is you give a inch people take a mile, look back to sled in year 2000, were riding smoke machines with "long travel" suspension of maybe 6" in the back 4-5" upfront even though most claimed more, our knees were in our chests, and the engines that felt fast at the time seem like a slug now. For most of the people I would ride with 400-800 miles a year was a LONG year, now we do that in one trip. It was also a time based race of when you needed to sell before you needed a rebuild which ironically for most was around 4000 miles, some pushed the limits and there sleds were fine but they felt DAMN lucky they made it that far.
Now we push 8,000-45,000 miles on a single sled, times have changed.
These sleds continue to amaze me everytime I pull the trigger for speed, comfort, and reliability. I just feel the price of a used arm or reinforcing it yourself doesn't justify the constant rumbles of how Yamaha is intentionally not building quality stuff and trying to personally screw you over.
Why would they beef up the suspension in later years? They made lots of small changes over the years I doubt any of them came from advice on this site, maybe the new shock tuning revealed something needed to be done and they found new weight loss somewhere else and made the swap without impacting the dry weight. I'm not sure only yamaha really knows.
What kills me is you give a inch people take a mile, look back to sled in year 2000, were riding smoke machines with "long travel" suspension of maybe 6" in the back 4-5" upfront even though most claimed more, our knees were in our chests, and the engines that felt fast at the time seem like a slug now. For most of the people I would ride with 400-800 miles a year was a LONG year, now we do that in one trip. It was also a time based race of when you needed to sell before you needed a rebuild which ironically for most was around 4000 miles, some pushed the limits and there sleds were fine but they felt DAMN lucky they made it that far.
Now we push 8,000-45,000 miles on a single sled, times have changed.
These sleds continue to amaze me everytime I pull the trigger for speed, comfort, and reliability. I just feel the price of a used arm or reinforcing it yourself doesn't justify the constant rumbles of how Yamaha is intentionally not building quality stuff and trying to personally screw you over.
Paul 03 & 05 RX1
Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2009
- Messages
- 22
Yes my sled amazes me as well... so does my buddies 1998 Doo MXZ 670 HO smoker which he still rides right along side of me, along with his 12" original stock suspension.
kinger
VIP Member
We got ripped off then!
ahicks
TY 4 Stroke Master
Sorry Kinger, we're going to have to a agree to disagree here. I think Yammi is negligent when it comes to rear suspension technology, as well as warranty claims against it, and I doubt there's much that can be said to change that.
The fact you and I both own sleds with rear suspension conversions should speak for itself....
I will acknowledge the fact that the '09 and '10 models do make some changes in the right direction - but not that those changes are going to help guys with the older sleds much.
The fact you and I both own sleds with rear suspension conversions should speak for itself....
I will acknowledge the fact that the '09 and '10 models do make some changes in the right direction - but not that those changes are going to help guys with the older sleds much.
kinger
VIP Member
I agree hence I ripped the POS out of there LOL doesn't mean I hate yamaha, no brand has a sled that suits me so I have to build my own starting with the one closest to what I want. If I didn't want reliable boosted I would be on something else probably.
I still think the monoshock is a brillant design, negligent seems a bit harsh when you never had one.
I still think the monoshock is a brillant design, negligent seems a bit harsh when you never had one.
Paul 03 & 05 RX1
Newbie
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2009
- Messages
- 22
I wish I was loaded and could afford to buy new, enjoy warranty, and take the trade up hit every 2-3 years so I could ride a yammi "worry free". Or be able to buy aftermarket skids and gadgets to solve Yammi's shortfalls. However my regular "blue collar" goverment job as well as my family responsabilities don't allow that kind of disposable cash. I am however in the MAJORITY of incomes who buy Yammi's. You'd think they'd want my business to continue. I Love YAMAHA snowmobiles... just may not have enough tinker time and money to ride one !
Attachments
kinger
VIP Member
Why dont you look for a 98 doo 670HO you could sell yours pocket some hard earned cash for your family and be on something you like and is reliable for you because you have seen it first hand from your friend?
Sometimes yamaha wont work for everyone, if you love the engine then you figure out a way to make it work for little $$$ ie a polaris edge suspension for $150-200 and your set. that is where I started. If you look at my sig you would think I have $15G's into my sled and its not I got it for a steal in the spring time pricing and its the ONLY way I could afford that. Like you I'm not made of money I get everything used and spend less then 40hrs in the garage in total over a summer to get it to my standards any more and it impacts the family.
The other thing is this site is far superior to the people on here that will help you overcome those shortfalls for little money as well.
Sometimes yamaha wont work for everyone, if you love the engine then you figure out a way to make it work for little $$$ ie a polaris edge suspension for $150-200 and your set. that is where I started. If you look at my sig you would think I have $15G's into my sled and its not I got it for a steal in the spring time pricing and its the ONLY way I could afford that. Like you I'm not made of money I get everything used and spend less then 40hrs in the garage in total over a summer to get it to my standards any more and it impacts the family.
The other thing is this site is far superior to the people on here that will help you overcome those shortfalls for little money as well.
sledrider_ny
Newbie
Well, after 12 years, a 97 500 XTC, a 98 700 XTC, an 01 700 SXR, an 03 600 V-Max and, unfortunately, an 05 RX-1, I have left my dedication for Yamaha and it's poor customer warranty relations in the dust and have converted back to an 09 Polaris 600ho IQ. The final straw with that RX-1 was the last ride this season. Within 15 miles I lost 3 more idler wheels, my slides continuously melted to the track, and the POS over heated 5 times. Now I'm sure you dedicated ones will jump all over me for riding in bad conditions so I'll just add that the Doo and Polaris that were riding with me, as well as the other 50 or so people we saw that night, were not experiencing any problems at all on the loose granular two foot base we were riding on. I bought the RX-1 as a snowmobile to ride, not an ornament for the local repair shop to stare at four weeks out of the season. I'll gladly spend $400 a year on two stroke oil than pay a dealer to fix a poorly designed tank.
kinger
VIP Member
Congrates on the new sled purchase, the new 600 CFI engines are snappy as heck. Dirt cheap too compared to a yamaha or Doo. Have fun!
Len Todd
TY 4 Stroke God
I just did a post-season inspection of the new W-Arm that I put in last fall. It held up very well. There was not even any paint failures. I did notice though that it is significantly beefed up from the pics I had of the original one. Also, I know it took one heck of a hit on the two 4' Moguls I hit hard enough to bend the rear shock rod 20 degrees and flip me sliding down the trail on my head. Fortunately, the sled and I came out of it with only a bent shock rod.
On another note, I replaced the exhaust donuts yesterday. :-( The Parts Tech. commented how there has been "a run on these gaskets" and "there must be a problem." Like we did not know that. Eh? Point being: the parts guy may be the one to talk with if your trying to figure out if there is a common problem going on. He may even be doing the ordering for the service department too, etc. Although, my service guy will level with you. He fessed up to the W-Arm problem, even though he had not seen very many coming through his shop. But Yamaha did push back. They wanted to see the pics of the bumper stops before they capitulated. Their hypothesis is we do not set our rear suspension's front shock correctly, which I would be willing to bet does in fact happen. I know I ran mine too loose for a while. The spring's retaining ring slipped out of position on mine, once.
On another note, I replaced the exhaust donuts yesterday. :-( The Parts Tech. commented how there has been "a run on these gaskets" and "there must be a problem." Like we did not know that. Eh? Point being: the parts guy may be the one to talk with if your trying to figure out if there is a common problem going on. He may even be doing the ordering for the service department too, etc. Although, my service guy will level with you. He fessed up to the W-Arm problem, even though he had not seen very many coming through his shop. But Yamaha did push back. They wanted to see the pics of the bumper stops before they capitulated. Their hypothesis is we do not set our rear suspension's front shock correctly, which I would be willing to bet does in fact happen. I know I ran mine too loose for a while. The spring's retaining ring slipped out of position on mine, once.
jtman04401
Extreme
I rebuilt the W arm on my 05 last fall and neer had an issue. I did not order a new one, being a pretty good fabricator I welded it up and made braces to support where I saw it was weak. Any cracked paint area was suspect so I made braces out of 1/8 material and braced the heck out of it. It ran 1500 miles last year with not an issue. Sure it added a slight bit of weight to the W arm, but with a 600lb machine whos going to notice? lol
welterracer
TY 4 Stroke God
Its getting to be pretty well known that the 05-07 Mono shock suspension was a little on the weak side and needed better shock calibrations..
Thats why we came up with our MONO BEEF UP KIT.. which is based off the 2009 and newer arm design..
Brian
Thats why we came up with our MONO BEEF UP KIT.. which is based off the 2009 and newer arm design..
Brian
apltx08
TY 4 Stroke God
welterracer said:
The '08 where the 1st to have the new PIVOT arm...
