2005 venture spring os shock question

[k98srx]

I have a 2005 rs venture. My wife and my son ride on it 99% of the time. At the end of last season, I jumped on it with my son on back. It was bottoming out even on small bumps. I flipped up the spring preloaders and it still bottomed easily. I weigh almost 250 and my son is around 150.

My question is....How can I tell if I have weak springs or a bad shock?

Thanks

 

[BA]

Make sure the rearmost adjuster block ( S - M - H) are adjusted to hard.

Otherwise Yamaha thinks that type of loading requires you to spend 3 bills on a heavy duty spring.

Isn't it crazy? Mine bottoms all the time on g-out type bumps. I'm using it mostly as a one up now. (which it is sprung a little on the heavy side compared to normal 1 ups.)

 

[k98srx]

I forgot to say that I also moved the three way block to the heavy setting with the issue not changing very much.

It doesn't seem too bad for my wife and son yet, but it didn't bottom like this when it was new and I tried it out with him.

Just wondering whether I need new springs or a shock and/or how to tell which one it is.

 

[big_ry_ry]

venture shocks

I agree I think the shocks are not good enough, and that is why yami probally made the gt for 07.

I think the suspension is alot better than the ski-doo grand touring but still could be better.

 

[maddogjeff]

I never had an issue with bottoming which is one reson I love the suspension. Mine is completely stock, no upgrades. You probably have a bad shock. If the spring was bad, it wouldn't rebound back up. How easy is it to press down on the back? One other possibility is the pivot bracket is breaking, do a search on "pivot 2" to see pics.

 

[hondo]

Concur with Jeff's line of thought. If the sled feels real loose and the suspension is easy to move up down and is sloppy / floppy, it's time to look at the pivot arm bracket assembly.

Take a flash light and look at the bracket that holds the black spring blocks up. That metal bracket could be starting to fail.

Here is a photo of a safety bracket that was made for my sled. You can see the black spring blocks. Look to see if the metal bracket in center between the spring blocks is starting to tear.

If it is the pivot arm failing, have the pivot arm replaced, but have your dealer put in the reinforced pivot arm that came out last year.

I know I'm putting the cart before the horse, you need to find out what the problem really is. However, this should give you a little more background information.

Hope this helps!

 

[towing]

I agree with hondo and maddogjeff for the check/fix on the braket as a safety issue.

If you want to know if you have a spring or shock issue with your RsVenture, it is pretty easy. You just have to sit on your sled with your passenger and have a third person measure how much skid travel it left between the rubber bump (on the rail) and the spring coil (just above). Since the total travel is around 8", you need around 5" of down travel to handle trail bumps. If you have a spring issue like i suspect, you will not be able to get enought rear down travel... maybe between 3 and 4" that is unacceptable. If it is good on the height, it is propably your shocks that goes bad...

My experience is that the stock springs were too weak for me and my wife (less than 300 pounds). I shift to the heavy duty springs wich are better but it is still not perfect. Actually, my rear shock seams still good but the front one need to be replace... i have pretty high mileage 100% time with passenger..

Hope this help

Alain

 

[k98srx]

Thanks for all the info guys. I left the sled up north, so I will check those things out next time up.


Thanks again