2007 APEX RTX owners only please.

[ahicks]

Bumper stop - think overload or dual rate srings. There are multiple holes/positions to mount them in the rail from the factory. Which hole used controling what point in the suspension's travel that they contact, and how much effect they'll have when they do (the further back, the more effective, the higher the sooner). From the point of contact on, the suspension is much more difficult to compress. Perfect for anti bottoming in the big whoops without having to resort to really stiff spring/shock settings full time. Say you have them set to contact at about 75% in the suspension's travel - the only time they will have any effect at all will be in the 25% below that.

While here, has anyone checked out the hole in the rail just to the rear of where the idler wheel/spring slide mount? Moving the wheel/slide to this position is going to stiffen things up full time - at the expense of a little preload - which could be taken up with aftermarket tension adjusters. Bounced some Polaris experience I have with Ross at Hygear, brain jammed for a few minutes. Will be trying some ideas early on for the larger guys having difficulty getting ride height up where it should be with this suspension- WITHOUT going to heavy duty springs or other expensive mods. Will get back with results. -Al

 

[Ported Hornet]

Anybody got a pic of these bump stops installed. I am assuming from a previous post I would get them at a dealer and tell them they are for a 05 vector. Sorry just need a little education so a don't look like a jag at the dealer.

Thanks for the help,

PH

 

[rxmaninblack]

I have an 05 RX1and 07 Apex RTX. Both sleds feel heavy up front. The Fox floats do make a world of difference on the RTX. Traction will be the key to run down REV 800's. So much torque with the 4 stroke it takes awhile to hookup. The HAnd warmers are excellent. The key is not to wear to heavy of a glove.

 

[ahicks]

Check out a currently running string "what happenned to the bumper blocks" currently running in the Nytro forum - pictures and part numbers. I would add that the picture is not the same suspension the RTX runs, but is very similar. As mentioned, the RTX has multiple positions to mount the bumper.

http://ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?t=47 ... sc&start=0

 

[Cobalt]

Ported Hornet; they are definitely on the 05 Vector suspension. I just went to the dealer and we went on the computer and found them. I have since received and installed them on my 07 RTX. There are a few parts that are needed with the cylinder shaped rollers including bolts, nuts and bushings and maybe a few washers. Your dealer will find them on the computer without any problems. I will be picking up my sled tomorrow at the Yamaha shop and I will get the part #'s and post first thing.

They look like they will really help with the bottoming out!

Cobalt

 

[gsxr]

Have Pioneer revalve shocks , then it is near perfect , less than $100.
Floats are awesome .
Ulmer clutching , gear to match stock Apex for more top speed, Rtx was geared down @ factory
Add, MPI @ 5 lbs 200 hp and you will love it !

 

[Ported Hornet]

Ported Hornet; they are definitely on the 05 Vector suspension. I just went to the dealer and we went on the computer and found them. I have since received and installed them on my 07 RTX. There are a few parts that are needed with the cylinder shaped rollers including bolts, nuts and bushings and maybe a few washers. Your dealer will find them on the computer without any problems. I will be picking up my sled tomorrow at the Yamaha shop and I will get the part #'s and post first thing.

They look like they will really help with the bottoming out!

Cobalt

Thanks for the help you guys are great! I will be going to the dealer next friday so I will order them then.

 

[ReX]

I'm of the opinion that if you are looking for the most durable, all around high performance, high mileage, clean running, long distance riding sled that that is tough as nails and can be ridden very aggressively that the 07 and 08 Apex RTX are the sleds to look at (today).

At the same time, they (especially the 07) still are far from perfect as shipped (but nothing really is) and I performed quite a few upgrades to make it what I wanted. A lot of the upgrades are to bring the performance up to REV standards (fuel range, bottoming out, etc.).

1. How did the paint hold up on the rear suspension parts? Hopefully better than my RX1.

Not too well. My rear suspension looks almost like it was sand blasted and exposed to the environment in some areas. Compared to some of the competition, Yamaha definitely doesn't seem to use the same quality paint on their sleds. To be accurate, the amount of rust is relatively minor, but this is probably because my sled has never really seen salt and was always stored in fairly optimal conditions to slow rust. One thing with the RTX is you won't see extra rust forming at the welds because the stress in the metal is much lower.

2. How good is the sturdiness of the Rear Suspension? Many breaks? Again, hopefully better than my 2005 RX1.

This is where these sleds truly shine. Last season I rode my 07 RTX harder than I've ever ridden a sled (suspension wise). My buddies, riding the same trails and conditions, all broke their 06 Apex suspensions many times (and some had brand new skids at the start of the season). My 07 RTX's suspension isn't showing any signs of weakness anywhere (of course neither are the REVs we ride with either).

3. Did the hand and thumb warmer problem get fixed for 2007?

I installed a large windshield and the optional handlebar pad with storage pouch at the start of the season. With both of these I had no trouble with cold hands and I rode quite a few long, high speed days in -30 to -35 degree weather. On the coldest rides, especially at night, I did tend to run the bars on high quite a bit and I wouldn't mind if the bars would heat up faster. Compared to a stock 05 RX-1 I would say the bars are not quite as hot, but not much different heat wise (I much prefer the ergonomics, fit and feel of the RTX bars though).

4. Is the only difference between 07 and 08 the shock package on the RTX

Shock package, center spring (unconfirmed), rear torsion springs (unconfirmed), chaincase cover, colors (seat, etc.), and a new idler wheel design (wider, stronger "looking" at least). I also wouldn't be surprised if the clutching is updated slightly also (the 07 RTX over revs at high speeds and it is not because it runs out of gearing).

5. Did you race an 2007 MXZ 800 on a lake and what were the results? Most my friends ride this sled. Only interested in Stock Sleds for this question because that is how I will ride this one.

I didn't race an 07 MXZ 800, but I did line up with a 06 Apex ER and the 06 Apex ER lined up with 05/06 MXZ 800s on other days. My 07 RTX slightly out accelerated the 06 Apex ER, but the couple of times we had them side by side up to top speed, the fastest sled changed depending on conditions. On looser snow the RTX had a slightly higher top speed, but on really hard packed conditions the 06 Apex's slowly crept past me. To make it as fast as the 06 Apex on anything but ice I don't think it needs to be regeared, but it does need a little more weight on the clutch tips.

The 06 Apex ER's were always neck and neck with the 06 MXZ 800 so I expect the 07 RTX would be similar.

There are many things that didn't meet my requirements with the 07 RTX that I changed (I wanted the ultimate, most durable sled that could handle anything):

• The rear suspension sits too low once ice builds up in the tunnel, even with everything cranked up all the way. I tried the optional heavy duty 07 springs and it made no difference. In the end I re-arched the torsion springs for about 5" of extra lift and it worked well.
  
• The 07 idler wheels tend to delaminate and the small bearings fail faster than 6205 bearings used on older generation sleds. I machined my suspension so it would accept 04 RX-1 idler wheels with 6205 bearings and these idlers worked perfectly for the season. I am probably going to run Skidoo idlers this season to further improve the initial hyfax wear (My hyfax wear is now under control, but I hate having to take it easy for so long waiting for 1/2 of the hyfax wears down while trying to not melt the track clips into the track. With 2.5mm of extra idler radius, I should be able to stop dipping into deep snow much quicker). The 08 wheels look much more durable.
  
• The hyfax wears down alot between the rear and middle idler wheels (there is a huge gap as shipped). I added the extra pair of optional Yamaha idler wheels and this resolved this issue (there are already holes in the rails for them).
  
• The hyfax wore through at the curve in the rail when ridden in hard packed conditions at high speeds. To fix this I had to run the track on the loose end of the spec or slightly looser.
  
• With the track on the loose side of things, the track would ratchet in deep snow as well as if conditions changed to/from patches of snow/patches of ice and I was accelerating hard. I could probably have manually adjusted the tension to suite the conditions (daily), but instead I installed a pair of Skidoo anti-ratchet drive sprockets. These work incredibly well and I can run the track looser than I could ever want to without ratcheting. I did have to trim about 1/4" from the rail tip caps.
  
• The rail tip caps kept loosening off (before I shortened them) so I drilled an extra hole on each side and installed two small nuts and bolts to hold each cap in place.
  
• The stock windshield is useless if you want any wind protection (I never rode it with it, but even the 06 Apex ER's windshield wasn't enough for me). I installed the large windshield. There are two windshield supports that need to be installed with this windshield. While some don't like the look, they do help to keep the headlight better aligned at high speeds compared to running a medium windshield.
  
• I ride it hard and found even with the clicker shock all the way to full hard, it bottomed far to easily. I added the anti-bottomer kit (mentioned by others) and this increases the effective spring rate when close to bottoming. They do help a fair bit, but on anything but the lowest setting they produce a huge amount of kick back (the shock isn't valved to handle them) and my sled still could be bottomed out (not easily though once the springs were re-arched). The biggest problem IMO is the high speed compression shock valving is far, far too weak. For this season I'm installing custom valve stacks from Mike Carver at Carver Performance. They are the best out there for Fox shocks and Mike also sets up all of Yamaha's race sleds (so they are now doing Yamaha shocks). The 08 RTX's stock suspension setup is apparently much stiffer than the 07 RTX - so much so that many I've spoken to say it is too stiff (sounds great to me).
  
• At almost 0 miles my chaincase started to leak oil. The updated 07 chaincase cover or a chaincase assembly from an 05 RX-1 fixed this (the 05 chaincase runs cooler, the 07 chaincase is lighter). I'm not sure which I'm going to run this season.
  
• The fuel range is too small for my needs. Riding it hard there isn't much more than 80 miles to a tank. Riding it more "normal" there isn't much more than 120 miles to a tank. I did always get better fuel mileage and range compared to the 06 Apex ERs by 10% (consistently). The 05 RX-1's bigger tank and better fuel economy has a lot better range (~110 ridden hard, 150 more "normal"). I've been trying to convince Tour Buddy to make a tank for years, but they still haven't (and likely won't) so I've designed one that will fit in the nose of the sled. If I'm doing any high mileage trips through North-eastern Quebec, I'm going to have this tank built and install it before I go.
  
• I always found the Ripsaw track too noisy for high mileage riding and I wanted the ultimate in durability so I installed an aggressive 1" track and 144 studs. The Ripsaw definitely has better traction when riding on about 1" of fresh snow on top of hard packed trails, but other than that, the 1" track is exactly what I wanted.
  
• The 07 Apex GT has 4 extra tunnel braces added to ensure the tunnel doesn't crinkle if bottomed out hard. Even though I probably didn't need them, I installed all 4 on the RTX (two had to be slightly trimmed). As well as wanting the most durable sled out there, I also wanted to be able to add a Seat Jack rear passenger seat. With the extra weight at the very back I figured this would be a good idea. We also do a lot of saddle bag trips with heavy backs at the back. Again, beefing the tunnel up in this area made sense to me and didn't cost much.

This sounds like a ton of changes and it is. At the same time though, with these updates, this sled is an absolute blast to ride hard and it is extremely durable. It can now handle just about anything from no snow to extremely rough trails to long distance, high mileage days.

A couple of notes for you coming from an 05 RX-1:

• As mentioned, the RTX burns more fuel and has a smaller tank. If you're riding with REVs, this can be annoying.
  
• The RTX's exhaust is noticeably noisier than the 05 RX-1, but there is less of the annoying drone at low speeds.
  
• The riding position on the RTX is an incredible upgrade compared to the already comfortable 05 RX-1.
  
• The RTX's seat is much stiffer than the 05 RX-1. I find it perfect, but some complain it is too firm.
  
• The fuel injection and ability to start the sled perfectly without a choke is a nice upgrade.
  
• The throttle response and low speed "snappiness" is much better with the RTX.
  
• Because you sit much higher you need a larger windshield to get the same level of wind protection on the RTX vs the RX-1 (expect more wind on you unless you go with a huge windshield - large on the RTX is about the same as stock on the 05 RX-1).

 

[Ported Hornet]

REX,

You must be talking about 600 sdi REV, they get good fuel mileage. The 800's don't, I owned 2 of them and it panic time with you get about 85 miles on the tank. I am very happy with my fuel mileage on my RTX.

 

[ReX]

REX,

You must be talking about 600 sdi REV, they get good fuel mileage. The 800's don't, I owned 2 of them and it panic time with you get about 85 miles on the tank. I am very happy with my fuel mileage on my RTX.

The 600SDI's blow the doors off the Apex for fuel range. The 1000SDI beats the Apex by quite a bit for fuel range and when we're riding together with 800's we do typically get more range out of the 800's too (with stock jetting). The fuel economy is about the same with the 800 (fillups cost the same - within a dollar typically + or -), but the REV has a larger tank so it can go farther. I expect the REV-XP with the 800R will also have better range than all of Yamaha's high performance offerings (Nytro & Apex).

On top of that Skidoo offers an optional extra fuel tank for most REVs (standard with some models) so with only factory accessories these blow the doors of the Apex for fuel range. For all REVs Tour Buddy sells good looking accessory fuel tanks also. Nothing is available for extra fuel storage on the top of the line Yamaha's and the accessory tank for the Nytro from Tour Buddy isn't exactly good looking.

Of course the REV's also vibrate, stink and burn expensive oil too so I'm happier with my smooth, clean running 4-stroke. I do wish Yamaha started to compete directly with Skidoo for real world performance though (fuel range, suspensions that don't bottom out, etc.) and not just rely on having a more durable, clean running, smooth engine as the biggest selling feature. I've love to be able to pick up an Nytro RTX with a 45 liter fuel tank and a factory accessory 15 liter fuel tank in a year or two. Throw on a larger windshield and that would probably be the ultimate sled for me.

I absolutely hate the fact that out of the group I ride with it is those of us riding clean running 4-stroke Yamaha's that always hold back the group as far as fuel range. Its not uncommon for us to have to take detours or change our plans to find fuel for these 4-strokes when riding into the evening on the Northern Ontario and Quebec trails.

 

[justinator]

REX,

You must be talking about 600 sdi REV, they get good fuel mileage. The 800's don't, I owned 2 of them and it panic time with you get about 85 miles on the tank. I am very happy with my fuel mileage on my RTX.

The 600SDI's blow the doors off the Apex for fuel range. The 1000SDI beats the Apex by quite a bit for fuel range and when we're riding together with 800's we do typically get more range out of the 800's too (with stock jetting). The fuel economy is about the same with the 800 (fillups cost the same - within a dollar typically + or -), but the REV has a larger tank so it can go farther. I expect the REV-XP with the 800R will also have better range than all of Yamaha's high performance offerings (Nytro & Apex).

On top of that Skidoo offers an optional extra fuel tank for most REVs (standard with some models) so with only factory accessories these blow the doors of the Apex for fuel range. For all REVs Tour Buddy sells good looking accessory fuel tanks also. Nothing is available for extra fuel storage on the top of the line Yamaha's and the accessory tank for the Nytro from Tour Buddy isn't exactly good looking.

Of course the REV's also vibrate, stink and burn expensive oil too so I'm happier with my smooth, clean running 4-stroke. I do wish Yamaha started to compete directly with Skidoo for real world performance though (fuel range, suspensions that don't bottom out, etc.) and not just rely on having a more durable, clean running, smooth engine as the biggest selling feature. I've love to be able to pick up an Nytro RTX with a 45 liter fuel tank and a factory accessory 15 liter fuel tank in a year or two. Throw on a larger windshield and that would probably be the ultimate sled for me.

I absolutely hate the fact that out of the group I ride with it is those of us riding clean running 4-stroke Yamaha's that always hold back the group as far as fuel range. Its not uncommon for us to have to take detours or change our plans to find fuel for these 4-strokes when riding into the evening on the Northern Ontario and Quebec trails.

This is odd a bit, I'm on a rtx and I have a buddy on a rx-1. I ride pretty often with a 800 renegade and at the end of last winter my friend got a 600sdi holdover. The 600sdi is pretty close to me trail riding but aggressive I get better than he. I'm always doing better than the 800. My worst ever was last spring in very slushy and messy trail conditions and riding quite aggressive I got 11.7mpg. I average 14mpg on good condition with alot of high speed riding since we have miles and miles of railroad bed trails. Riding with a larger group I get 16ish. The mileage is one of the reasons I like this sled so much.

 

[Cobalt]

As requested these are the part#'s for the anti-bottoming kit, these #'s were off the 05 Vector parts list.
QTY
2 - 8ES474290000- Roller- List price=$17.35 each
4 - 90201106F200- Plate Washer- List Price=$.50 each
2 - 903871002500- Collar- List Price=$4.47 each
2 - 956071020000- Self Lockin Nut- List Price=$1.65 each
2 - 958171006000- Flange Bolt- List Price=$2.24 each

Best of Luck!

Cobalt

 

[ReX]

This is odd a bit, I'm on a rtx and I have a buddy on a rx-1. I ride pretty often with a 800 renegade and at the end of last winter my friend got a 600sdi holdover. The 600sdi is pretty close to me trail riding but aggressive I get better than he. I'm always doing better than the 800. My worst ever was last spring in very slushy and messy trail conditions and riding quite aggressive I got 11.7mpg. I average 14mpg on good condition with alot of high speed riding since we have miles and miles of railroad bed trails. Riding with a larger group I get 16ish. The mileage is one of the reasons I like this sled so much.

16 miles per US gallon or 19.2 miles per Canadian gallon and with a 1.375" lugged track also? If I ever saw that from a stock Apex I'd be blown away. I ride with 4 different Apex's and we've never seen that - even taking it very easy on very straight trails (probably close to it at a constant 40mph though). If you're truly getting that sort of fuel economy riding normally, you've got a very unique RTX.

Also the 600 SDI's I ride with typically get over 20 mpg (Canadian gallon at least) so to beat that with an RTX you really need some incredible fuel economy. Are you sure he didn't pick up a 600 HO? One of the 600 REVs I ride with is an HO and it burns at least 30% more fuel than the SDIs. He still burns slightly less fuel than an Apex (but close to the same, doesn't have near the power and does burn lots of expensive oil - not to mention it stinks, just like all the 2-strokes).

As far as the 800, I would expect an 800 Renegade to burn a little more than your RTX. I ride with a 121" 800 MXZ and as already mentioned it burns about the same as a typical 06 Apex ER. My RTX probably burns a hair less than it since I get about 10% better than the 06 Apex ER's with my 07 RTX (I don't know why though - could be the 1" track?). With the longer track, the Renegade probably uses a little more than the 800 I ride with too.

The Apex is still a great sled, but in my experience it does not get great fuel economy and compared to a typical REV it doesn't have the same fuel range either (and we know this isn't just the fuel gage reading low because we've ran the Apex's out of gas and the REVs are still going - even the 800).

 

[ReX]

As requested these are the part#'s for the anti-bottoming kit, these #'s were off the 05 Vector parts list.
QTY
2 - 8ES474290000- Roller- List price=$17.35 each
4 - 90201106F200- Plate Washer- List Price=$.50 each
2 - 903871002500- Collar- List Price=$4.47 each
2 - 956071020000- Self Lockin Nut- List Price=$1.65 each
2 - 958171006000- Flange Bolt- List Price=$2.24 each

Best of Luck!

Cobalt

I don't know the part number, but in Canada there is a complete kit available from Yamaha with a single part number.

 

[justinator]

This is odd a bit, I'm on a rtx and I have a buddy on a rx-1. I ride pretty often with a 800 renegade and at the end of last winter my friend got a 600sdi holdover. The 600sdi is pretty close to me trail riding but aggressive I get better than he. I'm always doing better than the 800. My worst ever was last spring in very slushy and messy trail conditions and riding quite aggressive I got 11.7mpg. I average 14mpg on good condition with alot of high speed riding since we have miles and miles of railroad bed trails. Riding with a larger group I get 16ish. The mileage is one of the reasons I like this sled so much.

16 miles per US gallon or 19.2 miles per Canadian gallon and with a 1.375" lugged track also? If I ever saw that from a stock Apex I'd be blown away. I ride with 4 different Apex's and we've never seen that - even taking it very easy on very straight trails (probably close to it at a constant 40mph though). If you're truly getting that sort of fuel economy riding normally, you've got a very unique RTX.

Also the 600 SDI's I ride with typically get over 20 mpg (Canadian gallon at least) so to beat that with an RTX you really need some incredible fuel economy. Are you sure he didn't pick up a 600 HO? One of the 600 REVs I ride with is an HO and it burns at least 30% more fuel than the SDIs. He still burns slightly less fuel than an Apex (but close to the same, doesn't have near the power and does burn lots of expensive oil - not to mention it stinks, just like all the 2-strokes).

As far as the 800, I would expect an 800 Renegade to burn a little more than your RTX. I ride with a 121" 800 MXZ and as already mentioned it burns about the same as a typical 06 Apex ER. My RTX probably burns a hair less than it since I get about 10% better than the 06 Apex ER's with my 07 RTX (I don't know why though - could be the 1" track?). With the longer track, the Renegade probably uses a little more than the 800 I ride with too.

The Apex is still a great sled, but in my experience it does not get great fuel economy and compared to a typical REV it doesn't have the same fuel range either (and we know this isn't just the fuel gage reading low because we've ran the Apex's out of gas and the REVs are still going - even the 800).

I havent ridden the sled with the 1.375 track yet, I just put it on this fall. I'm sure I'll lose a little.When I get in the area of 16mpg(us) thats riding with large groups and slower speeds, taking it easy. But unless the snow is horrible I always get around 14mpg. My F7 was 10mpg and I save so much riding the rtx.