2007 or 2009 Phazer FX?

[cannondale27]

Well, I had to pass on it. After doing some cost analysis the sled life isn't for me. I was just talking with a buddy about what he gets for a season's worth of ride time around here. He said end of December to maybe mid Feb. on average. Then I factored in trail permit, registration, taxes, storage since my initial plan won't work, an enclosed trailer if I need to go find snow and insurance. Insurance is insane on these things. I was quoted 360 a year for maybe 2 months of ride time?? My ATV is a 2015 750 and it's about 110 a year with full coverage. This is definitely not a sport for me fellas, I wanted to get attracted to it, I really did but given the pros and cons it's not a sport for me. Thanks for the awesome info from everyone though, I really appreciate your time. Maybe next year my interests will change but for now, I love my ATV and standup PWC. Have a great ride season everyone!

If you ever get a chance go ride a snowmobile. Then the cost becomes secondary. Trust me you will find a way!

 

[Mooseman]

Maybe even try renting one for a weekend. Once you're hooked, the smile/$ ratio can't be beat.

 

[The Camp Yeti]

Hehe, yeah I wish I could try one but with the way sleds are selling on kijiji it seems like anything that turns up for a good price and appears to be in decent shape...it's gone just a few hours later. Renting a Phazer around here is very questionable, I'm not sure where or if there is any rental places for sleds...most likely if there is it won't be Phazers. Our Yamaha dealer here tossed in the towel on bringing in sleds about 5 years ago due to lack of sales. All we have now is Cat, BRP and Polaris. I've owned Polaris ATVs, ridiculous on maintenance requirements. I've owned one BRP watercraft, it was yellow and for good reason...it was as much of a lemon as it was colored to be one and Cat...well...I have yet to see a Cat get a good rap on anything. I used to work on their ATVs, just garbage. They can't make their own engines lol, and they seem to always find the wrong way to design a chassis that doesn't place undue stress on other components. Yamaha is where it's at for water and snow from my experience...well water at least. Snow, I'm going to trust the water side of the experience to believe the snow division is at par...after all, it's still water just in fluffy form lol. If I could get a 2 stroker in the last days of their production, early 2000's for a great price then I would try it. I'm just struggling severely to get any enthusiasm for it at all. That and the recent hints I have been hearing about a very real chance of another recession could happen.

 

[The Camp Yeti]

How many peeps here still have a Phazer and still actively using it? I've read mixed reports on them, a lot say the Nytro is the way to go even though it's heavier and harder to steer whereas others say they let their ego get the better of them by going for a Nytro and regretted selling the Phazer. One report said they were able to sell their Phazer in no time but their Nytro sat up for sale for a long time ending up not selling. If it were to work out that in another month or two I decide I an afford a sled, without being able to ride one prior to purchase would there be any anticipated regrets of buying one over the other or is the general consensus going to be the (insert sled here) will be the better way to go because once you get into it you will appreciate the (insert characteristic here) in the end. I'm not a speed person, I like enough power to be available if it's needed to get through some off trail and maybe keep up on straights when needed but not for ice drags. Ice and I do not agree most of the time, I seem to always find the weak spots lol. I have learned on the ATVs to just avoid ice as much as possible. But I love open fields for touring through, not racing, and I love trails.

 

[maim]

just saw a phazer mtx up for sale here locally on kijiji and the price looked pretty good.

 

[The Camp Yeti]

Sudbury is quite a lot too far for my liking, that's about 12 hours from me. I'd only do it if it was about 1200 bucks and in prime shape plus all updated lol.

 

[2stroken]

How many peeps here still have a Phazer and still actively using it? I've read mixed reports on them, a lot say the Nytro is the way to go even though it's heavier and harder to steer whereas others say they let their ego get the better of them by going for a Nytro and regretted selling the Phazer. One report said they were able to sell their Phazer in no time but their Nytro sat up for sale for a long time ending up not selling. If it were to work out that in another month or two I decide I an afford a sled, without being able to ride one prior to purchase would there be any anticipated regrets of buying one over the other or is the general consensus going to be the (insert sled here) will be the better way to go because once you get into it you will appreciate the (insert characteristic here) in the end. I'm not a speed person, I like enough power to be available if it's needed to get through some off trail and maybe keep up on straights when needed but not for ice drags. Ice and I do not agree most of the time, I seem to always find the weak spots lol. I have learned on the ATVs to just avoid ice as much as possible. But I love open fields for touring through, not racing, and I love trails.

I still have a phazer, but we just puts around on them, we don't take any real trips, I would guess if I were to get serious and start going to the UP again, I would probably get a nytro. The phazer is fun, and we can just take a quick spin on it and run 50-60 miles. I probably only put 200 miles a year on it, just too busy with kids activities. The MTX I have seems to do very well off trail. I did put a float skid plate on it though.

 

[The Camp Yeti]

Nice, that's kind of the info I have been reading too as of lately. Granted I am, in a manner of speaking, a beginner if I decide to get a sled. But I have been on ATVs and modded stand-up jet skis for most of my life. So I'm fairly experienced in general with powersports toys. The other thought is that finding a Yamaha in a more appropriately affordable price range for me around here seems to be far and few between. There have recently been a few Polaris 500 and 600 XC SP's turning up for a good bit less. I would stand to save 1200-1500 on the end dollar (after taxes) which would go a long way at keeping me from flat lining my bank account. I know I said Polaris ATV's are too high of maintenance, not sure about the sleds but my ATV experience has me painting the entire brand with the same brush. Maybe the sleds aren't so bad on maintenance? These particular models seem to have fairly consistent good reviews. I think before I break the bank on Yammy, I might consider one of these as a starter sled. I hear the VMax 600 XTC is a good engine but horrible on fuel...horrible as in 6 mpg horrible. So there's that which I need to consider too. I try to get as much info as I can on only a select few models so I can decide what to consider and what can be left up for sale. It's a big fun game of figure it out lol...sounds just like my last girlfriend lol

 

[2stroken]

Nice, that's kind of the info I have been reading too as of lately. Granted I'm in a manner of speaking a beginner if I decide to get a sled, I've been on ATVs and a modded stand-up jet ski for most of my life. The other thought is that finding a Yamaha in a more appropriately affordable price range for me around here seems to be far and few between. There have recently been a few Polaris 500 and 600 XC SP's turning up for a good bit less. I would stand to save 1200-1500 on the end dollar (after taxes) which would go a long way at keeping me from flat lining my bank account. I know I said Polaris ATV's are too high of maintenance, not sure about the sleds but my ATV experience has me painting the entire brand with the same brush. Maybe the sleds aren't so bad on maintenance? These particular models seem to have fairly consistent good reviews. I think before I break the bank on Yammy, I might consider one of these as a starter sled. I hear the VMax 600 XTC is a good engine but horrible on fuel...horrible as in 6 mpg horrible. So there's that which I need to consider too. I try to get as much info as I can on only a select few models so I can decide what to consider and what can be left up for sale. It's a big fun game of figure it out lol...sounds just like my last girlfriend lol

I had several yamaha's including a 98 Vmax600 XTC. Mine was the twin, I was not a fan. Any of the yamaha triples are fantastic! They are a tad heavy though, if you plan to do lots of off trail. It can be done, I had an SRX that I could take anywhere off trail needed(it had mountain skis, a long travel front and rear) granted I had to plan my routes and make sure I stopped going down hill. LOL

 

[The Camp Yeti]

Hah! I'm not a fan of triples really. More weight, more parts, more money, more more more <---see what I did there? triple more The twins are all that interest me. I don't need an 800 or 700 for that matter in an upland use machine. My ATV is a 750 but only because it was the last one with its feature set they had in stock before Suzuki changed the equipment removing the handlebar headlight pod. I would have gladly taken a 500 if it was available. But the point being, I'm not into bigger engines and doing 100+ mph. I just would just like a low cost, respectably quiet, reasonably fuel efficient, reliable twin...with a nice ride lol...and enough power to help me out when needed say for going through some fresh untouched fields.

 

[2stroken]

Well the triple will be less gas and you could get a 600 triple if you wanted. The triple isn't about the power, it is about the smoothness, and they are bullet proof. The mid 90's 600 twin(think it was 94-96) had some motor issues(think it was rings). Yamaha really didn't make a great 2 stroke twin in the 97+ chassis. I mean I guess the 500 would be ok, as the 600. Just the smoothness of the triple is worth it!

 

[The Camp Yeti]

It might be a consideration, the added weight will be an issue. In a situation of getting held up in deep snow lifting is not on my list of interests...auto accidents have a way of making a person appreciate the lightests weights possible when it comes to these things. The ATV has a winch, sleds need to have that option built into them too. A nice little dedicated front frame section for a winch mounting plate, if it can go upland and get stuck, it should be built to accept such extraction devices.

 

[maim]

as to the winch, that is why i carry a snow winch. much easyer when pulling a stuck sleds out but a snow bungee is nothing to sneer at either.

 

[The Camp Yeti]

Fellas, I needs your input for the whole Phazer topic. To get the background up front, today I was at my buddy's place. He pulled his sled out of hibernation and we did a couple of straight runs up and down the back field. He has a 2011 MXZ 600 TNT (2 stroke) carbureted model. The best I can find for specs is that for the most part, speaking in dimensions the MXZ is fairly similar to the Phazer. On a numbers to numbers sheet the MXZ to Phazer is...

- about 103 HP / 80 HP
- lighter by 71 lbs at a claimed 408 lbs vs. 489 lbs
- runs a 15" wide track vs 14" wide
- and is a 2 stroke vs 4-stroke.

Those are the only major numerical differences I could find. What I learned about it was the MXZ was the following...
- it seemed to need a bit of a high RPM to get it moving from idle but also seemed to me, to have a bit too aggressive of a take off, like the clutch setup needed tuning to be more immediate to engage rather than rev up and snap the sled into motion from being static
- good power, I would say about all I would need
- I understand the ski darting issues now, I have read about it with the Phazer and his MXZ does it quite easily
- I appreciate the "rider up" positioning of the seating arrangement more than a fixed 90 degree style of seating

It was enough of an experience though to make me think that I could find some pleasure in going for a nice, snow stormy trail ride. So I am going to work on figuring out ways that will allow me afford the Phazer mentioned at the start of this thread, the 2009 RTX. It has somewhat higher mileage on it at a little over 13,000 kms, but I have read plenty of reports that say these 500 engines will go for well over 30,000 kms so I'm not worried about that. My concerns now are, will the Phazer be comparable in power to the MXZ given the two very different engines? I know the type of power output is a whole different animal between the two platforms meaning 2 stroke to 4 stroke. I'm not interested in racing of any sort but my reason for asking is because the MXZ is about the power range I would like to be in based on the very little experience I had. To me it is plenty to go for a nice trail ride but still have some sleeper power behind it to just open it up and get a touch of adrenaline going or maybe catch up if I find myself appreciating the scenery more than keeping up

The next concern is for when I go to look at this sled. Regardless of mileage, any sled could tag a hidden rock and do damages that are not easily seen from the outside...or from inside the engine compartment with how well these engines are tucked in there. What areas would you guys be paying more attention to than not? I know to check the following...
- bushings in the ski components
- carbides and sliders
- track clips and track dry rot, cords fraying out or fiberglass rods popping out...although I still have to see what these rods look like to know for sure what to look for
- steering slop, spindle wear and tie rod boots if it has them
- bogey bearing slop and flat spots on the bogeys
- if I can see it, check for flat spots on the belt and look for oil/coolant leaks
- shock bushings and rebound effect
- skid spring tension
- A-arm bushings
- dents in the A-arms and distance between the shock and A-arm tubes for differences to indicate any impacts have happened
- check for any visible bulkhead damage and uneven body panel lines and spacing
Is there anything I am missing? What have you experienced through time that you would consider to be important check list items? Don't forget the above MXZ referencing question too
Thanks for any suggestions and info you can offer.

 

[2stroken]

The 600 MXZ is quite a bit faster than the phazer will be. The phazer has torque and is fun to ride, but personally the 600 two stroke will hit much harder than the phazer.