For those thinking about a rx1 and are scared :)

[Purplecoffin]

First, a little background. I have been riding a 07 Arctic cat f6, the lxr chassis. loved the ride of the sled but hated the 2 stroke smell and oil. So, I decided to sell it and buy another Phazer. My wife has an 08 and I really enjoy playing around with it. Fast forward, the Cat is Gone and I found an 03 RX1 mountain with only 804 miles on it. Wasn't the plan but I started reading on here about them. Big complaint was heavy and ride sucked. Ok, that can be fixed I thought.....

I bought the sled for a song and took it for a ride.... Motor is sweet! Ride sucks, LOL. So I bought a lighter widened front end for it from MPI due to their ad that they had on here. Another Steal!!! $199 for the 41" version I put an apex seat on and that is a great upgrade. Here again, I bought a cheap seat with a bad cover and have ordered the apex plus 2" seat cover from WRP I think it was. I think that will make it even better.

Did the Apex radiator mod to help with cooling in marginal snow.

I found m7 suspension that I haven't installed yet as we only have a couple more weeks to play around here. I am also planning to order the wildchild riser relocation kit and install it over the summer.

Total investment is under $3500 and I have a four stroke with 804 miles and weighs almost exactly what my cat did.

Did I mention a 151 track and 135 horse versus a 128 track and 118 horse?

Sooooo, I love the sled and am thankful to this great site for all the ideas on how to build a really nice inexpensive sled!

I am a married father of 2 so buying a brand new sled sled for me is out of the question. My wife rides the 08 Phazer I now have an rx1-apex-yamacat. My 8 year old rides an 05 340 polaris classic. My six year old daughter is asking for a pink snowmobile, lol

A big THANKS, to totally yamaha and all the informative posts on here.

To close, if you have the ability to do the work yourself, buy a cheap rx1 and build the sled you want!
Or buy,whatever if you have the extra cash to spend and don't want to do the work. ;-)

 

[smokingcrater]

My story is almost IDENTICAL to yours! Except I had an AC ZR 600, and went to a warrior, not an rx1... Other than, my warrior was also low miles (740) when I got her last spring. (wife rides the warrior though, I get the Nytro)

Some guys will just never consider a 4 stroke yammy... They don't know what they are missing out on.

 

[Sasquatch]

RX was about 145 hp and I love my Warrior. All the don't buy a RX because it has carbs is nuts. Nothing the matter with carbs.

With the Excell exhaust and ZX2 rear skid Apex seat and Rox riser it is a joy to ride. 18,000 miles of joy in fact. Its lighter then stock and with the upgrades it handles more like the newer Apex.

I would recommend to anyone buying one and doing a few upgrades. Then ride and smile.

 

[Purplecoffin]

Pretty much finished now. Made.a couple of changes from original post. Seat and exhaust changed. Air box mod and heavy hitters clutching in. Cat skid in. Project x skies. Carver performance revalved front shocks. Should be a fun ride now.

 

[stomper]

Looks good purplecoffin. I absolutly love my rx1. My story is also pretty much the same thing, although mine had 10,300 miles (now 17,001) when I got it and I installed a 136" zx2 skid, apex seat, 4" riser, sled dogs air box mod. Wife drives a 06 attack, 14 yr old son drives a 07 cat F5 and my 9yr old daughter rides with mom but has also mentioned the same pink sled that you talk about.

 

[Purplecoffin]

Thanks, it's been a lot of work and I never even rode it with the apex seat. That was nice with the added 2" but was heavy and I wanted to end up with a sane weight. The skinz seat only cost me $75 after selling my apex seat and weighs less than 10 lbs. I think it was like 7 lbs actually. Really pleased with how its turned out so far. I can't wait to get it out and put it through some bumps to determine what adjustments I need to do to the suspension.

 

[Bigblue1]

Yamaha (Japan) builds incredibly high quality equipment. I have heard all of the stories about weight and handling etc. etc. Bunch of wussies. Every sled needs some adjustment, set up to get it to perform to the riders liking. Since most people ride on groomed trails I can't see the big issue with the weight if you've clutched the sled to be responsive and set up the suspension to your weight, driving style etc. Sure if you want to go mogul jumping or mountain riding it falls way short, but there are plenty of retooled ( turbo, suspension etc.) Yamahas that do both in many cases a lot better than machines designed for that purpose. I have over 14,000 miles on my RX-1 and have certainly spent time to make certain changes to the machine, as mentioned above, reasonably inexpensive, and run each and every year. Yes I purchased a 2011 for the length and technical upgrades (EPS) (EXUP), but Bigblue1 still rides at the front of the pack. The way I see it there are not too many other 2005 sleds still running strong 10 years and many hard & fast miles later, at least where I ride. Enough said.

 

[Purplecoffin]

Okay guys, finally got some real seat time this past week. Put on just under 400 miles with the longest day being 220 miles. Wanted to give some feedback on the mods that I did for anyone considering them.

I am going to start at the front and work back so here goes.

Project x skis- older but have had them on a couple sleds now and still really like them. Enough flotation to be a plus and aggressive enough to help control the long track on the trails.

Revalved front shocks by carver performance- Great improvement! They are night and day difference between stock form and now.

MPI light front a Arms. These are the 41" version and make for a nice stable front end but still very carveable. Nice addition to the sled when the aim is a crossover type platform.

Steering Relocation- I modeled this from pictures of the wildchild conversion and it was great. Much better bar position than stock. There was a lot of fit and refit doing it myself but very happy with the results. I wouldn't be afraid to do it again or order from wildchild for this change.

Seat- I went with the skinz airframe seat for an apex and it worked perfectly as far as fit went. The seat was the biggest surprise of all the mods. I knew I was going to like the seat position. However, I was really concerned with the firmness. I thought that it was very stiff and it is. But, it ended up being very comfortable on some really rough trails this week. If you strictly trail ride, probably not the right choice. If you do a little of everything it seems to be a good choice to me.

Cat Skid- Self evident. This was pro-action stock.

Exhaust- I custom built the exhaust based off some measurements and educated guesses after looking at an excell system on a different sled. Looks great, a little louder than I really like though for long days on the sled. Did notice some drone with my helmet on at around 50 mph. Same speed without helmet, no drone, so it is resonating at that rpm in the helmet. Solution- go faster or slower LOL. Actually, going to add a few discs and see if that helps.

Heavy Hitter Clutching- Started with 48 gram base weights and should have went heavier after we got into the project. Ended up having to order some heavier weights but the system itself is great to work with and try to get dialed in. They work well and I didn't have any trouble and would recommend them if you are looking at clutch weights.

Air box mod - All I have to say is ran a newer Apex up to a little over 90 before we ran out of room and he wanted me to show him my supercharger. Made me laugh, nowhere near as fast as the turbos or chargers that I have seen. But, he certainly wouldn't buy that it was stock.

Overall, I am satisfied with the sled. It is not a tight twisty trail racer, it handles fine but I am quicker through tight trails with my wife's Phazer. It works for cruising and playing on the trails. Throw in a couple hills or logging trails though and the Phazer is eating snow dust.

There are still a couple of things I want to do yet. I want to put Apex bars on with a straight riser to get rid of the apehanger looking things that the sled came with. I think that I will probably paint it black with orange accents for next year. Those are the main things that I can think of, hope that this helps someone.

 

[kinger]

RX1 are the best sleds to modify like what your doing. I did the exact same thing on my Silver LE I had and it was such a cool sled. I got the boost bug and being a younger guy I was more comfortable with fuel injection then carbs so I switched to a apex. Now I am doing the same thing to that (pict is in my avatar). Every mod makes it better and they just run. I mean mine is a lot of maintenance but I spend more on upgrades then repairs! Magazine racers go get your ski doo's there is no sled ever created better then my boosted apex for ME.

RX1 just amp the fun factor because they are so cheap. I mean think about what you got there. I saw a polaris fan 550 for sale for $3500, you have a 140hp missle that will run for 20,000 miles for the same money! They are the best value on snow for sure.

Have fun and keep reading on here, I know when I started I was addicted and spent every last free minute on the forums until I felt like I really understood the sled. Now I get yamaha mechanics calling me for advice haha! This site rules for education and no BS.

 

[vetcorman05]

Sorry about that,sometimes thing sound good,or funny in my head then after a little while I realize it was just stupid.

 

[Yamadog]

I loved all 6 of my RX's and did every mod imagineable. I just could not keep them together with all the miles I ride. My first 03 had 9000 miles on it at the end of the first season. Then started playing with shocks (ohlins) Sway bars all diff. mm and even had sutom ones made. Skis always were simmons. Mono shocks were installed in the 03 and 04 then a cat skid in one. By o6 I was adding apex seats and haveing Welt Racer weld the monos.

This was my last custom build it was originally blue 05 with no reverse. I had it painted black, added reverse, Hauck gyt r dun pipe, apex seat, Ohlin front shocks, Bender custom Mono shock from Penske, Attack Riser, simmons skis, camoplast shotgun 1-1/4" track with 168 picks. If it were not for the RX's I would
not still be riding today.

 

[Purplecoffin]

Wow! 9000 miles first season, we average around 2000 and thought that was reasonable! Looks like a sweet build for you. Would like to do new shocks in the front at some point. I just cringe at the price of a really good set.

 

[Ron's]

My story is almost IDENTICAL to yours! Except I had an AC ZR 600, and went to a warrior, not an rx1... Other than, my warrior was also low miles (740) when I got her last spring. (wife rides the warrior though, I get the Nytro)

Some guys will just never consider a 4 stroke yammy... They don't know what they are missing out on.

Yeah 4 stroke yammi is great like a rocket!

 

[ghost rider]

Old school carbs.... Love the hands on tune
Rx warrior zx2 , turbo, axis shocks in front sway bar. ... Every up date you can imagine
But at a total cost of 12 grand , with the handling of a new sled and 260 hp it's more fun
Per dollar than anything I have ever owned both domestic and foreign

 

[budgetbeast]

Really cool Sled! Did the seat require any additional modifications over just installing the apex seat? The seat and exhaust are the hurdles I'm jumping now and your exhaust is one of coolest looking ones I've seen yet. Let's face it that's why we are riding these heavy things just for that cool factor!