FX Rear Suspension Rough

[DKBrigs27th]

I have complained to my dealer about this issue and they should talk to yamaha what to do with it. Back in 2002 when the sx viper came (I bought one) some ment it gave fairly a harsh ride on small bumps because of a to hard spring/shock set up. Yamaha solved that by offering a different spring/shock set up for a fair price. I kept my "stock" because I liked it as it was. I will complain to my dealer as long as it takes to make yamaha do something about this bad rear skid set up. The viper gave me a much more comfortable ride on small bumped trails than this new "high tech" phazer does and I dont think it should be like that.

I have also noticed when standing, riding on rough, bumpy tracs the rebound dampening is so hard that it catapults the rear of the sled out of snow and up in the air

It is 7 fx in my area and everyone says the same thing about this rear suspension - it S U C K S..

It should have been delivered with a 1st class kidny protection belt. 3 hours riding on rough tracks hurts my kidnys the same way as if I have been drinking whisky and gin like it was water 3 days around the clock

My daughters sled was doing the same thing and I took a look at it and somthing didn't seem right. Looking into it closer I found the brace was completely broken. The front brace that connects the shock. I kno0wm that these sleds are having this problem.

 

[sniperviper]

Ok. I have to check that out.

 

[sniperviper]

Just to be sure we're on the same page, you INCREASED the rebound damping on the suspension - correct? Increasing the damping (turning the clicker knob in- to the right) will slow down the rebound.

I havent any adjustment for rebound damping at all. I can only adjust the compression of the shock. By turning the clicker clockwise it gets harder. If you have the same shock as on my fx, I think you are wrong in your discription how the adjustment on the rear shock works. If I'm wrong please correct me.

Have read somewhere that the next year phazer rtx have a new rear shock where you also can adjust rebound damping so I think that Yamaha is aware of this problem.

 

[Isthatahemi]

The FX is a balls out kinda sled. Not for gurls. She bought the wrong model. The GT is the softer riding one. The FX rides like crap, until you push it, aim it at some medium size moguls, pin it, and watch everyone else back off. Unless you ride hard a lot of the time, it will ride poorly.
After riding it hard take it straight to the dealer, to get your broken suspension fixed, again and again. What a turd of a sled......Oh yeah i own one...

 

[cannondale27]

Ok my take on the suspension is that it is a compromise from factory.It wont ever be right for everyone right from factory.But it does give a person warning if its not right for you and about to break.It will bottom out hard.That means slow down and go home order a revalve or get new shocks.It stunk for me letting guy go in front of me but after 2 big g-outs in a row I knew it was going to break if I hit any more that fast.Ordered new rears and hoping it works next time.

 

[Port-Parts]

One thing anyone complaining about ride quality over small stutter bumps should look at is where they have there rear torsion springs set at and how they have the spring on the front shock set. Everyone says they put everything to soft and it still rides rough - it should!! When you put the springs/shocks on soft (unless you are under 150 lbs.) the rear suspension will compress more (sag)when you sit/ride it which will allow the supsension to couple faster or be coupled all the time. When coupled you are compressing both shocks all the time - leading to a rough ride. The trick is to get the rear of the sled up in the air via stiffer cam adjustment on the rear torsion springs and by increasing the preload on the front skid shock spring. This will allow the sled to ride independantly on each shock for the first couple inches of travel providing a smoother ride over smaller bumps then couple together over the bigger bumps.

SledderSteve now you won't have to pretend to know why it works!

 

[Reaper]

What do you recommend going to on the rear skid front shock preload for 180 lb rider ?

 

[rfabro]

What a turd of a sled......Oh yeah i own one...

 

[Reaper]

He actually has helped quite a bit with the setup of the rear suspension. I would strongly disagree with the turd statement.

 

[Isthatahemi]

He actually has helped quite a bit with the setup of the rear suspension. I would strongly disagree with the turd statement.

I should have said troublesome....I guess.
When all is well, it is an awesome machine. All I'm saying is the amount of troubles I had was unexpected, frequent and very frustrating.......

 

[STORM-CHASER]

One thing anyone complaining about ride quality over small stutter bumps should look at is where they have there rear torsion springs set at and how they have the spring on the front shock set. Everyone says they put everything to soft and it still rides rough - it should!! When you put the springs/shocks on soft (unless you are under 150 lbs.) the rear suspension will compress more (sag)when you sit/ride it which will allow the supsension to couple faster or be coupled all the time. When coupled you are compressing both shocks all the time - leading to a rough ride. The trick is to get the rear of the sled up in the air via stiffer cam adjustment on the rear torsion springs and by increasing the preload on the front skid shock spring. This will allow the sled to ride independantly on each shock for the first couple inches of travel providing a smoother ride over smaller bumps then couple together over the bigger bumps.

SledderSteve now you won't have to pretend to know why it works!

I will try this setup when I get the wifes fx I need to get her a decend ride out of it, Then I will have something to play with

 

[Breaaap]

Hello All,

My first post but I felt like someone needed to speak up. I have 1300miles on my FX and absolutely love it. I also have a 2002 viper, 2005 REV 550 and they all have their strong points. The main thing I wanted to get across both for information to people looking to buy and to peoiple who like to bitch alot is that Yamaha is standing behind the product better then any other company would. My buddy broke his fron arm at 1014 miles and our dealer (Excel Powersports in Manchester NH) was on it immediately and was overnighting parts so he wouldn't miss any riding. Two weeks later I broke my front arm at 1008 miles and the next day my buddy broke his pivot arm. Again the dealer was right on it and I also talked with Yamaha Tech. Over the next three days tech called me 6 times giving me updates. They sent out two updated front arms that have been re-inforced and two Billet Aluminum pivots overnight to Excel so that they would have them in time to get our rides fixed by the weekend. We picked the sleds up on Friday and were all set to ride.

The techs told me they are well aware of the issues that everyone has been dealing with and they are doing the best they can to work out the fixes. I also bought the Viper the first year it came out and they stepped up to do waht they could to satisfy people on the stiff suspension issues then as well. That is why I didn't hesitate to buy the Phazer first year. Yes I had a few issues but for the fun I had for the year it was well worth it.

My point is, consider what they have to deal with when they come out with something as new and different as this sled, remember you can't find a fix for something until you see it is breaking and you can't re-design something overnight. Make the issues known to the dealer and Yamaha tech so they can document it and then if the dealer doesn't take care of you go to another dealer who will and then support them.

Sorry for being long winded but people bitch way to much, deal with and have fun. Lifes to short.

Braaap.

 

[STORM-CHASER]

welcome to the site, gald you posted . Sounds like you have good dealer.