FX Rear Suspension Rough

[stormchaser]

Finally got a chance to try my daughters FX out in the bumps-and I feel sorry for her. I bought this thinking there would be enough adjustibility in the clickers and spring settings for both of us to ride this. I have this thing as soft as it goes and it pounds the hell out of you. Any suggestions before I bring that rear shock in to get re-valved so it slows down the rebound?

 

[Traildale]

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.

 

[phazerfly]

How many miles are on the sled, they do soften up quite a bit once they get broke in. Other then that you need to realize it is an FX, it was designed to take the bigger hits and be jumped. Its going to be rough just riding along hitting stutter bumps and little stuff. Thats why there is the GT for the more comfortable riding suspension.

 

[stormchaser]

I tried clockwise-counterclockwise and in the middle and this thing is harsh. I can feel every little bump.

 

[stormchaser]

I

How many miles are on the sled, they do soften up quite a bit once they get broke in. Other then that you need to realize it is an FX, it was designed to take the bigger hits and be jumped. Its going to be rough just riding along hitting stutter bumps and little stuff. Thats why there is the GT for the more comfortable riding suspension.

I have about 200-230 miles on it. Looks like a re-valve is in order.

 

[phazerfly]

It will definately soften up quit a bit, back all your spring tension off, and turn you damping down. I run mine cranked right tight but I also weigh 210 clothed. And even at that I've ordered a spring for the front arm shock out of a 440 race sled that will fit. Mine was stiff to start with but as the miles piled on it softens up a lot. IMO.

 

[SledderSteve]

I tried clockwise-counterclockwise and in the middle and this thing is harsh. I can feel every little bump.

I hear ya on the little bumps, mine doesn't seem to be happy until we get to the big bumps where it really shines.

An adjustment you might try that I learned from another FX owner (Mr. Sled) is to increase the preload of the front shock in the rear skid. Mr. Sled had his set at max while mine was set stock and his machine seemed to be much less harsh through the stutters. Not "plush" by any description but a lot less harsh.

Worth a shot anyway...

 

[stormchaser]

Are you saying loosen up the spring on the front shock?

 

[SharkAttak]

would loosening the spring in the front help?

 

[SledderSteve]

Are you saying loosen up the spring on the front shock?

Believe it or not, quite the opposite. You tighten the spring on the front shock to get a better ride. Mr. Sled had his set to Max according to the manual and his rode better than mine at the stock setting. All other settings between the two machines were the same.

Just our experience, I won't pretend to know why it worked.

 

[sniperviper]

I tried clockwise-counterclockwise and in the middle and this thing is harsh. I can feel every little bump.

Same here... I know the fx are set up for agressive riding but it in the really big bumps it bottoms out easily and on the trails with small bumps it beat the hell out of me even when spring tension is set on soft. I cant figure out any other way to solve this without revalveing rear shock or maybe buy the springs from the gt but I figure it will bottom even more easy out with the gt spring...

Wonder if yamaha have changed/modyfied the rear suspension on the 2008 rtx.

 

[gilliganhat]

I found little to no difference adjusting the rear spring tension or the shock damping. The thing is fairly harsh is small stutters if your not standing. My daughter rides it mainly and stands most of the time because of the ride. I rode it Sunday for 250km and noticed same thing. If it's rough and you sit to take a break your gonna have a new crack in your a**. GT springs maybe??

 

[sniperviper]

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

 

[SledderSteve]

Did anyone else try increasing the preload on the front shock?

While it seems like the opposite thing to do, it either helped mine or the suspension simply got a little more compliant with use. Either way it's a much more friendly machine to ride now.

 

[tugger]

Can anyone tell me how much "seat of the pants" adjustment there is from the clickers, i.e. is there a huge or minor difference between the softest and stiffest settings? I revalve my own shocks and by experimentation I have found a superior ride by having little rebound damping on the front arm shock but really a ridiculous amount of rebound damping on the rear arm. This works extremely well in all conditions except long series of studder bumps. In short, most suspensions do a good job of absorbing bumps but then release that energy at the wrong time. You want the suspension rebounding AFTER going over a bump not WHILE you are still going over it. Timing is the key, and until we get some sort of automatic terrain analyzing/electronically controlled shock damping this will always be a trade off to one degree or another. If you are in the air a lot or your trail system has larger moguls then I say go for large amounts of rebound damping on the rear arm.