FYI Before you buy

[Happ]

Though I was a definately dissappointed with the untimely death of the RX-1, and I will put off upgrading the '03, I did come out of the MPLS show with a little information that may be helpful to all you guys buying the 06's. I spent about 20 minutes with the service guys discussing the problem with W-arms, and what is covered under Y.E.S contracts. On the new RA suspensions, the are considering Bushings and bearings wear items. They stated this while standing next to the Zerked RA. They also stated that damage to W arms and skid components will be viewed subjectively to determine if coverage will apply. When a component fails, they will be looking at the set up of the skid, and whether it was in line with setup recommendations. Improper setup, or modifications may disallow coverage. So, make sure you go over setup with the dealer, listen to what they say, discuss wear items such as the bushings and bearings and........ to cover your butt when you do make adjustments, get the dealer on line and make a note of it so if something does fail, you can always go back and say that you worked with the dealer to setup and maintain the skid. This may be the difference in getting coverage and not getting coverage.

He also stated that the W arms typically break from excessive bottoming, due to poorly adjusted springs, and cam setups. For what that is worth. Enjoy your New Rides!~!!!

 

[Happ]

Oh, One more thing, he stated that you should expect to use a full tube of grease to effectively grease the chassis of the '05 and '06.

 

[impalapower]

On the new RA suspensions, the are considering Bushings and bearings wear items. They stated this while standing next to the Zerked RA.

That sound right. Its an item that wears out, you can't expect Yamaha to cover such things. However, they should have put zerks in '05 skids being thats what the '06 got.

 

[impalapower]

Oh, One more thing, he stated that you should expect to use a full tube of grease to effectively grease the chassis of the '05 and '06.

How often are you supposed to go through an entire tube?

 

[ReX]

He also stated that the W arms typically break from excessive bottoming, due to poorly adjusted springs, and cam setups. For what that is worth. Enjoy your New Rides!~!!!

It's pretty hard to install heavier springs if they are back ordered all season....

I've had the mono's c-clip on the 2nd position and the adjuster on position 6 for a while now. I weighed myself and I'm 211 as of a couple of days ago. My mono spring has also sagged noticably over the 5300 kms - but even new was too weak.

Yamaha and my dealer are treating me well though. My sled will be in perfect condition again in a couple of days. This time with the stronger spring.

Also, I should mention - there really haven't been many w-arm's breaking on the 05's (yet). I asked Customer Service how many they brought in from Japan for Canada and the number apparently is 3 for the RX-1. These 3 would have to cover everything from accidents, major holes, etc. I might be the first one with a fatigue failure - so it's definitely not a major problem yet (still the w-arm is too highly stressed IMO and next year for the "rough trail" riders they will need to strengthen it). I will also admit, while not a young, full out "rough trail" rider (jumping roads, etc.), I do ride my machine harder than average.

 

[Birdman]

I think that because we all felt the pro-action didn't transfer weight very well that the answer was to adjust the control rods out side of what Yamaha recommended and this caused the w-arm to bottom hard in the bumps and break. I have owned 5 pro-action skid Yamaha's and the only one that suffered a w-arm failure was the RX-1, and yes thats the only one that I went outside of what Yamaha recommened. Just my opinion.

 

[RX-1 Liter]

Birdman,

My 165 lb Dad broke his W-arm with stock control rods on his 98 XTC 700 and I broke my 98 SRX and 03 RX-1 with stock Control rods. I really doubt that is the culprit. More like bad design and weak welds.

 

[MR.HAPPY]

HEY ALMOST, I WEIGHT 285LBS & HAVE MY REAR SET AT 6 & RA AT 4.
TRANSFER AT THE STOCK POSITION.
I'VE ONLY BOTTOMED OUT 1 TIME IN THE 1400 MILES THAT I'VE HAD IT SET THERE!
I THOUGHT THIS HAS BEEN GREAT SO FAR!
I'VE BACKED THE RA TO SOFTEST A COUPLE TIMES TOO!

BR

 

[ReX]

HEY ALMOST, I WEIGHT 285LBS & HAVE MY REAR SET AT 6 & RA AT 4.
TRANSFER AT THE STOCK POSITION.
I'VE ONLY BOTTOMED OUT 1 TIME IN THE 1400 MILES THAT I'VE HAD IT SET THERE!
I THOUGHT THIS HAS BEEN GREAT SO FAR!
I'VE BACKED THE RA TO SOFTEST A COUPLE TIMES TOO!

BR

I wonder if your sled somehow came with the stiffer spring from the factory or maybe you have a great dealer that installed it right from day 1 to make sure your ride was the best it could be?