how many out there with suspension woos on a 05 rx1

[Bakemono]

Once again I ask, how will buying a Cat fix that problem?
I understand your frustration, but I fail to see how switching brands would remdy the situation.
Just talk to any one of the people who bought '05 Polaris Fusions and had endless problems with them and yet Polaris has completely denied that there are any problems with them. Polaris has now made changes to the '06s but isnt offering any updates to fix the problems of the '05s.
Cap'n

 

[Swiss Sledder]

700Scott, why not just order a reinforced W-arm from Maxximum Performance? I know the w-arms have been a problem for some people, so rather then replacing a broken one with another one that will likely suffer the same problem, go with something that should actually fix the problem for good.

The bushings/lack of zerks is a real problem and the engineering upsets me too. I am waiting to hear Yamaha's response on this one. However, I would never consider switching to another manufacturer because of this. I saw too many sleds broken down on the trails this past season, and not one was a Yamaha 4 stroke.

 

[Bakemono]

The bushings/lack of zerks is a real problem and the engineering upsets me too. I am waiting to hear Yamaha's response on this one. However, I would never consider switching to another manufacturer because of this. I saw too many sleds broken down on the trails this past season, and not one was a Yamaha 4 stroke.

Yamaha has added grease fittings to the '06 Monoshock.
When I demo rode the '05s last Febuary in Minocqua, WI I grilled the Yamaha reps about this. I said to them, "do you realize how much of a pain in the butt it is to remove the skid every year to grease it and check/replace the bushings?" They told me that the Monoshock skid is very easy to remove. According to them, all you have to do is loosen the 4 bolts that hold it onto the tunnel and it slides right out. They told me you dont even have to loosen the track (something I find kind of hard to believe). They did tell me however, that a lot of people told them they would feel a lot better if the sled had grease fittings, so they made that change on the '06s.
I dont own an RX with the Monoshock, so I cant tell you if its as easy to remove as the reps claimed. However, judging from what they told me, it does sound as if they do listen to what their customers want and are working to resolve the issues that some people have had in the past. Now, I agree completely that the problems with breaking W arms is BS. I dont understand why Yamaha is the only one to really have a problem with this. Thats the only thing about a Yamaha that really has me concerned and has me thinking that if Polaris gets the problems with the IQ chassis figured out and if the FST turns out to be a good runner that I might not be coming back to Yamaha. However, Ive also heard that quite a few FSTs have been blowing engines at magazine shoots, so Im not sure if thats the right direction to go either. Im still thinking my best course of action would be to buy an RX-1 in the spring and then put in the Maxximum Performance W-arms that summer. Then I would have the best engine there is and be able to pound the sled over the bumps as hard as I wanted without having to worry about breaking arms.
Cap'n

 

[Swiss Sledder]

They told me that the Monoshock skid is very easy to remove. According to them, all you have to do is loosen the 4 bolts that hold it onto the tunnel and it slides right out.

Might work for the mechanically inclined, but as a non-tool user, it doesn't work for me. Putting grease in the zerks took all of 2 minutes. Now I have to pay a dealer to replace the bushings. Bad design, period.

 

[Bakemono]

I agree with you 100%. I had to take out the rear suspension on my Phazer once to grease it. While I had it out, I drilled and tapped it for grease fittings.
When I went to put it back in, it was a royal pain in the butt to get the holes to line up again. Id say it probably took me 45 minutes of struggling, straining and swearing to get everything lined up.
Cap'n

 

[ReX]

an extended warranty for at one more year seen how these machines have been at the dealer more than ridden this year would be satisfactory to me, but they don't want to do that they just wanna give you the old - well this is the first time i've heard of the problem and it'll never happen again with the new parts ordeal. seems to me that they know there's going to be more failures and know that with the few that buy extended warrantees they won't be eating so many next year, maybe they'll make another couple mill. and they can all get BIG FAT bonuses. with how yamaha's been handling it I don't think i'll buy another one, I think I'll buy a cat next time

I am very surprised with how Yamaha is handling this. I sent a letter to Yamaha requesting additional warranty coverage and got the response I could buy it from my dealer. My dealer wants $1000 for 1 additional year.

Regardless of how other sled manufacturers treat their customers, this really is wrong. Think about it from a contractual or ethical point of view.

A customer purchases a top of the line machine from a top of the line manufacturer and it comes with a 1 year warranty. Contractually and ethically the customer expects the machine to perform as advertised. Instead it is plagued with constant failures and ends up being non-functional for 1/2 of the warranty period. Not only does the customer not receive a loaner to use, but also no compensation for the down time.

To make matters worse, parts aren't even available to fix the machine.

In my case I spent hours and hours looking for parts so I could get riding. Towards the end of the season (when Yamaha started to admit there might be a problem) I was told parts aren't available because Yamaha has frozen manufacturing until they figure out "if" there is a problem.

Effectively there was no way possible (short of installing a Cat or Poo skid) that I could ride the second half of the season.

When a manufacturer forces the customer to not use the product for 1/2 of the warranty period I would expect at least an extension of the warranty for an equivalent time period. With all of the hassle to the customer I would expect quite a bit more. When you throw in the fact that they won't even cover additional damage that was caused by the design weakness (the track in my case) I find their attitude unbelievable.

I specifically asked Yamaha if they would cover anything on the updated skid parts we recieve in September. The answer - a 30 day warranty on all new parts and unless I purchase an extended warranty there is no additional coverage. Since snow doesn't fall until at least mid-November that means zero warranty.

This is not the treatment I expected at all.

Yes Yamaha makes impressive products, but when they screw up I'm not convinced at all that they treat their customers the way they should be treated.

 

[ReX]

The monoshock skid is the easiest skid to re&re that I have ever worked on.

I can get it out in about 5 minutes and in in about 10 minutes. Probably faster if I was to push it.

To me the lack of grease fittings is annoying and wrong, but pales in comparison to everything else.

As to buying a stronger aftermarket w-arm for the monoshock - no-one makes one yet. I called everywhere...

 

[700SCOTT]

captain t.- it wont remedy the problem with this machine, but the people i know running the zrt's have had no problems in the last two yrs. running them and we all like to put on some serious milage 4k easy a season if your machine's not down 1/2 the season. and that's the way I'd go depending on how yamaha actually fix's the suspension. one more year will tell. i'm not going to bail yet as i feel they most likely will come up with a good and reliable fix, and i do like that sled. The mono suspensions do come out and in easily and fast. a ton easier and faster than the proactions did and i don't feel they were all that bad to r+r

suisse- max doesn't make a stiffer w arm for the mono as of yet, but when they do I'll be one of the first in line. I'm not sure how they could stiffen them where they break as they don't break where the proactions used to. The one you marked is for a proaction (two shocks). not sure if you have seen a mono arm , but they are pretty beefy. the welds just will not handle the abuse- even just trail riding.

rex- thats exactly how I'm feeling

 

[Bakemono]

I completely understand how you feel, 700SCOTT. I think that a lot of the reason why many of us like Yamaha is because of the reliability.
To be honest, if I had been in your postion, I would have personally called Yamaha's customer service number, asked to speak with the highest ranking person there and ripped them a new one. I would have told them how they handled the situation is BS and that you expected better from them. I then would have told them that unless they resolve the issue and ensure that you are 100% satisfied, that they could take that sled and any sleds they make in the future and shove them up their a$$.
See, this really bothers me. Im almost sold on coming back to a Yamaha but then I read how people are STILL having problems with breaking w-arms. What more, that problem has continued from the ProAction to the Monoshock. I dunno folks, this isnt doing much for my confidence in Yamaha.
Cap'n

 

[NEED SNOW]

I cant blame anyone for being upset, with your sled out for 1/2 season because YAMAHA cant get out the parts. I would feel the same. But as for me, I got in 1400 miles with no problems. I dont baby it either. Now on the zerks, Im with ' Suisse Sledder ' [ Bad design ] Im not mechanically inclined and if I need to take out the rear skid every year to grease it I will never be 100 % happy with it. But just like my wife, I will still love her...

 

[Bakemono]

Its just a shame that it was such a boneheaded design on Yamaha's part.
It completely takes away from what is otherwise an awsome sled.
I really, really liked the '05 RX-1 I rode last winter. It was a sled that was a lot of fun to ride and if the price was right I could easily see myself buying one in the near future.
Capn

 

[Swiss Sledder]

suisse- max doesn't make a stiffer w arm for the mono as of yet, but when they do I'll be one of the first in line. I'm not sure how they could stiffen them where they break as they don't break where the proactions used to. The one you marked is for a proaction (two shocks). not sure if you have seen a mono arm , but they are pretty beefy. the welds just will not handle the abuse- even just trail riding.

Apologies, I didn't look that close at the item but I knew they marketed a "reinforced" w-arm. I was kind of hoping others might have installed one and would report back their results.

 

[SIMMER]

Guys this is from a post that "Dano" made early in April about the new snocross sled fro Yammi. Is there any noticable differences between the W-Arm on your 2005 and this one on the snocross sled?

I don't own an 05 to compare it to but it "seems" that the bottom of the W-Arm looks to be heavily reinforced compared to stock consumer models.

Do a 360 degree VR of the suspension on the Yamaha Website and you'll see what I mean.

http://www.yamaha-motor.com/products/sno/media/vr/06/apexRTX_vr0820.htm

 

[ReX]

Wow! Now that's a beefed up pivot arm (w-arm). It's hard to even recognize compared to the stock one.

I want one of those on my machine.

A couple of things I noticed also:

- The slide rail isn't reinforced where the middle idlers are and it almost looks like it has the classic 05 mono crack starting (smile below the bolt that holds the middle idlers on).

- It looks like they've suffered from the same hyfax retainer bolt failure that several of us have. The wear mark (down to bare metal) on the rear pivot arm looks exactly like mine does

- The rails have been lightened with numerous slots

Is this sled built by Yamaha? It's interesting to see how incredibly beefed up the w-arm is.

 

[Yamahnator]

I've had no problems with my 05. Yes it sucks it broke, but you did get a lot of miles on before it broke. I feel bad for you, but it's something that you have to expect with any manufacterer. No sled is going to be perfect and 100% bullet proof. Especially since sleds take a lot of pounding compared to other motorsports.

I'll leave you with this. During one of our trips this last season we came back to the hotel and as we loaded up on the trailers we noticed a guy wrenching in the next one over (and it was cold). Asked the guy if he needed any help (and my buddy ended up letting him borrow a jackstand so he could get his sled up in the air). His Arctic Cat skid was a mess. He was a guy from downstate and had come up to ride with his daughter. He sent her on with his party while he tried to get ahold of someone for parts. I felt really bad for him, I could tell he was frustrated. Out of all the people I rode with this year I saw several problems. Once it caused them to leave two sleds behind (and these were 04 sleds, still in the "warranty"). I and my wife had zero problems on our RX's.

Yes I agree with you it sucks when things go wrong and the manufacturer SHOULD make it right. However the grass is not greener on the other side. It's even worse. I think you all would rather have yamaha take a little bit of time and get it right than to rush out a quick fix. BTW how much would it cost just to reinforce it yourself? Beef it up yourself?