Late to the party, picked up an 03 RX1.

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

Last year to the day I bought an 05 Rage with a little over 5k miles on it. She was pretty beat up. Just about everything was replaced or upgraded. Most of the upgrades were typical to the sled and it's common issues. After getting rebuilding almost everything but the engine and getting the suspension dialed in I was pretty happy with it.

Cruising marketplace i saw an 03 white on blue RX1 with a bit over 3000 miles for sale that looked like it needed my help. Owner said it wouldn't crank and figured it was the starter. We negotiated and came to an agreement. I felt that I had gotten a good price. Let's just say I have often paid more for less sled.

I got it home and slapped the battery out of my Rage into it and she cranked fine and even fired. A few more tires to get the fuel pumps primed and she fired right up. Of course there were some exhaust leaks. Oddly, it wouldn't run with the dual K&N air filters on or even close to on. But fine with them off. I accidentally found that cause. The oil tank was so full it couldn't hold another drop. No water in the oil. Coolant system later pressure tested good. I figured it was the previous owner. So I did leakdown and compression tests and all looked fine. After putting a brand new battery in here I figured I'd tear into it further.

The sled is completely apart now. All of the bushings in the front are toast. All of the bushings in the rear are toast. It was missing one of the smaller forward skid wheels. Most of the bearing in the remaining wheels were bad. But I had some on hand and replaced them all on the spot. Amazingly, all four of the shocks are good. Nothing bent for broken. Found no issues with either clutch. Carbs were recently cleaned and appear to be working fine. Found the exhaust coupling and donuts. Only found two steering links sloppy in the first relay rod under the fuel tank, which appears to be clean. Parking brake worked fine after a quick adjustment. Chain case was on the dip stick but needed adjustment. Obviously, the fluid will be changed. All of the parts and some upgrades have been ordered. Mostly from Barn of Parts. Thank you.

When I get into cleaning a bit further I'll take the carbs off for inspection. I'd like to know if the carbs have had the normal changes for the air filter kit. Speaking of, any know who sold a dual oval K&N kit for this sled? I've also read that some of the air filter kits recommend CR10E plugs. The sled had CR9E plugs in it.

Now the interesting part. To me anyway. The sled has a lot of aftermarket parts. White Simmons Flexi Skis, a tunnel extension to match the 121 to 136 skid conversion kit. belt preload adjuster and a riser bar kit.

I'm kinda up in the air about what to do with it long term. I really didn't need it. I have 4 sleds now and I'm the only one in the family that rides regularly. Just saw the good price and figured it could get it lower if it needed work. Having also recently completely rebuilding the Rage gave me some confidence. I felt like I had to buy it. We'll see if I fall in love with it or not.

Thanks,

BTW, I do really like the exhaust note that I could hear over the exhaust leak. Reminds me of the early 80s when I rode Japanese street bikes.

 

[maim]

the filters are still availible as we did the conversion for my brother about 8-10 years ago , on 04 rx war, as we ordered filters through local supplier and got the anti snow injestion coverings direct from the manufactuter of them. did all the carb jetting and cv spring changes ourselves as there was no longer a kit. only mistake we made on the install was not hooking the oil tank and crank case vent into the filters as not doing that caused it to burn/use more oil. did it for him to mount a winch there as he was convereted to 151" track and was off trail more than on trail.

on my old 05 rx war, it started and ran better on the cr10 plugs and the only intake/carb mods i had done to it was the lighter cv springs and the carb synch.

he did bitch about the intake noise over the mbrp exhaust we had put on there as his was broken and all the rest of us hated that mbrp exh with a passion.

 

[RobX-1]

Almost sounds like my 03 RX-1 as I run the K&N filters, have Simmons Flex Skis and a 4" riser. Only thing different is that I swapped the front skis for Ohlins and ditched the NoAction suspension for an Expert-X that I eventually extended to a 136". One thing you'll probably notice is that you will sit a little lower than your Rage as Yamaha added foam to the seat I believe starting in 05. My RX-1 currently has a 05 or 06 Rage seat and with the additional 4" in the riser, it helped with the seating position. As for plugs, I run the CR9EK along with the filter kit. Don't really take it up north unless I know I'll need an extra (already have my two Apex's to take up) but it does get ridden around back home by myself and buddies that want to ride to I opted to keep and maintain the ole biatch.

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

the filters are still availible as we did the conversion for my brother about 8-10 years ago , on 04 rx war, as we ordered filters through local supplier and got the anti snow injestion coverings direct from the manufactuter of them. did all the carb jetting and cv spring changes ourselves as there was no longer a kit. only mistake we made on the install was not hooking the oil tank and crank case vent into the filters as not doing that caused it to burn/use more oil. did it for him to mount a winch there as he was convereted to 151" track and was off trail more than on trail.

on my old 05 rx war, it started and ran better on the cr10 plugs and the only intake/carb mods i had done to it was the lighter cv springs and the carb synch.

he did bitch about the intake noise over the mbrp exhaust we had put on there as his was broken and all the rest of us hated that mbrp exh with a passion.

Thanks for the reply. That’s pretty much the air filter info I was looking for. Yellow carb springs and 165 main jets I think thats what I read. This setup was not connected to the tank. But it was to the crankcase on the PTO side. I’ll do more google searching.

I‘ll order a set of plugs and give them a try when snow gets here.

This sled has the stock exhaust. i have it out. Looks to be in much better condition than the exhaust was in the Rage when I got it. in order to get a leak free system in the rage I had to replace everything.

I do have questions about the main jet mixture if anyone has done some real testing. Maybe I’ll start a new thread.

Thanks,

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

Almost sounds like my 03 RX-1 as I run the K&N filters, have Simmons Flex Skis and a 4" riser. Only thing different is that I swapped the front skis for Ohlins and ditched the NoAction suspension for an Expert-X that I eventually extended to a 136". One thing you'll probably notice is that you will sit a little lower than your Rage as Yamaha added foam to the seat I believe starting in 05. My RX-1 currently has a 05 or 06 Rage seat and with the additional 4" in the riser, it helped with the seating position. As for plugs, I run the CR9EK along with the filter kit. Don't really take it up north unless I know I'll need an extra (already have my two Apex's to take up) but it does get ridden around back home by myself and buddies that want to ride to I opted to keep and maintain the ole biatch.

Actually…. That rings a bell with me. The guy I bought it from said something about replacing the seat with one that has more foam. I also noticed that the seat color wasn’t the color combination I would have figured. But not different enough to stand out as not being right.

Also noticed it has a 120 vac coolant heater.

is there a rear suspension that is a popular swap into this machine. Seems that almost anything could work! A 137 R Motion maybe? I also have a 2019 Renegade. The ride is very nice.

Thanks,

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

Just checked. The RX1 came with a black on silver Rage seat. Cool! The silver almost looks like a dirty white until you look closer. Explains why I really didn't notice it.

This morning I did get the stripped chassis onto dollies to get it pressure washed! Already much better looking. It was also covered with stickers. Also managed to get all of the stickers and goo off without too much damage to the paint. Also found that upper idler wheel bearings were sloppy. Replaced them.

Also ordered new carbides from Simmons and a couple of minor repair parts.

Still haven't found much for the ECP kit that's on the sled. No dry pre-filters on the K&Ns. I found all of the part numbers for the covers but so far I haven't found anyone that carries them still. While looking at pictures of ECP kits i noticed that there is a black plastic box that most of the ECP kits connect to for evap purposes. Mine is connected directly to the crankcase where this plastic box appears to go. Is this simply some adapter or maybe a PCV type directional valve? Maybe a vapor/liquid separator? I found the part numbers online but haven't found any to buy.

So I'm in a holding pattern for a week or so until all of the parts start showing up. But I think I've found most everything. But then the sled is stripped but for the engine sitting in the chassis.

Thanks for your time,

 

[RobX-1]

My ECP kit came a K&N filter that you were suppose to install (ie remove the stock catch can which I believe is the black plastic box you're referring to) and then guys would use a plastic PVC 'T' to run a separate hose down from the filters to catch the moisture. Problem with this setup was the potential freezing and constant draining so many reverted back to the stock plastic box to route their EVAC to. This what I had done:

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

That's a much more neat setup than I'm currently working with. The "black plastic box" the parts list calls a "breather" is on the right side mounted to the frame rail. 90 degree shaped.

Also the hose on mine has a a Tee for the 90 degree turn out of the top Tee. The unused end of the tee is capped off. It works but isn't pretty. That setup on yours fits night and snug.

In my searching it appears that these sleds have aged to the point the aftermarket is pretty much ignoring them or the companies I find on here in conversation are gone.

I'll check with Travis are BOP and see if he has something in is barn.

Thank you.

 

[RobX-1]

The "black plastic box" the parts list calls a "breather" is on the right side mounted to the frame rail. 90 degree shaped.

Yes, I was calling it a catch can but as you can see in my pic, the breather is what I connected the two filters to and then from that point on, it's a stock setup (ie. the breather remains connected to the crankcase using stock tubing). If I recall correctly, I even used stock tubing for the other runs as I definitely know the hose from the T to the breather was a stock hose.

Some guys like myself even went the extra mile and added what was referred to at that time as "speed rings" that you mounted to the mouths of the carbs and then mounted the K&N filters to them. Curious if yours has these:

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

No rings like that on the carbs.

I need to look at the evap system a bit closer. The current setup is the large lines teeing and going straight to the crankcase. There are no other hoses.

Thanks,

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

Just looked at the sled and the service manual. Doesn't appear to be any other hose besides the one present. Spent the evening taking apart the spindles and cleaning them. Found one side of the brake caliper frozen. Brake fluid was nasty. Cleaned and bleed, freed up the inside piston and now it works great.

Verified silver CV springs in the carbs. I'll check the jets in a few days. I need to buy some carb cleaner. That requires a 30 mile round trip to town. I seldom run to town for one thing. I'm creepy like that.

I'll spend the day tomorrow removing rust from the underside of the front control arms. Until parts start showing up I'm just cleaning.

One thing I noticed is that the exhaust system on the RX1 does look to be better flowing. At least visually. On the Rage exhaust, where the header meets the muffler pipe it's reduced. Makes a guy wonder...

When things start going back together I'll take more pictures. I have a few but it's of an essentially stripped chassis sitting on jack stands and rear hanging from a hoist.

Found another aftermarket part. Red anodized handle bars. Appears grip heaters may be aftermarket as well. Based on the mods I'm finding I'm thinking one of the previous owners was on this site.

But so far, so good. I've really only found a lot of plastic bushings bad. Everything else like the brakes has been easy fixes.

If anyone cares, there is a thread or two in the RS forum on last years Rage rebuild.

Thanks,

 

[maim]

the pre filters we used where from outerwears. https://www.outerwears.com/categories.asp?cat=11454 might have to measure the filter and select the right one from the k+n list for sizes but that is where i got the ones for brothers sled from.

 

[RobX-1]

Here's the details on those K&N's. This is for one filter (#RU-2920) as the part number for the two pack is different (#RU-2922):

K&N Universal Clamp-On Air Filter: High Performance, Premium, Washable, Replacement Engine Filter: Flange Diameter: 2.375 In, Filter Height: 3 In, Flange Length: 0.375 In, Shape: Oval, RU-2920​

 

[NLP_SLED_GUY]

Thanks gents!