Light pod, windshield or steering alignment issue?

[steveg_nh]

Sun is up. That means another thread from me. Sorry! I need to become a life member, as I'm getting every pennies worth as just a VIP member.

Anyway, I put my higher windshield on last night. Looks great. But the first thing I immediately noticed is it's allowing me to see an alignment issue between the windshield and the handlbars. I'm not sure yet what's crooked, but when you look from the front, the handlbars seem to dip to the right a bit.

I was at first worried that somehow the steering column was bent or something, but it's not. I did the exhaust donuts and was all in there, and inspected steering bushing and the like, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Now my light pod did have the common broken tab on one side, so I used Barn of Parts rubber stopper repair kit, which seems to balance everything well. Original bolt hole for the pod (on the side with the tab still there) lines up perfect.

I drive myself crazy with this stuff, but I like symmetry. It's a bit hard to see in these pics, but I'm curious if this is kind of common (tolerance issues), or if something could be out of whack. The pod? The windshield having a bend? The handlebars or swivel riser possibly bent (didn't see anything obvious when I looked last night)...

Any thoughts? Thanks

 

[MrSled]

Sun is up. That means another thread from me. Sorry! I need to become a life member, as I'm getting every pennies worth as just a VIP member.

Anyway, I put my higher windshield on last night. Looks great. But the first thing I immediately noticed is it's allowing me to see an alignment issue between the windshield and the handlbars. I'm not sure yet what's crooked, but when you look from the front, the handlbars seem to dip to the right a bit.

I was at first worried that somehow the steering column was bent or something, but it's not. I did the exhaust donuts and was all in there, and inspected steering bushing and the like, and saw nothing out of the ordinary. Now my light pod did have the common broken tab on one side, so I used Barn of Parts rubber stopper repair kit, which seems to balance everything well. Original bolt hole for the pod (on the side with the tab still there) lines up perfect.

I drive myself crazy with this stuff, but I like symmetry. It's a bit hard to see in these pics, but I'm curious if this is kind of common (tolerance issues), or if something could be out of whack. The pod? The windshield having a bend? The handlebars or swivel riser possibly bent (didn't see anything obvious when I looked last night)...

Any thoughts? Thanks

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Looks fine to me, in that one picture from the riding postilion it looks like the left hook is bent down. Also its hard to see when you have the sled panels off.

 

[thor452]

First off them hand guards are not going to cut it. Get the ones that came stock on the fx nytro. You can buy just the petals from a Yamaha dealer and use your existing mounts. second I bet the bars got bent when they rolled it to break the head light pod mounting tab. either look for a new set of bars or just live with it. I bet the left side was the broken side on the pod? Looks like it came down hard on the left bar pushing it up and they did what they could to straighten it out. give it a good tug in all directions and if it is not soft as in it bends when you do it will be fine. I bet you will be looking for a new set of bars because of how you do things. If you do look for a set of 06 bars if you wire them in with the current wiring harness they will get hot enough to burn your hands if you turn them up full blast. it is a great fix to the cold hand grips of 07 and beyond.

 

[steveg_nh]

Looks fine to me, in that one picture from the riding postilion it looks like the left hook is bent down. Also its hard to see when you have the sled panels off.

The handlebars are made like that with the longer hook on the left side. I thought it was weird too, as the left hook is longer than the right. Then I found them on the RSI Racing site, and that's how they are. Might change the handlebars in the future.

First off them hand guards are not going to cut it. Get the ones that came stock on the fx nytro. You can buy just the petals from a Yamaha dealer and use your existing mounts. second I bet the bars got bent when they rolled it to break the head light pod mounting tab. either look for a new set of bars or just live with it. I bet the left side was the broken side on the pod? Looks like it came down hard on the left bar pushing it up and they did what they could to straighten it out. give it a good tug in all directions and if it is not soft as in it bends when you do it will be fine. I bet you will be looking for a new set of bars because of how you do things. If you do look for a set of 06 bars if you wire them in with the current wiring harness they will get hot enough to burn your hands if you turn them up full blast. it is a great fix to the cold hand grips of 07 and beyond.

Thanks. The handguards are what was on it. I don't love them anyway. Kind of junky. They are coming off, as they will hit the windy anyway when I turn. As for the broken tab, I *think* it was the left, but can't remember. I'd have to look. Weird thing is I see the pitch right at the center, where the riser swivel is, but inspection shows no signs of anything being wrong...

My biggest concerns are:

1. Do I have anything to fix with the pod. I assume no. Not much adjustment there.
2. Since I didn't see any damage in the steering system when doing the donuts, worst case is likely a new set of bars? Is the only way to know what's up is if you can see visual issues? I had the pad off last night and the bars loose, but didn't take a really good look at the swivel riser.

I always thought folks said the 07 bars are desirable over the 06. Maybe it's ergonomics vs heating ability?

 

[DGZRT]

I think your fine ! You should see my 09 . I was in an accident 4 years ago and the sled went flying off the trailer and ended upside down on the interstate. The right side of the handle bars are bent down about 3/4" of an inch . As long as you align the ski's and track it should be fine!

 

[steveg_nh]

More than anything, just want to know it can be fixed. If it's just handlebars, I'll put on the "later" list.

Is there a chance the steering column itself, what the riser bolts too, is bent though? That would be more concerning. Sure doesn't seem like it, but want to check it somehow.

 

[thor452]

I always thought folks said the 07 bars are desirable over the 06. Maybe it's ergonomics vs heating ability?

so there is allot of info on this topic too. lol as there always is. when they first came out the stock 06 bars were wired in either parallel or series I don't remember. either way they came out with the new bars in 07 and wired them the other way but with the long hand warmer and no power to them at idle they struggled to keep up. on long runs at high rpm they will get hot enough to almost burn you but most the time they are barley warm enough or flat out to cold. Yamaha offered a service bulletin if you took your sled in they would replace your bars with the new style and a wire harness that would change the way they were wired. This was an improvement. Then the great people here on TY figured out that if you ran the 06 bars with the new harness meaning you have 06 bars with 07 wiring you got grips that got so hot so fast that you may never turn them up past level 4. So the dealers who had piles of 06 bars that were worthless now were sitting on a pile of gold because now everyone wanted 06 bars Now one also has to be careful as they can get to hot when done like this. You would not be able to stand how hot they are when you have them turned up to much so no a real concern but if you have super thick gloves and cant feel the heat it could be in theory anyways. we had one guy in our group that had an 06 the rest of us had 07's for the first couple years he had the worst hand grips even feels he did permanent damage to his fingers then I found this site and rewired his grips and he instantly had the best hand warmers of us all. when it would get to cold we would take turns on his sled to warm back up. ran them for years with no problems too. Now if you keep your existing bars the best solution is to get Rock's Yamaheaters problem solved.

 

[thor452]

Thanks. The handguards are what was on it. I don't love them anyway. Kind of junky. They are coming off, as they will hit the windy anyway when I turn.

if you have the pivot style after market riser you just tip the bars back a little and the hand guards fit well.

 

[steveg_nh]

Thanks all. I need to pull the pad off and take a good look at things. The bars I have are aftermarket, from RSI Racing, so not sure about the bars, wiring, etc. These are the bars on it, with the Race Bend. http://www.rsiracing.com/CHROMOLY-78-HANDLEBARS_p_32.html

I really don't understand why one side would have a longer hook. Any ideas on that one?

 

[thor452]

when you race you go fast and turn left so you only need one longer and on the right side you have to work the throttle.

 

[steveg_nh]

There's no right turns in a race?

 

[thor452]

even when there is like snowcross you have to work the throttle with the right hand. the longer left gives you leverage in push and pull. on my RX1 I had I put one bar end on the left to help with steering effort. no need for one on the right couldn't quite use the forearm to steer on the right side.

 

[steveg_nh]

Interesting. Thanks. Never would have thought of that.

 

[steveg_nh]

Well it looks like a false alarm. I got the skid back in today and then found the transfer rod set wrong and the front fox floats at 140psi. I adjusted the transfer rod, mono shock and front shocks to 70 pounds. When I was all done I took another look as the sled was sitting much differently. And it was perfect.

See pic. Thanks for the tips and help everyone.

 

[yamadoo]

Man you are going to love that sled for years