XDooMan
Extreme
$460 from my local dealer for the 08/09 version. $520 for the "Special" w-arm listed as having upgraded hardware for 2007 modeal year???
We'll see if the one I ordered matches the one in your picture.
13000km's with heaviest spring and custom valving.
We'll see if the one I ordered matches the one in your picture.
13000km's with heaviest spring and custom valving.
apltx08
TY 4 Stroke God
The biggest secret to the MONO pivot arm durability is to have the right SPRING & SHOCK calibrated to your WEIGHT & RIDING STYLE, once you get the right combination you will get a nice plush ride and NO bottoming out which is the KILLER! the odd bottoming is not bad but the ones that give you a chill up your spine...those are the KILLERS and another thing is that the MONO is NOT a "DITCHBANGING" suspension, its a GROOMED trail set-up with some medium stutter bumps...I really like mine, its a long haul high milage suspension that once you get'r just right will love to ride!
ROCKERDAN
OCD Sledhead
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apltx08 said:
Great post...totally agree.
Dan
XDooMan
Extreme
Absolutely! It is definately not made for mogul smashing. But, it did last pretty long considering this set up perfect for aggresive trail riding. I'm actually anxious to see the difference between the original and the updated design.
Coondog2707
Pro
Mine has the Hygear dual spring set up with the revalve. No more bottoming, much greater adjustability with the electric controller.
Mine dooesn't really get a lot of pounding or mogul mashing, rebuilt the shock every year, maintained it meticulously, and guess what?. It has cracked right where everyone else's has.
While I agree with the idea that it isn't a ditch banger's suspension, and it does ride well, it isn't durable enough to put up to the rigors of normal riding, either.
Mine dooesn't really get a lot of pounding or mogul mashing, rebuilt the shock every year, maintained it meticulously, and guess what?. It has cracked right where everyone else's has.
While I agree with the idea that it isn't a ditch banger's suspension, and it does ride well, it isn't durable enough to put up to the rigors of normal riding, either.
welterracer
TY 4 Stroke God
The reason they break is poor shock/spring settings and combinations..
THe shock is too tough for the shock.. and it snaps back to rapidly..
We have done 38 beef up kits to date.. and anyone who has one will tell you they look awsome..
THe shock is too tough for the shock.. and it snaps back to rapidly..
We have done 38 beef up kits to date.. and anyone who has one will tell you they look awsome..
XDooMan
Extreme
The reason they break is stress. Riding late on Sundays in high traffic areas tend to get a little rough.........and if you're hussling to get home for Sunday dinner.... Well it doesn't matter what suspension you have. Stuff breaks.
Great sled. I can't wait to see what Yamaha comes out with next!
Thanks for the help with the part numbers.
Great sled. I can't wait to see what Yamaha comes out with next!
Thanks for the help with the part numbers.
ReX
TY 4 Stroke God
A few years ago I rode most of the time with 4 or 5 sleds with monoshock skids. We all rode them fairly aggressively and they all broke front pivot arms over and over.
Our experience was the sleds with the stiffer shocks seemed to be the ones that broke pivot arms first. One guy rode his with the stock (soft) shock and always left the clicker fairly soft. His skid bottomed out so hard and so often than not only were the bumpers completely "crushed" away (eventually falling off), but the metal impact points on the rails and pivot arms from bottoming out over and over hard looked like mushroom heads. This guy was also one of the most aggressive riders too. The interesting thing was even though his pivot arms would bend and mushroom from impact, the pivot arms would last much longer before cracking compared to the sleds with the stiffer shocks that wouldn't bottom out as much.
I believe the worst ones for cracking pivot arms (in the common locations) were the skids with revalved shocks with lots of high speed compression damping and moderately soft low speed damping. Lots of high speed compression damping can put extreme loads into the shock and whatever the shock connects to so this makes sense.
All this to say I believe it is a stiff shock combined with lots of miles and/or aggressive riding that will make the pivot arms crack most quickly. Bottoming out puts the high loads directly into the tunnel and the pivot arm doesn't need to handle them.
Note the cracks I am talking about here are the common ones either within the upper cross shaft or down near where the transfer rod mounts.
One other sled on the other hand would always crack at the "outer ears" where the pivot arm connected to the rail. With this failure the pivot arm ends up disconnected from the rail eventually. It cracks here if you corner at very high speeds on bumpy trails (even relatively small bumps if you put enough miles on). Most riders don't seem to see these failures as often. It takes someone to really corner hard all the time to break here. If you are a more typical rider and are not cornering at the limit all the time it will break at the more typical locations.
XDooMan, I don't know if I'd say it doesn't matter which suspension you have it will always break. Those same guys I ride with who broke pivot arms over and over haven't broken a single suspension component now that they are riding stinky 2-strokes again. I've broken my 07 RTX's ProActive skid many times too and I believe it is quite a bit stronger than the 05/06/07 monoshock skid. This is with me riding the same trails at the same speeds as those stinky 2-strokes. Similar to the monoshock, the ProActive skid components have been breaking faster when the main shock is setup with more high speed damping.
I don't regularly ride with anyone with an 08/09 monoshock so I don't really know how much more durable they are (although I've ridden with apltx08 a couple of times and his riding has been very similar to my buddies and I and he hasn't broken his 08 pivot arm yet). One thing for certain is Yamaha has made huge improvements, strength wise, to the monoshock skid since it first came out. Now that they have started using 2 bolts per idler (2010) there probably won't be many cracked rails anymore either (although they could have done a better job in mounting the idler directly to the mount instead of using the odd spacer arrangement).
Our experience was the sleds with the stiffer shocks seemed to be the ones that broke pivot arms first. One guy rode his with the stock (soft) shock and always left the clicker fairly soft. His skid bottomed out so hard and so often than not only were the bumpers completely "crushed" away (eventually falling off), but the metal impact points on the rails and pivot arms from bottoming out over and over hard looked like mushroom heads. This guy was also one of the most aggressive riders too. The interesting thing was even though his pivot arms would bend and mushroom from impact, the pivot arms would last much longer before cracking compared to the sleds with the stiffer shocks that wouldn't bottom out as much.
I believe the worst ones for cracking pivot arms (in the common locations) were the skids with revalved shocks with lots of high speed compression damping and moderately soft low speed damping. Lots of high speed compression damping can put extreme loads into the shock and whatever the shock connects to so this makes sense.
All this to say I believe it is a stiff shock combined with lots of miles and/or aggressive riding that will make the pivot arms crack most quickly. Bottoming out puts the high loads directly into the tunnel and the pivot arm doesn't need to handle them.
Note the cracks I am talking about here are the common ones either within the upper cross shaft or down near where the transfer rod mounts.
One other sled on the other hand would always crack at the "outer ears" where the pivot arm connected to the rail. With this failure the pivot arm ends up disconnected from the rail eventually. It cracks here if you corner at very high speeds on bumpy trails (even relatively small bumps if you put enough miles on). Most riders don't seem to see these failures as often. It takes someone to really corner hard all the time to break here. If you are a more typical rider and are not cornering at the limit all the time it will break at the more typical locations.
XDooMan, I don't know if I'd say it doesn't matter which suspension you have it will always break. Those same guys I ride with who broke pivot arms over and over haven't broken a single suspension component now that they are riding stinky 2-strokes again. I've broken my 07 RTX's ProActive skid many times too and I believe it is quite a bit stronger than the 05/06/07 monoshock skid. This is with me riding the same trails at the same speeds as those stinky 2-strokes. Similar to the monoshock, the ProActive skid components have been breaking faster when the main shock is setup with more high speed damping.
I don't regularly ride with anyone with an 08/09 monoshock so I don't really know how much more durable they are (although I've ridden with apltx08 a couple of times and his riding has been very similar to my buddies and I and he hasn't broken his 08 pivot arm yet). One thing for certain is Yamaha has made huge improvements, strength wise, to the monoshock skid since it first came out. Now that they have started using 2 bolts per idler (2010) there probably won't be many cracked rails anymore either (although they could have done a better job in mounting the idler directly to the mount instead of using the odd spacer arrangement).
camoman
Extreme
Might have something there.. My suspension arms where fine until I installed the heavier Mono Spring and had my shock re-valved mid season last year...
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