My new RX Warrior and a few questions

[spudski67]

I'm Ian. Just wanted to introduce myself and say thank you for all of the information these forums provide. I spent many long nights flipping through discussion after discussion before I made my decision to go with an RX warrior. This is my first sled, however I've done a decent amount of trail riding in central NY growing up, as well as some mtn riding out west. The new ride is an 05 RX Warrior with just under 1800 miles on her. Im excited to be part of the 4 stroke crew.

A few questions:
1) Until my wife realizes she wants her own sled, she will be coming out with me a few times this season. Initially I was thinking of trying to pick up a seat jack. She doesn't like the way they look and it sounds like its tough to reach the handles anyhow with out extensions. Are there any other options available? She does have a bit of a snowmobiling background and seems ok with the idea of just holding on. What are your thoughts about just mounting some handles to the tunnel to give her something a little better to use for leaning? Is there really any reason she cant sit on the back of the seat where it says not to sit? Convince me to get a seat jack if its the best option.

2) Say we end up doing 30% of our riding 2up, should i invest in getting big boy springs? I was leaning more towards just cranking the preload up to set it for our combined weight. We wouldn't be riding very aggressively together.

3)I'm going to need a better cover. I dont need an OEM Yamaha one. Any suggestions for a decent fitting aftermarket cover?

4)I haven't seen much about using ethanol treatment in gas on this site. How come? I had to rebuild the holley on my boat too many times to not be a little concerned about things getting mucked up. Did yamaha do something different with the carbs in this sled that I dont have to worry as much? I was planning on doing seafoam at the beginning and end of the season.

5)Studs - as you can see the guy before went crazy with studs on this track. I don't like the ones on the outside, as you can see in the pictures, a few have already come out. I don't see any tears in the track yet. I was thinking about trying to pb blast the outside ones and see if i could get them out before the track gets torn this season. Is it worth trying to get them out? Could i just cut them down with bolt cutters if they dont budge?

6) I'm a little confused about the terms regarding the transfer rods. Does anyone have a link to a good explanation? Is the transfer referring to that from the rear to the front of the sled, or just within the rear suspension mechanism? Is maximal extension of the rods considered maximum transfer?

Sorry about all of the questions. I appreciate anything you all can toss in. Thanks!

 

[yamaha1973]

nice looking sled! welcome to the site

 

[YammyRX1]

Welcome to the 4 stroke club! I'm not an expert but here's what I can tell you:
1) the seat jack is probably the way to go because I don't think the factory seat has much strength at the back. It's not hard to take off if you want to have a look at the plastic back there. I have the seat jack and it is a little uncomfortable, not only because of the low handles but you sit up high and it tends to magnify the bumps and raise the sled's center of gravity so it doesn't handle as well but short term it's okay. You could weld some more ergonomic handles onto the seat jack if you want.
2) I would try the stock suspension to see what you think before spending any money. The Proaction isn't great to start with and a lot of people upgrade them so see what you think. I replaced it with a Monoshock suspension and it's like night and day.
3) Check around for a used OEM cover, especially if you use an open trailer. The better it fits the less it will flap on your paint.
4) I use the Seafoam and so far no troubles but there are lots of guys taking the carbs off every year to clean them too.
5) Not many people would recommend studs on the outside, they will reduce track life. If the bolt cutters don't work you can go at them with a die grinder and cut-off wheel. Hold the wheel at 90 degrees to the stud and cut off a portion of the nut top to bottom.
6) The transfer rods are best explained in the manual and you should be able to find it here somewhere to download- I've attached the page.

Hope this helps.

 

[Indy]

the easiest way to remove the studs is with a dye grinder and cut off wheels. You should remove all of the ones the same way or it will throw off the rotating weight.

Carb cleaning, get used to it. Most of us can have the rack off, cleaned and re-installed in around 30 minutes. ALWAYS, ALWAYS when in doubt, clean the carbs, even if you did it yesterday and it is running ruff today, clean the carbs.

A lot of us switched to Mechanic in a Bottle instead of seafoam last season. Seems to work better on the ethonyl problems. It can be purchased @ Dollar General or TSC. Do a search for Mechanic in a bottle and read the results.

If you haven't shimmed the skis yet, do it!

Suspension, depending on your weight, I would do the big boy spring spring. However most RX1 owners have switched out the skids. **** Raise the front of sled off of the floor, release the spring nut on the front shocks until you can turn the springs by hand, firm but still loose. With the sled on the floor, the a-arms should be as close to level as possible. The will help a great deal on cornering and inside ski lift.

Good luck and welcome to the site.

One more thing, I am not sure if your year has the large rear heat exchanger. If not I would highly suggest adding one. The following pictures will show you what you will need.

 

[spudski67]

Thanks for the great responses!

I do not have the rear heat exchanger. I had noticed that many people add them. I noticed there is not a temp gauge on the sled. What happens, a temp alarm eventually goes off if i get hot? Do the foot holds act as heat exchangers on these if i needed to throw snow somewhere in a pinch?

Looks like the darting thing will be an issue. Will plan on doing the shims. Since I don't have an extra belt laying around, it seems like it might be worth it just to purchase the bergerstrom shims.

what is the stock carbide lengths on these sleds?

Where can I jack the front of the sled up from?

I will give the stud removal a go next week. Definitely worried about the ones on outside edge ripping the track. It also seems like the sled will be doing a lot of pushing through the corners as is. I think I will give it a shot with pb blaster and an impact wrench first. If that doesn't work, I will go to cutting. What if I ended up just cutting the stud itself off and leaving the nut/backing plate?

thanks again!

 

[YammyRX1]

You will see a light when it overheats but you might not notice it right away. It's better to add a gage so you can keep your eye on it and head for snow before then. Depending on where you ride you might want to consider scratchers, they help with overheating and hyfax wear. I don't think the foot holds are part of the cooling system, the heat exchangers run under the running boards.

After the shims you will still probably want to upgrade your carbides to eliminate darting. Lots of choices but the Woddys 6" Doolys work good for me. Not sure what size the stock ones are but I wouldn't use them.

 

[maim]

i ran 6" woodys or stud boy wear bars on my stock skis with the shim before i upgraded my skis to curve xs.


on the 05 war and rx's, they where shipped from the factory with pure coolant instead of the 50/50 mix it is supposed to have. i would check this 1st before going to a temp gauge or rear cooler. i put the cooler on before i did this on mine and i could have saved myself a lot of trouble.

what happens when it starts getting hot is the engine light comes on with a temp symbol. it does not shut the sled down right away so you have time to get to snow to cool it down.

i run ethenol gas all the time. i usually seafoam it once a month during the season but i always run 91 for the last couple of tanks before i store it for the summer with seafoam. i think i have only ever cleaned the carbs once when i synched them and installed the holtzman green springs.

i am happy with my proaction but i have up-graded to olins on the rear and man is that spring stiff compared to the stocker as i had to back it off. i would suggest setting it up for your wife and yourself with the fra on hard that way you can just turn it to soft when you are soloing so you do not have to do major adjustments every time you go riding. i would also suggest sucking up the front limiters 3/8" for improved slider wear as stock settings tended to melt sliders.

i have a seat jack as well but i usually use it more as a rack than seat but it is handy when the other sleds start breaking down.

 

[Indy]

Thanks for the great responses!

I do not have the rear heat exchanger. I had noticed that many people add them. I noticed there is not a temp gauge on the sled. What happens, a temp alarm eventually goes off if i get hot? Do the foot holds act as heat exchangers on these if i needed to throw snow somewhere in a pinch?

Looks like the darting thing will be an issue. Will plan on doing the shims. Since I don't have an extra belt laying around, it seems like it might be worth it just to purchase the bergerstrom shims.

what is the stock carbide lengths on these sleds?

Where can I jack the front of the sled up from?

I will give the stud removal a go next week. Definitely worried about the ones on outside edge ripping the track. It also seems like the sled will be doing a lot of pushing through the corners as is. I think I will give it a shot with pb blaster and an impact wrench first. If that doesn't work, I will go to cutting. What if I ended up just cutting the stud itself off and leaving the nut/backing plate?

thanks again!

I would plan on adding the exchanger. Very Simple install. You must add the extra tunnel protection with the studs on the track.

Carbide lengths, with a full track of studs you will need long carbides. Most change out the skis, and you will find many suggestions and opinions on those. The best carbides out there are Bergstroms, better get a order in REAL soon, or you will be getting your new skegs in April.

Shims, you can use just about anything around 3/8" to a 1/4" in thickness, I use 1/4" x 1" aluminum flat stock, drill two holes and screw them with flat head screws to the rubber.

You can raise the front end by using a floor jack under the motor area, you only need to raise it until the skis are off of the ground.

Studs, I used my cutt off wheel and removed just the stud and left the backers and nuts. I tried the complete removal method first, had to many bent studs and the nuts would not come off. So I cut them all off. I have since replaced the track and it is studless, it will be a learning curve for me this season.

 

[spudski67]

thanks again for all the input!

i will get back to you guys next week about how things go. probably wont get to play around until then.

is there really a benefit to jacking the sled up to keep the weight off the suspension?

 

[maim]

that keeps the springs from sagging as fast.

 

[spudski67]

My rear end seems to be sagging pretty good. Both of the shocks seem to be at stock settings. I guess that means I'll need some new springs before too long. How do I change the preload setting on the back spring, channel locks or is there a special tool?

 

[maim]

there is a tool but a pipe wrench works as well. you want to set it with the fra on soft so that the transfer rods are at 50/50 with you (or a buddy of equvilent weight) sitting in your preferred riding position with the rack on the ground. then you turn the fra to hard when your girl rides with you. rode a few times with my cousin on the back of mine and this is all i had to do for it to handle not too bad.

 

[spudski67]

thanks again for all of the help. when i decided to go with a yamaha i started to read through the site. all of the info and help you guys have provided really helped me decide to go with a 4 stroke yamaha.

so i got into the suspension a little bit today. was able to increase the preload on the rear spring to 6. i used a pipe wrench but i needed to remove the two bars that run the length of the skid in order to get a good angle on it. then i couldn't get them back to the holes to put the bolts in. i ended up using a tie down strap to compress the rear suspension enough to get things back in alignment. i did this all with the sled laying on it's side.

there is much less sag now. and i think i have the preload set right. there is 38mm sag at the rear bumper when i sit on the sled. i picked the sled up and set down gently, then pushed down 3 times hard on the bumper, took that measurement and then sat down and measured again. this is with the fra in the middle position. hopefully going from the middle to hard position on the fra will be enough extra with the lady on the back. we won't be riding hard with the two of us on it anyhow. can i adjust the fra with the sled upright or do i have to lay it over?

it looks like the guy before put 6" carbides on it, so i'm partially leaning towards leaving the studs for now and making a decision about removing some once i actually see how it works as is.

this sled is fast! i gunned it across the yard a few times...wow! it did sound like it ratcheted a little bit, however. track tension seems right. maybe i should leave it alone and see how it does on the snow before i start playing?

 

[YammyRX1]

I would wait and ride it before doing too much, and then only adjust one thing at a time until you dial it in. Also, I'm pretty sure you can only tip them on one side (right side with oil tank low) without doing damage. Someone else can confirm but I think it has to do with oil getting into the pistons and locking them up?

 

[spudski67]

yammyrx1, i did a quick search and it looks like youre right, should only be rolled onto right side. i rolled it on the left, and was there about 30mins. started up and seemed to run well after. i guess i'll have to uncover and check to see how much oil there is in the air filter now