R-Motion in a 2007 Apex RTX ?

[karlburns]

Have you ridden a m10 or m20 suspension? They are even better then monoshocks in my opinion. Was the best ride I have ever had. I could fly down the river at 90 where everyone else was backing off at 50 from the bumps. Several 2012-2014 ski doos in the group would ride mine and be amazed.

 

[Frozenstiff]

What got me wondering about this swap was when I was talking to an old friend at a ski-doo, open house.
He said one of his riding buddies did this exact swap, and after all the guys in their riding group rode the converted Apex, everyone of them said it was the best combo of an engine and suspension they had ever rode. He also mentioned that weight transfer was awesome, and it was no problem pulling wheelies, not that I,m interested in that part. LOL
At the present time, I don,t go on any 2-3 day trips, cause I get to tired and sore on mine.

 

[Frozenstiff]

I haven,t rode a sled with the M10 or M20, but I believe they are very expensive when bought new.
I haven,t seen any used ones for sale.
I,m hoping to do the conversion for about 1200, in CDN dollars.

 

[RTX]

What got me wondering about this swap was when I was talking to an old friend at a ski-doo, open house.
He said one of his riding buddies did this exact swap, and after all the guys in their riding group rode the converted Apex, everyone of them said it was the best combo of an engine and suspension they had ever rode. He also mentioned that weight transfer was awesome, and it was no problem pulling wheelies, not that I,m interested in that part. LOL
At the present time, I don,t go on any 2-3 day trips, cause I get to tired and sore on mine.

Being that you are on a yamaha forum the overall concensus seems to be stick with yamaha skids.
I have to disagree. I spent thousands on my mono to get it to ride plush and not bottom constantly or break parts constantly. It never was what it should have been with the money and time i invested.
3 revalves. Big boy spring then a mega float with hygear revalve. Broke both the front and rear skid arms, replaced and Then a beef up kit.
Granted my skid was a 121 not the longer mono skid these guys are telling you to go with.
My feeling is if you can find an r motion skid for a decent price then do it.
Everyone has an opinion but you wont really know what is right or wrong till you do it

 

[Frozenstiff]

I,m not brand loyal to anything. LOL I,ve had them all, and entered the Yamaha 4 stroke scene about 5 years ago, and love it.
I buy what I feel is the best value for my bucks. Having said that, reliability is my number 1 priority.
I hate it when stuff breaks down way before it should. I ride with 1200 doos, and 800 Polaris sleds, so I get to see and ride the new stuff when we trade sleds for a while. Not enough power, and too much vibration, is the problems I see with those sleds, but they do have great suspensions.
My skid is a 121, and I plan on keeping it that length to save on cost.
For the well groomed trails we ride on 90 % of the time, a shorty works fine for me.
The good part is, I,ve got a least 3 months before sledding starts, so I,ve got some time to find the right skid for the sled.
So far, the R-Motion is still my number 1 option.

 

[DGZRT]

I,m not brand loyal to anything. LOL I,ve had them all, and entered the Yamaha 4 stroke scene about 5 years ago, and love it.
I buy what I feel is the best value for my bucks. Having said that, reliability is my number 1 priority.
I hate it when stuff breaks down way before it should. I ride with 1200 doos, and 800 Polaris sleds, so I get to see and ride the new stuff when we trade sleds for a while. Not enough power, and too much vibration, is the problems I see with those sleds, but they do have great suspensions.
My skid is a 121, and I plan on keeping it that length to save on cost.
For the well groomed trails we ride on 90 % of the time, a shorty works fine for me.
The good part is, I,ve got a least 3 months before sledding starts, so I,ve got some time to find the right skid for the sled.
So far, the R-Motion is still my number 1 option.

If it was me I would Try the R-Motion in a heart beat! I have a 136 mono and a Pioneer revalve on the shock. Does it ride Nice ? Yes it does! On the other hand my brother bought a new #*$&@ Doo 1200 Renegade and has the R-motion and I will admit it rides better in the Rear and is very easy to adjust and work on! Now I only have about 20 miles logged on his sled because I can't stand the way the front handles. It's like your sitting right over the ski's and for me the feed back going thru a bumped out corner is horrible. He seems to like it ! but I prefer how my Vector Handles over all. Much more stable. Keep us posted if you go with the R-motion I would be interested in the results.

 

[stevieu1]

I've had my 06 121" apex er since 2008. No beef up, rebuilt shocks (no revalve) 9997mi . I weigh 240 w/out gear and the setup is fine for me. Routine maintenance goes a long way. You guys that are constantly breaking suspension arms must race them or ride like you're racing. Every couple years, I inspect and refinish my rear skid arms and have never found any problems. I routinely hit 90 to 100+ mph just not over bad moguls. Before you all say that I ride like a grandma, ill tell you that is not the case. Also,I ride Tughill, NY. Quite possibly the bumpiest trails in the country.

 

[thor452]

Grandma

 

[RTX]

I've had my 06 121" apex er since 2008. No beef up, rebuilt shocks (no revalve) 9997mi . I weigh 240 w/out gear and the setup is fine for me. Routine maintenance goes a long way. You guys that are constantly breaking suspension arms must race them or ride like you're racing. Every couple years, I inspect and refinish my rear skid arms and have never found any problems. I routinely hit 90 to 100+ mph just not over bad moguls. Before you all say that I ride like a grandma, ill tell you that is not the case. Also,I ride Tughill, NY. Quite possibly the bumpiest trails in the country.

Not looking to argue with you but obviously we own similar sleds but use them for 2 entirely different pourpes and have had 2 entirely different experiences
Im one of the guys that constantly breaks parts in his mono skid. Im About the same weight as you.
I bought a brand new 06 rtx because it was described by yamaha as a rough trail sled. If i remember right they threw in words like mogule masher and others to describe it.
If yamaha marketed it as a rough trail sled then it should be able to be used as a rough trail sled without breaking parts constantly. End of story.
As far as maintenance goes. I do more maintenance on my sleds than i could even describe in this post.
Skids come out every year. All drive train/chane case bearings are replaced every other year no matter what the mileage.
Thats how i find so many broken parts.
I ride the apex like i stole it. Every time im on it.
If you saw me ride it you would think i hated the sled the way i punish it, but it is the exact opposite. I love love love the apex. Just dont care for the 121 mono skid
Just the fact that so many people needed to have the beef up kit done should tell everyone something about the long term durability of a mono skid when pushed hard.
Everyone has an opinion, The bottom line for me is if you have not broken parts or had the beef up kit done yet then in my opinion you dont ride it hard.
In my opinion the 121 mono is a great skid for a cruiser sled. Nice and plush on flat groomed trails, but when the trails get rough it is leaps and bounds behind other skids.

 

[stevieu1]

Not looking to argue with you but obviously we own similar sleds but use them for 2 entirely different pourpes and have had 2 entirely different experiences
Im one of the guys that constantly breaks parts in his mono skid. Im About the same weight as you.
I bought a brand new 06 rtx because it was described by yamaha as a rough trail sled. If i remember right they threw in words like mogule masher and others to describe it.
If yamaha marketed it as a rough trail sled then it should be able to be used as a rough trail sled without breaking parts constantly. End of story.
As far as maintenance goes. I do more maintenance on my sleds than i could even describe in this post.
Skids come out every year. All drive train/chane case bearings are replaced every other year no matter what the mileage.
Thats how i find so many broken parts.
I ride the apex like i stole it. Every time im on it.
If you saw me ride it you would think i hated the sled the way i punish it, but it is the exact opposite. I love love love the apex. Just dont care for the 121 mono skid
Just the fact that so many people needed to have the beef up kit done should tell everyone something about the long term durability of a mono skid when pushed hard.
Everyone has an opinion, The bottom line for me is if you have not broken parts or had the beef up kit done yet then in my opinion you dont ride it hard.
In my opinion the 121 mono is a great skid for a cruiser sled. Nice and plush on flat groomed trails, but when the trails get rough it is leaps and bounds behind other skids.

All I'm saying is if you beat on things, they break. No,I don't ride hard, mostly. Yes,some things on these sleds should have been made stronger. People complain,yet they beat the crap out of their sleds and wonder why it's broke. I don't have the money to sink into fixing my supension every year. So,to me, it's not worth "riding it like I stole it ". If you can afford to beat your sled ,by all means do it. [emoji41] Here's a pic of my "mint" Ape.

 

[RTX]

All I'm saying is if you beat on things, they break. No,I don't ride hard, mostly. Yes,some things on these sleds should have been made stronger. People complain,yet they beat the crap out of their sleds and wonder why it's broke. I don't have the money to sink into fixing my supension every year. So,to me, it's not worth "riding it like I stole it ". If you can afford to beat your sled ,by all means do it.

Here's a pic of my "mint" Ape.

Uuuummmm ok?
Im not complaining that my mono has broken. Posting your experiences with a product does not equal a complaint.
Im telling a guy thats looking to do a skid swap that if he pushes a 121 mono hard its going to break.
I am akso telling him that he can dump a ton of money into the mono and get the same results. Busted parts.
What i wrote and what you interpet are 2 entirely different things
My apex has been ridden hard and put away wet. In my opinion thats what a rtx sled is built for. Rough trail. If you disagree thats your right.
My sled has never been jumped. Ever. Its been pounded through the moguls at high speed on a daily basis.
In my opinion thats what it was designed for. 150 hp marketed as a rough trail sled.
Like you, im not made of money either, but i am a mechanic/machinist so when things break i can fix them, weld them, and fabricate new parts to improve them.
Heres my mint 06 apex

 

[RTX]

Not sure why theres 4 pics of my sled.
But i like it !!

 

[stevieu1]

Didn't mean you were complaining. I was referring to the overwhelming number of people who do on this site. I've been on this site for 6 years there's tons of threads. You are taking my comments the wrong way. Sorry if I didn't explain properly. Nice sled by the way. The reason you bought the RTX is the same reason I did not. I'm 47,been riding for 40 years, and my body can't take the bumps like they used to. The plush mono is perfect for me.

 

[karlburns]

I haven,t rode a sled with the M10 or M20, but I believe they are very expensive when bought new.
I haven,t seen any used ones for sale.
I,m hoping to do the conversion for about 1200, in CDN dollars.

Every so often Team Fast will throw up their test skid for sale on their website for a good deal. I got my M10 at the spring cleaning house of my local ski doo shop and bolted it in my apex. It was missing the braided hose that goes to the air bag and so they basically gave it away. I wasn't even looking to swap my skid at the time but the offer they made me was INSANE!! Only complaint I had about that skid is I would have to pump up the air bag every couple of weeks but I attribute that to the cold. I bought the 141 they had and just pulled my 136" back a few inches to run the 141 with my 136 track. They had a 121" m10 still at the end of last year plus the annual open house is not this weekend but next. If they still have it I could let you know if your interested at all.

 

[Rich Kay]

Have you ridden a m10 or m20 suspension? They are even better then monoshocks in my opinion. Was the best ride I have ever had. I could fly down the river at 90 where everyone else was backing off at 50 from the bumps. Several 2012-2014 ski doos in the group would ride mine and be amazed.

I will chime in and say it again.... opinions are wide on this topic but I had a 07 rtx and the Pro Action was the worst skid I ever work with to get it to ride even fair. I spent alot of time, money and patience with it and bit the bullet and bought a M10 AIR and have never rode anything that rides this nice! It took a great sled that was being ruined by the ride and made it what it should be... IMO and I have rode some nice OEM's of other brands that have been dialed in well. I thought about trying different skid from another brand but its a real crap shoot with a ton of "unknown". Fast M10 AIR was the best money I ever spent on a sled in my 40 yrs of riding.