Bakemono
TY 4 Stroke Guru
Today was the annual Cruiserfest/Yamafest in Minocqua, WI and once again Yamaha was there offering demo rides. This year I rode a Phazer GT. As some of you know, I had an FX on order but cancelling it because I had concerns over durability issues with the engine.
Well, let me just start out by saying its a really nice sled. If you want something to just cruise groomed trails and dont need to go 115 mph on the lake, I cant see any sled being any better than a Phazer.
Its comfortable to sit on and the ride is very plush. Its a little on the soft side, but consider the GT is designed just for cruising the trails and isnt a ditchbanger, Id say the suspension is just fine.
The engine has a lot more grunt that I expected. Its got a lot of torque on the bottom and in the midrange, but as you can imagine, it hasnt got a whole lot of topend. I took the sled up to 70 mph on the speed (@11,000 rpm) and was at about 3/4 throttle. I figure the sled should be able to do about 80-85 mph, which is pretty good for an 80 hp sled.
The exhaust note is kinda unique on that sled too. It doesnt sound like a dirtbike or ATV as some people described it. To me, it had the whine of an Apex but it was a lot quieter. Its a very pleasent exhaust note though.
Last fall I read some threads on here about how people said it took forever for the sled to start when the engine was cold. Well, from what I experienced today, that is a bunch of BS. It was -6 today and the sled fired right up after about 3 seconds of cranking.
I didnt find the sled to be cold either. Granted, the one I rode had that big GT windshield on it and the knee wind deflectors, but I wasnt any colder on that sled than I would have been on my XC.
All in all, the Phazer is a great little trail sled and IMO it lives up to the Phazer name. I had a '90 Phazer II and IMO the new Phazer is just as much fun as the old ones were.
Now for the $7,000 question: Do I wish I would have bought the Phazer I had on order? Yes and no. Id love to have a Phazer in my garage, but at the same time Im working on paying off all my debt so that I can move to NE Wisconsin and spend more time riding.
Im going to bide my time for now and wait a couple years and hopefully pick up a good used Phazer for $3000-$4000. I figure that if Yamaha puts the 120 triple in the FX chassis that there will be a fair number of people trading their Phazers in.
Well, let me just start out by saying its a really nice sled. If you want something to just cruise groomed trails and dont need to go 115 mph on the lake, I cant see any sled being any better than a Phazer.
Its comfortable to sit on and the ride is very plush. Its a little on the soft side, but consider the GT is designed just for cruising the trails and isnt a ditchbanger, Id say the suspension is just fine.
The engine has a lot more grunt that I expected. Its got a lot of torque on the bottom and in the midrange, but as you can imagine, it hasnt got a whole lot of topend. I took the sled up to 70 mph on the speed (@11,000 rpm) and was at about 3/4 throttle. I figure the sled should be able to do about 80-85 mph, which is pretty good for an 80 hp sled.
The exhaust note is kinda unique on that sled too. It doesnt sound like a dirtbike or ATV as some people described it. To me, it had the whine of an Apex but it was a lot quieter. Its a very pleasent exhaust note though.
Last fall I read some threads on here about how people said it took forever for the sled to start when the engine was cold. Well, from what I experienced today, that is a bunch of BS. It was -6 today and the sled fired right up after about 3 seconds of cranking.
I didnt find the sled to be cold either. Granted, the one I rode had that big GT windshield on it and the knee wind deflectors, but I wasnt any colder on that sled than I would have been on my XC.
All in all, the Phazer is a great little trail sled and IMO it lives up to the Phazer name. I had a '90 Phazer II and IMO the new Phazer is just as much fun as the old ones were.
Now for the $7,000 question: Do I wish I would have bought the Phazer I had on order? Yes and no. Id love to have a Phazer in my garage, but at the same time Im working on paying off all my debt so that I can move to NE Wisconsin and spend more time riding.
Im going to bide my time for now and wait a couple years and hopefully pick up a good used Phazer for $3000-$4000. I figure that if Yamaha puts the 120 triple in the FX chassis that there will be a fair number of people trading their Phazers in.
Swiss Sledder
TY 4 Stroke God
Just his opinion Gypsy. Please keep things civil. 
BV1
Expert
GypsyRoots said:
Well now IM curious.... lol
-Steve
Blue Giant
Extreme
BV1 said:
Me Too!
Swiss Sledder
TY 4 Stroke God
Gypsy took exception to the comment about BS on the sled being cold. Based on his experience, he has found the sled cold. I have encouraged him to post his view while not bashing the original poster. 
Different points of view are OK on this site. Bashing members is not OK. Gypsy and I have exchanged PM's and everything is now cool. I hope he posts his point of view because debates are OK when conducted in a civilized manner.
Different points of view are OK on this site. Bashing members is not OK. Gypsy and I have exchanged PM's and everything is now cool. I hope he posts his point of view because debates are OK when conducted in a civilized manner.
Yamahnator
TY 4 Stroke Guru
GypsyRoots said:I didn't and don't think any sled is cold, I dress for the conditions.
What I did disagree with octane on was the starting part.
Having 2300 miles on my sled and having experienced starting issues I didn't appreciate being called a BS'er.
That's all...
Gypsy out...
Yes we are familiar with your incessant complaining about starting issues. I could see taking exception if he singled you out, but for most of us, heck pretty much everyone BUT you, we haven't experienced any starting issues. Not all of us live in the frozen tundra and it gets tiresome when every other thread is hijacked by you complaining. Perhaps the venture lite isn't the sled for Eskimo land, but that doesn't have any relevance on being the sled for NY or the UP or Maine ect ect. you get the idea.
phzmtnlite
Pro
I was up in the UP of Michigan on the 4-9 (lastweek) and it was real cold. High of -3 on mon. -19 for a low at night without windchill. My sled cranked for about 7-8 seconds and started to fire, continued to crank about 1-2 sec's and running smooth. I thought it was good for the temp. No complaints. It was basically the same for most of the tirp with overnight lows well below 0 and started evey morning about the same. After warm just a few cranks and fires up
hoov165x
Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2006
- Messages
- 30
Yamahnator said:GypsyRoots said:I didn't and don't think any sled is cold, I dress for the conditions.
What I did disagree with octane on was the starting part.
Having 2300 miles on my sled and having experienced starting issues I didn't appreciate being called a BS'er.
That's all...
Gypsy out...
Yes we are familiar with your incessant complaining about starting issues. I could see taking exception if he singled you out, but for most of us, heck pretty much everyone BUT you, we haven't experienced any starting issues. Not all of us live in the frozen tundra and it gets tiresome when every other thread is hijacked by you complaining. Perhaps the venture lite isn't the sled for Eskimo land, but that doesn't have any relevance on being the sled for NY or the UP or Maine ect ect. you get the idea.
And guess what?? Not all of us live in the UP, NY, or Maine, etc, etc... Do you get the idea?
Back off Jack.
Yamahnator
TY 4 Stroke Guru
hoov165x said:Yamahnator said:GypsyRoots said:I didn't and don't think any sled is cold, I dress for the conditions.
What I did disagree with octane on was the starting part.
Having 2300 miles on my sled and having experienced starting issues I didn't appreciate being called a BS'er.
That's all...
Gypsy out...
Yes we are familiar with your incessant complaining about starting issues. I could see taking exception if he singled you out, but for most of us, heck pretty much everyone BUT you, we haven't experienced any starting issues. Not all of us live in the frozen tundra and it gets tiresome when every other thread is hijacked by you complaining. Perhaps the venture lite isn't the sled for Eskimo land, but that doesn't have any relevance on being the sled for NY or the UP or Maine ect ect. you get the idea.
And guess what?? Not all of us live in the UP, NY, or Maine, etc, etc... Do you get the idea?
Back off Jack.
Listen Captain Obvious. Where did I imply that you or anyone else lived in those areas? I simply made the observation that not everyone has to contend with the same issues. Just as I don't force a certain way of thinking on someone from Alaska. *I* said that perhaps the Phazer is not the sled for him in Alaska. But that doesn't mean it isn't the sled or that it has the same issues for someone in NY, UP, Maine ect.
Hope that clarifys for you.
hoov165x
Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 21, 2006
- Messages
- 30
Yamahnator said:hoov165x said:Yamahnator said:GypsyRoots said:I didn't and don't think any sled is cold, I dress for the conditions.
What I did disagree with octane on was the starting part.
Having 2300 miles on my sled and having experienced starting issues I didn't appreciate being called a BS'er.
That's all...
Gypsy out...
Yes we are familiar with your incessant complaining about starting issues. I could see taking exception if he singled you out, but for most of us, heck pretty much everyone BUT you, we haven't experienced any starting issues. Not all of us live in the frozen tundra and it gets tiresome when every other thread is hijacked by you complaining. Perhaps the venture lite isn't the sled for Eskimo land, but that doesn't have any relevance on being the sled for NY or the UP or Maine ect ect. you get the idea.
And guess what?? Not all of us live in the UP, NY, or Maine, etc, etc... Do you get the idea?
Back off Jack.
Listen Captain Obvious. Where did I imply that you or anyone else lived in those areas? I simply made the observation that not everyone has to contend with the same issues. Just as I don't force a certain way of thinking on someone from Alaska. *I* said that perhaps the Phazer is not the sled for him in Alaska. But that doesn't mean it isn't the sled or that it has the same issues for someone in NY, UP, Maine ect.
Hope that clarifys for you.
Hey that is- CLARIFIES
gabe7924
Pro
You guys are like a bunch of little high school girls. Just go ride!!
Yamahnator
TY 4 Stroke Guru
hoov165x said:Yamahnator said:hoov165x said:Yamahnator said:GypsyRoots said:I didn't and don't think any sled is cold, I dress for the conditions.
What I did disagree with octane on was the starting part.
Having 2300 miles on my sled and having experienced starting issues I didn't appreciate being called a BS'er.
That's all...
Gypsy out...
Yes we are familiar with your incessant complaining about starting issues. I could see taking exception if he singled you out, but for most of us, heck pretty much everyone BUT you, we haven't experienced any starting issues. Not all of us live in the frozen tundra and it gets tiresome when every other thread is hijacked by you complaining. Perhaps the venture lite isn't the sled for Eskimo land, but that doesn't have any relevance on being the sled for NY or the UP or Maine ect ect. you get the idea.
And guess what?? Not all of us live in the UP, NY, or Maine, etc, etc... Do you get the idea?
Back off Jack.
Listen Captain Obvious. Where did I imply that you or anyone else lived in those areas? I simply made the observation that not everyone has to contend with the same issues. Just as I don't force a certain way of thinking on someone from Alaska. *I* said that perhaps the Phazer is not the sled for him in Alaska. But that doesn't mean it isn't the sled or that it has the same issues for someone in NY, UP, Maine ect.
Hope that clarifys for you.
Hey that is- CLARIFIES
Speaking of high school, didn't know my old English teacher hung out here on these boards.
Bakemono
TY 4 Stroke Guru
I actually wasnt referring to Gypsy when I talked about starting issues. Back in the fall there was a thread where quite a few people commented that it took 10-15 seconds of cranking for their Phazer to start (and that was in 60 degree weather) and thats what I meant when I said that the claims of cold-starting issues were BS.
A few people on here said you had to turn the key to on and wait for the fuel pump to stop humming and then crank the starter. I didnt do that. When the guys from Yamaha said, "alright, fire 'em up" I turned the key to start and after 2 or 3 seconds the motor fired right up.
I hope I didnt give the impression that I know everything about the Phazer and everyone else dont know squat. I was merely sharing my experiences and opinions, you can take them for whatever they are worth.
A few people on here said you had to turn the key to on and wait for the fuel pump to stop humming and then crank the starter. I didnt do that. When the guys from Yamaha said, "alright, fire 'em up" I turned the key to start and after 2 or 3 seconds the motor fired right up.
I hope I didnt give the impression that I know everything about the Phazer and everyone else dont know squat. I was merely sharing my experiences and opinions, you can take them for whatever they are worth.
Hoov165x
I hope you realize with your post here that it really doesnt matter if everyone gets every word spelled on the site correctly. Its more about the content than it is about the delivery!!
I thought the hard starting issue had gone away? Remember the sled will not start until the oil pressure has reached a certain pressure! I am not sure on the exact pressure!
I hope you realize with your post here that it really doesnt matter if everyone gets every word spelled on the site correctly. Its more about the content than it is about the delivery!!
I thought the hard starting issue had gone away? Remember the sled will not start until the oil pressure has reached a certain pressure! I am not sure on the exact pressure!
Bakemono
TY 4 Stroke Guru
I dunno what to say, no4smoke. Like I said, I started the sled without any special technique and it fired right up.
It worked the way I that I expected a Yamaha to: flawlessly.
It worked the way I that I expected a Yamaha to: flawlessly.
