rx-1 which year??

[1fastmax]

hi everybody im looking in to buying a 4 stroke I like the rx-1 alot, can someone help which year was the best year and common problems with them, im looking for a 121 track, thank you very much.

 

[Honk]

Welcome to the best Yamaha site there is!! The RX is a great sled. Probally the best one would have to be the last year 05. They changed from a NO-action skid to the Mono, much better ride. After that they made the Apex, which is an awsome ride too! If ya can find the bucks, go with an Apex. Tottally different ride, same great motor. Although it does have EFI. never had any trouble with the older carbs though. Good luck with the search! Should be able to find an 03 for around 3 to 4 grand. so the rest is above that. Honk

 

[rookie3045]

I agree with Honk go with a 05 RX-1 or a Apex if you can afford it(better rear suspension ),but if you find a good deal on a 03 ,04 RX i wouldn't pass it up, you can slowly upgrade the sled.I have had my 03 RX-1 since 05 and love it.yes its not as nice as a new sled but in Canada a APEX is around $15 grand.I paid $7000 for mine and do a little upgrade each year.So with the help of this great site and a few more bucks i will have a OLD 03 that will eat a stock Apex..Good Luck and enjoy reading the posts.

 

[kinger]

05 had upgraded rings for reduced oil consumption, Mono suspension (although had some first year teething issues with slides, idler wheels, breaking arms, etc all can be fixed or upgraded), was the lightest of all RX's.

the 03's require some mods to handle better, straight rate springs, 13mm sway bar, proaction is ok but I would swap out for something else. The 03's are cheaper and if you like to tinker it would be a fun sled for you, hopefully not a oil burner as most are. Liek everyone says you can add little things each year and really make the sled fun and give you something to do in the off season!

 

[Len Todd]

The '04s had 100+ improvements over the '03s. The '04s also had the improved rings, and breather tube mod, which greatly reduced any oil consumption problems the '03s had.

The '05s mono-shock suspension is a nice groomed trail rider. But, ... A ditch-banger, it is not.

The '06 Apex fuel injection is nice. So is the extra 10 hp that comes with it. But the $s part is a bummer and the 03 - 05s' carbs work fine, if you properly maintain and summarize the sled.

 

[STAIN]

hi everybody im looking in to buying a 4 stroke I like the rx-1 alot, can someone help which year was the best year and common problems with them, im looking for a 121 track, thank you very much.

location? I have a very nice 05 RX1 with $1000's in extras that I might sell

 

[RedRX1]

All the RX1's are work in progress, I have had 3 and still own 2. Each has their own set of issues. 05 is the best, but the first year monoshock skid has durability problems. I took out an extended warranty and have used it on the skid frame issues. The 03,04 versions have the pro action skid and were poor versions of that to boot. I converted one of my 03's to an Expert X and the other to a Bender monoshock. Many have changed to other OEM skids and the M10 as well.

I do love these sleds and will keep them many more years. After I have made a few handling mods, they are great handling and reliable sleds. Common upgrades are Apex seats or stuffed seats, articulating handle bar risers to move the bars forward a bit, wide front end kits, aftermarket skis, stiffer 13mm torsion bars, and on the 03, 04 straight rate front springs and longer links for the torsion bars.

While the APEX is much more advanced, I like the RX1 for some of it's simpler features. It still has a hood, you can actually get to the spark plugs without a major project, it's not fuel injected so a regular guy can work on it, oil changes are a bit easier.

I'd look for the best deal and plan on upgrades. Just look out for oil usage on the 03's. I have had 2 03's and neither used more than a quart per 1000 miles, many of these are good sleds.

 

[1fastmax]

thanks everyboby for the replys, im not sure what to get, to me they all sound like great sleds, i need something thats going to take good jumps nothing to big, and something ok for a little ditch banging.

 

[RedRX1]

The original Nitro may be a better choice than the Rx1 for similar $$, but Yami didn't have a real ditchbanger until the current Nitro.

 

[Len Todd]

Nytro RTX is the ditch-banger of choice. Rxes are a bit heavy for "ditches" although, ... I run mine down 'em all the time.

Might be hard to find a good one cheap, though.

 

[kinger]

The '04s also had the improved rings

The current part number shows the 03 and 04 rings are identical part #5LV-11603-00-00

For 2005 they show the change to part # 8FU-11603-00-00

 

[Len Todd]

For the parts listings you are correct. However, ... In '03, when Yamaha advertised the '04's, they advertised the new rings as one of the 110+ changes that were made to the '04's. I was watching that when I bought mine. I never by a "first year production model." But, I was watching the '03s very carefully because of the oil consumption issues that hit the magazines very quickly.

Also, my '04 does not burn any oil. So, ... I believe Yamaha. If you do a TY search, you also will not find many '04 drivers complaining about oil consumption.

I can not explain why they never went back an updated the '04 Part Listings. They '04 listings were published in '03. Maybe cause they were published in '03, and it took too much work to go back and change something like that. Maybe they didn't want to update all those CDs and manuals they had already sold. Maybe it was probably simpler to just send out the Tech Bulletin and make the change to the '05 lists. Maybe they did not want to risk a recall on the '03s. Who knows what reasons they may have had in their heads. But I'll bet it had to do with $s.

 

[jp196400]

HEYYY MANNNN
get a fx nytro, then we can have twins lol

 

[DKBrigs27th]

The '04s had 100+ improvements over the '03s. The '04s also had the improved rings, and breather tube mod, which greatly reduced any oil consumption problems the '03s had.

The '05s mono-shock suspension is a nice groomed trail rider. But, ... A ditch-banger, it is not.

The '06 Apex fuel injection is nice. So is the extra 10 hp that comes with it. But the $s part is a bummer and the 03 - 05s' carbs work fine, if you properly maintain and summarize the sled.

I went with an 04 rx1 121inch and slowly up-graded it. I started with the suspension and put the airwave from TeamFast. What a huge difference in ride. I than up-graded the seat and placed more foam. Another huge improvment. Last year, I bought the Assult Air shock from TeamFast and it too gave an added ride improvment. I just bought ohlins for the fronts. This was the latest up-grade. The plan is to buy skis and an exhust next year. The RX1 is an awesome machine and with some up-grades, there's nothing better.
I would find a low priced Rx1 and do the up-grades.