SIKEWARD
Expert
I am completly new to Yamaha. I have a new 08 fx nytro and have some questions about setting it up for my riding preference.
I ride somewhat aggressive on mostly groomed trails in WI. It is rare for me to go into the powder or cathing any air.
I don't quite understand the suspension of this machine or how to manage it. If someone would be willing to explain to me how it works and what to adjust. Or maybe point me in a direction where I can read about this stuff.
1) What are these holes I heard everybody adjusting on the front and rear of the track and adding or reducing ski pressure.
2) I understand there are 3 settings on the front shocks. A knob on the top (but i don't know what it does) A knob on the bottom (have no clue what it does either) and a spring that can be adjusted.
3) Finally the rear suspension has two shocks also. What do I do with them?
Thanks in advance.
I ride somewhat aggressive on mostly groomed trails in WI. It is rare for me to go into the powder or cathing any air.
I don't quite understand the suspension of this machine or how to manage it. If someone would be willing to explain to me how it works and what to adjust. Or maybe point me in a direction where I can read about this stuff.
1) What are these holes I heard everybody adjusting on the front and rear of the track and adding or reducing ski pressure.
2) I understand there are 3 settings on the front shocks. A knob on the top (but i don't know what it does) A knob on the bottom (have no clue what it does either) and a spring that can be adjusted.
3) Finally the rear suspension has two shocks also. What do I do with them?
Thanks in advance.
stewartb
Expert
Sikeward,
Start by reading the suspension adjustment section in the owner's manual. If you don't have a manual I can find that info for you or you can download the service manual in the FAQ sticky. The same info resides in chapter 2 in the service manual. But here's a basic primer.
Fronts- leave the springs alone for now and set the compression and rebound to factory recommended settings. You can stiffen or soften the suspension by using the compression clickers, those on the top of the shocks. Do both sides equally. You can slow the rebound (return to full extension) by adjusting the rebound clickers at the bottom of the shocks. Again, both sides equally. These settings are easy to change on the trail and offer no danger to experiment with. Ski pressure, that is, how much weight is on the skis, is controlled by the front limiter strap on the rear suspension. We'll get to that.
Rear- You have two arms in the rear suspension or "skid". Front and back. On Yamahas these are coupled so that one arm can't reach full compression without getting assistance from the other arm. I don't have a short track so I'll leave the coupling adjustment discussion for someone else. Yours is different than on the XTX. The front arm has a shock with a coil spring. The rear has a naked shock. The skid also uses a square wire torsion spring. The torsion spring has a three-position adjuster. This is to adjust height and the adjustment is to compensate for the weight of a dressed rider. The shocks control motion, or suspension rate. Compression and rebound are adjustable as they were on your front shocks. The settings are recommended by the factory and then you deviate as it suits your style. Again, no danger in experimenting, and in the rear, the shocks don't need to be adjusted at the same levels. The front shock's spring sets the front suspension height. The limiter strap controls how far the shock can extend. If the skid extends too far you have no weight on the skis. Not far enough and you have too much weight on the skis. In one case you can turn the bars and get no steering response. In the other the ski pressure is so hard you struggle to turn the bars. The factory builds the sled in a medium range and you fine tune it to suit you. The spring preload on the front shock isn't really part of the equation yet. Leave it alone for now. Set your ski pressure with the limiter to be able to ride with good control and not too much steering effort. Your limiter may be perfect as is, or it may need to be shortened a notch or two. The changes are subtle. No danger. Don't be afraid to try different settings. Play with the shock rates to smooth the bumps but not bottom out. If you find you bottom the suspension out we can go to chapter two, but you need to do the chapter one homework first.
Have fun!
Stewart
Start by reading the suspension adjustment section in the owner's manual. If you don't have a manual I can find that info for you or you can download the service manual in the FAQ sticky. The same info resides in chapter 2 in the service manual. But here's a basic primer.
Fronts- leave the springs alone for now and set the compression and rebound to factory recommended settings. You can stiffen or soften the suspension by using the compression clickers, those on the top of the shocks. Do both sides equally. You can slow the rebound (return to full extension) by adjusting the rebound clickers at the bottom of the shocks. Again, both sides equally. These settings are easy to change on the trail and offer no danger to experiment with. Ski pressure, that is, how much weight is on the skis, is controlled by the front limiter strap on the rear suspension. We'll get to that.
Rear- You have two arms in the rear suspension or "skid". Front and back. On Yamahas these are coupled so that one arm can't reach full compression without getting assistance from the other arm. I don't have a short track so I'll leave the coupling adjustment discussion for someone else. Yours is different than on the XTX. The front arm has a shock with a coil spring. The rear has a naked shock. The skid also uses a square wire torsion spring. The torsion spring has a three-position adjuster. This is to adjust height and the adjustment is to compensate for the weight of a dressed rider. The shocks control motion, or suspension rate. Compression and rebound are adjustable as they were on your front shocks. The settings are recommended by the factory and then you deviate as it suits your style. Again, no danger in experimenting, and in the rear, the shocks don't need to be adjusted at the same levels. The front shock's spring sets the front suspension height. The limiter strap controls how far the shock can extend. If the skid extends too far you have no weight on the skis. Not far enough and you have too much weight on the skis. In one case you can turn the bars and get no steering response. In the other the ski pressure is so hard you struggle to turn the bars. The factory builds the sled in a medium range and you fine tune it to suit you. The spring preload on the front shock isn't really part of the equation yet. Leave it alone for now. Set your ski pressure with the limiter to be able to ride with good control and not too much steering effort. Your limiter may be perfect as is, or it may need to be shortened a notch or two. The changes are subtle. No danger. Don't be afraid to try different settings. Play with the shock rates to smooth the bumps but not bottom out. If you find you bottom the suspension out we can go to chapter two, but you need to do the chapter one homework first.
Have fun!
Stewart
SIKEWARD
Expert
Thank you so much for chapter 1. I do have the service manual and have been reading 2-63 through 2-75. I have a owners manual but does anyone have a pdf verison of the owners manual? Would be nice to read @ work.
SIKEWARD
Expert
Ok after reading I have come up with a few ?'s
Front shocks
1) compression clickers (ones on top) Why would I want softer vs harder? I'm younge so ride quality doesn't mean much to me. I am more interested in trail riding "fast, real fast ricky."
2) rebound clickers (bottom one) I understand they control how fast the shock can react to one bump after another. How should the sled feel after adjusting these correctly?
3) Front strap this seems like a easy one to figure out but also comes with trial and error and riders preference. I thinking it should be maybe a 3 for me. I need to go home and try this. After riding the sled for the first 30 miles I felt as if the front end was light and airy. Almost as if the sled didn't want to turn. So I think adjusting the front strap is in order.
Rear Shocks.
Once I understand the difference between compression and rebound in the front I should be able to translate this to the rear shocks.
1) Do the two limit straps both need to be set the same? I understand the front one controls ski pressure. What does adjusting the rear one do?
Thanks Again
Front shocks
1) compression clickers (ones on top) Why would I want softer vs harder? I'm younge so ride quality doesn't mean much to me. I am more interested in trail riding "fast, real fast ricky."
2) rebound clickers (bottom one) I understand they control how fast the shock can react to one bump after another. How should the sled feel after adjusting these correctly?
3) Front strap this seems like a easy one to figure out but also comes with trial and error and riders preference. I thinking it should be maybe a 3 for me. I need to go home and try this. After riding the sled for the first 30 miles I felt as if the front end was light and airy. Almost as if the sled didn't want to turn. So I think adjusting the front strap is in order.
Rear Shocks.
Once I understand the difference between compression and rebound in the front I should be able to translate this to the rear shocks.
1) Do the two limit straps both need to be set the same? I understand the front one controls ski pressure. What does adjusting the rear one do?
Thanks Again
SIKEWARD
Expert
just a little more help please
skidoots
Veteran
hey fast ricky 1 slow down on the trail
2 read your book owners manual
3 do some reseach on TY there is more info on here than you know what to do with
2 read your book owners manual
3 do some reseach on TY there is more info on here than you know what to do with
nate007
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You really shold just ride the sled for a while to get a "feel" for it the way it is set up now. Then start to try to point out where and what conditions you would like to improve it. Everybody can give you their oppinions of what to do, but it really boils down to your preference.
The most important thing to do first is to just be sure your front springs are set the same, as are the compression and rebound settings, from side to side.
Second:
Remove the skis, take the rubber "block: that cusions th skis, and turn it around backwards. This will put more pressure on the rear of the skis. When at rest on flat, clear concrete, you want the front of the carbide off the cement. This will help alot with the twitchyness of the front end. If you can find a small piece of rubber or plastic (1" x 2" x 1/4" thick) place it under the rear of the spring rubber to help force the front of the ski off the ground. This is probably the single biggest thing to do first to get a baseline from which to start playing with everything else. If the front end darts all over, and wanders when you let off the throttle, you'll have a hard time trying to figure out what your settings need to be.
Try that first, ride it some, let us know how it rides. Try to find areas that need improvement, adn we'll be glad to help!
You really shold just ride the sled for a while to get a "feel" for it the way it is set up now. Then start to try to point out where and what conditions you would like to improve it. Everybody can give you their oppinions of what to do, but it really boils down to your preference.
The most important thing to do first is to just be sure your front springs are set the same, as are the compression and rebound settings, from side to side.
Second:
Remove the skis, take the rubber "block: that cusions th skis, and turn it around backwards. This will put more pressure on the rear of the skis. When at rest on flat, clear concrete, you want the front of the carbide off the cement. This will help alot with the twitchyness of the front end. If you can find a small piece of rubber or plastic (1" x 2" x 1/4" thick) place it under the rear of the spring rubber to help force the front of the ski off the ground. This is probably the single biggest thing to do first to get a baseline from which to start playing with everything else. If the front end darts all over, and wanders when you let off the throttle, you'll have a hard time trying to figure out what your settings need to be.
Try that first, ride it some, let us know how it rides. Try to find areas that need improvement, adn we'll be glad to help!
