what parts to buy? for a 03 rx1 mnt.

[tricklizard]

Just bought an 03 rx1 mnt. Had it out on one ride Love the motor hate the ride and the way it steers. Can't seem to get the thing to turn unless on flat ground. It has simmons skis and a weighjt transfer kit installed what ever that is. The front shocks are as tight as I can get them. I have read that I need stiffer springs. Would someone please tell me exactly what all I need to make this thing ride and handle better. Bear in mind this is only my third year of sledding and know very little about setting up a sled. my first sled is a 99 thundercat so I'm used to the weight but my cat rode and drove awsome.

 

[KbxSrx]

Ekholm suspension, 22" vertical travel for moguls, ditches and mountain riding, soaks up all the big stuff, Ekholm tunnel and drop and roll for weight loss and powder ability, drop the exhaust into the tunnel lose 20 lbs there, wide skis like C&A, Ekholm, simmons

 

[Frostbite]

Tricklizard, I have an 03 RX-1 Mountain with Simmons skis and a weight transfer kit as well.
I know it sounds nuts but you need to lift the front end of your sled off the ground and loosen both front shock spring adjustment rings as LOOSE as they will go and still hold the springs. Take measurments and make sure both of them are the same distance from a given point. I went to the maximum (maybe minimum depending on where you measure from) that Yamaha recommends in the manual.
The trick is to have the springs as loose as possible and still barely hold the springs because once you let it down there will be plenty of weight to put pressure on the springs.
With the Simmons skis make sure your skis are exactly parallel. No toe out with these skis.
The weight transfer kit removes the weight transfer rods on the rear suspension. It uncouples the action between the front shock of the rear suspension and rear shock of the rear suspension. See www.mountainperformance.com to learn more.

Here are a few other things you might want to consider. If you don't have on buy at least a 1" handle bar riser it make the sled easier to steer. Also, some bar end hooks may make your handle bars feel wider and thus give you a bit more leverage for turning the sled.

Yes going wider on the front end makes the sled a bit more stable. I have a HOLZ 41" front end on the way and have high hopes for it. The best thing you can do is make sure your sway bar links are the LONG links and not the stock short ones. Go to Yamahamotore.com and look at the parts breakdown for an 04 RX-1 mountain and it will have the longer link part number. They makes the sled easier to steer. The next step up from the longer sway bar links and going to an 11mm sway bar from the stock 10mm bar. It helps the rolling in the corners A LOT!

The amount of weight on the front of sled makes a big difference. The limiter straps and the front rear suspension spring tension are key in getting the balance just right between being able to easily turn the handlebars and actually having the sled steer where you'd like it to go.

Remember our sleds are Yamaha's first shot at a four stroke sled. There are some bugs that need to be worked out but that sweet motor makes jumping through all the flaming hoops worthwhile.

Good luck

Frosty

 

[tricklizard]

Thank You Frosty

Thanks for the reply, This was exactly what I was looking for, plain simple english. I will try this tommarow. Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving.

 

[Frostbite]

I'm glad that info helped. Let me know if you need any further clarification.
How do you intend to use your sled?
I had to honestly sit down and assess my riding patterns and the results ended up not being what I expected. In all honesty I'd say I ride mountain trails at a good clip 50% of the time and boondock probably 30% , hillclimb 10% and drag race 10% of the time.
Heck after I did this assessment I realized I needed a sled that would be great on the trails even if I might have to give up a little in off trail prowness. To best suit my riding style I need to focus on comfort, long term reliability and economy which in my case needed to trump being the ultimate steep and deep sled.
If you purchased this sled as a steep and deep sled exclusively we can move the recommendations in another direction if you'd like. There are some mountain specific tricks you may want to incorporate.
After all of the changes I have done my sled works respectably just about everywhere.
There will always be other sleds that do some things better than ours but as an all around, do everything sled it's tough to beat a properly set up RX-1M.
I even put a 151 x 2 1/4" finger track on in place of the stock track. On most of MY applications its performance far exceeds that of a paddle track. Then again if I end up in bottomless powder (which we rarely see in the Pacific Northwest) I may be at a disadvantage but the snow out here usually has a high water content and is relatively setup by Wyoming, Utah or Colorado standards.

Have a Great Thanksgiving

Frosty

 

[rideblue]

If you are going to ride deep powder, the best thing to do is throw the stock skid in the trash and install a '05-'06 Pro Mountain, Arctic Cat, Holz or some other aftermarket skid. The approach angle and weight transfer on the Pro Action skid is not good for deep snow. You may also want to try the Yamaha '05 mountain ski. Turns much better than simmons in loose snow and floats as well as or better in the powder. Simmons push in anything other than hardpack.