Yamaha Virgin

My first Yamaha 97 SXVmax, I've had my buddies telling me to buy a YAMAHA for years. Well I got my first non Ski-doo been with Ski-doo since the 70's.
What I don't get with Yamaha is where's the suspension? They put a ton of Engineering into their machines, which I have to say a lot impresses me, but I don't get it when are they going to make a machine with some tavel in the suspension. You wouldn't see them making a dirt bike with 6" of travel when everyone else has 12" so why are they making sleds with little suspension.
This might turn me back to ski-doo time will tell.

You bought a 8 year old sled!!! Did you expect a 05 suspension in a 97 sled????

97 0r 05

That's not what I'm saying I'm not comparing my 97 to an 05. I'm saying in 97 yamaha was behind in suspension technology and still today their behind.

When are they going to take the lead, in the world of motocross they sure aren't behind so why are they in snowmobiles.

This is my only gripe with Yamaha, there's no reason why they shouldn't have the best suspension on the market.

In 97 Yamaha did have a great suspension compared to yhe other
OE. Unfotunately they did not make any substantial changes to that suspension until this year.

Hey

skidoo learnt to do suspensions after they bought LYNX snowmobile factory from finland, before that doos suspension was really poor. At that timeLYNXs suspension was light years ahead of any other marke, skidoo also. Same time when they bought Lynx, Lynx snow-x champ Toni Haikonen came to states and showed how drive cross and also how to make sled for racing. He took his LYNX 670 rave as model to Fast boys how to make suspension.

I have driven quite a lot finish bumby trails and in my mind even today LYNX is the machine when u beat shit out of it, especially rear suspension is extremely good. But myself i have always liked yamahas because those are easy to service and it is made in japan like my other siknes toyota. Check out LYNX http://www.bombardier.se/lynx/en/index.php# and click R-evo to see new models old models are there too.

but thats for now .... ike

i dont see too much wrong with my 2002 srx suspension, when i want to open up the
throttle to pass someone, bumps dont scare me. i dont even feel them. yamaha suspensions are great. just because it is not 4 feet tall dosent mean a whole lot. absorption is the only thing that matters and hats off to ohlins...

I cant say anything bad about my sxr. I cant wait to try one of the new 05's though.Heard so many good things about the new suspention.

Gooblio, in a way I agree with you.
I think that Yamaha could do a lot better in terms of suspension.
In '97 the SX had the best suspension their was. However, as time went by Yamaha left the suspension alone because the SXs and SX Rs became trail sleds.
They slowly but surely evolved from being sno-x sleds to being trail sleds. The SX Viper was never intended to be a hardcore ditchbanger or a sno-x replica sled. The RX-1 and RS Vector arent intended to be sno-x sleds either.
Yamaha is in the business of building trail sleds. Thats what 90% of their customers want: a durable, reliable, fuel-efficent, comfortable trail sled.
Now, I have read that the '05 RX-1s are very, very close to being ditchbangers. I think that if Yamaha puts the monoshock rear suspension in the RS Vectors they may well have a sled that can compete with the F6s, 600 REVs and 600 Fusions (assuming Polaris makes one for '06). The Vector is very close in terms of weight with those other sleds, if Yamaha gives it the monoshock that might mark the return of Yamaha to the ditchbanger market.
Youve got to realize too, Gooblio, that with a long-travel rear suspension you have certain tradeoffs that you must be willing to accept. The Polaris EDGE has arguably the best suspension in the industry. They have 14" of travel in the rear, which is better than any other rear suspension. However, the EDGEs also have a reputation for overheating easily. They mount their heat exchangers up inside the tunnel and with that much suspension travel they have no choice but to raise the ride height. Due to this, unless you are riding in perfect conditons or moving at a quick pace, the engine doesnt get as much cooling as it should.
You dont hear of these problems on the SX Viper partly because it sits lower than the EDGE does but also because Yamaha mounts the heat exchangers on the underside of the running boards. I personally feel that this is a better place to mount them because they get a constant spray of power from off of the skis and the track. With the heat exchangers mounted inside the tunnel I dont feel that they get as much snow tossed onto them.
An added 2.5" of travel doesnt mean much to someone when their shiny new sled overheats all the time.
The rest of my family all ride EDGEs and let me tell you, they overheat fairly frequently. We managed to overcome most of this problem by running fatter jets, but when the time comes that everything is EFI you will no longer have this option.
Im not all that worried about it though, my next sled is going to be a Yamaha anyways, most likely a 4-stroke! At that point, Polaris can kiss by butt for all I care! LOL
Hebi

Gooblio,
The 97 SX was a short travel suspension, designed as a flat cornering trail sled with something like 7 inches of suspension travel (front and rear). It will never handle the rough stuff like the long travel 11" XTC or SXR suspension. If you want better rough trail performance, you need to go with a long travel kit.

Hebi
Polaris doesn't use the same reference points for measuring suspension travel that Yamaha uses. Polaris measures total travel of the rear axle where Yamaha measures vertical travel of the suspension rail. Different things.

Everyone seems to be caught up on travel, The Fast M10 only has 10.6" of travel and its one of the best trail skids around. And yes everyone except yamaha measures rear axle movement for travel.

In the era of the jacked up "Look at me" sleds, I'll take my lowrider SRX anyday. Haven't bottomed it out yet!

I agree. How it works is much more important than how much travel one has over another.

My '97 XTC is great on most trails. Yes the real big bumps get to you after a while. I have never bottomed out. I am 6 foot 230 and I have an extra 10 pounds on the back in saddle bags.

Yes the Rev's are better but I think the Yamaha's proaction is not as bad as you think. Give it a real ride and see how you like it. There are a lot of things you can do if you don't like it. Long travel and long track it if you wnat.

Well I agree the M10 is one of the best and I have to eat some hat here. Yesterday I was checking out the 05's and there no short comings on the RX.
SWEET.
I was impressed the trailing arms are gone and they have a hot A arm set up and the rear suspension, well there's lot's of travel there for some serious ditch banging.
I think Yamaha has hit the nail on the head this year.

We seem to see these same threads 2 or 4 times a week. Is the Yamy stock skid decent yes, is there better most definatly. Is it worth getting another brand just for the rear skid, I think NOT. What you will find with Yamaha is better gas mileage then any other brand. Also reliability is second to none.
Who wants to have a sled that is broken all the time. Yes the Yamaha's do break but when you look at the % the are the best. I want to ride not look out the window while my sled is in the shop.

yamyrider said:

I want to ride not look out the window while my sled is in the shop.

Click to expand...

I agree, that's why I bought Yamaha....

Way back in 98, I bought my first Yami, MM600. (behind the times?) The suspension was just one reason why i bought it. After dialing it in "for me", it still kicks butt today on comfort.
If the SX has the short travel suspension, it's tough to compare to MM or the longer travel setups. Before giving up, I would learn a little about "how to set up".
There are many different combos that will change the ride.
I do own a Polaris so I'm not saying this just because I love my Yami.

You know how many of my buddies are still riding by mid to late season with their doo's? NON of them, I'm a lone ranger at that point.

All I can say is that model was built for handling and speed and not designed for big bumps. Soc

I rode my 97 SX7 for 2 years before I found online snomo forums, I thought the ride was great even on bumpy trails on Saturday evenings. I didn't know that my suspension wasn't up to snuff until I read it online. My dad has touring Arctic Cat panther sleds and sure they're comfy but not dramatically more so than my sled. I keep thinking about Viper shocks or other long travel kits but I'm afraid I'll miss that trail burning ride I have now.