I expect to new scratchers to be available in early January, the holiday season is throwing a wrench in the works. Not sure if they will be sold in the US this season but any Yamaha Canada dealer could ship you a pair. Keep an eye on your hyfax, it will probably last a long time now that they are worn down. It’s pretty normal for the stuff to wear quickly then settle in within an eighth to a quarter from the wear line (nature of the beast)… cheers cr

Enjoy your new Y.C.’er….I bet you can’t stop smiling when you get off of it either!

Happy Holidays CR From the B.H. & the TY Gang….Ride Safe

Thanks Larry! yes its a Yamcharger and yes I’m smiling. All the best to you and your family over the holidays and a big shout out for all folks at TY! cheers cr

2 points of interest….1 – the Seguin is GROOMED!! 2 – a good rider never blames his equipment .

Thanks Dok… have a safe and happy holiday! cr

Thanks a bunch 7S and all the best to you and yours from your friends at Yamaha… now what is your blood type?? cheers cr

Thanks bro, hope you take can take your own advice cr

Man that brings back memories!!! I was a Kawasaki (H1, H2) guy back then – Kenny Robert’s was the best. It looks like he could just hop on and do it again!! He was king especially we he started road racing. (#9 Nixon on his Kawasaki could not catch him)

I am eager to see how the Turbo works – I have an Apex as well.

Keep us posted and Thanks for sharing.

Mark – Guelph & Parry Sound

Thanks Mark, have a great holiday season, the snow in P Sound has to make you smile! cheers cr

On another note, the one thing that discourages me is the fact that they always compare the XP to the Nytro, when really the new RS Vector should be compared to the XP/XR chassis. The XP is not a bump/trash sled. The Nytro to me is really compared to DOO’s old REV, which is a way better bump sled The REV’s transion from sitting to standing are very similar to the Nytro. The XP is a trail sled. MY Doo dealer told me when they went to the Vegas show to see the 2010, DOO actually admitted that they could Not make a sled that did both trail riding and sno-x anymore, which I think they tried to do with the XP and it back fired looking at their racing results.

Anyways, back to the lesters comments… They made some remarks on the fact that DOO slammed their 4 stroke motor (4tec) so low into the XP chasiss giving it great trail manners which allows it to track very predictable and corner exceptionally flat. They said that this is a very big issue as to why the Yamaha sleds do not handle that great, because their motors are sitting to high in the chassis. Do you agree with the Lester boys statement and if so, will Yamaha be addressing these kinds of issues to help fix the handling issues that plague the current platforums. I don’t want to discuss shocks and valving of the current models to aid in the handling because we both know the guy should be fired who is doing the final calibrations on these sleds. He does a poor job at it. If not just look at all the poor handling posts on TY or HCS. You don’t find to many of those posts on the Cat and Doo forms… I don’t mean to come across as arrogant, but I’m sick of having to re-valve/spring a brand new sled. Enough said on this once again… It’s as bad as the BS hand warmer issues… Sorry for the rant about the spring and valving.. Your thoughts…

Hey SF, gotta admit, you doo have a way with words
Let me address some of the Lester’s comments, I also just read the BIC article today. First I know and respect the brothers and understand where they are going with this particular spin, playing off each other when it comes to evaluating the hardware. When you think of it, it makes sense that not everyone will agree with whatever is said. Same goes for suspension settings. I guarantee if we dialed our suspension in perfectly for your weight, ability and needs, to the point where you are the most satisfied sled-head in the family, we will get roasted from another whole group of people who ride differently on different terrain with different expectations. That said, could we improve on a general setting, absolutely. In fact when you look closely you will find calibration changes in some of our models based on the year. I personally subscribe to the ‘wider range’ theory where we should develop systems that allow a wider range of adjustment without having to re-valve, re-spring or relocate various arms, brackets etc. Airshocks and damping adjusters are a step in the right direction as was our fullrate adjuster (FRA) back in the pro-action days, it just didn’t do enough.
On the subject of our engines being held too high in the chassis and Doo having superior handling because they slammed the motor… think about that statement.
I have a hunch that this little tid-bit of data didn’t arrive from the computer modeling and advanced equipment in the Supertrax garage that enabled them to determine the exact CG of each model or measure the moment of inertia or even establish the mass center of the engine relative to the mustard-tub. Again this is just a hunch but I’d be willing to bet a dime that this ‘fact’ was driven home at either a press event hosted by team yellow or during an interview where some marketing guru was explaining why one machine so out-handles another. Hook, line and sinker.
Mark and Kent both have tons of riding (and industry) experience but they are still human. Where that conclusion came from is not relevant, but their riding impressions are. If Marks feels ski lift, I can’t argue with him. Why it’s lifting is another story and can it be rectified without relocating the engine… maybe you need to send him a shock spec to try cheers cr