To anyone that bought an '07 Phazer, talk to me about it. How many miles have you ridden it, what mods have you made, what parts have failed or needed to be replace and what do you like and not like about it.
Ive seen 3 Phazers out on the trails so far this winter. 1 was broke down on the side of the trail (it smelt like he smoked a belt) and today I saw 2 Phazers.
Be honest, but I hope you all will make me regret not buying a Phazer!

Almost 200 miles on my MTN lite.
Regrets: none, I love it. Even after lining up with my "Old" 95 XCR 600(modded), and getting totally demolished in a "drag race"

Things to watch for, loose nuts on the upper a-arms, lost emblem on nose piece.

Otherwise nothing really.

Keep a watch at http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewforum.php?f=54
lots of talk and good info there.

I have 100 miles on mine. Lakes and fields, so I don't know how it does in the bumps. I was radar'd at 83 MPH the other day, on ice with no studs, speedometer was showing 98 MPH so it's safe to say I was still spinning. It comes out of the hole pretty well for a 500 4 stroke, and likes to wheelie, it feels playful, like a dirtbike.

It starts well, and I haven't had any loose fasteners like others are talking about, but mine hasn't got too many miles.

I don't regret buying the thing at all, but I've always been the type of person that doesn't want to win races, I like to mess around in the powder, and jumps... ect.

If you're serious, and you must have a "fast" sled, this is NOT the one for you. On the other hand, if you want a low maintenance, "turn the key and go" kinda sled, with very nimble handling, this is the one to buy.

pluses :

-Decent accel. to 70 MPH (will usually pull the skis up till over 50)
-light, nimble feeling to it
-4 stroke mill starts well, EFI, low maintenace.
-Looks wicked (my opinion)
-Super cool hand/thumb warmers, digital LCD.
-Easy transition from stand up to sitting position.

negatives :

-Underpowered
-Heavy (on paper, compared to other 2 stroke models) feels light while riding, but it's heavy... 474 #'s
-Cold to ride, mine is a base model, no windy.
-High center of gravity. The seat is very high, and you're sitting way up there. (this could be a good or bad thing, I guess.)
-Must us 91+ octane fuel for max. power. Price you pay for such a good engine I guess.
-Oil changes seem to be a MAJOR PITA. (I have no first hand knowlegde however)

as far as mods:

I installed Powermadd hand guards.

I have a slip on Supertrapp Superlight Stainless muffler from a FZR600 Yam ready to weld on. Should sound like a YZ450F I'm guessing... Should have it on next week. Nice and tunable via diffuser disks. I imagine I will lose 10 - 12 #'s bringing the sled to about 460 dry.

I removed the plastic rear tool box (looks ugly, and I'll only carry tools on long trips anyways, which I will be backpacking it)

Future Mods :

May be installing 72 double backed 1.080 studs.

Will be installing a high bend moto X style handle bar ( I bent my stock ones when I rolled over -see negative re: high C.O.G above)

After riding my base model, I'd like to try a "GT" trail model, comes with slightly taller gearing. The feeling I get from mine is that it would pull slighty more gear, while retaining the same acceleration. Hard to tell at this point really, but I am pretty sure it would pull it very well.

Anything else specific you'd like to know?

I still have my doubts about the engine. It is based off of a 250F dirtbike motor, and those are high-strung, short life engines. Most people are only getting about 150 hours max out of their 250Fs, so its going to be really interesting to see how the Genesis 80FIs are going to be holding up in 3-5 years. I just cant see an engine that turns 10,000+ rpm all the time lasting 10,000 miles. I hope Im wrong on this, but only time will tell.
Thats the biggest thing that scared me out of getting a Phazer. I ride 1000-1500 miles a year and I was worried that every few years Id be looking at spending $3000 to rebuild the motor.
Then again, sled engines dont suck in anywhere near as much dirt as do dirtbike motors, so maybe it will run forever with very little problems.
On my YZ 250F I dont worry about it because I only ride it about 50 hours a year and its about half as much to rebuild but on a sled that I ride at least 1000 miles a year it concerned me.

People on TY have explained to you before... It's not two 250f's slapped together and called a sled motor. You got that in your head somehow. Its more of a half an R1 engine. I wouldn't worry about the motor. Only thing would be first year chassis quirks.

Is a 250F rebuild 1500$ ?

I mean, if you grenade the thing, yes, I can see this.

But if you just replace the piston + rings, valve lash + timing chain, it should be good for a few more hundred hours right? Or do the cam lobes wear out, valves have to be replaced... ect ect? Doubt it would need a re-bore / sleeve in 150 hours???

Not sure, just asking, what a 250F rebuild consists of ?

Quite sure Wiseco, (or...) would have a rebuild kit for the thing, so you don't get raped by Yamaha pricing...

It would seem to me that the 250F would be more durable than the R1, the dirt bike spends a large percent of its life under heavy load at or near the redline, (like a sled engine turning the heavy drive train) while the street bike engine is worked once and a while, but spends at least 80% of the time down near 6000 rpm at highway speed.

i have almost 200 on my 07 phazer mtn lite and love it.

things i dont like are:
Handle bars need to be little taller and wider im 6' so thats just cuzz im tall
my emblem fell off the nose
top speed isnt very fast but i knew that before i bought it i didnt buy it for speed
8 gallon tank could be a bit bigger

things i do like:
4 stroke
YAMAHA
from 0-50 snappy like a 2-stroke will lift the skis off the ground anywhere from 0-50
the ride is awesome best riding sled i have ever rode
the sound is awesome could be louder but sounds good stock too
i like how you sit up high and the narrow seat
corners awesome it turns on a dime
reverse i have never had reverse and i love it when i need to turn around no more tugging on skis
it flies pretty good it isnt nose heavy when its in air it flies like my firecat did
15 mpg

As far as duribility concerns. My sport bike is redlined at 11,500 too and they get over 40,000 on them easy.
They are made to rev that high.

Just a question, but do you hold on to that 11,500 rpm for miles at a time or do you do it for a few seconds between shifts because that is where the problem lies. Prolonged (5 mile long lake for example) hi rpms is going to be hard on these engines. No way around it!

You'd be suprised what RPM's you ride a bike at. General trail riding you aren't going to have it reving that high. And why would you hold it to the bar for miles upon miles on a lake, it's certainly not a lake racer. How many two strokes would you hold to the bar for miles upon miles on the lake? Heh. When you look at an R6 which rev's very high you actually do ride in the 10-11k range. I know, I have the 06 R6.

Another thing is that you don't have the heat load on the engine like a bike does. Heat is one of the most damaging things to an engine. It's the reason you see cars with their hoods up in the summer a lot more than you do in the winter.

Because most people do hold them open on a lake. One lake I ride on you can go wide out the entire 6 miles end to end. Do it all the time. Everyone I ride with does the same. Does not have to be a racer to do this. Have not seen many four strokes out where we ride of any brand in the last few years. Could not say this year though as no snow as of yetNot saying it cant last long, and really would not matter if it can only go 5000 cause that is my cut off for a new sled anyway, but guess it would be an expensive re-build on a four stroke if a valve let go at 11 grand plus! Most sleds in the two stroke range dont like much more than 9 grnd and they have no valves pounding like the four strokes do. I just have my reserves on how long that style of engine really will last. keep it in the 8-8500 range then maybe it will make it the way I ride. Wide open when ever I can safely do that and my sled is no racer by any stretch of imagination. Think snow none the less!

No I don't hold my sport bike wide open all the time but if you hold your 2 stroke wide open at say 8000 rpm and you hold the phazer wide open at 11,500 rpm I will bet the 2 stroke blows before the 4 stroke. 4 strokes are more durable in my opinion by a long shot. Which is why ATV's, motorcycles etc are all using them almost exclusively. Nothing beats a 4 stroke for durability.

I have a 636 ninja, that redlines at 15500, when you are out driving pulling catwalks, you can be damn sure that the revs are going to be up over 10000 for a majority of the time, not to mention the engine is actuallly almost sitting vertical the whole time. And I have had the bike going flat out bouncing off the rev limiter for extended periods of time trying to catch my friend's 1000's haha, I say it takes it. As long as you break them in somewhat normal that is.

plus if your a lake racer, then why would a person be lookin at purchasing a phazer. when your ditch banging your not holding it to the handle bars for miles on end. alot of throttle feathering and blippin the gas. Powder on the other hand you would be bouncing off the rev limiter a bit. i guess we will have to see what the stories read at the end of the winter and into next...

I'm thinking a Phazer will spend quite a bit of time at WOT. With only 80HP, you will have to hold it to the bars, especially off trail. That being said, I don't think that longevity is going to be an issue. The technology comes from race engines that have been around for years. They have been torture tested in those applications. The RX-1's have been around since 03. They spin at similar RPM's and have had a very good reliability record. The 4 stroke cylinder is actually much more robust than a two stroke. There are no exhaust or intake ports to weaken the wall structure, catch rings on, etc. The other big thing is that cooling is much more consistant because the water jacket around the cylinder doesn't have to contend with the ports either.

We will see over the next few years once people start piling on the miles. I am waiting a couple of years before I buy one. I will let others experience the teething issues of a first year sled.

I gotta say I saw three of them this past week in the U.P and they sounded great! I like them but I think I need to try one before I could buy one. I sure wish they were 100 hp and not 80 hp, I'd have no reservations then. Of course we rode 400 miles during the week and I bet I never ran more than 70mph at any given time so...

My buddy has a phazer which he has ridden about 450 miles i have ridden with him and have driven it. we both like the feel of it, the lightness and ease to move around on it. also the throttle response is good and pretty fun to drive.

he has the GT model and the negatives are that it seems quite harsh and stiff on bumps. he weighs about 260 and still it bucks him pretty good. after an all day ride it gets uncomfortable when things get rough. also the track makes an annoying amount of noise, i am not sure if that is because of the cut out in the tunnel or what. he has tried softening the spings and it still is too harsh on fast bumps. The bottom line is that it is a fun sled to drive but for long days of trail riding it is too harsh on us old guys, backs.

Good observation because now, in my 30s (gulp), I've gone from wanting to ride with the flipper taped to the bars to riding 150 to 250 mile days. How would you guys rate the warmth of the machine, it looks mighty cold. I know that my brother Rage is colder on the hands and legs than my EDGE is. I usualy don't have a problem with the cold and wear all leather gear but its obvious to me that my sled block the wind fairly well compared to more modern machines like the MXZs and Rages.

well it is definately a cool ride. his sled doesnt have the knee wind deflectors like the FX and he noticed that his knees got cooled down. I have leather pants and didnt really notice that but i didnt ride it all day also. my hands get cold easy and I am not sure they would stay warm on it. the heaters werent all the way on high when i rode it so i am not sure about that. he said they were almost on high, which wouldnt have been enough for me. also the temp was 10 to 15 F. at -10 i am quite sure it would be too cold for me. I think bigger hand deflectors would be in order.

I have a question ,does it turn flat or is there a lot of inside ski lift?

You got to love the Phazer (FX), great suspension and handling more like a motorbike. Nice sound. Got to drive it more like a motorbike also I think.
Turbo and track mods will make it a 4-stroke Yamaha Renegade X, I hope I will not be dissapointet.

Rode my friends new Phazer for the first time this weekend. Its very different but soaks up big bumps real well. I think it looks great but needs more wind protection, unless your really working it you'll get cold.
It dosen't handle very well in the tight stuff.

Here you got some great wind protection

Then why does Yamaha say its based on the 250F motocrosser? I got that in my head because thats what Yamaha has been saying since last February!
Maybe the motor will work, maybe it wont. I will either be kicking myself for not buying it, or wishing I had bought it.
Saying its not a 2 250F dirtbike motors, its half of an R1 motor is kinda six in one, half dozen in the other.



Go on www.thumpertalk.com and read for yourself. Its $1500 if the valvetrain is bad about its about $3000 if the entire motor is bad.
Most of the time the valves and valve seats just wear out of spec and no longer seal properly. Usually you can rebuild the topend and its good for a while longer, but there are just too many variables to say for certain how long it will last.
You also have the fact that a dirtbike engine sucks in a lot more dirty air than does a sled motor, so who knows. In a sled this motor could last 10,000 miles and never skip a beat.
I used to have a Yamaha YZ 250F, so I know the kinda maintenance these things require. I ended up selling it about a month ago for that very reason. I had plans to motocross race it in AMA district 16 (WI and the UP of Michigan) but the maintenance costs were just more than I could afford.
I dunno, folks. I hope Im not making anyone worry about their Phazer to the point they dont enjoy it. I hope the Phazer is a great little sled that was just as good as the Phazers of old were.
Yesterday I was out riding in NE Wisconsin and we stopped at a bar in Boulder Junction (the Boulder Beer Bar). When we left there was a Phazer parked outside and it had what resembled a small glaicer under the seat, running down the side of the tunnel and it had a bunch of ice built up on the running boards. I remember thinking to myself, "wow, standup riding on that sled must be interesting to say the least". Im sure Yamaha will come up with something (Ive heard they offer side skirts that go under the seat that prevent that from happening) to cure that on the '08s.
In 2 weeks they have a big winter festival here in NE Wisconsin and Yamaha always comes out and offers demo rides. Im going there and I hope to be able to try out a Phazer. Ive gone the past 2 years. I test rode an RX-1 and a Vector in '05, rode an Apex in '06 and am hoping to try out a Phazer this year. Its fun to go there and try different sleds out, because often a sled that looks great in magazines and on a spec sheet isnt so good once you actually ride it.

Ouch, thats alot of coin.

Thumpertalk.com =

I plan on buying a YZ250F in the summertime... I may end up with a YZ250 insead, now that I look at it...

I wrote a previous post about what my buddy and I think about his new phazer. I was incorrect about the which model he has.
He has the FX which has the clicker shocks and not much wind protection. I have ridden with him for 400 miles and driven it a fair amount. Not a lot has changed with our thoughts about the rear suspension. No matter where the springs and shocks are set it still can kick you pretty hard in the back, on a big bump. Which is a negative thing for us older guys. The seat is quite stiff which doesnt help the matter any. It still is fun to drive and feels light and all that, but the high center of gravity does want to whip you around a lot in fast bumps. You need to hang on pretty tightly and be prepared to throw your weight to keep from getting tipped over. Another negative we found last weekend is the fun factor in deep snow. There is no fun factor. The stubby little nose on it lets the snow kicked up from the ski tips go right up front of the sled and right in your face, sometimes even totally blocking the headlight. Sitting back as far as possible helped a very little bit. A previous post mentioned the build up of ice on the top of the tunnel spilling down onto the running boards. Yes it does that a lot, could easily add another 20 lbs of weight to it. Plus it looks terrible if you are running in dirty snow like we did in NE WI. If you are moving around a lot on it in bumps you could slip on it, which wouldnt be good.

Over all it seems more like a play sled or kids sled. For older guys that trail ride all day and put on some miles on, it doesnt seem like a good fit. That is both or our opinions as he is talking about selling or trading it in already.

As far as longevity goes, I would sure hope it goes more than 10,000 miles before needing top end work. There are many 2 strokes that do way more than that.

Look, it was explained to you in detail over there. If you decide to post over here to try and get the answer you're trying to convince yourself of then don't bother. You have no information to base your thoughts on.

Kwazydave has he adjusted the rebound at all?

There are no adjustments on the center shock and no rebound adjustments on the rear shock. I think that a softer rebound would allow him to run softer compression settings and not have it load the suspension on successive bumps. I doubt he will change that tho.

Im not trying to convince myself of anything, merely trying to get the truth and opinions from people who actually own and ride these sleds.

I have one with over 1000 kms on it. I love it!, but Ive had a few issues.

I had to change the skis on my GT to MnTn skis because the off trail performance was unacceptable. Maybe my own fault, but I wanted the top speed of the GT or I would have got the Mntn lite.

I had to add the Yamaha side panels to get rid of the snow buildup. It should have came with these factory.

Idling or warm conditions (warmer then -10C ) its not un common to get a over temp light on the Base FX, or GT, the fix is to add the fan that comes factory on the Mntn Lite and Venture Lite.

Otherwise its awesome! Handling is excellent on it, better then my old 550F Edge Polaris by far, BUT it takes you at least 2-3 weekends of solid riding to learn the body language. You have to use your legs and the foot pegs to make the sled go wher eyou want to go. There is alot more to it then turning the wheel and learning. Alot more, but when you get it, you will agree the handling is better, but it takes some time.

Accelleration is as everyone says, awesome 0-50, nice top end pull to a realisitc 85 MPH GPS. It pulls up to that speed, but it pulls like..... like a Civic SIR would pull when its almost out of the powerband. Its just fun, what can I say, blast to ride, and 15-19 MPG as measured. I got 3 yr warranty though, and Im glad I got that, because we will see how it holds up.

-Steve

Thanks, Steve, I appreciate the info. I agree that the side skirts should have come standard, and Id bet that they will be standard on the '08s. Ive seen a few Phazers out on the trails that had a ton of ice and snow buildup on the tunnel and running boards.
Glad to hear you like the sled.

love tha phazer my homie has one love the suspension

Some of the guys have asked us to weigh on our Nascar scale, any of the newer sleds that come into our shop, and post the weights,---so today I weighed a 2007 Phazer GT, with 96 studs and about 3/4 tank of gas, it weighed 567 LBS. -- also, a 2006 Apex, 96 studs, 3/4 tank gas and Haauk pipes, 658 LBS. --A 2003 RX1 without studs and +/- 7 gallons gas, 663 LBS.

Don / Performance Parts

All sleds weighed

I like to use that site for quick reference...

That seems to be pretty close to what we got, these sleds were studded, but only 3/4 tank fuel, so it's fairly close, our scale has a certified calibration weight and we check it before weighing anything, however it's never needed any adjusttment and the repeatability is right on to the tenth of a pound. 96 studs and backers weigh +/- 3.9 LBS. depending on the type of backers/nut used.
Just for laughs we also weighed a 94 Formula Z 583, no studs, 635 LBS.

Don

Octane,
I have never liked or cared for any yamaha snowmobile and I have ridden every generation of them including the apex. But here is my story.

My cousin just got the phazer with the ditch banging suspension package and brought it up here. It had 70 miles on it. The factory settings on the sleds suspension was piss poor from the factory. My cousin was actually really dissappointed in the sled. After I did some fiddling on settings for him it made a night day differnce in the way it handled. i was really impressed in the handleing of the sled. I was going to line it up with my zr600 to see how the power compared, but wound up not doing it. My zr would have destroyed it in the conditions we were riding in. It would not have been a fair comparison. It did not seem to have much low end grunt but the mid range is really good and has nice long power curve. It has more than enough power to have a great time in woods on it. I took it down some wooped up bush trails and the suspension did really well. Its a very easy sled to throw around once you get the suspension dialed in. The sled is very easy to get use to. I started to get the feel for it after riding it for 10 minutes. All in all, this is the first yamaha sled that I have liked. It is a fun sled to ride. If I had the money I would go out and buy one.

Thanks for the input, Greg. Give the sled a little time for the motor to break in and show you what its really capable of. At 70 miles that engine isnt even close to being full broke-in. It usually takes at least 500 miles before a 4-stroke starts to loosen up and is ready to show you what its really got.

Greg, can I ask specifically what adjustments you made to the phazer to make it handle better?
Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.

it is around 30 miles across Lake of the Woods, boring ride, why would i NOT ride WOT across such a boring expanse as a lake.

with a few tweaks the phazer can be a nice little sled

The point was that it's not a lake racer so if you do a lot of lake racing then it's not the sled to buy. Like I said which two stroke would you hold to the bar across the lake and not worry?

I Love the sled. 600 miles and counting. Lots of powder riding. Loves ditch banging. Awesome suspension.

The overheating with ice build up in the cold weather is horrible. -1 degrees in blowing snow with deep powder and overheating!

No worries I trust Yamaha will step up to the plate on the overheating issue, possibly a simple electric fan kit from the venture lite.

This sled from the dealer had so much weight on the skis it was not fun to ride at all. If fact it was so bad if you went over 40 on the raods we were riding it would spin out. I have never had a sled do this before. I was told from a guy that is big into yammy racing that the sled is set for a 200 pound rider out of the box. and he weighs about 150 in full gear. I had to take some of the preload off of the ski shocks, give the rear skid shock a little bit more preload, back the rear skid shock clicker out 10 clicks, and set the rear spring preload in the softest spot. it fixed the problem we were haveing and made the sled very easy to throw around. He is working on revised shock valving right now and will hook us up later in the season when he gets a good combo. This is a very cool little sled. I wish I could afford one.

Just got back late last night after spending the weekend riding in the U.P. aboard a rental Phazer GT. I put 546 miles on that rental including one big day of 295 last Thursday. I thought the sled handled great. It was a really well balanced little machine and very easy to throw around in the tight twisties. Sled jumps well and has good level flight characteristics in the big moguls. Sled has tons of suspension travel to soak up the bumps. The only time I bottomed out the rear skid was in the big whoops riding hard. Probibly could have used a couple of turns of pre-load but other than that it was good. Found the sled had ample low end power from 0 to 60 and pulled hard through that range and then took a while to get into the 70's and beyond. I found the sled would hit 78/79 on the wish-o-meter in the loose powder on the trail or across a lake and I saw 88 on a hard packed county road. Not sure how accurate it is but found that to be more than acceptable for an 80 horse machine. Found the seat to be too narrow for my likeing on big mileage days. After Thursday's 295 mile adventure my butt was a little sore. How ever with as easy as the sled was to ride my back and shoulders were great. Riding powder is also not the sleds strong suit but can be done to a small degree. Lack of horse power does not seem to be the major problem here but more so the lack of a belly pan under the front end. When slowing down or stoping in powder the front end or there lack of sinks and and buries into the powder. However the biggest issue I faced was one that seems like every one is just now talking about and that is ICE issues. With the open tunnel the foot boards ice up terrible which means every time we stopped I spent a couple of minuets cleaning both sides out which was kind of a nusence. But the bigger pain in the arse was once the old thermometer dropped below zero the sled would build an ice dam between the front of the track and the heat exchanger causing the sled to over heat. So I was haveing to stop every 30 to 40 miles and lay the sled on it's side and clean out all the icy slush mess built up between the track and the heat exchanger. I found this to be pretty much unexceptible in the bellow zero temps on Saturday and pulled the plug on my ride after about 100 miles as my gloves were wet and frozen stiff as rocks. All in all I had a good ride though until the weather turned cold. The narrowness of the seat and the iceing up issues would stop me from personaly buying a Phazer. After riding one for a weekend the sled seems idealy suited for ditch banging or tight twisty trails and bumpy conditions. I would have to think Yamaha had better take care of the iceing up issues or they will lose sales on this sled once word gets out because that is no good. Just my two cents worth from what my experiance was over the past weekend.
,jmmdbq

All of the ones i have owned have been to the bar for 5-10 mile stretches, i have never worried, and i have only blown one track (about 100 mph) and never a belt(at speed). But if i had a Phazer i would definatly have to hold it wide open, I live in the land of 10,000 lakes, RR beds, and dikes. You don't have to go far to have to ride one of these boring stretches and you have to go wide open to get to another trail. I understand that it is not a lake racer, but whatever sled i ride better be able to handle a LONG WOT throttle pull every time i have it out. Even if it only tops at 80 it should be no problem to hold it there for miles, for every 150-200 mile day you have to expect at least 10 of that is going to be dike or lake and sometimes maybe up to 25% of that could be lake/dike/rr bed.

stock phazer not very fun on long staight pulls

Only if your idea of "fun" is triple-digit speeds.

It's fun in a straight line pull holding it WOT through 2-3 foot deep whoop-de-doos, all while watching a MACH Z get further and further behind... lol

Totally! Yeah super fun/nimble almost everywhere but lakes, but those are just for getting to the good stuff