48 Snow Goer Canada September 2013 - 2014 Buyer’s Guide WWW.SNOWGOERCANADA.COM

Sled Review

The 2013 Yamaha FX Nytro: An In-Depth Review by Our Snow Goer Canada Staff

This past winter Snow Goer Canadadesignated our 2013 base FX Nytro asour “test sled” for the season. Wechose the Nytro for two key reasons;one, Yamaha had made some seem-ingly minor changes that significantlyimproved handling and ride quality,and two, to be perfectly honest theNytro had always been one of ourleast favourite sleds to ride. The mainreasons for this were the twitchy frontend and what we felt were poor sus-pension calibrations. In short, weloved the motor but didn’t always enjoy riding the sled. We wanted tolike it, we tried to like it, but couldn’t.

When our FX Nytro arrived, withone of the great new wraps, we did alittle research on Totallyamaha.comto see what Nytro owners were doingto modify their sleds into more trailfriendly sleds. We added a larger capacity, aftermarket fuel tank fromTrail Tank and a set of aggressive

carbide runners from Qualipieces forthe Tuner skis. To top it all off, wealso added a set of Elka Stage 5 frontshocks, from Accelerated Technolo-gies, to calm down the front end.

In total we logged a little over2000 km on the Nytro, approxi-mately 1000km of which with all themods, and came away Nytro converts.We loved it. Even though the writingis on the wall that the Nytro won’t bearound much longer with the intro-duction of the new SR Viper, we feelthe 2013 and 2014 Nytro is a greatdeal in both price and performance.In our opinion, the 2013 FX Nytro(base model) is the best riding andhandling Nytro that Yamaha has produced.

Fuel EconomyWe didn’t keep track of the fuelmileage on the Nytro this year as thismotor has proven itself over the last

5 seasons to offer great fuel economywhile delivery excellent power. Whatwe can comment on is the increase infuel range that the Trail Tank deliv-ered with its capacity of 37L over thestock 28L tank. Fuel range was thesimilar to other fuel efficient sleds onthe snow, such as Ski-doo’s 600 SDIwith a 40L fuel tank. An upgrade to aTrail Tank is highly recommended.

MotorWhat can we say that hasn’t been saidbefore? The acceleration is amazingand very addicting and the mid-rangehit is instant. Compared to 800 2-strokes on the market, this motorfeels stronger in the mid-range, whichis where most of your riding takesplace. The Genesis 130FI may becloser in power to 700 class 2-strokeson paper but the high revs andtorque of the triple cylinder 4-strokeallow it to compete with higher

On the snow out for a leisurely trail ride.

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powered 2-strokes. This is one of ourfavourite motors in the industry. Efficiency and performance don’tusually come hand in hand but thismotor delivers both very well.

SuspensionFor 2013 Yamaha softened the frontand rear suspension calibrations onthe base Nytro to make it more trailcompliant. The front piggybackshocks were replaced with a pair of“cheaper”, but lighter, non-piggybackshocks that actually work pretty wellfor normal to aggressive trail riding.In general, we noticed a significantimprovement in the ride quality fromboth the front and rear suspensionsover typical trail bumps at normaltrail speeds. This might not seem likea big deal but the reality is that ittransformed this mogul-masher-onlysled into a more versatile trail sledthat suited a wider variety of riders.We could actually trail ride the sledall day and not get beat up by the suspension. The base model’s suspen-sion calibrations are very well suitedfor both normal and aggressive trailriding which in all honesty is howmost Nytro owners/buyers ride their sleds.

It’s no secret that the one majorflaw on the Nytro has always beenthe front suspension. They have always been twitchy and unstablecompared to the competition. Theshock and ski changes to the 2013model really improve the front suspension’s performance throughthe bumps and corners however itstill wasn’t on par with the competi-tion but, we were convinced we could improve the performance of the frontend. We spoke with Accelerated Tech-nologies, an Elka shock dealer andsuspension shop in Ontario, aboutunlocking the hidden potential fromthe Nytro’s front suspension and theyhighly recommended trying a set ofElka Stage 5 front shocks with dualrate springs. Accel. Tech. worked withus to determine what low speed com-pression, high speed compression,

FX Nytro with wrap kit, before the mods.

Nytro with the Trail Tank installed, hard totell the difference from stock.

and rebound settings to use. To saythe Elka front shocks drastically im-proved the ride is an understatement,the results were very impressive.Overall the front end soaked up thebig hits and whoops significantly better than the stock shocks while actually improving the ride qualityover the small bumps, thanks to thedual rate springs. It was a huge im-provement in every way. The Nytrobecame stable and predictablethrough 6-12 inch bumps on bothstraight stretches and through corners. We went from having verylittle confidence in the front end tohaving full confidence that the linewe wanted was the line the sledwould take.

It didn’t take long to realize theElka equipped front suspension wasoutperforming the rear. If we had hadmore time, and less warm weather,we would have gone a step furtherand installed a set of Stage 5 rearshocks to complete the package how-ever, the front Elka shocks alone are ahighly recommended upgrade.

HandlingThe single biggest improvement tothe handling came from the dual keelTuner skis. They significantly calmeddown the twitchy and unpredictable

front end. The Tuners eliminateddarting, allowed for easy steering effort, and provided great bite in thecorners. The combination of theTuners and Ripsaw II track work well

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50 Snow Goer Canada September 2013 - 2014 Buyer’s Guide WWW.SNOWGOERCANADA.COM

together to reduce inside ski liftthrough corners by allowing the trackto break loose easier. We added acombination of Qualipieces carbiderunners to our Tuners that providedlight steering but lots of bite in thecorners without being too aggressive.We ran a 4” carbide on round hostbar on the outside keel with a 6” carbide on square bar on the inside.There was still inside ski lift but it wasmanageable and much less than pastmodels without these changes.When we added the Elka Stage 5 front shocks we experienced a nightand day difference in the handling ofthe Nytro. It was at this point that thesled went from a great handlingNytro to a good handling sled in general, even when compared directlyto the competition. There were a fewkey factors that contributed to im-proved handling from the shockupgrade. Number one was the Stage 5 shocks as they were tuned properlyto how we were going to ride thesled, number two was the dual ratefront springs, and number three wasadjusting the rear suspension to en-sure we were getting the best possiblehandling from the sled.

The sled was set up to allow thefront end to sag quite a bit more thanit did stock by keeping a fairly lightpreload on the front springs andtightening the limiter strap on thefront arm of the rear suspension. Thefront end of the sled was droppedover an inch lower than stock whichallowed the A-arms to be more paral-lel and the skis stance to be at itswidest point. The low speed compres-sion clickers were set so that the sledresisted body roll through a cornerwhile the high speed compressionclickers were adjusted so that the sledwas still able to soak up the bumpsthrough that same corner.

With the Elka shocks installed theNytro was a blast to ride. It corneredas well as other sleds on the marketand definitely the best corneringYamaha sled we’d ridden in quitesome time. It felt light and nimble

and was very stable and predictable,completely opposite to our past experiences on Nytros.

ComfortThe seating position of the Nytro isgreat for aggressive trail riding andworks well for normal trail cruisingas well. The ergonomics are not typi-cal of the other rider forward sledson the market but that’s okay withus, we liked the Nytro’s handlebarposition and found it works wellwhen standing or when seated andleaning in the corners.

The addition of the Elka frontshocks improved the comfort of theNytro for trail riding however in stockform this the 2013 base Nytro is themost comfortable to date.

Wind ProtectionThe low windshield actually does adda little wind protection and the handguards work well to deflect the coldwind around your hands however it’sstill a cold sled to ride. It’s intendedto be ridden hard through bumpsand aggressively through the trails,making the rider sweat, so keep thatin mind. Accessory tall windshieldsand deflectors are available.

Accessories & ModificationsElka Stage 5 Front Shocks with DualRate Springs The Elka front shocks were a hugeimprovement and totally transformedthe sled’s handling and ride charac-teristics. Accelerated Technologies, ofBuckhorn, Ontario, provided theshocks with valving, spring rates, andcompression settings selected for theway we were going to ride the sled.Every customer gets this treatment.Accelerated Technologies also wentover the sled and set up the sled forbetter handling and also lubed all thepivot points in the front and rear sus-pensions to reduce resistance. Everysled, new or used, can benefit fromthis service.www.acceltechracing.com andwww.elkasuspension.com

Trail Tank Extra Capacity Fuel TankKnowing the small capacity of thestock fuel tank limited the Nytro’srange, we opted to add a larger ca-pacity aftermarket tank by TrailTankHigh Capacity Sled Tanks. This islikely the most popular and practicalupgrade you can make to a Nytro.The capacity of the Trail Tank was37L, a 9L increase over stock. Thisincreased the Nytro’s range to thesame as the other efficient sleds onthe market.

The quality was great and installwent smooth thanks to the great instructions. The hardware thatcomes with the tank for fastening theside panels has been improved overprevious years. Everything you need,including gaskets, o-rings, and fasten-ers comes with the tank. They are alsoavailable in black or clear, we preferthe clear that way you know exactlyhow much fuel is in the tank as thefuel gauge will not be 100% accuratewith the increased capacity. SGChighly recommends this upgrade.www.TrailTank.net

Qualipieces Carbide RunnersIn the fall SGC spoke with Qualipiecesabout a combo of carbide runners forthe Nytro with the Tuner skis. Qualip-ieces was happy to provide 3 sets ofrunners that they had tested in variouscombinations the previous winter. Wehad a super aggressive combo and asemi-aggressive combo. We stuck withthe semi-aggressive set up as this

2013 Yamaha FX Nytro

Elka Stage 5 shocks from Accelerated Technologies.

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worked great to provide good bite inthe corners but didn’t overpower theRipsaw II track or add to any inside skilift. We used a round bar with 4” of carbide on the outside keel and square bar with 6” carbide on the inside.

Durability was excellent. Welogged closer to 2000 km on the carbides and showed little wear,plenty of life left for another season

Qualipieces runners ready to install.

or two. Considering about 600 kmwere logged in limited or marginalconditions, we were very impressedwith the durability. www.qualip-ieces.com

LikesThe amazing Genesis 130FI engine -Just like most reviews of a Yamahasled we’ve done, we loved the motor.The mid-range punch of the 135+ hp,inline triple 4-stroke is nothing shortof awesome. A very fun, efficient, andreliable motor that is just as happybeing ridden hard as it is cruising.

Tuner skis – Why couldn’t Yamahahave had these on the 2008 Nytro?They work very well with the Nytroand we strongly recommend upgrad-ing your Nytro with a set of Tuners.

Improved ride quality on the trails– The softer shock and spring calibra-tions on the base Nytro made a bigdifference in the ride quality for typical trail riding.

Yamaha wrap kit. Our Nytro camewith one of Yamaha’s wrap kits andwe got a lot of looks on the trail.

DislikesLack of storage – Even though this isintended as an aggressive trail sledthe reality is most sleds go out forlong days of riding. An area to storeextra gloves, hat, maps, or whatever isneeded.

We don’t think it should be neces-sary to modify a sled so much to getit on par with other sleds in the han-dling and ride quality department.But, adding aftermarket parts is halfthe fun for some riders.

The front suspension geometry –It’s too bad the Nytro didn’t comewith the racing front end thatYamaha has been using on the crosscountry circuit. This sled had the po-tential to have more of an impact onthe market but fell short due to thetwitchy front end. •

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