Honks RX-1asked this question in another thread, and I thought it would be appropriate to start one of it's own.

everyone keeps talking about how well the RX-1 reacts to clucthing. I would like to here more about that, and what is being run. Thanks! Also what other mods have worked out well for you? I have a red RX-1, all Stock, except I had the exhust tips polished and chromed, looks sweet!Now I need it to perform quicker, it is already fast, just want it quicker! Thanks, Honk

I have a friend with an RX-1. He had some clutch work done by one of the dealers by Houghton Lake. I really woke it up. I'll see if he will spill or not.

for the rx1 the heavy hitters are the way to go.

Pro116... you got some specs you want to lay down with that statement. It would be a lot more helpful if you could telll us all how you have them set up, how big you are, how you ride. etc. Just saying heavy hitters are the way to go doesn't make me want to spend the money on them.

Hello Guys,
I spoke with a guy at pioneer performance yesterday, I found out that he runs the company. He said that he had been running Yammys for years. He told me that all he had done to his RX is put on their Composit Roller secondary. he had tryed many things, but that was the kicker. He claimed that the RX is already over clucthed,(which I really don't know what that means) so just making the secondary more effective was the biggest change you can make. It has rollers instead of the buttons, and other than that I really don't know. He gave me the address, www.pioneermotorsport.com as a matter of fact the clucth is on sale untill the end of the month, 249$ vs 279$ He makes many other parts and sells all four makes, but just races Yammys. They sell all the stuff for the primary, but claimed the RX didn't need it, already clutched great! except secondary.
So now I have no clue! Lets keep talkin, maybe we can figure somthing out! Thanks, Honk


Those Red ones are pretty fast Too!! :hallo1:

$279 for a Roller KIT? You can buy a whole entire TEAM Rapid Reaction Clutch for $325 and actually make an upgrade. Yea, the helixs are pricey, but you get 2 helixs for one, and they cost the same as a Yamaha aftermarket helix. They are just trying to sell ya something that isnt going to do a thng for ya.

Honks - I havn't clutched a RX-1, but have ridden one, and can tell ya from the holeshot, the stock clutching needs some help. Yamaha claims they "updated" the clutching for 2004, so something wasn't right.

I invited the fella from Pioneer Performance to jump on here and maybe help explain how his roller is the ticket, but I have yet to hear back from him. There's still time.

Hi,
I'm Bruce from Pioneer Performance. I'd like to say for starters that I have thoroughly tested the RX-1 with a Pioneer Composite Roller (about 1500 miles last season).

What I mean when I say the RX-1 is over clutched, is the sled comes stock with a very high angle helix. Yamaha's explaination for doing this is to keep the engine Rpm's low initialially, at lower R's the horsepower is lower. By doing it this way they say that it's clutched to help reduce track spin, not dumping all of the power to the track at once. Most people who buy an RX-1 do something to improve traction, mainly different tracks or studding. With the stock clutching, not only is power reduced to the track but a more aggressive clutch set-up (or high helix angle) back-shifts or reacts slower. My personal feeling is that they designed the clutching this way for 2 reasons, one to reduce track spin, and also to keep people from running the sled hard for break in purposes.

The Pioneer Composite Roller improves the sleds performance for several reasons. First, by tuning it to get the R's up higher in the power band more quickly(reducing the initial helix angle), it puts more power to the snow. Also by reducing the helix angle the clutch reacts or back-shifts quicker, making trottle resonse much better, the slower the up-shift (higher shift Rpm's), the quicker the back-shift. It also is tuned to be at or near the engines peak horsepower Rpm's of 10,200 (where the engine produces the most horsepower) more often, this combination not only improves acceleration but top speed is also increased. The major benefit of a Roller type secondary in place of a button style is the reduction of friction. By reducing friction, shifting is much more consistant, not as sensitive to load (changing snow conditions, hills, etc.), and back-shift is quicker because friction is reduced. Therefore you're no longer dragging a helix back across a stationary button which relies totally on friction to perform its job. When tuned properly a roller style clutch will out perform a button style clutch over a broader range of conditions. Bottom line - when installing the roller not only does the sled perform better, but because the clutching responds faster, the RX-1 is alot more fun to ride.

For the people recommending a Team roller clutch, I haven't personally used it. The biggest complaint I've heard from talking to people who have used it is that it hurts top speed. The Team secondary was designed for snow cross racing where only acceleration and reaction (back-shift) are important, top speed is not a concern. The Team secondary relies totally on side pressure from the spring (basically like the spring in a primary clutch), all other secondaries use side and twisting force type springs. I believe that they have to run a great deal of side force (because of no twisting force) to maintain belt pressure. As a snowmobiles (or any vehicles) speed increases it must overcome more resistance (friction, air, etc.) The increased resistance of the spring creates a high amount of side force, therefore it requires more Hp to overcome the further the clutch shifts out.

Awesome post Bruce, Thanks! :)

THANKS BRUCE!!! Great post! I hope that helped many people, I know it did me. I have had more fun on my RX than any other sled that I have ever owned>. It is so responsive to any of the others, you can throw it around really easy. I really want to see how that new clutch of yours makes it even more responsive. How awsome! Thanks, Honk

PS; Got my exhaust tips back from being polished and chromed. They look sweet, and now you will be able to clean the black crap off easily.

:hallo1: The Red ones are pretty fast TOO!! :doh: