Here’s a bit more of our impressions on the 2007 sleds we’ve been racking miles on this winter…
Yamaha Venture Lite:
Once you get past its weird, blunt-nosed looks there’s a very capable snowmobile hiding inside this insect.
Buried up front is the Phazer’s techy 500cc 4-stroke churning out 80 HP. Top speed is about 75mph but acceleration belies that number with a big 15x 136 inch shoe laying down seamless Yama-torque at trail speeds.
That’s plenty for mainstream 2-up touring and honestly, the comfort level here is impressive for both riders. There’s never been a bigger piece of clear Lexan on a sled in history but it works well.
Handling has required a little fiddling but once tweaked, we’ve made peace with this somewhat unusual sled and are impressed with it.
Yamaha Phazer FX:
Has anything this cool ever looked this weird? After riding it, the Phazer FX has taken us hook, line and sinker.
From first pull and into the mid-range this lightweight torque monster gives the impression it has much bigger displacement. Top end is by no means riveting but on the trails it capably holds its own.
Wind protection is non-existent in stock form and we soon verified it on a cold day. The front tunnel cooler has been prone to clogging with wet snow and creating an overheat condition – a fix is on its way.
Suspension, engine details and instruments are very Yamaha. We can’t help but wonder if a bigger mill could be shoehorned in here and in doing so squeeze out a little more top end from the Phazer chassis.
For the time being, we can’t complain and for the money, neither can you!
