2001 Yamaha Phazer Deluxe Vintage Review

At the turn of the last century — or a mere decade ago — Yamaha’s lineup for 2001 looked like this: the three-cylinder, liquid-cooled 696cc SRX for top performance; three flavors of SX-R (700cc, 600cc or 500cc) for top trail handling; the Vmax Deluxe with similar two-stroke power for solo touring riders; the Venture, a full-fledged touring sled with room and power for two; and, to entice new riders or those who wanted Yamaha quality but didn’t want to blow a budget, there was the Phazer 500 Deluxe.

Just 15 years earlier in the mid-1980s, Yamaha introduced one of its most successful snowmobiles ever, the Phazer. This was when Arctic Cat had fallen upon tough economic times and was literally in between ownership groups. A strong Number 2 in the snowmobile marketplace, Yamaha ascended to primacy with Cat’s demise and strove to create innovative products that would be fun and efficient for snowmobilers. The original Phazer was a homerun. It was relatively light in weight, basically bulletproof and competitively priced.

Yamaha’s original Phazer proved to be a sales success and showcased a unique headlight fairing and telescopic strut front suspension.

The Phazer was the culmination of Yamaha engineering theory borrowed from the higher performance models like the born-again Yamaha SRX, which Yamaha wanted to be the best of all high-performance sleds. While the Phazer would share some of the SRX’s flat panel styling and the uniquely Yamaha Telescopic Strut Suspension, the trail sport Phazer was destined for a broader role and relied on a fan-cooled twin for power.

The 1984 original reintroduced a handlebar-mounted headlight and windshield fairing to snowmobiling. First brought to production sleds by Alouette’s Super Brute, the headlight fairing set the Phazer apart from its competition. The headlight would follow the direction of the skis as you steered the sled down the trail.

While some may have thought the fairing was too gimmicky, it wouldn’t matter as the Phazer proved to be extremely adept in the snow and a very good powder handler. Light in weight, nicely priced, fully featured and powered by a fan-cooled twin, the Phazer proved extremely popular.

When the Phazer success began to fade, Yamaha offered an updated Phazer II that was good but did not enjoy the success of the original. By the late 1990s, Yamaha had engineered a new sport chassis and devised a trailing arm suspension to handle the power of the triple cylinder SRX and SX-R models. Just as before — sort of! — Yamaha borrowed from the high performance end to create a budget sport model that had the styling and base pieces of the hot sleds, but could be sold less expensively and would be cost effective for its ownership. Again the ubiquitous 485cc fan-cooled Yamaha twin was chosen. Statistic-wise it matched well with the powerplant Polaris choose for its popular Trail Indy 488. That was the target as by this time Polaris had supplanted Yamaha as Number 1 in market share.

Styled in red, the 2001 Phazer Deluxe featured a fan-cooled twin and plush suspension settings.

Just 10 years ago, the 2001 Yamaha Phazer needed added cachet. Marketing upped the ante by creating a deluxe version of the sled, which it called, quite appropriately, the Phazer Deluxe. In 2001 US dollars, the Phazer Deluxe went for about $600 more than the base model.

Even 10 years later Yamaha’s Phazer Deluxe makes for a stylish trail option.

Essentially the Phazer models were fan-cooled SX-Rs. But, since the Phazer appealed to a more cost-conscious and less aggressive riding clientele, the sleds were fitted with shocks and springs that were designed to give a plush and smooth ride. If you pushed the Phazer into liquid-cooled performance ranges, you recognized the limits of this price-buster model right away. Still, the Phazers came with Yamaha’s latest rocker-shaped plastic ski, which not only added handling agility, but immediately shed more than eight pounds from the sled. As noted, the rear suspension featured easy rider adjustments and shocks complete with a gas cell. The trailing arm front end offered up to nine-inches of travel and the rear permitted 11.5-inches. The ski stance set 42.1-inches from ski centerline to centerline.

The Phazer stretched just light of 109-inches from ski tip to snow flap and measured 47.2-inches in width. The onboard fuel supply measured 12 US gallons and the oil tank for the Yamaha Autolube oil injection system held up to 3.5-quarts of Yamalube.

The 2001 Phazer Deluxe came with Yamaha’s latest rocker-shaped ski for improved trail handling.

The 2001 Phazer Deluxe showcased a top line 121-inch track with 0.92-inch lug profile and pattern that emulated the one used on the top-of-the-line SRX. This budget sport sled delivered very good on-trail performance.

Priced at US$5,399 in 2001, the Yamaha Phazer Deluxe didn’t skimp on premium features. In addition to the plush suspensions, the Deluxe offered dial-adjust hand and thumb warmers and a very effective hydraulic disc brake that could be operated with just the pull of a finger. In addition, this model came with a separate mechanical parking brake to help secure the sled when trailering. A mid-height windshield was standard, but there were optional ones if you preferred.

Since this was the deluxe version, factory-installed electric start and mechanical reverse were included.

The 2001 Phazer Deluxe may have been the second lowest priced sled from Yamaha in 2001, but it wanted for very little as its fan-cooled engine weighed less than any of the liquid-cooled models and it featured modern electronic ignition, Mikuni carburetor and an aluminum tunnel with poly hood and belly pan materials. 

If you find a 2001 Phazer Deluxe on the used sled lot, check it out. If it wasn’t abused, it should still be an excellent value.

The latest iteration, the 2011 Phazer uses a high revving liquid-cooled twin.

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