Sorry for the shaky/off center footage. Hard to do this one-handed.
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MassiveOverkill
Let me put it to you this way: My 98 lb wife would never go in the Viking with me on winter nights because of the cold (it also has a soft cab). I don't have a heater in there yet (still debating if I need it), and we've gone out to dinner twice in it with our daughter. On a sunny day, you don't need a heater. The glass\vinyl panels just act like magnifying glasses and warm up the cab. I do have some air coming in around the steering wheel but I plan on making a block-off plate so air isn't being forced in through the wheel well.
Pros:
-Wife and daughter approved = more winter family trips to town in it and extended trail riding season
-Dust reduction in the cab
-The beauty of the X4 is that I no longer have to wash anything that was formerly stored in the bed of my Viking. All your stuff is weather protected (even without the soft cab the sun roof helped with this aspect)
-No major reduction in visibility
-No need to remove cab in the summer, just roll back the windows
-Valuables are more concealed. I think I can leave my $300 brushless chainsaw in there with less concern of it getting stolen.
Cons:
-Cost: at $900 without discounts, it's 3x as expensive as my former SxSEnclosures soft cab for my Viking. To be fair, there's more material and this is waaaaaaayy better engineered (compared to the Viking model, we'll have to see what SxSEnclosures comes up with for the X4)
-Slight increase in engine noise as the cab now acts as a sort of echo chamber
-it's not a hard cab
-won't work with side mirrors that mount to the roll cage but I'm satisfied with my panoramic rear view mirror. The only thing I miss with side mirrors is backing out of my garage and making sure I don't hit anything such as my car parked poorly by my wife
The following is both a pro and con. Getting in and out. Yes you have to unzip the window every time you get in and out (during the winter), which adds to the yoga you have to do to get in and out of the X4 in the first place. That being said, it's really not that bad and it's easy to zip/unzip. You see the trouble I had to do unzip the rear window one-handed in the video but it's effortless with two hands.
I can't say if window fogging is going to be an issue. So far it hasn't, but I don't have enough time in it with the cab to make a determination yet.
Pros:
-Wife and daughter approved = more winter family trips to town in it and extended trail riding season
-Dust reduction in the cab
-The beauty of the X4 is that I no longer have to wash anything that was formerly stored in the bed of my Viking. All your stuff is weather protected (even without the soft cab the sun roof helped with this aspect)
-No major reduction in visibility
-No need to remove cab in the summer, just roll back the windows
-Valuables are more concealed. I think I can leave my $300 brushless chainsaw in there with less concern of it getting stolen.
Cons:
-Cost: at $900 without discounts, it's 3x as expensive as my former SxSEnclosures soft cab for my Viking. To be fair, there's more material and this is waaaaaaayy better engineered (compared to the Viking model, we'll have to see what SxSEnclosures comes up with for the X4)
-Slight increase in engine noise as the cab now acts as a sort of echo chamber
-it's not a hard cab
-won't work with side mirrors that mount to the roll cage but I'm satisfied with my panoramic rear view mirror. The only thing I miss with side mirrors is backing out of my garage and making sure I don't hit anything such as my car parked poorly by my wife
The following is both a pro and con. Getting in and out. Yes you have to unzip the window every time you get in and out (during the winter), which adds to the yoga you have to do to get in and out of the X4 in the first place. That being said, it's really not that bad and it's easy to zip/unzip. You see the trouble I had to do unzip the rear window one-handed in the video but it's effortless with two hands.
I can't say if window fogging is going to be an issue. So far it hasn't, but I don't have enough time in it with the cab to make a determination yet.
Figured out what that extra magnet piece was in the video, when you roll up your front windows, the magnetic piece there will attach to the corresponding one that I thought initially was misplaced
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As with my Rhino and Viking, air comes in around the steering wheel column. I created an air dam, first mocked up in cardboard and then transposed to Plexiglas. I wanted to use black plastic but had to settle for pg instead.
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It does make a difference and to improve on the design, I'd make another piece going in parallel with the chassis to the left of the existing piece. I'm thinking about making a corresponding piece on the passenger side to prevent dirt and splash from getting up there.
As with my Rhino and Viking, air comes in around the steering wheel column. I created an air dam, first mocked up in cardboard and then transposed to Plexiglas. I wanted to use black plastic but had to settle for pg instead.
It does make a difference and to improve on the design, I'd make another piece going in parallel with the chassis to the left of the existing piece. I'm thinking about making a corresponding piece on the passenger side to prevent dirt and splash from getting up there.
Thank you MOK for taking the time to post all that info and vid. I think you have me sold on a soft cab.
It's been a year and wanted to update my experience on the Yamaha OEM soft cab
The biggest failure point on soft cabs are the zippers. If they fail, your soft cab is useless unless you can find someone to sew on new ones.
I had a scare last week where my driver's side window zipper wouldn't zip. After inspecting it further I discovered the zipper teeth were fine and that I had to adjust the zipper pull. It's pretty easy to do with a pair of channel lock pliers by gently squeezing the end that closes the zipper. I squeezed both the top/bottom and the sides inwards and now the zipper works fine
Repairing/adjusting the zipper pull is a much easier task than having to replace/adjust zipper teeth as was the case on my SxS Enclosures cab that was on my Viking.
I will say SxS customer service is #1 and they did send me a brand new cab enclosure without having to send the old one back.
SxS Enclosures uses molded zipper teeth, which is very prone to breaking/misalignment. Yamaha OEM uses coil zipper teeth, which keeps zipper teeth alignment, stands up to abuse (won't break teeth), and goes around curves much better. Around curves is the most-likely spot that you'll notice your first zipper failure on a molded design.
The windows have their share of light scratches but can still be seen through fairly well. Yamaha provides 2 large chapstick-like lubrication which makes the zipper work buttery smooth. I would suggest cleaning your zippers with soap/water/toothbrush and then applying the 'zipper butter'.
The rear window was rubbing bad where the rear roll bar is so I would install something to cover the rear roll bar, maybe some strips of velcro (loop side not hook) or other soft cloth-like material. Also I now use a small bungee cord to support the center of the the window when it's rolled up.
The biggest failure point on soft cabs are the zippers. If they fail, your soft cab is useless unless you can find someone to sew on new ones.
I had a scare last week where my driver's side window zipper wouldn't zip. After inspecting it further I discovered the zipper teeth were fine and that I had to adjust the zipper pull. It's pretty easy to do with a pair of channel lock pliers by gently squeezing the end that closes the zipper. I squeezed both the top/bottom and the sides inwards and now the zipper works fine
Repairing/adjusting the zipper pull is a much easier task than having to replace/adjust zipper teeth as was the case on my SxS Enclosures cab that was on my Viking.
I will say SxS customer service is #1 and they did send me a brand new cab enclosure without having to send the old one back.
SxS Enclosures uses molded zipper teeth, which is very prone to breaking/misalignment. Yamaha OEM uses coil zipper teeth, which keeps zipper teeth alignment, stands up to abuse (won't break teeth), and goes around curves much better. Around curves is the most-likely spot that you'll notice your first zipper failure on a molded design.
Choosing A Zipper Based on Teeth Material | Decorative Zips and Fashion Trend
One of the easiest ways to distinguish nylon coil zippers, invisible zippers, plastic molded zippers or metal zippers is studying their teeth and the material of which they are made.
www.sbs-zipper.com
The windows have their share of light scratches but can still be seen through fairly well. Yamaha provides 2 large chapstick-like lubrication which makes the zipper work buttery smooth. I would suggest cleaning your zippers with soap/water/toothbrush and then applying the 'zipper butter'.
The rear window was rubbing bad where the rear roll bar is so I would install something to cover the rear roll bar, maybe some strips of velcro (loop side not hook) or other soft cloth-like material. Also I now use a small bungee cord to support the center of the the window when it's rolled up.
Like you said it's very important to keep the zippers clean & lubed. On our trail jeeps some of us simply kept a bar of handsoap onboard. A couple quick rubs up & down the zippers with it was effective(and nearly free!😉)
Watching the video really makes me want one. Thanks for the video Massive. I bought the glass OEM windshield and haven't installed it yet (waiting on both the new X4 and the windshield 
). Do you think there is a way to make the soft cab work with the glass windshield? I know it says they are not compatible but usually where there's a will there's a way. If it can't be done, I'll have to weigh my options of staying with the glass or returning it for poly/cab.
). Do you think there is a way to make the soft cab work with the glass windshield? I know it says they are not compatible but usually where there's a will there's a way. If it can't be done, I'll have to weigh my options of staying with the glass or returning it for poly/cab.
So after year and a half of opening and closing my driver side zipper, it finally broke. Well, to be fair, it broke after I tried adjusting it for the umpteenth time by using pliers to crimp the zipper closed due to zipper wear. I'm a firm believer in the zipper tooth style that Yamaha uses on its OEM soft cabs. The zipper teeth have held up very good and no broken teeth so far. I initially calculated that I put about 2.5 miles of wear on my driver side zipper pull, but considering that I leave my windows rolled up most of the summer, I'm going to cut that figure in half to a little over a mile.
The poor victim
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Now you can buy zipper repair pulls that don't require you to take apart the zipper teeth ends but they're a little expensive (compared to stock and you all know I'm a cheap bastard) and I wanted to keep the OEM look. Whatever you decide, you'll need a 10C double-pull replacement (preferably genuine YYK). I purchased mine from Amazon, which are genuine YYK and bought 4 to do the others when they finally wear out
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HI540G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
First thing you want to do is find the sewn zipper stop at the top of your soft cab door
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Cut the seam
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Install your replacement YYK 10C double zipper with double pulls
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Now, you can try to re-sew in a zipper stop, use a brass zipper stop, or my preferred method would be to simply use some RTV or fabric glue to create one. Really though, I never unzip my zipper all the way back to that spot even when rolling back my windows so unless you're paranoid, you could just leave it as is.
Good as new
The poor victim
Now you can buy zipper repair pulls that don't require you to take apart the zipper teeth ends but they're a little expensive (compared to stock and you all know I'm a cheap bastard) and I wanted to keep the OEM look. Whatever you decide, you'll need a 10C double-pull replacement (preferably genuine YYK). I purchased mine from Amazon, which are genuine YYK and bought 4 to do the others when they finally wear out
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005HI540G/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
First thing you want to do is find the sewn zipper stop at the top of your soft cab door
Cut the seam
Install your replacement YYK 10C double zipper with double pulls
Now, you can try to re-sew in a zipper stop, use a brass zipper stop, or my preferred method would be to simply use some RTV or fabric glue to create one. Really though, I never unzip my zipper all the way back to that spot even when rolling back my windows so unless you're paranoid, you could just leave it as is.
Good as new
So you're still happy with the enclosure? Would you consider sxs enclosure brand now that you have the oem? Oem is 1500$ here in Canada.
The SxS Enclosures version is pretty nice how the sides can zip off completely out of the way. From my understanding the material that they use now is also better than it once was. The zippers are YKK now also, and they include the zipper lube with the top. Massive is right that the windows are not the same size between the 2 different makers, but for the sides, I didn't really notice a lot of blind spots.
The one thing that I have, I am going to modify my OEM rear window to work with the SxS Enclosures version. The OEM rear window functions better for my use than the SxS version.
Customer Service at SxS has been great for me. I worked with them to get my sides modified to work with a couple items, and am sending it back to have a few more modifications made to work better with the things that I have added to my machine.
I would suggest to anyone to buy from SxS Enclosures and do just the sides with the OEM rear. Saves a lot of money and can easily be modified to work the way that you want.
The one thing that I have, I am going to modify my OEM rear window to work with the SxS Enclosures version. The OEM rear window functions better for my use than the SxS version.
Customer Service at SxS has been great for me. I worked with them to get my sides modified to work with a couple items, and am sending it back to have a few more modifications made to work better with the things that I have added to my machine.
I would suggest to anyone to buy from SxS Enclosures and do just the sides with the OEM rear. Saves a lot of money and can easily be modified to work the way that you want.
We have the OEM enclosure on the X4 and are also pleased with the enclosure, we also had it on our 16 Rspec. I am wishing they had included double zipper feet on the zipper so if you are riding with it closed up you can open the top of the door opening to get some venting, fresh air in, but keep out the trail dust and mud/water. So I am going to send for some of those zipper feet you suggested to do that. Good call.
Another issue and we are taking it back to the dealer for a year later now, is that the top of our OEM acrylic windshield bows in at the middle. We asked them to address this issue last summer as we were getting bees and hornets in there and, rain. We tried a pool noodle, pipe insulation but that blew out when trailering on the one trailer. Someone said their dealer did not use a kit that was to be used to reinforce that entire top of the windshield and seal it as well, someone else used a heavy auto gasket, which I feel should be addressed by the manufacturer. Anyone else on this matter? Also, their are one fairly good gaps up in the corners on either side where the roof and windshield meet. Are others like that, almost like the roof front doesn't come down far enough in the front which is causing the entire issue with the windshield. It can't be moved as it is all molded, but maybe a poor mold??
Also, everyone is saying how cool they are riding but when we even have all the windows open the plastic near your legs gets really hot and it get very uncomfortable when riding! We are going to have the dealer check on any of the insulation that should have been installed but, do others have this issue? I have ridden in the back with grandkids and yes it gets too hot to let touch your skin. I had to actually open the read door while going down the trail to get some cooler air around my legs and yes, I had shorts on. I finally had to take a heavy weight seeping bag and drape it in the back seat area so they wouldn't burn their legs on the plastic. So any suggestions would be appreciated but, how much is the manufacture responsible for with that issue?
Thanks for all the information you all share on this site. It was our biggest decision for trading our 16 Rpec for a 19 X4.
Another issue and we are taking it back to the dealer for a year later now, is that the top of our OEM acrylic windshield bows in at the middle. We asked them to address this issue last summer as we were getting bees and hornets in there and, rain. We tried a pool noodle, pipe insulation but that blew out when trailering on the one trailer. Someone said their dealer did not use a kit that was to be used to reinforce that entire top of the windshield and seal it as well, someone else used a heavy auto gasket, which I feel should be addressed by the manufacturer. Anyone else on this matter? Also, their are one fairly good gaps up in the corners on either side where the roof and windshield meet. Are others like that, almost like the roof front doesn't come down far enough in the front which is causing the entire issue with the windshield. It can't be moved as it is all molded, but maybe a poor mold??
Also, everyone is saying how cool they are riding but when we even have all the windows open the plastic near your legs gets really hot and it get very uncomfortable when riding! We are going to have the dealer check on any of the insulation that should have been installed but, do others have this issue? I have ridden in the back with grandkids and yes it gets too hot to let touch your skin. I had to actually open the read door while going down the trail to get some cooler air around my legs and yes, I had shorts on. I finally had to take a heavy weight seeping bag and drape it in the back seat area so they wouldn't burn their legs on the plastic. So any suggestions would be appreciated but, how much is the manufacture responsible for with that issue?
Thanks for all the information you all share on this site. It was our biggest decision for trading our 16 Rpec for a 19 X4.
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