its been a few months now since l first received my very first Henry’s yoyo from my sister who gave it to me for Christmas after finding it a value village one day and l’ve got to say its quite a fun yoyo, its a Cobra that’s red and clear, but its surprisingly big but l do have some questions for mods and maintenance as l’ve just placed an order on YYS for the tiger snake and lizard yoyo since l like my viper so much.
These 3 Henry’s yoyos use the AXYS Systems and what l want to know is there any maintenance on the transaxle and bearing AXYS like regreasing or if its meant to be a consumable product. I would also like to know if there any worth while mods that l should do?
I have several AXYS throws. AXYS assemblies on the Cobra use plastic transaxle, on the Viper it’s a metal ball bearing. The metal ball bearings work perfectly fine to this day, as do the plastic transaxles. The AXYS assembly basically keeps it enclosed.
I don’t think you can service the AXYS assembly. It cannot be taken apart as far as I’ve tried (turning opposing ends). I do not have a non-functioning AXYS assembly I am willing to destroy to see how it’s made.
If it does stop working, you need a new assembly. It looks like Henry’s is still making them. I picked some up but considering the existing ones have been going for 25+ years I’m not particularly worried. They’ll likely outlive me.
As for mods, Cobra and Viper wings are interchangeable. Cobra wings are larger so I put them on the Viper for 4A and visibility purposes. The Viper’s got the aluminum hub as opposed to the Cobra’s plastic, so the extra diameter and rim weight helps the spin. Henry’s gave larger wings to the Cobra to help the plastic transaxle.
Been using Tom Kuhn Turbo Discs response since the 90s. I recently restocked. They last quite a while, at least for 4A. I use only one on one side otherwise it’s too grabby. Since it’s a somewhat adjustable axle, you may want to use some Loctite or plumber tape to stabilize. I prefer plumber tape as it is easier to unscrew and clean up.
I briefly considered metal rings to put inside the wings but the point is the wings are flexible so they can better sustain the inevitable missed catch. You can mod the wings in others ways, like draw on them, drill holes, etc…
With the AXYS you can’t “beefcake” bearings without figuring out the axle (M5) and length and a way to center the bearings. I’ve tried a couple methods but honestly the original hub is just fine as it’s been. You can do 4A on it you can do 4A on anything.
You may be interested in the Rewind Viper Remix. It’s a modern (and larger) successor for modern 4A (they tend to be really large). There’s also the Newt which is closer to the old Viper in size, and it’s intended for 1A/3A/5A.
