mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
To my surprise it started snowing like crazy Friday night and I couldn't take it anymore. So at 7am Saturday morning I went for a ride. The conditions were good except where any trucks or quads had been down the trails. With the weight of the vehicles and ground not being frozen they would destroy the trail, where the sled applies much less pressure. There were some bad spots that needed to be avoided from the trucks and quads but there were some awesome power lines and untouched trails as well. I spent quite a bit of time cleaning up the trail due to the heavy snow leaning some of the trees over making it impassable. I headed from Houghton Lake towards Meredith and towards St. Helens as well. The trip totaled 115 miles. The power of this sled never ceases to amaze me! It is so smooth and strong.
TY truly does rock for many reasons some listed below.
1. The Apex drive shaft bearing is most likely bad after the first season. I looked at mine this weekend thanks to TY and found it dry as a bone and rusted. (WHY is this happening?)
2. Goo Gone will remove stickers from a windshield without making a mess. (Info from TY)
3. My Apex is still backfiring when I am at high speeds and let off the gas completely. The dealer and Yamaha worked on it at the end of last year and had no idea why it was happening. They found a cut in a fuel line and thought that was the problem. Thanks to TY I know exactly what the problem is and can take the sled in this year to have them replace the exhaust gaskets.
I have added some things to my sled and include:
Yamaha blue skid plate
Yamaha blue shock covers
ROX 2" pivot riser
USI Project X skis
The riser works excellent. It is much more comfortable to stand up now. (I am in the 5'8" - 5'9" range)
The skis were incredible so far with a minor exception. They took away my fear of heavy steering as they were incredibly light in steering effort. Power steering like when under power, heavy at a stop or very low speed. On the down side the turning radius and bite was not there. I do not think there is enough ski pressure. I have the skis in the back mounting position and will move them forward a hole.
I also have the "big boy" spring installed. I weigh about 170-175 with gear and turned my dampening this year to soft and bumped the cam up to the number two position. It was still too soft on the trail. I increased the dampening by about 8 clicks and moved the cam to the 4th position. I only went about 5 miles with this setting and it seems good so far but will need more testing to know for sure. If you could not tell I ride aggressive!
It was great to make it out on the trails again with all the fresh snow. I hope things freeze up soon and much more snow is on the way.
TY truly does rock for many reasons some listed below.
1. The Apex drive shaft bearing is most likely bad after the first season. I looked at mine this weekend thanks to TY and found it dry as a bone and rusted. (WHY is this happening?)
2. Goo Gone will remove stickers from a windshield without making a mess. (Info from TY)
3. My Apex is still backfiring when I am at high speeds and let off the gas completely. The dealer and Yamaha worked on it at the end of last year and had no idea why it was happening. They found a cut in a fuel line and thought that was the problem. Thanks to TY I know exactly what the problem is and can take the sled in this year to have them replace the exhaust gaskets.
I have added some things to my sled and include:
Yamaha blue skid plate
Yamaha blue shock covers
ROX 2" pivot riser
USI Project X skis
The riser works excellent. It is much more comfortable to stand up now. (I am in the 5'8" - 5'9" range)
The skis were incredible so far with a minor exception. They took away my fear of heavy steering as they were incredibly light in steering effort. Power steering like when under power, heavy at a stop or very low speed. On the down side the turning radius and bite was not there. I do not think there is enough ski pressure. I have the skis in the back mounting position and will move them forward a hole.
I also have the "big boy" spring installed. I weigh about 170-175 with gear and turned my dampening this year to soft and bumped the cam up to the number two position. It was still too soft on the trail. I increased the dampening by about 8 clicks and moved the cam to the 4th position. I only went about 5 miles with this setting and it seems good so far but will need more testing to know for sure. If you could not tell I ride aggressive!
It was great to make it out on the trails again with all the fresh snow. I hope things freeze up soon and much more snow is on the way.
Attachments
APEX 21
Expert
lucky duck. YEP your correct about the driver bearing/speedo side. Yamaha is dropping the ball on this issue. They should put a grease zerk to get the moisture out. I'll be the first in line to buy a kit if one is made.
- Joined
- Apr 13, 2003
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- 21,323
- Age
- 54
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- Schofield, WI
- Website
- www.totallyamaha.com
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- Snowmobile
- 2020 Sidewinder SRX
Great Start 
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
Put on about 308 miles this weekend. About 260 of those miles on Saturday. I rode from Houghton Lake to Gaylord and back on Saturday. I left at about 8:00am and did not return until around 3:00PM. 243 miles round trip. In the morning the trails were great. The ground was still soft though and if you were not careful you could tare the trail up. Even if you were careful there were soft spots that turned to mud holes very quickly. The trip back from Gaylord was very hit and miss after all the traffic hit the trail. There were some very bad spots yet still very good spots as well. This was the first major ride after moving my cam to the fourth setting. I hit an unexpected mound when riding and still blew through the shock. Looks like I may need to go up another setting or two. Next year I may send the shock to Bruce at Pioneer for a revalve. I will have to see though as I still have three more clicks of adjustment.
As far as my USI PX301 skis go.... I hate them right now. I have an email in to USI to see if they can help at all. The skis are pretty much impossible to move from a stop and hard to turn at low speeds. Once underway they are light but will not turn worth a darn. I am about ready to put the stockers back on. When I replaced the skis I put them on my Dad's Venture. I took the Venture out on Sunday for about 50 miles and loved the handling!
Sunday's ride consisted of mostly one trackers and seasonal roads as the trails were shot. I enjoy doing this rides as I usually find things I did not know were there. Like the 8 mile flat long wide seasonal rode I found this weekend, or the swamp with a mini viewing platform that I also found this weekend. I have rode this area for many many years and never knew these things were there.
Houghton Lake was froze over when I woke up this morning and the ground is frozen as well! Now we need more snow!
I took my sled to the dealer on Sunday to have the backfiring and speedo bearing fixed. Also they are going to flush the coolant as well.
Also notice the awesome stickers on my windshield. All in thanks to John (REDMATER)! Great work John!
As far as my USI PX301 skis go.... I hate them right now. I have an email in to USI to see if they can help at all. The skis are pretty much impossible to move from a stop and hard to turn at low speeds. Once underway they are light but will not turn worth a darn. I am about ready to put the stockers back on. When I replaced the skis I put them on my Dad's Venture. I took the Venture out on Sunday for about 50 miles and loved the handling!
Sunday's ride consisted of mostly one trackers and seasonal roads as the trails were shot. I enjoy doing this rides as I usually find things I did not know were there. Like the 8 mile flat long wide seasonal rode I found this weekend, or the swamp with a mini viewing platform that I also found this weekend. I have rode this area for many many years and never knew these things were there.
Houghton Lake was froze over when I woke up this morning and the ground is frozen as well! Now we need more snow!
I took my sled to the dealer on Sunday to have the backfiring and speedo bearing fixed. Also they are going to flush the coolant as well.
Also notice the awesome stickers on my windshield. All in thanks to John (REDMATER)! Great work John!
Attachments
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
Rode to St. Helen's and back on Friday. Trails were in decent shape. Rode to Roscommon and back on Saturday after a group of us did some trail brushing on the west trail in Houghton Lake.
A crew is coming in this week to install culverts and raise the trail. It is a very wet trail and was not even groomed last year due to how wet it was. A couple sleds passed through when we were working. I estimate the water in the trail was close to 2 feet deep. It sure will be nice to ride the trail once they get it fixed. The grant for the repairs totaled $45,000.
The trails Saturday started to deteriorate at the end of the day due to the warm weather again. There were sleds out on Houghton Lake this weekend. I could not believe it. I measured about 2.5"-3" of ice. Not enough for me! Although you would be fine as long as you did not stop.
On Sunday I spent my time on seasonal roads and two tracks. There was still plenty of snow there. The trails were done though. This warm weather is ticking me off. It is not supposed to get colder again until next Wed. That means all of the snow will be gone, and the lake is going to open back up and we will have to start over again.
Not to mention how ticked off I get when I see my favorite scenery in the trails destroyed by all the logging that is taking place.
I rode my Dad's 2000 Venture 500 XL this weekend as the Apex is being fixed (bad exhaust gaskets and pipe). It was a blast to ride! It corners great. It is a very smooth engine and is great for the twisties. Not enough power for me though after riding an Apex.
I figured there is no need in posting a start mileage picture for the Venture, as others will be riding it so I posted the trip meter for the weekend.
Total mileage to date between the two sleds: 661
A crew is coming in this week to install culverts and raise the trail. It is a very wet trail and was not even groomed last year due to how wet it was. A couple sleds passed through when we were working. I estimate the water in the trail was close to 2 feet deep. It sure will be nice to ride the trail once they get it fixed. The grant for the repairs totaled $45,000.
The trails Saturday started to deteriorate at the end of the day due to the warm weather again. There were sleds out on Houghton Lake this weekend. I could not believe it. I measured about 2.5"-3" of ice. Not enough for me! Although you would be fine as long as you did not stop.
On Sunday I spent my time on seasonal roads and two tracks. There was still plenty of snow there. The trails were done though. This warm weather is ticking me off. It is not supposed to get colder again until next Wed. That means all of the snow will be gone, and the lake is going to open back up and we will have to start over again.
Not to mention how ticked off I get when I see my favorite scenery in the trails destroyed by all the logging that is taking place. I rode my Dad's 2000 Venture 500 XL this weekend as the Apex is being fixed (bad exhaust gaskets and pipe). It was a blast to ride! It corners great. It is a very smooth engine and is great for the twisties. Not enough power for me though after riding an Apex.
I figured there is no need in posting a start mileage picture for the Venture, as others will be riding it so I posted the trip meter for the weekend.
Total mileage to date between the two sleds: 661
Attachments
Indy
TY 4 Stroke God
I put on 425 this last week in the lower. I rode the new trail to Cheboygan and on to the bridge, and west towards Cross Village and Petosky. I don't know how to load the photos from my phone yet.
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
GypsyRoots said:Very nice! You have trees!!!!
Nice pics! Do you ride that much often?
A little different scenery huh? If conditions are good on a 2 and a half day weekend I will on average ride 350-450 miles. Would you mind sending some of that snow and cold temps you have this way? Keep the pictures coming from your area. I would love to get up there sometime!
Indy, how was the new trail. I am looking forward to trying it out this year. I am not looking forward to the speed limit though. How were the conditions?
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
GypsyRoots I said the word in one of your other threads!!
No snow and the lake pretty much opened up with the exception of the East Bay. Spotted two bald eagles on the ice. Quite the sight!
I spent most of the weekend cleaning my sled. I added power steering plates, adjusted for toe out, hooked my electric shield right to the battery with an inline fuse, and broke the new pipes in. They burned for quite awhile.
Waiting for snow.
No snow and the lake pretty much opened up with the exception of the East Bay. Spotted two bald eagles on the ice. Quite the sight!
I spent most of the weekend cleaning my sled. I added power steering plates, adjusted for toe out, hooked my electric shield right to the battery with an inline fuse, and broke the new pipes in. They burned for quite awhile.
Waiting for snow.
Attachments
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
Finally some riding again. It has been over a month since the last ride.
I went to Munising and rode Friday and Saturday. I trails were pretty bad. Ice base with fluffy lake effect. 8 for the most part was beat up pretty bad. Over all it was still a blast (thanks Mike) and was much better then no riding at all.
This was also my first ride with the new flex pipes and exhaust, which were replaced under warranty. FINALLY no more backfiring it was very nice to ride and not have flames and the loud sound of the backfire behind me.
My gas mileage was horrible for some reason. The 03 RX-1 and SRX I was riding with were getting better mileage then me. Granted I am either off the throttle or have it to the bar when I ride... That just might be part of it
It was probably somewhere around 10mpg.
Total miles in Munising were around 390 miles.
Sunday night I returned to Houghton Lake and it had snowed quite a bit. I measured 9 inches of snow on the ground. I did some lake riding and then went to St. Helens and back. From there I went down to Meredith and back up half way and took the trail up the west side of the Lake and hopped back on the Lake at the North Bay. The trails were great in my opinion. Especially after riding some of the huge moguls in the UP.
The corners were not ice and I could finally rail hard through them. Which led to me to realizing the skis still turn hard after installing USI’s power steering plates, but they do dig in a lot more then they did before the plates. I am starting to come around to the skis now. I even saw both the groomer’s running at night. With a lot of the snow being fluff it did not amount to much of a base, but it was still a base (finally)! I put on a little over 200 miles.
I also turned my headlight adjustment all the way down on my Apex before the trip and I can finally see when driving with my brights on at night. The only time they are to high now is when I am at 85-100% power. Even then they are just a touch to high.
I did also get to install the new bars before I left. I AM VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THEM. They are not even close to the amount of heat they should be putting out IMO. Yes, they are better but still not good! I am at a loss here. I do not want to put hand guards on just to have warm hands or buy gauntlets. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO. I have a 2 inch riser and understand that puts them in the wind even more but I stopped after a couple mile stretch of almost full power and touched them with my bare hands and they were mild at best.
I spoke with Yamaha and they are asking me take it to the dealer before they will even document it as a problem. They are only filing it as a complaint until the dealer looks at it. I know everyone is tired of hearing about it and talking about it but I need to rant. It is very frustrating for me to deal with this issue. The handwarmers simply need to produce heat like they have on all of their other previous sleds. We are not talking about anything complex here whatsoever. I am Yamaha 110%, their designs, quality, reliability, and fit and finish are second to none. I know they are better then this. I just wish they would take care of all of us on this issue. Yamaha, I had to pay extra money out of my pocket for this fix that did not work, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know you can come up with a better solution and hope you do soon.
Next plan for the sled is a 13mm sway bar. I think it will give me the flat cornering I am looking for and hope it will also lighten up the steering with less body roll.
As in all of my previous posts, the bottom line is, THIS SLED ROCKS!!! Thank you YAMAHA! I am impressed every time. Enjoy the pics.
Total miles to date: 1,214
I went to Munising and rode Friday and Saturday. I trails were pretty bad. Ice base with fluffy lake effect. 8 for the most part was beat up pretty bad. Over all it was still a blast (thanks Mike) and was much better then no riding at all.
This was also my first ride with the new flex pipes and exhaust, which were replaced under warranty. FINALLY no more backfiring it was very nice to ride and not have flames and the loud sound of the backfire behind me.
My gas mileage was horrible for some reason. The 03 RX-1 and SRX I was riding with were getting better mileage then me. Granted I am either off the throttle or have it to the bar when I ride... That just might be part of it
It was probably somewhere around 10mpg.Total miles in Munising were around 390 miles.
Sunday night I returned to Houghton Lake and it had snowed quite a bit. I measured 9 inches of snow on the ground. I did some lake riding and then went to St. Helens and back. From there I went down to Meredith and back up half way and took the trail up the west side of the Lake and hopped back on the Lake at the North Bay. The trails were great in my opinion. Especially after riding some of the huge moguls in the UP.
The corners were not ice and I could finally rail hard through them. Which led to me to realizing the skis still turn hard after installing USI’s power steering plates, but they do dig in a lot more then they did before the plates. I am starting to come around to the skis now. I even saw both the groomer’s running at night. With a lot of the snow being fluff it did not amount to much of a base, but it was still a base (finally)! I put on a little over 200 miles.
I also turned my headlight adjustment all the way down on my Apex before the trip and I can finally see when driving with my brights on at night. The only time they are to high now is when I am at 85-100% power. Even then they are just a touch to high.
I did also get to install the new bars before I left. I AM VERY UNHAPPY ABOUT THEM. They are not even close to the amount of heat they should be putting out IMO. Yes, they are better but still not good! I am at a loss here. I do not want to put hand guards on just to have warm hands or buy gauntlets. I SHOULD NOT HAVE TO. I have a 2 inch riser and understand that puts them in the wind even more but I stopped after a couple mile stretch of almost full power and touched them with my bare hands and they were mild at best.
I spoke with Yamaha and they are asking me take it to the dealer before they will even document it as a problem. They are only filing it as a complaint until the dealer looks at it. I know everyone is tired of hearing about it and talking about it but I need to rant. It is very frustrating for me to deal with this issue. The handwarmers simply need to produce heat like they have on all of their other previous sleds. We are not talking about anything complex here whatsoever. I am Yamaha 110%, their designs, quality, reliability, and fit and finish are second to none. I know they are better then this. I just wish they would take care of all of us on this issue. Yamaha, I had to pay extra money out of my pocket for this fix that did not work, it leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I know you can come up with a better solution and hope you do soon.
Next plan for the sled is a 13mm sway bar. I think it will give me the flat cornering I am looking for and hope it will also lighten up the steering with less body roll.
As in all of my previous posts, the bottom line is, THIS SLED ROCKS!!! Thank you YAMAHA! I am impressed every time. Enjoy the pics.
Total miles to date: 1,214
Attachments
Hey Marc, anytime you want to tag along with us again, you are more than welcome. Both Dan @ I had a great time despite the thin conditions. 390 miles was not that bad considering the conds. Also thanks for driving the truck back from Foogys. I would have hated to get pulled over in Da UP. Also notice I changed by user name. I just realized that somebody already has 2Blue4U and I did mine as 2Blu4U. Very small diff. I need to come up with something original. Mike
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
Anytime there is sledding you know I am there. Hopefully Dan is feeling alright, I am sure he took quite a beating with the SRX in the moguls!
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
This past weekend was difficult as far as riding goes. I went to warm up the sled Friday night and heard a strange squeaking noise underneath. Found the center wheel bearing on the rear axle was toast. Must have been for some time as the wheel was starting to get hallowed out. The spacer next to it was also worn out pretty bad. Replaced the wheel and spacer Saturday and found all but a handful of clips were left on my track and my hyfax was shot just in front of the front wheels on both sides. I have never had a hyfax problem.
Clips were completely replaced somewhere around 1,000 miles ago. Hyfax were being a real pain coming off and back on, not sure why but it is usually an easy fix. Maybe it was my frustration that was interfering.
So I spent Friday night and some of Saturday on the Venture again. Picked up about 60 miles on the Venture. We started to head to St. Helens late Friday night not but the freezing drizzle made things very difficult to see so we turned around.
Saturday we did a couple trips on the lake and did some Polar Bear dipping at Tip Up Town!
Late Saturday the Apex was good to go minus not having any clips. We headed to St. Helen and started to go to Roscommon but the trails were bad all the way to St. Helen and about 5 miles towards Roscommon determined they were not getting any better. They were very bumpy and snirty. So we headed back. We then did some lake running which was great. I love running on Houghton Lake it is a pure rush. Long and flat, I can ride miles on end pinned. On our way back off the lake about 8 miles out my belt blew, probably in the 70-80mph range. It was shredded. The cords of the belt wrapped in the secondary not allowing it to close.
We removed the secondary and doubled up to the cabin. We then torched the cords and backed the helix bolts out a few turns and finally got it to close. Rode back and installed the secondary back on the sled with a new belt. Man there goes my foam padding on the side panels. It ripped a couple good portions of it off and I am sure you all know how much of a mess a blown belt is to clean up.
Sunday was a great riding day. I spent a lot of time lake riding. I am guessing I picked up around 120 miles on the lake. For those of you not familiar with Houghton Lake, it is Michigan’s largest inland lake. It has 32 miles of shoreline.
I tried the Houghton Lake trails Sunday but they were very snirty. I then tried the trail heading north towards Kalkaska. To my surprise it was better especially the further north I went, as far as whiteness of the trails go. They eventually became very bumpy with many very nasty washouts which my shock blows through. So I headed back after about 30 miles.
I spent the rest of the time lake running on Sunday. What a blast.
I raced in several impromptu races which is tons of fun. I went against, SRX's, SXVipers, RX-1's, and a Cat ZR900 just to name a few.
The RX-1 race was hillarious. We lined up and all I saw was his skis come off the ground and never set down as he pulled me from the get go at a very steady fast pace. Under my helmet I just grinned as I said Turbo! Sure enough stage 2 turbo under the hood.
My sled is now at the dealer for the week for new clips and checking for problems with my fuel mileage. Avg 11-12mpg. Not good. I am also getting sputtering after a long full throttle pull and then let off. Hopefully they figure something out.
At least the lake is awesome riding now. I can't wait for next weekend.
Picked up about 350 miles with my Apex this weekend.
I will post pictures later.
Clips were completely replaced somewhere around 1,000 miles ago. Hyfax were being a real pain coming off and back on, not sure why but it is usually an easy fix. Maybe it was my frustration that was interfering.
So I spent Friday night and some of Saturday on the Venture again. Picked up about 60 miles on the Venture. We started to head to St. Helens late Friday night not but the freezing drizzle made things very difficult to see so we turned around.
Saturday we did a couple trips on the lake and did some Polar Bear dipping at Tip Up Town!
Late Saturday the Apex was good to go minus not having any clips. We headed to St. Helen and started to go to Roscommon but the trails were bad all the way to St. Helen and about 5 miles towards Roscommon determined they were not getting any better. They were very bumpy and snirty. So we headed back. We then did some lake running which was great. I love running on Houghton Lake it is a pure rush. Long and flat, I can ride miles on end pinned. On our way back off the lake about 8 miles out my belt blew, probably in the 70-80mph range. It was shredded. The cords of the belt wrapped in the secondary not allowing it to close.
We removed the secondary and doubled up to the cabin. We then torched the cords and backed the helix bolts out a few turns and finally got it to close. Rode back and installed the secondary back on the sled with a new belt. Man there goes my foam padding on the side panels. It ripped a couple good portions of it off and I am sure you all know how much of a mess a blown belt is to clean up.
Sunday was a great riding day. I spent a lot of time lake riding. I am guessing I picked up around 120 miles on the lake. For those of you not familiar with Houghton Lake, it is Michigan’s largest inland lake. It has 32 miles of shoreline.
I tried the Houghton Lake trails Sunday but they were very snirty. I then tried the trail heading north towards Kalkaska. To my surprise it was better especially the further north I went, as far as whiteness of the trails go. They eventually became very bumpy with many very nasty washouts which my shock blows through. So I headed back after about 30 miles.
I spent the rest of the time lake running on Sunday. What a blast.
I raced in several impromptu races which is tons of fun. I went against, SRX's, SXVipers, RX-1's, and a Cat ZR900 just to name a few.
The RX-1 race was hillarious. We lined up and all I saw was his skis come off the ground and never set down as he pulled me from the get go at a very steady fast pace. Under my helmet I just grinned as I said Turbo! Sure enough stage 2 turbo under the hood.
My sled is now at the dealer for the week for new clips and checking for problems with my fuel mileage. Avg 11-12mpg. Not good. I am also getting sputtering after a long full throttle pull and then let off. Hopefully they figure something out.
At least the lake is awesome riding now. I can't wait for next weekend.
Picked up about 350 miles with my Apex this weekend.
I will post pictures later.
Kinda funny how I also had to spend about 5 frustrating hours in the garage on Fri replacing hyfax. (You dont think it had anything to do with 370 miles of UP dirt and cement do ya?) Usually they are a breeze but not this time. I tried to find you at the polar dip on Sat. You got to be out of your mind to jump in that cold a%& water. Good to see that an old school rx1 put you in your place this weekend. Give me a couple hundred dollars and I think my old 1 ton may pull a sled or two on ya. JK
mdkuni
TY 4 Stroke Guru
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