Is my Nytro Normal

Im 5' 10" 215lb give or take and I have to give it to my 5'3" 110lb wife trying her hardest to keep up. I rode her sled today for 30 miles and it took all my physical strength to steer the dang thing. It will stay straight until I throw all I have at it and it will go from straight to hard right or left depending on the turn. I work construction and climb cell towers so im not a whimpy guy. With the sled off the ground the sled turns freely and smoothly. Other then wider handle bars what are my options? I have the rear set on soft and the limiter strap one hole tighter, and the front suspension springs are as soft as possible ( for my wife's riding pleasure ) and the rebound and recoil are soft.

Even with those settings nothing has changed the steering ( better or worse ).

I have to give my wife credit she tried her best to keep up. I just replaced my steering blocks on my 06 apex with stock blocks but I put grease zirks on them, so it turns very easily.

If there is anyone in the Lewis County area that owns a Nytro and wouldn't mind taking mine for a spin to compare, send me a PM.

Shim the skis 1/4 or 1/8 and toe it out 1/2 and take the front strap all the way out. That should help a lot

first of all let the limiter strap back out one hole back to stock.
then tighten up the middle shock(front shock inside track) at least 1/4" of spring preload maybe more.
balancing act....want to decrease ski pressure and make steering easier you soften front ski shocks, soften rear shock and stiffen the middle
want to increase ski pressure and stop pushing thru corners then you do the opposite...stiff fronts, stiff rear and soft middle.
biggest adjustment to steering is the preload, valving second.

The last post was right loosen that limiter strap up 1 for sure. I went even one more from stock. Also if your gonna do anything tighten up the rear limiter strap one notch to start. The rear strap will help and reduce the weight transfer forward and will make the steering a ton better.

The Nytros steer hard, no doubt about it...a smaller person would have a heck of a time controlling one.

A set of easier steering skis will help...Pilots, Kimpex Arrows, or Slydogs, but I don't think it'll help enough. Cranking up the pressure on the center shock will help too, but at the expense of rideability.

In the end, I think your best bet is to sell the Nytro and get a different sled, and not a Yamaha...the other OEMs seem to have better handling, along with easier steering...just my opinion.

Oft relocator helps. Its more push/pull effort, rather then twist up/down, when turning the handle bars. As far as steering, its the best thing ive done so far.

Thanks guys i'll start with changing the stock hardware around first before I buy ski's.

Grimm - I would sell the sled but she likes everything about the sled ( less the steering ). So who knows.

Grimm said:

The Nytros steer hard, no doubt about it...a smaller person would have a heck of a time controlling one.

A set of easier steering skis will help...Pilots, Kimpex Arrows, or Slydogs, but I don't think it'll help enough. Cranking up the pressure on the center shock will help too, but at the expense of rideability.

In the end, I think your best bet is to sell the Nytro and get a different sled, and not a Yamaha...the other OEMs seem to have better handling, along with easier steering...just my opinion.

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I was amazed last year whenever I switched sleds with someone, at how light steering could be. Getting on a Sno Pro 500 off my Nytro the steering felt two light. Getting on a Renegade e-tec in heavy wet snow, going slow it felt almost like the handle bars weren't connected to anything.

In both cases I chocked it up as them being so much lighter. Then I got on a buddies Turbo Cat, and the steering was still 10x lighter than the Nytro. Strange indeed.

All that said, I have a set of RMK Gripper skis on my Nytro that have a pretty deep keel, and I'm sure that contributes to the heavy steering.

Bulldog, what I would suggest (forgive me if you said you've already done it) is putting on an OFT steering relocator. The angle of the steering stem from the factory contributes greatly to the steering effort, IMO, and having the bars sweep more back and forth instead of up and down allows you to push and pull on the bars at the same time, making steering much easier and less tiring.

I still think Yamaha should be embarrassed for not making some simple changes to this sled that would greatly improve it without any real additional cost to them.

bulldogbones said:

Thanks guys i'll start with changing the stock hardware around first before I buy ski's.

Grimm - I would sell the sled but she likes everything about the sled ( less the steering ). So who knows.

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The biggest improvement I've seen to date and last weekend was the first ride with the Slim Jim dual runners, it sure looks like a lot of metal attached to the ski but they really settled the machine down and more happens with less effort. Running with a new cat and xp in all conditions the Nytro felt like it was on rails.

she should be on the apex and you should be on the nytro, and get skis or at least duellies or snowtrackers

-Get different skis.
-Shim the rear of the mount rubber so the front of your carbide is off the ground a llittle. ( On a smooth surface) Either 1/4" or 3/8" shim.
-Try to get your hands on Bergstrom Ski Savers. They help with steering effort.
-Make sure your toed out @1/4".
-Like stated previously, Soften Front and extend Center.

For the shims, if you get the ski savers, Scott B will probably give you the shims.

I can say, first time I rode my sled with the Yamaha skis, it felt like I was wrestling a gorilla. Once I put on Slydogs, Shims, Ski Savers and checked Toe setting it was MUCH easier.

Nine2Nine said:

bulldogbones said:

Thanks guys i'll start with changing the stock hardware around first before I buy ski's.

Grimm - I would sell the sled but she likes everything about the sled ( less the steering ). So who knows.

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The biggest improvement I've seen to date and last weekend was the first ride with the Slim Jim dual runners, it sure looks like a lot of metal attached to the ski but they really settled the machine down and more happens with less effort. Running with a new cat and xp in all conditions the Nytro felt like it was on rails.

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I have a set of the woody's dually carbides on my apex and I love them.

This afternoon I am going to put a set of the Duallies on, shim the ski's 1/4", loosen the front limiter strap up 2 holes and tighten the rear down one hole, I also am going to take a look at the stock blocks and if they are in good shape I will install grease zirks like I did on my apex.

I would rather over do and have feather light steering and work my way back to heavier steering, rather then working at getting it lighter.

I have to agree on the grease fittings. also did my apex, was like adding power steering. just difficult, needed to add lines. nytro is much easier. simply drilled small holes in most of the front end and steering and use needle tip. would guess nytro block wear is way, way less an issue, because of the geometry, apex is magnified because of short shaft and added relay shaft

well I just got rid of the stock carbide and WOW she has been walking on the front of the skis. In other words the sled has 50 miles over 1k and the front carbide was at 40% and the middles were at 70%.

bulldogbones said:

well I just got rid of the stock carbide and WOW she has been walking on the front of the skis. In other words the sled has 50 miles over 1k and the front carbide was at 40% and the middles were at 70%.

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Yup, shim it.