2011 RS Venture Question

[DaveTess]

Well last season was the maiden voyage of our 2011 RS Venture and we had a great time. Love the sled.
Couple questions to you Venture RS owners.

Studs and Tunnel Protectors. Whats your thoughts? Any pictures would help. How hard to install yourself? Necessary? We only ride groomed trails at a moderate pace. Not a speed demon by any means!

Luggage storage for a day trip. What did you do for bags? Tank, Saddle, windshield, what do you use? The sled has little to no storage.

Darting. I managed to get some of the darting eliminated by relaxing the spring in the middle of the track. It was suggested that I stiffen the front shocks and put more load on the springs therefore on the ski's.

Thoughts on carrying a spare belt.

I just dropped the sled off yesterday to have it checked, oil and chain oil replaced and a general pre season check. Started right up a few weeks back after storage for the summer so I must have done something right.

Any help or suggestions would be great.

We bought the sled last November and manageg to get 800km's on it with such a poor winter. Want to do a lot more this season. The new sleds are a far cry from the last one we owned, 1972 Motoski Zephyr! Wow thats old.

Thanks for your help.

Dave and Tess

 

[oldguy2]

Unless you ride a lot of icy trails I would not bother with studs. In my opinion they are more trouble than they are worth. The darting can be cut down a lot with dual carbides on the skis. Start with the suspension set up. Just do a search on this site and you will find out all the info. As far as storage goes, we put saddlebags on and a rear rack bag. Your GT is different than ours as it has a rear trunk. There is a rear rack that you can put a large bag in also. Get yourself a accessories catalogs. They are all in there. Oh, and get a skid plate. It may save an engine.

 

[oldguy2]

I know how you feel about the difference in machines. We left Ontario in 1980 and didn't sled again until 2007. And yes, I always carry a spare belt. Also I just installed an extra wide extra extra tall windshield. It seems to work well. If you need help with the suspension set up, pm me and I can walk you through it. At least you will have a place to start.

 

[new4stroker]

I have a 2011 RS Venture and love it as well. I am very happy. I have a tank bag that I have modified to fit on the rear deck and I am hoping to add a handle bar bag soon.

 

[dexter]

simmons skis and I run 75mph with one hand. dont bother wasting your time with the stockers. worthless and they lack any sort of floatation.

 

[raftdaddy]

simmons skis and I run 75mph with one hand. dont bother wasting your time with the stockers. worthless and they lack any sort of floatation.

i just put a set og gen III simmons on floatation is a big difrence but i have to change the entire suspension now. if you guys find the magic suspension set up please post it!!! and any tricks to the track tension and noise would be a huge bonus too!!! ,oh i have a 2010 venture gt that is new to me with 750 kms and it needs to be set up properly

 

[oldguy2]

Well, there is a post in here somewhere, But I can help you get started. It depends on if you are riding 2up, but your basic starting place is the front track shock. A couple of adjuster wrenches makes the job a lot easier. Back the front shock off until you have only about 2 threads left. Now you have put most of the weight on the skis. It will be very hard to turn now, so back off the front ski shocks to about 1/4 threads left. Take it for a blast with your normal weight. If it won't turn, mark the threads where you start, and start tightening the shock nut about 1/2 inch at a time. Every time you adjust it, take it for a blast until you get the handling you want. The spring adjustment blocks can be changed to get you the best ride. There is nothing you can do about the track noise without pouring a bunch of money into it. Loosen the track off to about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of free sag. This helps cut down the slide wear. Also, put on a marginal snow wheel kit. This also helps. The slides seem to wear so far and then stop.Let me know if you need more info.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

Three links to suspension set-ups:

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=venture

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... e&start=15 (links on 2nd page of this one)

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=venture