2021 Sidewinders

[justinator]

Justinator hit the nail on the head here.

Put an Ultimax belt and boom....all cluching/belt issues are behind you.

Every fall, open chaincase, put new top gear and look everything over. At 8-9000k miles put all new bearings in chaincase. Follow this schedule and boom....all chaincase issues are behind you.

Every fall, take apart left driveshaft bearing, grease and/or replace, add BOP bearing saver and boom....all driveshaft issues are behind you.

Put a tune and boom.....every other swinging dick is behind you!!!

Last Saturday, went riding with the boys and did about 230 miles. Pulled up to the pump, filled up, and after some math I calculated 18 mpg. Some miles later, found myself on the RR bed, gave the SRX a manly squeeze and saw the speedo climb into the 140s.

Woke up Sunday morning, put my 4 year in front of me and went riding at 25-30 mph.

All the above was done with the same tune, same clutching, same everything. Imo....the winder is as good as it gets. Is it perfect? Heck no....but its warm, it handles, it rides, and the only thing that pulls a tuned winder, is another tuned winder!!!

And boom!......mic drop

 

[Frozenstiff]

Amazing how you have to be a design engineer and a mechanic to own a high performance sled these days.
For the price sledders pay for these toys, they should be gas and go, for at least 5 years.
Sleds have got to be the most unreliable toys ever produced. Not everyone wants to constantly mess with a toy that is limited to a few months of enjoyment, and sits in the garage for the other 9 months or so, while the crappy warranty continues to expire. If manufacturers were forced to supply an equivalent sled while warranty work was being completed, maybe, just maybe, they might built reliable sleds. As long as sledders keep buying unreliable sleds, I doubt if quality will improve. Just imagine if every sledder of every brand reused to buy a sled in the same year. Does anyone think that might get their attention, and force them to built a reliable product, with a real warranty, relative to the cost of these unreliable toys ?

 

[RAMSOMAIR]

They could do that in a heartbeat and you'd be paying $30k for a sled

 

[74Nitro]

Amazing how you have to be a design engineer and a mechanic to own a high performance sled these days.
For the price sledders pay for these toys, they should be gas and go, for at least 5 years.
Sleds have got to be the most unreliable toys ever produced. Not everyone wants to constantly mess with a toy that is limited to a few months of enjoyment, and sits in the garage for the other 9 months or so, while the crappy warranty continues to expire. If manufacturers were forced to supply an equivalent sled while warranty work was being completed, maybe, just maybe, they might built reliable sleds. As long as sledders keep buying unreliable sleds, I doubt if quality will improve. Just imagine if every sledder of every brand reused to buy a sled in the same year. Does anyone think that might get their attention, and force them to built a reliable product, with a real warranty, relative to the cost of these unreliable toys ?

You're assuming they never want to sell parts.

 

[Frozenstiff]

They could do that in a heartbeat and you'd be paying $30k for a sled

Why is that ? Does it actually cost more to properly build these sleds the first time ? A simple example of minor problems that can become a major problem is stuff like loose gear clamps on the cooling system. That is just part of quality control, that should never happen. Not everyone wants to have to tear a sled apart to get at these clamps, especially if they start leaking out on the trail, at 20 below. Not a chance in hell I would pay 30K, or 20K or even 15K for a sled, of any brand. The quality and reliability just isn,t there. I like value, for money spent. Sled quality has never been as high quality as motorcycles, or cars and trucks. It should be, but not even close. If there ever was a vehicle that should be covered under the lemon laws, sleds should be at the top of the list. I would think they need the most repair, for miles driven.

 

[74Nitro]

Why is that ? Does it actually cost more to properly build these sleds the first time ? A simple example of minor problems that can become a major problem is stuff like loose gear clamps on the cooling system. That is just part of quality control, that should never happen. Not everyone wants to have to tear a sled apart to get at these clamps, especially if they start leaking out on the trail, at 20 below. Not a chance in hell I would pay 30K, or 20K or even 15K for a sled, of any brand. The quality and reliability just isn,t there. I like value, for money spent. Sled quality has never been as high quality as motorcycles, or cars and trucks. It should be, but not even close. If there ever was a vehicle that should be covered under the lemon laws, sleds should be at the top of the list. I would think they need the most repair, for miles driven.

Seriously?? Drive your car, trck, or street motorcycle down a mogulled out trail at 80 mph and see how it stands up.

 

[SqueezeER]

Amazing how you have to be a design engineer and a mechanic to own a high performance sled these days.
For the price sledders pay for these toys, they should be gas and go, for at least 5 years.
Sleds have got to be the most unreliable toys ever produced. Not everyone wants to constantly mess with a toy that is limited to a few months of enjoyment, and sits in the garage for the other 9 months or so, while the crappy warranty continues to expire. If manufacturers were forced to supply an equivalent sled while warranty work was being completed, maybe, just maybe, they might built reliable sleds. As long as sledders keep buying unreliable sleds, I doubt if quality will improve. Just imagine if every sledder of every brand reused to buy a sled in the same year. Does anyone think that might get their attention, and force them to built a reliable product, with a real warranty, relative to the cost of these unreliable toys ?

100%

 

[Frozenstiff]

Seriously?? Drive your car, trck, or street motorcycle down a mogulled out trail at 80 mph and see how it stands up.

Yes, seriously, these sleds are suppose to be built to run on rough trails, are they not ? When they cost the same price as a small car, there is no reason they shouldn,t be just as reliable. You shouldn,t need to be a mechanic to keep one running without problems..
I would venture to guess, per miles ridden, they have to be near the top of the list for amount of repairs required per miles driven.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Some in depth info from Yamaha....

Addresses the Cat relationship and why they are using Cat's 2s engine(Approx 1:59).

Dan

 

[fourload]

That is one sweet looking 998!

I have to say I thought the TCat looked better in the side view on Cats site, I don't like the looks of the TCat here. Yuck!

https://www.hardcoresledder.com/forums/534-turbo-4-stroke/1870840-2021-thundercat.html#post20415820

I'll be riding my 2017 for quite some time as I have it working so well now! I don't care what anyone came out with!

Yuck is right. It looks nice in my post 18. The grey appears darker. Very deceiving picture. HCS picture is way lighter shade of grey.

 

[WinterWolf]

Justinator hit the nail on the head here.

Put an Ultimax belt and boom....all cluching/belt issues are behind you.

Every fall, open chaincase, put new top gear and look everything over. At 8-9000k miles put all new bearings in chaincase. Follow this schedule and boom....all chaincase issues are behind you.

Every fall, take apart left driveshaft bearing, grease and/or replace, add BOP bearing saver and boom....all driveshaft issues are behind you.

Put a tune and boom.....every other swinging dick is behind you!!!

Last Saturday, went riding with the boys and did about 230 miles. Pulled up to the pump, filled up, and after some math I calculated 18 mpg. Some miles later, found myself on the RR bed, gave the SRX a manly squeeze and saw the speedo climb into the 140s.

Woke up Sunday morning, put my 4 year in front of me and went riding at 25-30 mph.

All the above was done with the same tune, same clutching, same everything. Imo....the winder is as good as it gets. Is it perfect? Heck no....but its warm, it handles, it rides, and the only thing that pulls a tuned winder, is another tuned winder!!!

Dam Glenn,

I don’t now how you see those type of speeds? Maybe I need to change my helix and spring on mine, but I’m nowhere near any of those top
End numbers..never have been. I feel I have a lot more potential in the top end department...but I’ve never even seen speeds in the 120’s on my Winder at all.

But Good for you my friend...that is very impressive.

 

[JPS]

Yes, seriously, these sleds are suppose to be built to run on rough trails, are they not ? When they cost the same price as a small car, there is no reason they shouldn,t be just as reliable. You shouldn,t need to be a mechanic to keep one running without problems..
I would venture to guess, per miles ridden, they have to be near the top of the list for amount of repairs required per miles driven.

You are right on what you say but this is a sport that you know if you have been at it for a while is about the worst investment you can make with your money yet in a strange way i cant help the smile i have when blasting down the trail with the sidewinder that i do bash from time to time. I spent 3 days riding in northern Maine last weekend, put on 700 miles and loved every minute. the GF and i towed 650 miles to ride those 3 days and thats the 2nd time i did that this winter and worth every penny. In the end i will keep wrenching on our Yamahas to keep them in top condition and patiently wait to get back on the snow next season. Its a lifestyle.

 

[Fleecer]

Dam Glenn,

I don’t now how you see those type of speeds? Maybe I need to change my helix and spring on mine, but I’m nowhere near any of those top
End numbers..never have been. I feel I have a lot more potential in the top end department...but I’ve never even seen speeds in the 120’s on my Winder at all.

But Good for you my friend...that is very impressive.

Winterwolf,
For what its worth...imo you have all the ingredients, but you need more gear.

 

[DMCTurbo]

Winterwolf,
For what its worth...imo you have all the ingredients, but you need more gear.

What gear r u running fleecer?

 

[Fleecer]

1.72 ratio and spinning 9400. This is at end of gear and it's perfect!! Get rid of the clutch heat and these things love big gears and they LOVE to turn big rpm. Been testing for 4 years now and have it dialed in.