225 Mi. ATTAK REPORT

[dirkdiggler]

WOW!!!!! Thanks for all the responses. Clutching may help, but traction in loose snow is my issue. Even from a roll and slowly powering up the rear end just digs and goes south. The ripsaw has enormous traction on the harder surfaces, actually, even if I get into a single track trench that I made previously it works pretty well. It just won't let you stay afloat in the fresh. If you are on the side of the road, say doing 35 mph (plowed surface) and ease over to the ditchline the sled just hits a "wall" and much , much more throttle is required to even try to maintain close to the same speed . Anybody want to buy a 136" ripsaw w/ 108 studs , and 225 miles? For Yamaha to put this track on 136" chassis and call it a "crossover sled" is a grave error on their part.

Please try my suggestion first. I believe the problem is the clutching not the track. The ripsaw has a nice paddle for off trail riding. however if your clutching is setup to work well on hard packed trails it's going to just blow through loose powder snow. If you left the clutching the same and got a better deeper lug powder track would it improve 'yes'. But if you simply Set the clutching for deep snow conditions you'd see greater improvements then you would by just changing the track.


I have a strat 43 degree helix you can try. Give me your address and I'll ship it to you.

 

[Bodacious]

O.K. that makes more sense.But should a guy set up that way for 12-18" of snow? Here we ride on some soft snow but mainly stubble fields that are fairly firm and frozen later in the year.We do get ito some 24" powder but not for long of very often.Came off a 800M/Cat with a 62/38 helix and 82gr. weights so I know about upshift. worked good were I ride.Probably will go to an Ulmer kit if I take delivery of the Attak.Thanx

Good point, but to each their own. As for me I want a sled that will preform well in those conditions, not being able to keep up to the pack in 16" of fresh is not acceptable for me, espcially when I packing way more HP to propel this sled forward.

 

[dirkdiggler]

O.K. that makes more sense.But should a guy set up that way for 12-18" of snow? Here we ride on some soft snow but mainly stubble fields that are fairly firm and frozen later in the year.We do get ito some 24" powder but not for long of very often.Came off a 800M/Cat with a 62/38 helix and 82gr. weights so I know about upshift. worked good were I ride.Probably will go to an Ulmer kit if I take delivery of the Attak.Thanx

Good point, but to each their own. As for me I want a sled that will preform well in those conditions, not being able to keep up to the pack in 16" of fresh is not acceptable for me, espcially when I packing way more HP to propel this sled forward.

as I said I have a strat 43 degree helix you can try. Give me your address and I'll ship it to you.

 

[apex yooper]

Bodacious,
You are on the right track. Common sense tells me that you have too much weight on too small a track surface. Either get a lighter sled, or go for a longer track. I would never buy an Apex for the powder. There are 3 other brands that are more suited for powder riding. For hard pack, I think the Apexs are the best, and that's why I own one.

 

[snowraider]

you should of read the riding reports before you bought it the attak is a rough trail sled not a off trail deep snow sled. the 1000 renegade is also not a good off trail sled to heavy. weight is the problem, put the attak on rough groomed trails or flat for that matter and it rules!

 

[snowbeast]

Remember yamaha calls there attak rough trail,they never labeled it crossover sled like cat did,the mags call it crossover not yammi.

 

[dirkdiggler]

you should of read the riding reports before you bought it the attak is a rough trail sled not a off trail deep snow sled. the 1000 renegade is also not a good off trail sled to heavy. weight is the problem, put the attak on rough groomed trails or flat for that matter and it rules!

What he should have done and what he did are two completely different things. Hind Sight is 20/20. What we have to do now is help him to get it to work off trail.

 

[TallCool 1]

Rotax, Cat IS using the Ripsaw on the XFire.

FWIW, I have had the 136" Ripsaw on my ZR for 2 years now. We do a lot of 4-6' powder riding in the UP. The track does great in powder, at least in my situation. I've never felt like the rear just digs down, I'm able to stay on top. My sled should only be about 85 lbs lighter than the Attak, and I weigh in at 215 before I suit up. I would definitely try these guys' clutching suggestions first, then go to the track if you still have a problem.

 

[Black Warrior]

I'm just coming back from riding my Attak in Western Oregon. There's between 2 and 3 feet of fresh snow on the ground where we rode.I had a 04 Warrior before. The RIPSAW is a TRAIL track, PERIOD.When I put a Camoplast 15" X1.5" paddles on the Warrior back then, I gained a lot of traction in the deeper snow and I had Simmons skis on it too, but beware...she will push more in the corners on hard packed snow. With those taller lugs your machine on hard packed snow will start to behave like a mountain machine.

Anybody interested in buying a Ripsaw track???


Black Warrior

 

[TallCool 1]

The Ripsaw was never promoted as a mountain track. If a guy's going to be playing out west, he needs to have a paddle track. The Ripsaw is an awesome trail/off trail track. You'll have no problem selling that track!

 

[dirkdiggler]

I'm just coming back from riding my Attak in Western Oregon. There's between 2 and 3 feet of fresh snow on the ground where we rode.I had a 04 Warrior before. The RIPSAW is a TRAIL track, PERIOD.When I put a Camoplast 15" X1.5" paddles on the Warrior back then, I gained a lot of traction in the deeper snow and I had Simmons skis on it too, but beware...she will push more in the corners on hard packed snow. With those taller lugs your machine on hard packed snow will start to behave like a mountain machine.

Anybody interested in buying a Ripsaw track???


Black Warrior

This guy isn't a mountian rider. That said even if you put a paddle track on your sled your are going to have to change the clutching "period"!!!!!

 

[snowbeast]

Then tell me this, why do all mountain sleds have paddle tracks? The Ripsaw has the ability to flex and bend to acquire great traction on hard packed, because of the slits in the track design. A paddle track do not have these types of ("slits") for that matter and should be used in deep snow application. Like I said that is why DOO and CAT don't use the Rip saw, they use a paddle track.

But the Crossfire has the 136" RIPSAW and works quite well in the POW. So either track angle approach, or being a much heavier sled, or both may have something to do with it as well.

I am not sure about the clutching on the crossfire,i will check w/ my cat dealer on thursday to see if cat made changes to there crossfire clutching for the track and flotability,but back to yamaha naming the attak a crossfire sled,show me one place where yammi ever called it that in any of there brochures,they dont,why because they list it as rough trail class,the trouble with mags is they try and make up rules as they go along to suit there means,they needed a crossover from yammi to compare to others in there mag,and the closest they could find in yammi line up was the attak name implies what it is,so they tested it,gave it an a+ grade but than stepped back out on thin ice and said oh ya if you use it in deep snow for off trail use,you may find it dont go like the other true crossover sleds,so they stuck there tongue out than stepped on it,i think you can get the attak to run good for what you want,just set up the clutching according to these guys and maybe the new full block 1.25 or 1.5 if you still think you need that much track,good luck. Pete

 

[Bodacious]

I spoke with Hartman, and Mnt Performance today, neither thinks that a helix change will be colse to the solution, it may be a slight help so the say, but they both recommend the Attack needs more length and lug height to get it to float,(in their opion). Obviously they both sell long track kits, 144" is what they are recommending for me. Mnt Perf doesn't have a rail ext kit for the MONO yet, they want to sell a MNT suspension, I tried to tell them that I'm NOT A MNT GUY I just hope to float this beast in 1'-2' of POW, and I'm not willing to give up the MONO's ride for lenght. They also recommend that new drivers are necessary (internal/external type) should be put on so that the track tension can be reduced to a minimum. This is getting very complicated. As for Yamaha never stating that the Attak is a "crossover" is correct, sorry for my previous post....my bad.... now I just need to decide if it's worth dumping another "G" into this set-up or cut my loses and buy a sled that will suit my needs. I'm disapointed that Yamaha does not build a chassis for the Crossover segment of the market share, I may have made a poor purchase for my needs, but sometimes that's just the way it goes. Thanks for all the help and responses.

 

[SledFreak]

Dude, Call TRACKS USA and see how much for a 1.375 or 1.50. That will solve most of the issue. Try it and if works then sell the ripsaw. But, I would not spend any more money than that, except maybe try the clutching that Dirk said. Maybe yet, try that first. It can't hurt......

 

[yamahajunkie]

i have a warrior and rode a attack this past weekend in same conditons. this attack was stock, except for helix and sping. that attack was crazy fun in the powder!!!! on take off the rear did sink, but then the front end came up and it shot out the hole and i was surfing!!! man i would at least grab that helix from dirk and try it. you'll be shocked at the difference.