6000 MILES--What i've learned--Still FAVE Sled to date!

[jds1000]

Hey Dan I remember back in 06 when I went from a Rev to the Apex and got all kinds of crap from the DooTalk crew. I also remember you had a brand new Mach and you were pretty excited about it. Then you had one problem after another with that 1000 sdi. I think most if not all your positve feeling about your sled is the 4 stroke engine. I will never ever buy another 2 stroke and you can bet the farm that in about three more years there will be more new 4 strokes on the trails than 2 strokes.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

We ran down Lake of Bays yesterday afternoon (then up the muskoka lakes). The wind was so bad that our tracks were drifting over within minutes. We were lucky to get most of the way up Lake Joe before night fall...brutal weather!!

You can also use the old ProAction wheel mounts if you want to stay with yamaha parts. They look pretty much the same. I'm changing mine over...I caught a rock today and just about ripped my front outer wheel and the rail tab off (time to find a welder!!).

DOK......

man,wasnt that deep snow just wild?.....so did you see our tracks on lake o bays?....we got out early and noone had run down it yet and ofcourse late in the evening on way home lots of tracks by then...

how is lake muskoka and lake joe ??...i havent run over that way yet...

Dan

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Hey Dan I remember back in 06 when I went from a Rev to the Apex and got all kinds of crap from the DooTalk crew. I also remember you had a brand new Mach and you were pretty excited about it. Then you had one problem after another with that 1000 sdi. I think most if not all your positve feeling about your sled is the 4 stroke engine. I will never ever buy another 2 stroke and you can bet the farm that in about three more years there will be more new 4 strokes on the trails than 2 strokes.

Hey JDs..

yes i totally remember that!..I was super excited about my 06 mach x.....and out of the 2 mts or so I had it,i rode 400 miles only!...it was in the shop 4 times and had the motor pulled out twice!..what a pile of crap!..lol....

being that Im always all about the speed and radaring...i wanted the machs always and had rode machs since 89...lol....but always loved yammies,and my bud had bougth a new GT...and it wasnt as fast as the mach...but another buddy blew his mach up,and bought an RTX,we put a clutch kit in it and a ramair...and man o man,he was right on my flap of my mach!....thats what made me think i could make a YAMMIE as fast as any mach with a predator track and alittle more tweaking.

so,i found a buyer,sold the mach and got my rtx for 8200 dollars brand new(late feb).....made like 900 dollars on the deal too!...lol...

never looked back since then....and i still ride with the odd DOO guy and all i ever say is,get behind me cause i cant stand the smell anymore!..lol.....I totally agree,that within 5 yrs most guys will be making all 4 strokes...and Im sure DOO will come out with some nice 4 stroke motors....but i cant see anything as nice as this 4 banger we got in our apexs....this motor is sweeeeeeeeet.

remember how many belts we would go thru?...the machs would go thru belts so fast...you had to pay near 2oo bucks for a belt too!..lol.

gotta love the belt life these yammie clutches can bring....I dont think there is any sled built,that can do everything an apex can do.....

belt life,fuel economy,top speed,Horsepower,reliability of motor,elec start,reverse standard......love it!...

and not too forget,these sleds plain are awesome looking!

Dan

 

[blue er]

As usual an excellant and informative post.
Made to the minden area did ya, you were almost in my neck of the woods, out of bed at the crack of dawn to get a crack at my lake(sturgeon lake) all the deep drifts well over knee deep made it like riding a pwc on the lake spent more time in the air then on the snow
didn't even bother with ofsc trails yesterday just rode the fields ditches and lake around my neighbourhood only got stuck once trying to run through a 6ft deep drift IN MY DRIVEWAY

 

[SumpBuster]

I love my 06 RTX too...and agree with you, and mine is basically stock, except for a few 'reinforcements'. We beat the snot out of them, but mine is also washed and greased after every hard ride...I think it makes a difference. Ride is awesome on everything but g outs..and even they arent' too bad if you stay on the gas and hit em right...

 

[REDSLED1]

thanks rock.

 

[journeyman]

Hey guys....

Just wanted to post some positive news since mostly only the negative things get posted here which is typical for us fanatics....while I agree there are MANY issues on the apexs,I also am the first to say this sled still makes me smile everytime i ride it...after near 35 years of sledding(since about 10 yrs old) Ive rode and owned alot of sleds...this is my fave to date!

Round these parts its been a banner year for snow....Ive rode more this season then any other season I can recall in recent history....nearing in on 3000 miles THIS SEASON and overall close to 6000 miles on my 06 rtx... the first season i got it late in march,and only rode it 2 weekends,so i only had 600 miles that first season....no I dont babey this sled....sure it looks showroom perfect(actually better) because i look after it,lots of TLC when she gets home....but this sled has been beat thru the rough stuff and also has many groomed trail miles...she is rode with throttle too the bar ALOT!

Im very meticulous as you all know,so she still looks IMMACULATE and anyone who rides with me knows my sled is cleaner then most 08s on the showroom floor....the only trick here was adding the FLOORBOARD matts(from a 05 warrior-accessorie catalog) and keeping tunnel and hood and A arms waxed.

The mono skid,while always under heavy scrutiny and being slammed for not being up to par with other skids....still IMO is the BEST,SMOOTHEST riding skid BAR NONE...now ofcourse I mean decent shape trails,it takes the small stuff like there is nothing.....and it takes the medium moguls amazing and rides like a caddy thru them....when the big stuff comes,sure you gotta stand up so it doesnt bottom....but anyone will tell you,if you NEVER BOTTOM your sled,then your setup too STIFF!....so IMO the MONO skid at 6000 miles gets a huge thumbs up from me.....but be sure to run the narrow sliders,and add some DOO wheels and brackets(at least in the INNERs) if you want wheels and that wont bend the rails and last....also you MUST add a MID and FRONT wheel kit( I like my FIX powersports kits,holding up well!)

the motor....ahh the motor!.....sings as sweet as it did the day i bought it and held it to the bar....never misses a beat,and always starts and runs flawless...I never had any of the cold/no starts(but have seen it) so my relay must be a good one....never burned a drop of oil either,i think the trick here is beat the F***K out of this motor on a dailey basis and it loves it and wont burn oil ever!..lol...ofcourse i run full synth(redline) oil which cant hurt.

Just got back from a 225 mile ride yesterday,riding with all 2 strokes and the best thing is...when I was at about half a tank of fuel,they were nearing empty!....and they also were running low on OIL!...and i got twice the HP they got!..gotta love it!...also,i would have to ride ahead most times,as i just cant stand the smell of oil anymore!..its amazing what we used to think smelled good,now gives me a headache!

sure we have our negative things,with the biggest and latest being the Donuts & Y pipe issue...I did replace my donuts at 3000 miles,but Y pipes were OK.....Now it looks like BENDER is making a kit with Y pipes in SS and should be a viable way to make these sleds last as long as the motor itself....I will most likely add these over the summer to mine....the chaincase was sorta an issue for some,but get the 08 cover under warrantee in most cases in run synth and youre good to go....tabs breaking on the small radiator,at least yammie came with a beefy replacement finally....i just have tie straps on mine(INCASE)

things ive done to make my sled handle great ,and be the fastest APEX locally(so far...120+ radar last season,and 119.9radar so far this season)


-05 warrior footwell matts
-06 bars/grips plugged into 07 update SUB-LEAD
-Powermadd handguards and Powermadd matched mirrors
-FIX mid and front idler wheel kits
-Spoked idler wheels(rear axle,Outer 4 wheels)
-DOO 135mm idlers(INNER idler location)
-DOO 2 bolt brackets(INNER idler location)
-4 wheel rear axle
-1 inch predator track
-96 1.175 woodys Gds with PLASTIC ROUND backers
-13mm swaybar & run floats@35-40lbs(Unweighted)
-ROTOR vents/scoops removed
-Powercommander(dynojet)
-Ignition Module(dynojet)
-My Ram AIR
-Proline clutching(dalton components)
-23 top gear
-cut primary clutch with dial engage adjuster
-Updated chaincase cover
-Rear heat exchanger w/redline water wetter
-REDLINE shockproof lightweight chain oil
-REDLINE 5w 20 synth motor oil
-two teeth ground off speedo gear



all in all,there is NO SLED MADE that can get this fuel economy,ride the trails for 12 hours straight thru slow twistys and fast wide open trails,and never even have a burp.....then get to a lake and beat ANYTHING stock that comes along .....and also radar 120mph....this is why i say,this is my FAVOURITE SLED TO DATE!




Dan

Great report and great photos. Now you are making me want to find an APEX. I favor the lake/speed addiction too.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

As usual an excellant and informative post.
Made to the minden area did ya, you were almost in my neck of the woods, out of bed at the crack of dawn to get a crack at my lake(sturgeon lake) all the deep drifts well over knee deep made it like riding a pwc on the lake spent more time in the air then on the snow
didn't even bother with ofsc trails yesterday just rode the fields ditches and lake around my neighbourhood only got stuck once trying to run through a 6ft deep drift IN MY DRIVEWAY

this is the most snow we have had in march in many seasons...and the long range looks decent after thurs/ friday....should be riding another 2-3 weeks probably!...

only thing sucks about this time of year is....man o man the sun is so strong it takes the roads away in one day!....they bared off fast even with it being cold!...road travel is getting limited....and many trails run sections of roads...but lots of snow still,gotta be over 3 feet in the bush still!

also i wanted to mention...isnt it wild with the new DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME being so early?...ive never had to change the clock on my apex before...LOL....sorta weird but wow,sledding at 8pm nearly and watching the sun set is wild!.....lot more daylight for sleds now in march!

Minden was a good ride over there....we made it from huntsville to there by all lakes in under 2 hrs!!.....pretty fast compared to trails....then from Minden to Haliburton on B trail(rail line) was awesome...reminds me of the seguin trail....only took us 15 minutes to crank up to there!!!....then ran up around back thru Halibutron forest,onto Kinessis and big hawk then little hawk back to st noras and over to dorset....alway great to run all the lakes on a sunday if trails are beatup....

Dan

 

[clubsmity]

Thanks for the post Rocker
You have helped me remember the good 4400 miles on my 06 Apex GT
Just got back from 1600m trip. Left from Orillia up to Quebec, Abitibi, and back. Left my Apex on the stand (waiting on exhaust parts) Ran the 08 Dragon Turbo that I bought because of my frustration with good snow and no sled and the thought of missing the second Quebec trip this year because of repairs on the Apex (Track at 4400 miles, I have had bad luck this year. The sled gods are pissed with me I guess).
I thought I was just going to sell the Polaris next fall, assuming the parts would be in by then. After 2000 miles on the Turbo I liked it so much I was just going to sell the Apex. Now you,ve gone and reminded me of how much fun I had on the Apex last year. I really like the Apex!
I guess I,ll wait to hear back from Yami to see if they compensate me for the Y-pipe etc. If they don,t then I,ll be looking for a used y-pipe and selling it.
I would sorely miss the great ride, and engine

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Thanks for the post Rocker
You have helped me remember the good 4400 miles on my 06 Apex GT
Just got back from 1600m trip. Left from Orillia up to Quebec, Abitibi, and back. Left my Apex on the stand (waiting on exhaust parts) Ran the 08 Dragon Turbo that I bought because of my frustration with good snow and no sled and the thought of missing the second Quebec trip this year because of repairs on the Apex (Track at 4400 miles, I have had bad luck this year. The sled gods are pissed with me I guess).
I thought I was just going to sell the Polaris next fall, assuming the parts would be in by then. After 2000 miles on the Turbo I liked it so much I was just going to sell the Apex. Now you,ve gone and reminded me of how much fun I had on the Apex last year. I really like the Apex!
I guess I,ll wait to hear back from Yami to see if they compensate me for the Y-pipe etc. If they don,t then I,ll be looking for a used y-pipe and selling it.
I would sorely miss the great ride, and engine

Ive seen one of those turbo dragon 4 strokes...actually a really nice ride...i dont blame you.

If the Y pipes are your main issue...id hold on,since bender and excell is now going to be making SS y pipes now for us next season....also,i have a feeling something will have to come from yammie since so many are going down....if worse comes to worse,buy yourself rx1 SS Y pipes and have them extended to match the apex pipes....SS should last without failure....tianium Y pipes was just another weight saving thing yammie did without enough testing....similar to the 1 bolt idler wheel brackets,just not a good place to save weight IMO.

Im well up over 6000 miles now....best season ive ever had,and most miles ive rode in many years in one season.

Dan

 

[clubsmity]

Days like today on the trails are just a gift!!
Big mile year for me as well. I,m just over 4000m this year. 1600 on the Apex. 200 some miles on my brothers Attack while waiting on parts, and 2200 on the Dragon after today. Big $$ year as well after a track, all the idler wheels , drive line bearings, pilot skis.......Dragon!
My dealer left a message Fri that Yamaha is covering both Y-pipes, donuts, and clamps (the parts are in). I can at least get her back together, even though they won,t last for the next owner.
My girlfried also has an Apex, and she has 2400m now. She is really woried about the problems I,ve had. I told her to wait till next fall before dealing with the exhaust. Figure your right, Yami will have a proper fix by then, SS and better donuts. If not I will just replace the donuts, or try to talk her into the Bender set-up.
I,ll run the Dragon next year and wait to see what they do with the Apex for 2010
cheers

 

[apexrtx006]

heh ya i am amazed at the belt life of my 06 apex rtx i got almost 2600 on the belt and never touched the sled but i am worried about the y pipes.. i am looking a a fx nytro or new apex rtx i love the power... who can stand their sled on the bumper in deep snow or stuff that has a crust i can keep it at about 50 degrees for about 50-70 feet on deep stuff with a crust i love this sled... wish it had a better suspension.. iweigha bit much i got to say about 230lb fully dressed... but i love it!