AD Boivin ZX2 Durability & Performance Log

[mdkuni]

Re: Glad to hear that the skid holds up

I hope I get that kind of mileage out of mine.

The rear exchanger worked great for all of us.

What are the other 60-70% of the problems that you had? How did you fix them? I think mine should be all worked out with the exception of the cold hand grips. I still run the stock low windshield with bushguards on the bars.

One of the guys just bought the new 1200 turbo Cat. I'll be curious to see how the Apex performs compared to it. I rode the new Doo 800 last week-end and it was excellent too.
The sled market is heating up!!

Exhaust (major problem) - No fix as of yet. Donuts have to be monitored constantly and the risk of breaking y-pipes is high. The stock muffler also breaks. I was going through donuts quickly for awhile but the braket that holds the pipes had pulled the rivets through the tunnel. I ground down stainless steel fender washers and installed them with steel rivets that have grade 8 mandrels. I should not have to worry about them pulling through anymore. Next set of y pipes will probably be RX-1 steel pipes with adapters.

Drive shaft breaking - Replaced with aftermarket shaft that is thicker stronger material (micro-belmont is the company)

Handwarmers cold - Had cartridges installed inside the 06 bars.

If you ride powder I can't see the drive shaft being a problem and the exhaust I think would be less of a problem.

 

[rock doc]

wow

I hd heard about the exhuast issue. I guess the stock ones are titanium. I just stripped mine down and checked for leaks (approx. 4300 miles). Everything looked OK.

Didn't know about the drive shaft.

 

[kinger]

mdkuni - I was illustrating the testing technique. First crank them all teh way up ride and see what happens. Then make them as loose as you can and ride and see what you liked better then lean in that direction.

My personal sled is I have them cranked all the way up compressing the spring to the max. When I had mine in the full loose spot the sled a arms would not get to level (probably the apex/rx conversion difference) and it was TIPPY, scary tippy. Cranked them down and upped the compression on the shocks and Viola it railed in the good conditions of wisconsin and the UP. I was running the 13mm sway in all conditions as well.

 

[mdkuni]

mdkuni - I was illustrating the testing technique. First crank them all teh way up ride and see what happens. Then make them as loose as you can and ride and see what you liked better then lean in that direction.

My personal sled is I have them cranked all the way up compressing the spring to the max. When I had mine in the full loose spot the sled a arms would not get to level (probably the apex/rx conversion difference) and it was TIPPY, scary tippy. Cranked them down and upped the compression on the shocks and Viola it railed in the good conditions of wisconsin and the UP. I was running the 13mm sway in all conditions as well.

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I may have to give it a shot and see what happens.

 

[kinger]

Yeah with the number of miles you put on you could easily find out what works for you. You must ride every day uh?

 

[mdkuni]

Yeah with the number of miles you put on you could easily find out what works for you. You must ride every day uh?

Not quite. With good snow I may put on 150 during the week. Most of my riding is on the weekend. Sleds are difficult to get dialed in. There are so many things you can change on your sled, not to mention the uncontrollable change of the different snow conditions. I often wonder if you can really ever get your sled dialed in perfect.

 

[rxrider]

Probably not, not once and for all, conditions ahhhh ever changing, lets talk about skis and various conditions. I try to dial it for the most common conditions where I spend most time riding, guess it's a happy medium somewhere in the tune

 

[mdkuni]

7,000 miles on the skid. I was running down the trail and I started to ratchet real bad out of the corners. Something was wrong. Stopped to take a peak at the skid and track. The front swing arm bolt on the right side that connects to the rail was gone. Just as many have reported here. Luckily I was only 30 miles away from home. Turned around and took her easy back home.

I can not locate any metric grade 8 bolts here. I had to settle for stainless and the only bolt that would work was an inch longer on the non threaded part of the bolt. So I stacked an inch worth of washerers inbetween in order to make do. I may end up ordering two new bolts from AD so I can keep a spare with my tools.

It was kind of strange as I was just looking this bolt over a couple weeks ago as I was surprised others had this issue and I have not. I have never removed this bolt so it lasted this long from the factory.

Edit: Can anyone find me replacement bolts? AD wants $36.40 for two bolts shipped!

 

[kinger]

mdkuni:

http://www.mcmaster.com/#cap-screws/=btgs5

Looks like its around $8 for a 24 pack lol. I jsut guessed at the size but they should have everything in grade 8. Thanks!

 

[Shane]

mdkuni,

Have you had the chance to try out cranking up the pre-load on the front shocks yet like kinger suggested? i am interested to see how it works on the Apex/Attak chassis. Thanks

 

[mdkuni]

mdkuni,

Have you had the chance to try out cranking up the pre-load on the front shocks yet like kinger suggested? i am interested to see how it works on the Apex/Attak chassis. Thanks

Not yet, I have been busy trying to fix a few other things. I am planning on testing it out this weekend or early next week. I will post my results.

I was able to locate another bolt from a hardware across town that was within 2mm of the original one and it works perfect! I threw an extra one in my kit. All this for $6 compared to the $36 from AD. I probably should get an extra washer as well.

Also, zip ties do not work well on holding the limiter strap in place. I will need to go back to hose clamps. I will likely change the zip ties out at the next track change along with my shock bushings.

7,200 miles on the skid.

 

[rxrider]

I have a solution on the limiter strap in my rxrider's turbogarage post

I used a few pieces of 1" ID rubber hose cut to fill in the space on the shaft, now the limiter strap cannot move sideways anymore.

It's located at one of the last pages in this link

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?t=47473

 

[mdkuni]

I have a solution on the limiter strap in my rxrider's turbogarage post

I used a few pieces of 1" ID rubber hose cut to fill in the space on the shaft, now the limiter strap cannot move sideways anymore.

It's located at one of the last pages in this link

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php?t=47473

Just like the mono skid uses. Although this looks to be a more durable option. I hesitate though because I broke the rubber spacers on the mono several times. Although they were a thin flimsy rubber.

I like this much better then hose clamps or zip ties. Plus you should not have to worry about wear on the strap.

Why is there grease in your pictures? Did you need grease to slide the hose on? Would you still recommend 1" ID hose now that you did it?

Thank you very much for the idea. I will give it a shot.

 

[rxrider]

The grease is there for the installation of the rubber hoses as it was impossible to install without any lube.

I also added some to limit wear on the front arm plastics and the alu shaft, the shafts showed signs of wear. A little grease should slow down the wear.

 

[mdkuni]

The grease is there for the installation of the rubber hoses as it was impossible to install without any lube.

I also added some to limit wear on the front arm plastics and the alu shaft, the shafts showed signs of wear. A little grease should slow down the wear.

I just noticed that you only did the hose on the top shaft. Did you not have problems with the strap moving on the bottom? I have had the strap move in both locations.