Apex Mountain Project Hakuba Japan

[Simon Sleds]

Hi to all,
I am a new member to this forum, however I have been using this forum for some time along with help from my friend and one of your members niko to build a lightened Apex Mountain. I am an Australian who lives in the mountains in Victoria Australia and for the opposite winter in Hakuba Japan. I have been riding sleds for most of my life and I have spent allot of time in Whitefish Montana as I have family there. I have a modified XP Renegade in Australia and purchased a red 07 Apex Mountain last year in Japan. I started looking at this forum and talking to niko about what could be done to enhance the performance of this sled. After a bunch of phone calls and orders to the USA this is the end result thus far. I would really like to thank all of you that contribute to this forum as there is a wealth of information and some very knowledgeable and helpful people here. This sled is an absolute pleasure to ride as it initiates from right to left in deep powder effortlessly and climbs and side hills extremely well in most snow conditions here in Japan. After spending some time setting this sled up and tuning it I can honestly understand why you guys love these sleds so much. I have posted some pics here of my Apex thus far, I have some more plans for it next year maybe a Supercharger or Turbo however this is it for now, I hope you guys like it and once again thank you to everybody who contributes to this forum.

Cheers Simon

 

[pro116]

Welcome to the site.Your sled look's killer!

 

[low slung]

Welcome to the site,cool sled pics .Snowmobiling in the land of the rising sun .Thats COOL.

 

[mud99]

Welcome as well, are their a lot of snowmobile riders in Hakuba? I didn't know people snowmobiled in Japan.

Mark

 

[Simon Sleds]

Hi Mark,
The snow and mountains here in Hakuba are incredibly vast and the riding terrain is on par with anywhere I have been except Alaska. Hey thanks for yor post on moving the skid up 1 inch in the tunnel with a Timmbersled set up this makes such a difference to handling, ski pressure and steering. I have 2 good friends that I ride with here that are westerners as well however very few Japanese own or ride sleds around here wich is strange considering they make them. There is no licencing, registration or rules regarding anything to do with snowmobiles however we are mindfull as to where and how we ride around the Japanese.
Cheers Simon

 

[TT]

Very nice looking sled!!!!!!!!!!!

Who made the light pod insert - is it a one pice from fuel tank cowling and over the OEM air filter box?

 

[Simon Sleds]

Hi TT,
It is a Mountain Fit Hood that completely covers the stock airbox and connects to the fuel tank cowling and the stock side clips. Niko and myself spent all up about 12 hours working on this thing to fit and clean it up as they are very rough from the manufacturer. It has a stock set of vents in it and has a fabricated nose connector exactly the same design as the stock hood. This thing was a real pain to get right however I am very happy with it now. Also getting your hands on these things sometimes is a challenge as Mountain Fit are nearly impossible to contact.
Thanks Simon

 

[TT]

Thanks! When you say it - I can see that it is a Mountain fit hood. I looked too fast at the pictures first time.

You guys have done a heck off a job on that hood. Beacuse they need alot of work to look nice. But they a VERY durable!

Once again - awsome looking sled!

 

[niko]

Looks good Simon, glad you posted some pics of it.
Once I'm back from the states I'll be getting mine ready for the ozzie season too.

 

[yamahamaniac]

You sure the skis are wide enough hahahah.

 

[TomKat]

Very clean ride there!!!! Nice job!! Welcome to the site!

 

[skark_burmer]

Hey Simon, nice looking sled!
I too am learning a lot from Niko, i see his influence knows no bounds.

where did you get the covers that fit over the cooling crossover hoses on the back of the tunnel?
Now that i have pulled my rack i want something to protect this area.

Jeff

 

[Simon Sleds]

Hi Jeff,
Niko is good mate of mine and we ride together in Falls Creek Australia and we both love messing around with sleds much to the discust of our wifes as they think we are both addicts. The parts you have asked about are a stock Yamaha part off an 09 Apex Mountain MTX and I ordered them from a Yamaha dealer here in Japan. As it is a stock part I don't think you will have any problems getting them from any dealer or parts website.
Cheers Simon

 

[pwa]

Very nice sled... very...