Are stock Apex skis really that bad?

[Apex_GT]

I thought the stock skis were ok as long as your not riding fast groomed trails. I put 2300 miles on My Apex ER with stock skis and in certain conditions they would be scary. Long fast groomed trails felt dangerous at times because the sled would pitch side to side and at 70 mph it felt like I was riding on the edge. The next season I put a set of 5.7 Pilot Skis on and I couldn't beleive the improvement. I put 2500 miles on with the Pilots and they were awesome. No darting whatsoever and the front felt very light and on those high speed groomed trails I could use one hand and still feel confident. The only drawback with these skis is in very loose or light snow they will push a little but not nearly as bad as the old precission skis.

Thats great news about the pilots..Mine were just delivered today..Took about 10 days to clear customs though..I"m sure there getting flooded now with Canadian online shoppers.. Think I'm gonna have to opt for the bigger center carbide though..The one that came with it looks a lil small...

 

[Dano]

I have to chime in and say that the stock skis need to be addressed plane and simple. If anyone disagrees, you need to try other skis for comparison. You can fix the stock skis to work better, but there is no reason why. The other 3 OEMs have better stock skis and all Yamaha has to do is junk the stock skis and install a better ones. Any ski is better from what Ive seen and I've tried many different skis.

Dan

 

[jimmie d]

I've used Simmons, Slydogs and 06 Pilots, found the Pilots to be the best for all around on the rider forward Yamahas, plus they were the cheapest.


Jim

 

[welterracer]

IMO yamaha skis suck...


just about any ski is better than the yami skis.. you can make them better with shimming and longer carbides but they still dart badly at times

I love my pilots..

 

[wolfie]

You guys are surprised that Yamaha hasn't addressed the skis??
They ignored the rear suspension bottoming and rebound problem for two years........LOL

I didn't think the stock skis were too bad after I shimmed them.
Just bought new 7.5 Shaper bars, which when installed on my Ski-Doo flex skis, worked wonderful and made the thing cut like a monster.

I agree. Shimmed skis and triple points on mine, and am very pleased for overall trail use. My only remaining complaint with my 06 is a too soft rear end, despite a respring and a revalve.

 

[snoman]

any pix where need ot be shimmed ?

 

[Swiss Sledder]

http://www.totallyamaha.com/snowmobiles ... r_Shim.htm

 

[JERSEYJOE]

DARTING AND THE CURE

Lots of different opinions for lots of different tastes. I can attest that in stock form the 06 Apex GT is almost dangerous to ride. Mine darted so bad the first yeat I hated it. I mean it felt like some demon was on the front of the sled pushing me off the trail. After a year of screwing with it i fixed it to the point where it does not dart or lift in the corners any more.

A combination of the 13 mm sway bar, lowering the front end, going one hole tighter on the limiter, shimming the rear of the skis, and running the tBergstrom triple bar. Last year on a trip to Quebec it rode great. The test was getting on a friends bone stock Apex and riding it in the same conditions. It was like night and day. How Yamaha can continue to sell these sleds set up that way is amazing. I almost traded it in it was so horrible out of the box. Funny my SRX and Viper never had any issues.

 

[yamadooski]

Skis

Where is the best place to purchase Pilots? I've got them on our RTX and want to put them on our Apex's.
Thanks,

 

[cat hunter]

Put a set of this and resolve the problem.easy to turn no darting and corner like nothing i have seen or try.This model is the agressive,they have also a semi-agressive model.those carbite name is "Snowtracker".

Like the man say's!!! The greatess thing since sliced bread.

 

[SledFreak]

Yep, Yamaha should be ashamed of their skis. They are dangerous. Even more stupid, I'm still running them.... Go figure.

 

[Grimm]

Re: Skis

Where is the best place to purchase Pilots? I've got them on our RTX and want to put them on our Apex's.
Thanks,

Skidoo dealership. It's there OEM ski.