Down about my sled....

[BlgsRX-1mtn]

the paddles on my attack 20 straightened out after so many miles on it. They are all straight now. no bends at all.

By looking at your pictures on the first page; the paddles still cup slightly. The Attack 20 when turned to the powder position is by far the best in powder. It just doesn't hook up on hard pack. For a person who doesn't mind swtiching it for different riding; it's a great track. It isn't a best all around track if left in one position or the other.

I would be willing to bet if you turned that track around, remove some weight from the primary, set up the suspension to compress just shy of bottoming out and add some bar height via a pivot riser; you will have a different sled in powder riding. If you want to do huge drops/jumps; adjust the springs for more stiffness.

Just remember no suspension does everything pefectly. A suspension with stiffer springs and a tall ride designed for huge bumps won't allow enough transfer for deep powder climbing and vice-verse for a low riding sled with soft ride designed for max transfer. The best climbing M-7 mod I have ever seen looked like a '82 Kawasaki Drifter 340 when sitting on hard pack. The running boards about 5" from the ground; obviously set up for it's intended pupose (climbing in deep powder).

This is what Whitee was refering to with the skids for sale on SW. I'd be willing to bet the owners didn't like the skid's ability to do what they wanted from it.

Jim

 

[SoCoRX1]

the pictures on the first page are about a week after i got the 162 put on. Its now got around 700 miles on this setup.

Sorry, should have said thats when i first got it, but pretty much nothing has changed on it. I removed the flap and pushed the bars forward a little bit more

 

[rideblue]

I would have to agree with most everyone that the rear skid setup and the Attak 20 are 99% of your problems. The higher you rise the rear. the more weight you put on the skies. Suspension setup will make or brake a sled.
I HATED the Attak 20 on my sled!!!!! That is the most one dimentional track on the planet. The Maveric or Extreme tracks are worth their weights in gold. The maveric will work great without boost. The extreme rocks on boosted sleds. Just my 2 cents if its worth anything.

 

[Southfork Sooner]

Here is why we got the Attak 20: $200 from RVsports. The Maverick was 3 times the price and we were on a budget. SO, on with the topic, the rider forward feels awkward, as I have been telling Pwdrnut, riding an AC, Polaris, or a Ski Doo feels really odd, I dont like it at all. I rolled my bars forward as did my brother. When there is a little bit of a base these Attak 20s rip, but in the case of the last few days, the trench all day. I was at full bore breaking trail the other day and the skis were out of the ground the whole time, but the rear was way down, had I let off I would have been stuck. So where do I begin to adjust the rear? I'm not that good with changing things mainly because I don't want to screw anything up. Our Yamaha dealer installed the 05 clutching specs on our sleds, I won't even begin to change the clutching or anything in the primary myself - I would only want someone who knows what they are doing to do that (i.e. not me) haha.

I would love to turn the track around and see how it performs but that is just too much work. My brother's blows by me in the powder, either because his skid is better or because 95% of the lugs are straight or a combination of both.

I rode an M7 when we went out 2 days ago and mine tips just as easily and has way more low end, but when I hit a wall of snow the front end of the M7 shot up and went vertical, something mine wouldn't do if it was being lifted by a helicopter

I realize this thing can be tuned to be amazing, I just don't have the knowledge to do it...

Thanks for all the replies guys!

 

[whitee]

No using your logic you should sell your RX-1 and buy something else because you obviously dont like it everyone on here is just trying to help!!!

 

[Southfork Sooner]

Arguing gets people nowhere. Oh, and FYI - you said in one of your posts that there are 3 Ekholm skids on ebay and that "if they worked they wouldn't be on there." So that's why he says this. We know you are trying to help and I thank you.

 

[Southfork Sooner]

rideblue - I see you are in Buena Vista... Ever come down this way to ride? We should hook up and ride some time.

 

[Trxster]

I still believe the back of your sled is WAY to high in the air. In deep powder it WILL be a problem. It isn't neccessarily the skid.....it is just how it is mounted to the sled that looks bad to me. Combine that with a track that isn't good (I got my 162" challenger for $400) in HC position (talk about a LOT of people selling those cheap....that was for a good reason), then add in the fact that your bars arn't tall enough or forward enough and finally, you are losing rpms while in deep snow so instead of running at 140ish HP you are trying to run at 128ish HP (or somthing like that). Also, how do you set up the skid's suspension? How do you control your transfer on that skid?

Sorry to hear it isn't working for you. It sounds a bit like you would be more comfortable on some of the older generation sleds that arn't so tippy and rider forward. They are easier for people to ride that don't have the "confidence" that you are referring to.

The truth is....the RX1, Apex, Rev, RMK, and M7 line are all meant to be ridden aggressively. When you let off the throttle on an off camber situation you can get yourself in trouble. Their have been many flat light days when I did not ride with confidence and I would get stuck more or get in bad positions. I think you should sell the sled and get something that is easier for you to ride and let someone else deal with tuning the sled correctly.


Good luck.

 

[SoCoRX1]

Im going to look at remounting the suspension a little higher on the tunnel ot see if it lowers the back of the sled at all. it does lift the skis out of the snow in the deep and transfers very well. definitely outruns and outclimbs my brothers M7 suspension.

I will also look at a new track, but right now im looking at a 900 RMK with a 975 kit on it and custom motor mounts.

Thank you everyone for your input. seems 99% of the people say it sits high in the back. Ill have to check things out.

 

[BlgsRX-1mtn]

Here is why we got the Attak 20: $200 from RVsports. The Maverick was 3 times the price and we were on a budget. SO, on with the topic, the rider forward feels awkward, as I have been telling Pwdrnut, riding an AC, Polaris, or a Ski Doo feels really odd, I dont like it at all. I rolled my bars forward as did my brother. When there is a little bit of a base these Attak 20s rip, but in the case of the last few days, the trench all day. I was at full bore breaking trail the other day and the skis were out of the ground the whole time, but the rear was way down, had I let off I would have been stuck. So where do I begin to adjust the rear? I'm not that good with changing things mainly because I don't want to screw anything up. Our Yamaha dealer installed the 05 clutching specs on our sleds, I won't even begin to change the clutching or anything in the primary myself - I would only want someone who knows what they are doing to do that (i.e. not me) haha.

I would love to turn the track around and see how it performs but that is just too much work. My brother's blows by me in the powder, either because his skid is better or because 95% of the lugs are straight or a combination of both.

I rode an M7 when we went out 2 days ago and mine tips just as easily and has way more low end, but when I hit a wall of snow the front end of the M7 shot up and went vertical, something mine wouldn't do if it was being lifted by a helicopter

I realize this thing can be tuned to be amazing, I just don't have the knowledge to do it...

Thanks for all the replies guys!

I agree that the Polaris feels awkward with the bars up in pos 7 on the Rider Select. This is why I suggested to my wife that she goes no further forward than pos 5 and we added 3" of rise to her bars (FYI she is 5'5" tall). Now her 900 RMK is perfect for her when standing up.

To address your sled (red one I presume) plowing through ridges in the snow vs a M-7 going up and over it. Rotate the tension block so both Torsion Springs are full soft (looks like you might allready have them there).

Also having somebody drill a hole (unless you feel confident to do it) and bolt the skid about 2" higher and back (I'm guessing about 1/4") center to center on the currrent hole used in your drop brackets. This will give your sled a better deep powder behavior. See edited pic of your skid attached for where I would put the new holes.

As for that Ekholm; the only suggestion I have for it is to go as soft as possible with the spring preload on coil overs without experiencing any problems with the skid hitting bottom. I would get both sleds to ride a little more level before attempting to clutch the primaries. With your sleds plowing; they are creating more load on the engine. Getting the sled to ride better in snow might bring the RPMs up some but not all the way to the prefered RPMs for max power.

If the RPMs are still low (I guessing they will be); changing the primary clutch weights is fairly straight forward. But if you don't want to tackle it; take it to the dealer and tell him you need some weight removed from the primary. Also let him know what your RPMs are currently while climbing; if he knows how to clutch sleds, he should know how much weight to remove to get you RPMs up for you.

If you guys abandon the RX-1s for Polaris RMK 900s; I can help you out some there also since I got one with 1800+ trouble free miles.

Edit; SoCo; if you can raise that ekholm skid up more you'll have to go back proportionaly to make it right. Did it come with a template? if so use the measurements from it to keep your distance from the new hole to the drive shaft. This will also give you a better angle of attack in addition to the lower rear end.

Jim

 

[tundra]

The problem for the RPM is'nt the weight of the Arm. Its the Weight arm itself.

What weight do you use ? 8FA ??? if you use the stock setup, this is the problem. Those big chunk of steel can't maintain RPM while Climbing. To heavy and straight. If you remove weight, you will overrev in every other situation.

You need a more agressive setup, like the 8bu-10, stock 2005 setup.

 

[BlgsRX-1mtn]

I should add that I am in the same boat as you guys as far as climbing goes. Only difference is that I have 200+ HP to compensate for the extra weight my rear skid height is adding to the front (see videos of my sled after boost with high ride height in the back).

This is why I dropped my skid back to the upper holes in my stock drop brackets. If I still hate the transfer and deep powder performance; I'll be searching for Lincoln's thread for relocating the stock skid even further up in the tunnel to pull more weight off the front.

http://media.putfile.com/BlgsRX-1mtn-w-boost <----That was on set up snow. Notice how quick my skis planted because of the rear ride height forcing the front down.

http://media.putfile.com/BlgsRX-1mtn-SC--10lbs-boost <------ This is 2 1/2' of fresh. Notice the front is porpoising up and down as the rear tries to climb out of the trench (forcing the front to plow through the pow).

Also attached is a picture of a tench from me climbing a hill (look familiar).

Jim

 

[rx-hi]

what about your clutching, did you change your primary spring to get rid of breaking? This to causes the front end to dive in powder when letting off throttle, making it very difficult to controll in the powder, unless your under constant throttlle, witch is impossible in the trees!

 

[SoCoRX1]

If you guys abandon the RX-1s for Polaris RMK 900s; I can help you out some there also since I got one with 1800+ trouble free miles.

Edit; SoCo; if you can raise that ekholm skid up more you'll have to go back proportionaly to make it right. Did it come with a template? if so use the measurements from it to keep your distance from the new hole to the drive shaft. This will also give you a better angle of attack in addition to the lower rear end.

Jim

It didnt come with a template as far as i know. I ordered it and took it to the yamaha dealer and the mechanic put it on. The mechanic i took it to and his brother are the 2 best mechanics i know, and people that have been to Mountain Tech Yamaha or Peak Motorsports can vouch that. he set both our sleds up.

Both of us wouldnt ditch for 900's. My brother doesnt like the feel. if anything he would probably get an M8 or Apex but would probably keep his sled.

 

[SoCoRX1]

You need a more agressive setup, like the 8bu-10, stock 2005 setup.

We have the stock 2005 setup.