First Impressions RS Venture

[Glock30]

I was able to ride my new '05 RS Venture for a few miles and have a few first impressions to share.
Most of these have been previously posted but here goes anyway.

>Major power all the way-No powerband spikes or letdowns.
>While doing 30 I could whack the throttle a lift the skis-So much for lack of snap with a 4 stroke.
>No TORS problem-Had a great setup job from Rev-IT-Up Yamaha in Rangeley, ME
>No clutch rattle
>Extremely comfortable, smooth and quiet!
>Had no troubles on tight trail conditions.
>Ripsaw track hooks up and keeps on grabbin'
>What a ride?

Any specific questions please feel free to ask.

 

[p0wd3rp1l0t]

no clutch rattle? did the dealer shave it or did u do it? all of the new rs sleds that i've heard have had a rattle but i cant tell it when im riding, only at idle when im showin off my sled durin the day or my leds at night!!

 

[Glock30]

I will listen closer when it is at idle next time out, but I did not hear anything bothersome and I am a picky bastard.

 

[BA]

Glock30,

I've also logged a few miles on my RS venture and it seems to have very little weight transfer as it was set up. If I'm riding single, it seems like I have to horse it around corners.

I'm also not impressed about the relative tippiness of it during in town (very slow) manuevers with two riders. I've riden a GT ski-doo before and never noticed it wanting to roll if it got slightly off camber in a ditch, etc...

I think that I will pay more attention to what the front skiis are doing when this happens, as they do not provide much flotation...

Any recommendations on either observation? Possibly I just need more time on the sled.

I do have the clutch rattle (it's impossible to miss at idle), but everything else about the sled is great. I'm still trying to go somewhat easy on her - no long fast runs yet.

I will try to see if I can get much ski lift @ 30 mph.

Thanks,
ba

 

[morrisond]

I tried the RS Venture back to back with an 05 Rx-1 and an 05 800 Rev over the same section of trail.

The sled has 9" Shaper bars and 116 Woody's Megabites 1.325" studs.

The sled turns better than the Rx-1! and significantly better than REV.

I adjusted the rear springs to full soft, rods to full transfer and put the Center Shock spring on full hard.

Sled works great and is very controllable.

 

[BA]

Morrisond,
Where did you have the front suspension set?
Also, is the spanner wrench to adjust the springs an industry standard size?

Thanks for the info, I'll be tweaking mine next weekend, I'm getting more wear on the rear of the hyfax, so changing the rear spring to soft and the center shock spring harder seems logical.

Are you getting even hyfax wear, or is it too early to tell?

Thanks again for the specifics

 

[johnboy]

I have just over 1200 miles on my RS Venture so far and overall I like the sled. It is a bit more tippy than my Ski Doo G.T. was and more front end heavy in the powder. Lots of smooth power

I put the new Yamaha Mt skis on it and that helped a bunch in the powder. My dealer did shim my clutch at 500 miles and the noise/rattle has not come back yet. I did not notice any difference in performance after the shim job. My dealer did make sure everything moved freely when he did the shimming.

I did have a TORS problem, but that was fixed with a minor trottle adjustment.

Gas mileage has varied from 16.5 mpg to about 20 mpg, depending on riding conditions.

All in all I think Yamaha has a winner when it comes to this two up machine.

 

[Jack_Shaft]

Glock30,

I've also logged a few miles on my RS venture and it seems to have very little weight transfer as it was set up. If I'm riding single, it seems like I have to horse it around corners.

I'm also not impressed about the relative tippiness of it during in town (very slow) manuevers with two riders. I've riden a GT ski-doo before and never noticed it wanting to roll if it got slightly off camber in a ditch, etc...

To address these two issues:

1) Lack of weight transfer:
It's a touring sled, the priority for the manufacturers is to ensure a solid front-end bite, especially when riding two-up. Weight transfer has to be minimal in order to accomplish this.

2) Relative tippiness:
I, too have noticed this handling trait and I am trying to find a way to help tune it out or at least reduce it. One thing to keep in mind here is the actual ride height of the driver/passenger as compared to previous touring sleds like the older Ventures, GT's and Panteras; the RS Venture seating position is much higher than on these other sleds and thus the sled is going to have a slightly higher CG and feel a little tippier. The trade-off for the added tippiness is greater leg room and more rear travel and it is difficult to accomplish either without raising the ride height somewhat. However, I also hope that somebidy here can find the time to devise a way to reduce the inside ski-lift a little.