FRUSTRATED,w/ Unpredictable front end.

[zipclean]

Finally ,some one else knows what I am talking about.I just checked with a tech. and he is going to make a few calls.Going to check camber and toe in in the mean time.Something has to be wrong or most people here never rode any other sled.

 

[machj]

keep me posted

 

[welterracer]

NO matter what you do it, it will always be alot heavier than a 2 stroke and the engine breaking will always cause the front end to dive if you let off to quick

There is alot of good things on this thread that will help it make it better.. Read them and try them..

Its all test and tune..

 

[snowbeast]

Does anyone drive Attaks OFF trail? I have tried since last year to make the front end handle even close to my Cats but no way.If you ride my 06 Attak across a feild with hard and soft drifts or even any drifts, you never know if the sled is going to dip,roll of kick the handle bars right out of your hand.I have had many other people ride it and all said it was extremely unstable on the front. I played with transfer,13mm bar (helped)etc. but still like my 67 skidoo,wants to fall over!
Does any have this same problem or just me?I see most on here only ride trails,here we never do.Maybe more spring tension on front skis may hold it up more and keep it from falling in but totally FRUSTRATED!!

Yup i had that problem with mine after i reinstalled the stock shocks,but when i bought the sled i had them outfit it with fox floats,and for some reason i took them off and sold them ,now i have them back on,and love the machine again.

 

[zipclean]

So you think it is the shocks causing the problem? I also believe that is where something is wrong.As to the attak been heavier then a two stroke,I drove a Cat Jag 1000 4 stroke last week and it handled like a dream,one hand.( poor sounding motor though).It's not the engine braking you can hold the sled steady at 60mph. and every time you hit a bit of hard or uneven snow it kicks up and/or one corner dips down and wants to tip you over.Weardest sled handling in 25 years.

 

[welterracer]

The cat jag does not have engine breaking because it was designed not to..

The apex is basically a R1 based engine with gear reduction to make the clutches only spin 8500rpms.. (engine spins 10,700)

 

[zipclean]

But the Jag is just as heavy.And I said before it is expected to dive some when you let off the gas but I am talking about pitching side to side in not very rough conditions but 12" of snow at steady speed.Anything more then 6" of snow you have a handling problem unles it is smooth as a babys bum!

 

[welterracer]

are you sure one of your front shocks isnt blown causting the sled to be tippy?

IM GUESSING at this point

 

[zipclean]

Yes, tomorrow I am going to pull the shocks because I'm sure that this isn't normal or all who owned other makes and switched would be crying like me.Has to be with ski alignment( and it is causing the sled to catch and pitch) or in the front shocks.

 

[welterracer]

ski alignment is my guess also..

 

[zipclean]

Have to get some 9' bars and do some measuring.Thanx for the talk.

 

[craze1cars]

Zip....it seems to me that Lazybastard offered you the best advice here so far and I don't believe you've acknowledged whether you tried it or not.

REMOVE THE SWAY BAR. For big-whoop on one side/off trail/crust/powder/hard-pack/unpredictability that you're describing, you need as much INDEPENDENT in the independent front suspension as possible. The sway bar links them and as soon as you smack a drift with the right ski, the bar makes the left ski ALSO collapse, and it sucks the left side down as the right side goes up. That'll cause HUGE instability and will flip you right over sideways RIGHT NOW in certain situations. I find it hard to imagine that your 13mm swaybar helped...that would make it WORSE for your described conditions in my estimation.

Mountain riders and off trail hill-climbers RARELY use much if any swaybar....elimination of swaybar is largely to help with side-hilling, but also to help with conditions such as yours.

Have you tried disconnecting the sway bar yet? I'd expect that combination with possibly some revalve of the front shocks and playing with the front preload should help you dial it in the best you can.

I'm not going to pretend I understand the conditions you're working with as I've never been in your area (hell, I've never even ridden my Attak yet which is why I hesitate to try to give you handling and setup advice!), but as you have noticed, the majority of the users on this site are flatlanders/trail riders and few have the slightest clue about what you need to accomplish for your conditions. I'd expect you'd get much more useful advice talking to people and dealers from your local area about their setups.

However, removing the swaybar is off-trail riding 101 for just about any sled. Back in the late 80's when the "mountain sled" hadn't really been invented and a "long track" was considered about 124" with 1 inch paddles, we were going out to the Rockies with those early IFS sleds. We quickly learned that swaybar removal was the very first step needed in converting our own trail sleds to go boondocking into unpredictable and varying terrain.

Swaybars are for trails. And if you don't have trails you have absolutely no use for a swaybar.

So PLEASE try it if you haven't! Should make a SUBSTANTIAL difference. Hopefully for the better, but time will tell. What kind of sled and setup did you come off of that worked well for you?

Good luck!

 

[zipclean]

THanX for the imput.I am going to try a few things over Xmas.The sway bay thing interests me but I remember in 1992 I bought the wife a Artic Cat panther and it had no sway bar.It side hilled nice but in rough stuff it would tip easily so we put a sway bar on it and problem solved in the rough.So go figure. I feel the sway bay should tie the two skis two together so they kind of work together instead of one dipping and the other going else where.But maybe I'm wrong.Will try it this wekkend.

 

[4Fighter]

LOSE the 13mm bar. Disconnect it completely - thats whats causing it to bounce from side to side.

for accobra66; you're doing things the hard way. Don't force it onto its side, USE it! Keep an even speed, when you want to turn, steer OPPOSITE to where you want to end up, then as it falls over towards where you WANT to be, open the throttle. It'll turn on a dime.

I Agree, you will fight that 13mm bar in the deep stuff.

 

[zipclean]

Just talked to a dealer in Prince George B.C. He advised to let out the limiter strap and it should take the weight off of the front end in turn not letting the front kick and dip.He says it is the weight of the 4 stroke on the front driving the skis into the hard and soft drifts at different rates.Makes sense,will try that and let you know.