Just bought 2011 Apex SE

[Crazydiamond]

Ill be picking up the sled in a few days. The 07 Phazer now belongs to the wife. I bought the Apex from a local Polaris/Cat dealer which makes me a bit nervous. Anyway, it has 6600 miles on it and a newer Ice Claw track and the carbides were toast so I'm having them put on a set of 6" Woodys Doolys. Ive had the Phazer for 2 years now so Im familiar with Yamaha sleds but I've never ridden an Apex. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated

 

[chris189]

Suggestions? Get yourself a new set of gloves to HANG ON compared to that Phazer! HAHA!

You're going to love it.
My opinion is for you to spend as much time as possible on this site reading as much as possible. The apex has been around long enough that 90% of the info you will need to know is here somewhere. This site is almost invaluable to owners of Yamaha sleds.
Personally I have never run those carbides but I feel like it is a bandaid over setting the sled up properly. I run Shaper bars on my '07 with very little darting. Corners great.

 

[sgauthier]

one piece of advise, hold on to her tight especially since your coming from a Phazer. You won't regret your purchase, you'll love it. goodluck

 

[apex55]

I ran the shaper bar dual carbides last year and they made a huge difference, but I also run pilot skis. This year I'm trying the Woodys Slim Jim dual carbides. There is a bigger gap between the carbides to help prevent things getting wedged in between. Like the others said, hang on and oh yea there is some serious weight with these sleds.

 

[Sasquatch]

I tried a mildred of bars and ski's then I bought snowtrackers! Now those work! Wish I have tried them first! My Apex when cold starting will stall till I found a post on here that simply stated hold the key on start for a second longer. It will start then stumble so if you let off on the starter it stalls. Hold the starter for a second longer and it fires up every time. This only happens to me when its cold not a warm start issue.

My 2011 has been awesome only changes from stock are Dupont sliders and snowtrackers. I want to run the Star kit in the rear of my XTX this year but you don't have the XTX so enjoy the Air ride! I have 6,000ish miles as well and its just broke in!

I would pick the seals on the clutch side bearings, wash out the bearings with degreaser, dry with compressed air gently and regrease them. Change the chaincase oil with a good synthetic oil and adjust the chain tension. Go through the skid wheel bearings and replace any that are rough as well as pic, wash and regrease all of them. Check track tension and alignment.

Blow out the clutches with compressed air (every 500 miles) check buttons on secondary. Maybe change oil to make sure its been done! Fire up sled and cover pipes with heavy work gloves once its warmed up to see if there is any leaks. You want to keep on top of leaks as if the donuts go it can destroy the header flange. Mine was still good with no leaks end of winter with the same mileage you have. If you want you can pull the seat and tank and visually check them. I'm going to do this as I want to check my EXUP valve setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmS8m4h36yA MR Sleds Video.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/threads/exups-alternate-adjustment-procedure.127252/#post-1175084

More will chime in as I probably forgot something but My 11 has been flawless. Compared to 05 RX Warrior (which is a great sled) the 11 is a huge leap in tech.

If you have problems there is a wealth of info here!

 

[Soldier'spapa]

I tried a mildred of bars and ski's then I bought snowtrackers! Now those work! Wish I have tried them first! My Apex when cold starting will stall till I found a post on here that simply stated hold the key on start for a second longer. It will start then stumble so if you let off on the starter it stalls. Hold the starter for a second longer and it fires up every time. This only happens to me when its cold not a warm start issue.

My 2011 has been awesome only changes from stock are Dupont sliders and snowtrackers. I want to run the Star kit in the rear of my XTX this year but you don't have the XTX so enjoy the Air ride! I have 6,000ish miles as well and its just broke in!

I would pick the seals on the clutch side bearings, wash out the bearings with degreaser, dry with compressed air gently and regrease them. Change the chaincase oil with a good synthetic oil and adjust the chain tension. Go through the skid wheel bearings and replace any that are rough as well as pic, wash and regrease all of them. Check track tension and alignment.

Blow out the clutches with compressed air (every 500 miles) check buttons on secondary. Maybe change oil to make sure its been done! Fire up sled and cover pipes with heavy work gloves once its warmed up to see if there is any leaks. You want to keep on top of leaks as if the donuts go it can destroy the header flange. Mine was still good with no leaks end of winter with the same mileage you have. If you want you can pull the seat and tank and visually check them. I'm going to do this as I want to check my EXUP valve setup.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmS8m4h36yA MR Sleds Video.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/threads/exups-alternate-adjustment-procedure.127252/#post-1175084

More will chime in as I probably forgot something but My 11 has been flawless. Compared to 05 RX Warrior (which is a great sled) the 11 is a huge leap in tech.

If you have problems there is a wealth of info here!

Great post!

All good info.

Only addition I would make is that if it were mine it would get new spark plugs. In my mind, I'd rather start the season knowing they are new.

 

[YRNick]

Ill be picking up the sled in a few days. The 07 Phazer now belongs to the wife. I bought the Apex from a local Polaris/Cat dealer which makes me a bit nervous. Anyway, it has 6600 miles on it and a newer Ice Claw track and the carbides were toast so I'm having them put on a set of 6" Woodys Doolys. Ive had the Phazer for 2 years now so Im familiar with Yamaha sleds but I've never ridden an Apex. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated

Congratulations on your purchase. I am about to deliver my 2011 Apex SE to a buyer. I logged 5217 miles on that sled in Quebec and both sections of Michigan. First and foremost, put a set of tuner skis on it. I chose the 2"/4" carbide combination and it literally became a different sled. I started snowmobiling late in 2011, the Apex was my first sled, and my first ride was a 1200 mile backpack trip in Gaspe. An incredible experience but on the stock skis with limited experience, every turn was a panic situation. The tuner skis gave me the ability to follow the same lines through turns as my daughters' rush 600 at the same speed. The only problem they did not correct is some plowing in low speed turns. The simple solution is stay in the throttle and that is easy on an Apex.

 

[Murse]

Took my 11 out yesterday in 3 inches of wet snow....compared to my 06 Apex WOW! EPS already feels awesome and the suspension is so plush and responsive. It will feel significantly heavier than that Phazer but you will get used to it quick. I too will be checking exup just in case seems simple enough. Do the stall test to check the donuts which should be good as they are better than the older Apexes. The machine will love to be pushed and once you get it dialed in it will rail despite what your buddies may think. It is a truly great machine and I for one and so amped to get it out on the trail and I am sure you are too.

 

[Soldier'spapa]

Some posts you have received so far suggest Tuners or dual runner carbides. If that is what you want to try I'll sell you my pair of tuners if you want. I for one will not reinstall them on my sled. Now that I am running Snow Trackers on the OE skis I won't be running anything else.

 

[FRANK]

Some posts you have received so far suggest Tuners or dual runner carbides. If that is what you want to try I'll sell you my pair of tuners if you want. I for one will not reinstall them on my sled. Now that I am running Snow Trackers on the OE skis I won't be running anything else.

Hope you don't mind me asking what you didn't like about the Tuner Skiis. I too have always run Snowtrackers and like them but was considering trying the Tuner's. Not trying to hijack the post, just curious.
Also love my 11 SE, just re-built the floats as the rear was done @ 15,000kms (9,300miles) Also did exhaust donuts and one was getting ready to leak. BIG difference from the Phaser tho, take it slow at first. Best of luck!

 

[Soldier'spapa]

Hope you don't mind me asking what you didn't like about the Tuner Skiis. I too have always run Snowtrackers and like them but was considering trying the Tuner's. Not trying to hijack the post, just curious.
Also love my 11 SE, just re-built the floats as the rear was done @ 15,000kms (9,300miles) Also did exhaust donuts and one was getting ready to leak. BIG difference from the Phaser tho, take it slow at first. Best of luck!

Tuners are a big improvement over what we were given as stock equipment. Running them with a variety of carbide configurations still resulted in some darting (much less though) and push. Snowtrackers simply keep your sled pointed in the direction you intend. I did encounter push in loose snow but expected that. They are installed on my wife's Doo GSX 1200 too.

 

[slimjim2525]

Here's my advice. Don't let the wife ride it, or you will be selling the phazer for another apex. I know first hand this is how it goes.