BV1
Expert
Woah... just got back from a ride... Crazy. Im gonna need a few hours to recover.
For now though...
125.7 km to 17.8 litres, on break in. 16.6 MPG (3.8L per gallon). This was all breaking trail, nothing groomed about 30 cms of snow on average... followed by
10 FRICKING WOT THROTTLE MILES OF OMG I'M ON THE UNFROZEN LAKE!!!
Just about crapped my self. The trail I was following must have been made by some guys with larger sleds then brains. I was leading and was with one other guy.
We rode about an hour worth of tight twisty pine tree encrusted trails. Nice, but they werent groomed yet and ltos of downed trees from a heavy snowfall. It was a nice ride... suddenly, I came around a corner on a downhill and it dropped me right on top of some bullrushes and slushy water I gassed it so I wouldnt sink and within seconds I realzied I was on a trail made by 2 sleds heading out on to the lake with patchy ice and slush and some open spots.
I didnt dare back off the throttle at this point, and there was no where to turn around.
I thought that the guys that did this must have been nutz but there was no where to turn around, and the snow on the lake was deep, so if I went off there tracks, it started to slow down and bog (Slow I consider under 55 MPH at this point) I was trying to keep it above 65 MPH in their tracks. I couldnt turn around, I didnt want to risk going any further out on the lake to do so, and couldnt risk slowing down.
I hit patches of ice with the back end nearly coming out on me, patches of open water, patches of deep snow, for 10... forsaken miles. First time I have ever ridden this trail. I kept waiting for these the trail to lead somewhere and it seemed like forever. I was praying this thing wouldnt stall out or blow a belt. I looked back and didnt see my buddy following, good thing, he must have realized.
After what seemed like an eternity I finally found a spot where I could go ashore, there was too many rocks to go ashore anywhere else, it was all rocks, trees and islands. Just bombed for it and on the brakes hardcore soon as I got close enough. Skidded to a stop on a small non rocky inlet.
I got ashore, stopped the machine, noted the overtemp light, shut it off and just sat down for like 10 minutes.
Never been so scared.
I have some other observations about the sled, but need a few hours to unwind.
-Steve
For now though...
125.7 km to 17.8 litres, on break in. 16.6 MPG (3.8L per gallon). This was all breaking trail, nothing groomed about 30 cms of snow on average... followed by
10 FRICKING WOT THROTTLE MILES OF OMG I'M ON THE UNFROZEN LAKE!!!
Just about crapped my self. The trail I was following must have been made by some guys with larger sleds then brains. I was leading and was with one other guy.
We rode about an hour worth of tight twisty pine tree encrusted trails. Nice, but they werent groomed yet and ltos of downed trees from a heavy snowfall. It was a nice ride... suddenly, I came around a corner on a downhill and it dropped me right on top of some bullrushes and slushy water I gassed it so I wouldnt sink and within seconds I realzied I was on a trail made by 2 sleds heading out on to the lake with patchy ice and slush and some open spots.
I didnt dare back off the throttle at this point, and there was no where to turn around.
I thought that the guys that did this must have been nutz but there was no where to turn around, and the snow on the lake was deep, so if I went off there tracks, it started to slow down and bog (Slow I consider under 55 MPH at this point) I was trying to keep it above 65 MPH in their tracks. I couldnt turn around, I didnt want to risk going any further out on the lake to do so, and couldnt risk slowing down.
I hit patches of ice with the back end nearly coming out on me, patches of open water, patches of deep snow, for 10... forsaken miles. First time I have ever ridden this trail. I kept waiting for these the trail to lead somewhere and it seemed like forever. I was praying this thing wouldnt stall out or blow a belt. I looked back and didnt see my buddy following, good thing, he must have realized.
After what seemed like an eternity I finally found a spot where I could go ashore, there was too many rocks to go ashore anywhere else, it was all rocks, trees and islands. Just bombed for it and on the brakes hardcore soon as I got close enough. Skidded to a stop on a small non rocky inlet.
I got ashore, stopped the machine, noted the overtemp light, shut it off and just sat down for like 10 minutes.
Never been so scared.
I have some other observations about the sled, but need a few hours to unwind.
-Steve
go200mph
Expert
That sounds brutal man. Glad to hear you are OK.
Cool!!! You have the honor of being the first documented production Phazer water skip. Hey, If my Rx1 can skip the Phazer ought to. Did you open up the hood and check for water around the belt. It's always good to know in case you decide to do it again.
donnyrhodes
Pro
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2006
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WOW
Thats Crazy 10 Miles must have felt like forever on there, Glad your Buddy didnt do the same,
How did you get back to meet your buddy?? Any Rider Pictures today?
Thats Crazy 10 Miles must have felt like forever on there, Glad your Buddy didnt do the same,
How did you get back to meet your buddy?? Any Rider Pictures today?
DaveRX1
Expert
Why the high temp light?? Was the radiator plugged with snow? You would think that that the radiator would still cool the machine if it was plugged with snow, unless the snow was blocking the air flow, but not touching the radiator tubes. Even so, the front heat exchanger is pretty darn big, you would think that that would keep a 500 cool.
Besides the temp light, how was the sled ? How is the acceleration and power? suspension? How do you like the handling?
Besides the temp light, how was the sled ? How is the acceleration and power? suspension? How do you like the handling?
fryguy
Veteran
man, thats nuts. As a guy who fell through the ice once, glad to hear you made it!
welterracer
TY 4 Stroke God
Thats awsome.. Congrats..
16MPG on un groomed trails.. My apex only got 10mpg on new snow.. and now 14-16..
so that means atleast 20+MPG for the phazer... WOW
16MPG on un groomed trails.. My apex only got 10mpg on new snow.. and now 14-16..
so that means atleast 20+MPG for the phazer... WOW
BV1
Expert
Back.
Nothing like a good movie to relax you. Been pretty stressed since earlier. Frick, those 10 miles felt like forever. Alot of time to think you know, kept thinking I should have turned around at the begining but now Im glad I didnt. It was like... should I just go for a rock? But then what? Stuck on a island in the middle of nowhere... great. Riding is definetly a bit more dangerous here then in Winnipeg, always got to be on the ball. Just moved here in August, first good exploring today.
The Phazer GT doesnt have the track or the power for water skipping of that magnitute in my opinion. Keeping the speed up in those conditions was challenging. It was a real mix of conditions out there. And when the back end starts to whip around on you, on ice... leading to open water... holy frick.
Moving on...
I noted a few things today. First, as this was the first time out on rough trails, lots of bumps etc... I noted right away that the suspension was too hard.
I am 220lbs at least, with gear. And the rear suspension started driving me mad after the first 20 minutes. Every bump felt like it would break my back. They would catch you my suprise and the front end being light would pop up and then when the back hit the bump it would kick your a$$ literally. The rear suspension would start to absorb the bump but then jolt to a stop, like it was bottoming out, but it wasnt.
We finally pulled over and I cracked open the tools to adjust the rear suspension. You would NOT believe the difference the switching the suspension to soft makes, it was night and day.
Run this sled on S on the trails. Unless your REALLY big. At 220lbs on S it was absolutely perfect, unbelievable difference... so much better. And yes I took a couple jumps with it, were talking 1-3 ft jumps at most, just trail jumps you know, and it was still perfect.
Also as a note, the tool they give you to adjust the suspension (22mm wrench) should be called the thumb removal tool. When the suspension snaps into place as your turning with the wrench, it twists the wrench out of your hands and pinches your thumb on the chassis. OUCH! Be careful, I seriously thought I lopted my thumb off. Glad I had gloves on, but still a big a$$ed bruise, thumb was numb for awhile and its still quite sore.
A few things I noted though, may be me but...
This is my first Rider FWD position sled... I was use to my 550 Polaris. Well my polaris had a front end on it. What does this mean? Well when you cross a driveway at speed, or hit a snow ridge at speed, the Polaris front end would absorb this because it was heavy. With no front end on the Phazer, when I hit my first 1-2 ft snowplow ridge, the windshield clocked me hard in the head. Hard.
Very light front end, keep the weight on your tows or lean back a bit so you wont lose a battle with your face and the gauge pod, when in that situation.
The machine has great power for the trails, if you can get traction (shallow snow). The track really spins easily in the deeper stuff. I loved the approaches to some of the mogals though, the machine got traction and lifts the front end so easily, making a nice small jump, with a soft landing. On the trails its absolutely perfect, cornering was good. You will not be disappointed with the Phaze GT as a trail sled. I also fit in a few places, going around trees and crap you know, that the F7 had some trouble on
BTW.... the windshield on the GT protects your hands too, nice design feature! My hands were warm day in -8 with only cloth gloves on. Those hand warmers are HOT. Its not a Cold sled. Just as warm as the Edge chassis on the Polaris was.
Almost all aspects of the sled were what I expected moving from the powder to the trails. I was disappointed with one thing though. I still have not found resolution for it. It may just be me, as this is my first rider fwd sled... but it seems the sled has a "TIP zone". I would say this angle is like in the 25-45 degree range, this is the angle if your sled had gone straight vs the angle its now taking to get out of an average ditch.
It really sucks! How many times I tried to get out of a ditch while doing like 40 mph and the thing starts to tip. Im leaning as far as I can to the left, the steering all the way to the left, my arm as outstretched as can be, almost falling off, the F7 ahead of me gets out, but Im just plowing... and eventually stop. If you get out of the "TIP zone"... and take a more direct approach on the angle out of the ditch, absolutely no problem. But a slow exit does not seem possible, but I could have done it on my 550, hanging off the side. Is their upgrades I can do for this, or adjustments, or maybe learning... lol
Maybe I have to get used to it. I tried leaning FW instead of back, to the left, this seems to help alittle, will take more practice though.
That was my only beef with the sled. My buddies F7 took 26 litres, I took 17 hehe. He ran the same course as me today... and yes... he did eventually meet me on the other side of the lake. He got worried that I had broken through and came after me, after waiting to see if I was coming back for a couple minutes. His sled was way better for that though. 1.5" paddles and a 700 EFI. Man.... oh well.
Another ride tommorrow though, this time I will bring the Camera, sorry guys, I totally forgot. I found some AWESOME spots for pics today.
Oh and:
As I recall... I believe the temp light came on as soon as I slowed down. Man you should have seen the ice build up on the back of the sled. The "hole" was a bit of an ice collector.
-Steve
Nothing like a good movie to relax you. Been pretty stressed since earlier. Frick, those 10 miles felt like forever. Alot of time to think you know, kept thinking I should have turned around at the begining but now Im glad I didnt. It was like... should I just go for a rock? But then what? Stuck on a island in the middle of nowhere... great. Riding is definetly a bit more dangerous here then in Winnipeg, always got to be on the ball. Just moved here in August, first good exploring today.
The Phazer GT doesnt have the track or the power for water skipping of that magnitute in my opinion. Keeping the speed up in those conditions was challenging. It was a real mix of conditions out there. And when the back end starts to whip around on you, on ice... leading to open water... holy frick.
Moving on...
I noted a few things today. First, as this was the first time out on rough trails, lots of bumps etc... I noted right away that the suspension was too hard.
I am 220lbs at least, with gear. And the rear suspension started driving me mad after the first 20 minutes. Every bump felt like it would break my back. They would catch you my suprise and the front end being light would pop up and then when the back hit the bump it would kick your a$$ literally. The rear suspension would start to absorb the bump but then jolt to a stop, like it was bottoming out, but it wasnt.
We finally pulled over and I cracked open the tools to adjust the rear suspension. You would NOT believe the difference the switching the suspension to soft makes, it was night and day.
Run this sled on S on the trails. Unless your REALLY big. At 220lbs on S it was absolutely perfect, unbelievable difference... so much better. And yes I took a couple jumps with it, were talking 1-3 ft jumps at most, just trail jumps you know, and it was still perfect.
Also as a note, the tool they give you to adjust the suspension (22mm wrench) should be called the thumb removal tool. When the suspension snaps into place as your turning with the wrench, it twists the wrench out of your hands and pinches your thumb on the chassis. OUCH! Be careful, I seriously thought I lopted my thumb off. Glad I had gloves on, but still a big a$$ed bruise, thumb was numb for awhile and its still quite sore.
A few things I noted though, may be me but...
This is my first Rider FWD position sled... I was use to my 550 Polaris. Well my polaris had a front end on it. What does this mean? Well when you cross a driveway at speed, or hit a snow ridge at speed, the Polaris front end would absorb this because it was heavy. With no front end on the Phazer, when I hit my first 1-2 ft snowplow ridge, the windshield clocked me hard in the head. Hard.
Very light front end, keep the weight on your tows or lean back a bit so you wont lose a battle with your face and the gauge pod, when in that situation.
The machine has great power for the trails, if you can get traction (shallow snow). The track really spins easily in the deeper stuff. I loved the approaches to some of the mogals though, the machine got traction and lifts the front end so easily, making a nice small jump, with a soft landing. On the trails its absolutely perfect, cornering was good. You will not be disappointed with the Phaze GT as a trail sled. I also fit in a few places, going around trees and crap you know, that the F7 had some trouble on
BTW.... the windshield on the GT protects your hands too, nice design feature! My hands were warm day in -8 with only cloth gloves on. Those hand warmers are HOT. Its not a Cold sled. Just as warm as the Edge chassis on the Polaris was.
Almost all aspects of the sled were what I expected moving from the powder to the trails. I was disappointed with one thing though. I still have not found resolution for it. It may just be me, as this is my first rider fwd sled... but it seems the sled has a "TIP zone". I would say this angle is like in the 25-45 degree range, this is the angle if your sled had gone straight vs the angle its now taking to get out of an average ditch.
It really sucks! How many times I tried to get out of a ditch while doing like 40 mph and the thing starts to tip. Im leaning as far as I can to the left, the steering all the way to the left, my arm as outstretched as can be, almost falling off, the F7 ahead of me gets out, but Im just plowing... and eventually stop. If you get out of the "TIP zone"... and take a more direct approach on the angle out of the ditch, absolutely no problem. But a slow exit does not seem possible, but I could have done it on my 550, hanging off the side. Is their upgrades I can do for this, or adjustments, or maybe learning... lol
Maybe I have to get used to it. I tried leaning FW instead of back, to the left, this seems to help alittle, will take more practice though.
That was my only beef with the sled. My buddies F7 took 26 litres, I took 17 hehe. He ran the same course as me today... and yes... he did eventually meet me on the other side of the lake. He got worried that I had broken through and came after me, after waiting to see if I was coming back for a couple minutes. His sled was way better for that though. 1.5" paddles and a 700 EFI. Man.... oh well.
Another ride tommorrow though, this time I will bring the Camera, sorry guys, I totally forgot. I found some AWESOME spots for pics today.
Oh and:
DaveRX1 said:
As I recall... I believe the temp light came on as soon as I slowed down. Man you should have seen the ice build up on the back of the sled. The "hole" was a bit of an ice collector.
-Steve
So how does the seat feel after this long of a ride.
BV1
Expert
Actually seat was fine. Really. No issues at all... I did notice it had more grip then my Polaris seat, side to side I mean.
Otherwise fine. I thought about it once, just rememebering that someone would ask about it... but otherwise not at all. Nice then a YZ250F for sure, must have more padding.
-Steve
Otherwise fine. I thought about it once, just rememebering that someone would ask about it... but otherwise not at all. Nice then a YZ250F for sure, must have more padding.
-Steve
