My first sled - 2007 Apex GT - questions

[Blue Dave]

Being that this is your first sled it is understandable that you are not sure what is "normal" and what is not. This site is an excellent place to learn these things and benefit from the vast wealth of knowledge and experience that is available from other TY members.

It is normal that the track does not start moving as soon as you touch the throttle. You do have to rev up the engine to engage the clutches which will in turn get the track moving.

I am guessing that you are fine. The track will normally make a lot of "bad noises" when spun fast on a jackstand especially if you have studs which add to the racket when the heads roll over the wheels and drivers.

Once you get it out on the trail (if we ever get some snow) you will not hear the track noise so much as it will be drowned out by the beautiful "music" coming out of your exhaust pipes!

 

[snowxwi]

Alright, I'm really glad you have been explaining this stuff to me as I am pretty much in the dark. It does seem when I rev it up the clutch engages and it spins fine. I will go over the track adjustments again this weekend and make sure it's right.

Thank you for all your help.

 

[driftbuster]

You probably won't get to it this year, but one thing you want to look at is the front W arm of the rear suspension.
I too bought an 07 Attak after last year and after reading as much TY as I could I decided the FIRST thing to do was send the rear suspension parts to Half Baked for their beef up kit.
I feel much better knowing I did that, and WOW - does it look SHARP!!!

 

[Blue Dave]

one thing you want to look at is the front W arm of the rear suspension.

Agreed, if you have an '07 keep a close eye on the welds on the front "W" arm of the rear suspension as they are known to fail if the sled is ridden hard over rough terrain. While greasing my rear suspension a couple of years ago on the night before a weekend sled trip I noticed that mine was broken in several places.

I had it welded back together as a temporary fix to get me through the weekend trip. My Yamaha dealer replaced it later with the newer stronger version under warranty. Yamaha even offered to reimburse me for the cost of the temporary welding "fix" but I had a buddy do it for free.

 

[danq]

I tightened the torx set screws before putting the cover plate on but I'm sure the bearing was in the right place. The cover fit on without any problems. I don't think the problem is with the bearing.

The thing is that the track does move VERY slowly with the sled just idling while up on the jack. So it seems to be moving pretty freely in that sense. It just seems that the track should start moving as soon as I touch the throttle but does need to be revved up between 3-4k rpms to get it moving, and at that RPM, the speedo says it's going <20 mph. I will play with the track tension and alignment and see if I can get it spinning correctly.

One other things to note. Obviously it's going to sound different on the jack with the track off the groud than it would actually going on snow, but I do hear a weird clicking/clanking noise when running the track. It could just be the noise of the track when it's off the ground but just not sure.

I will work on it over the weekend and let you know how it goes. Half of my Torx bit broke off inside one of the screws, so I will have to get that out somehow before loosening them again.

As always, Thanks!

When the track is cold it will be pretty stiff and will not "coast" very long after you let off the gas. I agree with Blue Daves comments above

As far as clinking/clanking noises, Take a look at the 2 lengths of square tubing (tunnel protectors) attached to the tunnel just above the track. It is there to keep picks from hitting the tunnel, but I find that the rivets holding the tubing on are usually broken and will cause the tubing to clank against the tunnel from the vibration of the spinning track.

 

[snowxwi]

FINALLY got out to ride this weekend. Just an hour or so on the lake in front of my parent's house. Extremely impressed with everything about the snowmobile. Scary that it will still pull at 70 mph. We got 5 inches of snow last night so hopefully they will open the trails around here soon so I can put some mileage on it.

Thanks to everyone for all the info here. I was starting to regret my purchase due to old man winter not giving any love to Wisconsin but with one ride I am hooked.

 

[biffdotorg]

one thing you want to look at is the front W arm of the rear suspension.

Agreed, if you have an '07 keep a close eye on the welds on the front "W" arm of the rear suspension as they are known to fail if the sled is ridden hard over rough terrain. While greasing my rear suspension a couple of years ago on the night before a weekend sled trip I noticed that mine was broken in several places.

I had it welded back together as a temporary fix to get me through the weekend trip. My Yamaha dealer replaced it later with the newer stronger version under warranty. Yamaha even offered to reimburse me for the cost of the temporary welding "fix" but I had a buddy do it for free.

Your YES warranty covered broken welds in your skid? My '07 Apex is still under warranty and I just blew a shockmount on our last trip. While in the welding shop he noted a few other cracks in welds and touched them up.

I feel it is in better shape than before, but is it worth me running it past my dealer to see if it can be replaced with new?

Thanks so much!

 

[Blue Dave]

Your YES warranty covered broken welds in your skid? My '07 Apex is still under warranty and I just blew a shockmount on our last trip. While in the welding shop he noted a few other cracks in welds and touched them up.

I feel it is in better shape than before, but is it worth me running it past my dealer to see if it can be replaced with new?

Thanks so much!

My YES warranty covered the installation of the updated W arm (parts & labor). Yamaha even would have paid for the temporary welding repair of the original W arm if I would have had a receipt. I would definately ask your dealer for the same.