My GT is a bit tippy (Pic)

[snowbeast]

My stock ski's aren't crap! I don't think you have any valid proof that these ski do not do what they are intended for. There may be better ski's available for your purpose but it isn't necessary to bash a ski that will hold up to any punishment you can dish out! And by the looks of the picture above the ski was sticking pretty darn good! Do you have stock in some other ski?

I think what most folks dislike about the stock ski is the kneel is to deep and the width to narrow with no outside edge ribs to contack inslush type snow,now in fact if you run much more than stock carbide on the stock ski,it will stick so bad that is what is causing the inside ski lift plus some soft rear suspension settings,anytime you squash the rear torque arm of any sleds skid frame and it collapes the skid and transfers energy to the track you are getting ski lift,thru transfer,but we are having two types of ski lift,plain old transfer with both skis up in the air,and one ski biting hard enough to lift one ski thru a corner,two different types of ski lift,but to somextent both can be relieved by sorta the same thing,coupling plus less bite from the track,stiffer sway bar,shorter travel out of the front end,wider ski stance,stiffer rear suspension set up,and so on,pick your poison,its not always the ski,or carbide..

 

[flyingpig]

That's a much more reasonable statement with validity to the context. Thank you!

 

[justforme]

I hang off my sled just like my bike. I am concidering putting pucks on the knees of my bibs for when I touch a knee down. .

iv'e come close. i hang off the sled even more than the bike (04r1)

in right handers i hang off so far i have to let go of the bars with my left hand.

 

[rhoag]

v'e come close. i hang off the sled even more than the bike (04r1)

Not trying to highjack this thread.
I also have an 04 R1 and do alot of track days. I was almost as sore from riding my sled 100 miles as I am after a track day. I shift my weight as far off the sled as I can to move the COG. Some times I feel like if I meet another sled in a left hander they will take me out because i'm hanging in their side of the trail. I have 8" carbides on the stock ski and I expect some inside ski lift. I am just trying to get it minimized. The owners manual front preload minimum is the same as standard, so I guess the stock preload should be good.

 

[APEXER1]

Powering out of a turn it always wants to lift the inside ski. It's fun to do but not the fastest way out.

You may want to shorten your front strap 1 hole,That will keep it from lifting so high comming out. It won't hurt the ride at all. Then while your at it check your front bumper height. On a level floor front bumper height should be about 17 1/2 inches from the floor to the front center point. (Now heres a good one!) Check the length of the front shocks right and left. Not the adjusters, the total length of the shocks. If you find what i found you will be scratching your head. Make the shocks the same length not the adjusters. Loosen the longer one if the bumper is to high. Then grab the front ski one side at a time and lift up and down fast and feel if both sides have the same amount of preasure on the front end. When they feel the same then you are ok. (I cheated i checked mine with scales) WOW! Didn't need the scales just grab the ski and you can feel the difference. When you get all that done now go out and reajust the ski lift with the transfer rod and you are set to go.

 

[NY_Nytro]

My stock ski's aren't crap! I don't think you have any valid proof that these ski do not do what they are intended for. There may be better ski's available for your purpose but it isn't necessary to bash a ski that will hold up to any punishment you can dish out! And by the looks of the picture above the ski was sticking pretty darn good! Do you have stock in some other ski?

Agreed, most people hammer the skis when it's typically a setup problem. Poor floatation is the worst problem with the stock ski IMO. On groomed trail the stock are good, in powder they aren't.

But when it comes to the problem in this thread I think it's more setup and rider position that is causing the lift.

 

[snowbeast]

Apexer1 you are getting real close to figuering it out,like someone else stated he added a plate to lower his front shocks by 1" over stock height,AD bovine had a set up alot like this years ago,and i added it to my xc edge 800 01 poo and it helped take alot of the body roll out,as it lowered the ride height some it seemed to widen it out just a little and it still kept all of the soft ride qualitys,but just plain helped it corner flatter,any time you can bring down some of the skid height and front end height it will help with handling,not ride though,you may suffer some more bottoming due to less travel,but you really have to be pounding the woop #*$&@ holes to feel it,i think alot of us would prefere some middle ground between the srx and the new apex as far as ride height for handling..

 

[APEXER1]

---------snowbeast----------
I know what you mean,. Here in the catskills some of the trails are groomed and some are not so i have to make a happy medium on suspension set up. When i tried to lower the front more than what i got the camber started to wack out so i'm about as low as it should go whitout messing up the steering. I think they have them jacked up alittle to much from the factory. (They look good on the show room floor )

Also set my toe at 1/16 toe in (No more darting)

 

[dirkdiggler]

Looks like you need to lean.

 

[X-APE]

I'm beginning to think the apex, gt anyhow, needs softer front springs, with more sway bar, and more rear spring. Seems to me yamaha f'd up while calibrating the susp on this sled.

 

[SledFreak]

I think the whole sled could be lowered about 1" or at least the front for sure. Stiffer sway bar would not hurt with different shock calibrations as well. It will be interesting to see if they change the calibration for 07.

 

[APEXER1]

My friend has the GT and we switched sleds the other day and his sled darted and danced all over the place compared to my ER. I would contribute this to his softer rear spring. It's so soft that while sitting on the sled it's taking all the pressure off the front skis. You need enough preasure on the skis to cut through skag marks. I think he is going to get the stiffer 5.5 spring, then we'll set the toe to 0 like mine and see if that works out.

 

[X-APE]

yeah, I'd be shocked if yam dont change the calibrations for next year. I dont recall reading anywhere on all the glorious reports last spring and this fall about needing a bigger spring for what is turning out to be at least half of us. Had I know I would have got one quick, nbow I'm told I wont see one till next month. POSSIBLY not even then. Thanks apexer1, I'll try to reduce toe another 1/8".
I have some guys(actually two) who swear their gt is perfect and think I'm out to lunch. I'm telling ya mine was real bad at first. Definately getting better with help and thoughts from guys on here,.

 

[BLACK REV 800 X]

I believe in the GT Yamaha needs to evaluate all components that effect handling. I had the same problems, and spent almost 300 miles making adjustments and playing with the "stock" components to get it stable and comfortable in both smooth and rough trail conditions. I also do not believe one should have to buy "aftermarket" components to accomplish ie - new set of ski's.

After doing this and thinking about how short winter is, as well as I had a gut feeling I would not get it to where I would be happy with - I traded it for a new REV... That solved my problem.

I really wanted to like the GT - there are many advantages to this sled over all others. But in my opinion the handling is not comparable to the REV, nor is Cat or Polaris comparable yet either.. Maybe I will be on one next year. My intent is not to iritate anyone, just my thoughts regarding the handling of the sled. I'm not brand biased and have owned them all over the last almost 40 years of riding. And yes, I do understand how to adjust suspension components and how each one impacts the others..... Just my opinion anyway..

 

[craze1cars]

I have not even yet ridden this chassis, so I can't speak to setup. And gosh I hope I don't overstep my bounds here, as I mean to offer nothing more than genuine help with what I'm about to write. Absolutely not trying to be critical or "know-it-all" but I do have some qualifications to coach a bit.

I'm sure some suspension setup and adjustments will help you, but riding style is 95% of taking a corner flat & fast. Your picture is a perfect example of how to get maximum ski lift when powering out of a corner. On the old sleds I raced, such a riding position would be a guaranteed cartwheel/flipover. Today's sleds are more forgiving so you can thank Yamaha for setting up the sled so you didn't lose it in that turn. At the same time today's long travel front suspensions can compress a lot more than the old ones, so they need one heckuva sway bar to help them stay flatter. A few others here have said you have to "lean" more. That's a bad term, IMO. Leaning to the left does almost nothing if you dont' move your ENTIRE body. A better description is "Hang yer butt off the seat!"

It's hard to describe cornering technique without a good pic, but here goes...from my understanding:

Left elbow should be sticking straight out, if not actually pointing forward, right arm stretched perfectly straight....you're trying to get your entire body as far away from the throttle as possible. Butt completely off the seat down to about the level of the left running board, right knee crimped over the top of the seat/fuel tank, left knee pointing straight left, right foot pulling UP hard on on the right footwell, left foot hooked in the footwell but pretty neutral in terms of force. Left hand pulling DOWN hard on the left grip. Head should be down directly next to or slightly behind the left hand grip. Absolutely NO part of your body should be anywhere above the level of the handlebars except maybe your forehead. Your pic shows about 65% of your body mass above the bars, and this is a sled with very high bars and a high center of gravity. No suspension adjustment could ever keep your high center of gravity flat, especially when you hit the gas.

If you look at some pics of snowmobile racers in ovals and they have the position nailed. SnowWeek has a ton of beautiful shots that show the technique all the time. If you take such a position, I see little reason you can't take that turn at literally twice the speed the pic is taken at with both skis firmly planted.

Again, I aim to help, not offend. I hope you take this as simple learning experience that will help you completely destroy your friends in the twisties. Above all....have fun!

As a sidenote to anyone else who is reading this...."Fishtailing" through a turn, while fun, is extremely inefficient and slow (not to mention the damage it causes to trails). I cringe when I read magazine editors writing about how you can "stab the throttle and bring the back end around to come out of a turn." Sure you can, but it's a slow and damaging way to come out of a turn. For maximum speed you want to carve the entire turn SMOOTH while maintaining traction (though a certain amount of slide is inevitable on snow). As much as people talk about the engine braking of these 4 strokes, I cannot WAIT to try one....these have GOT to be much easier to bring into a fast corner when you don't have to worry so much about brake modulation and the transition point back to throttle, because engine braking is SOOO much more predictable and smooth...it's gotta help control the tail end a TON.

And now a disclaimer....NEVER, EVER use these high speed cornering techniques on tight wooded trails where you can't see oncoming sleds for a good distance. Someone WILL die.