My Venture MP is home

[Mac21]

I was in town yesterday and my dealer had three wider ski options for me to consider. 2015 VK PRO(which are blow molded), 2016 VK PRO, and Slydog Powderhounds. All are 8 inches wide. I believe he correctly advised against the blow-molded and recommended the Powderhounds. Right now I'm staying on the Tuners until we get more snow and I can get out on the lake. I'll report back as soon as I've put on some miles with them.

Welcome Mac21.

Hey Jason, you have some serious towing planned so you might consider breaking in your spare belt. I hate to see guys get in a tight spot and blow a belt trying to get unstuck and then run a brand new belt hard right of the start. Give them both a gentle break in at mild temps and low load. That way you can ensure that your spare is reliable. Once things start going down hill out there they seem to gather momentum. I also have seen around here that a lot of guys wash the mold release off new belts before they even put them on(HOT soapy water). Makes sense to me.

 

[Mac21]

Thanks for the kind welcome...!
.....looking forward to snow and getting out on the trails..

 

[Jason Harrell]

Welcome Mac21. my heart goes out to many of you who are waiting to ride. I have noticed the weather across much of the U.S. And Canada and it sucks. I did buy my venture mp for work, but man I love to get out and tear it up just like most of you. Went for my first real ride yesterday, and was quite surprised how easy it was to get to 80 mph...on a straight stretch of river of course. Very pleased with how she handled the tundra and bumps. Not as crazy about how the skis handled off trail, but have Simmons gen2's on the way. Anyways, we have a major storm that is close to us, but we are spared from the brunt of it...top wind gusts of 155mph is what I heard...our top gusts here have only been around 45mph. Wish it was snowing..but if it was, our visibility would be near 0

 

[YukonMP]

My season started November 16, the day after the boat came out of the lake. I have 345kms so far but my riding is very slooooow. I don't think I've ever gone 80mph(how fast do these things go anyway?) The bush/mountain trails I ride are a handful. Today I took 40 minutes to go down 4.8 km(that is 3 American). I don't know how steep it was but at times Blue was gaining speed with the brake/track locked. I was alone and nobody had put the trail in yet so I got a workout. I was leaning for all I was worth and riding with both feet on one side a lot of the time on the way up.

The tundra/bumpy muskeg terrain that you describe is familiar to me and I agree that our MPs handle it well and comfortably. Down on the lake I will feel pretty safe in the overflow with the new wider skis. I still had the Tuners on going up the mountain today but the snow was only knee deep. Also, going up there wasn't much weight on the front end.

Which brings me to the subject of set up. As Mooseman said in regards to the skis - it all depends on what you want. I am still at factory settings all the way around and the machine is very well balanced and I am in no hurry to change anything. With experience I've even become more comfortable with the tippiness. I once stopped on a packed side slope that had the uphill ski lifting and got off the sled. I stood beside the sled and tipped it more until I found the balance/tipping point. It was still a good bit further over. Now, as I ride I have more confidence to keep on the throttle and lean like a son of a gun. I also have a rope and come-a-long to right it and oil to replace what I've lost while it was on its side. This all works provided I'm not pinned under Blue.

I wish every body a long and safe season.

 

[Mac21]

...snowing...!...keep it coming....yep..finally started to snow...looks like you have lots of snow from your pic Jason..looks cold where you are...thanks for sending a warm welcome...I will try and post pics over the season to show what it's like here..

 

[Mooseman]

At least you're getting some. We barely have a skiff and even that won't be staying with 11c on Christmas day! Scheiße!

 

[YukonMP]

-31 C for Christmas for us. Since there seems to be some pining for winter I'm posting evidence that it is coming. These are from todays ride.
In order they are 1 A high meadow on the back of this mtn is the objective. This trail goes past my back door.
2 The route up follows the ridge
3,4,5 On the way up, that isn't sunset, that is high noon.
6 Approaching the meadow, tons of caribou tracks.
7 The meadow
8 Climbing higher, further in/up than I got last week.
9 Headed out around 3pm. ..... that is sunset.

I'm trying to put this trail in so we can go up top on Christmas. I broke it part way last week. I had someone try to follow a few days later but he turned around(a 600ACE Expedition Sport, I think). The MP is incredibly capable in this terrain up to the point where the front end just plows in the powder. I'll be messing with my set up and mods once I see how the new skis fare.

 

[Mooseman]

Our weather forecast, 17c(62f) on Dec. 24. And we haven't see the sun in weeks.

 

[YukonMP]

My elderly neighbour just bought an '09 MP with 5600kms on it. He is 80 and his girlfriend is coming for Christmas and he wanted a more comfortable two up sled. He has been admiring mine since it came home and asked me to find him one. I looked at this sled last year before I bought new. So now I can give him a hand with it and either work from present knowledge or at least familiarity. When we get more snow I'll give a head to head ski comparison, he has Simmons Gen3's.

 

[Jason Harrell]

Yukon mp...have you changed your skis for something wider? I picked up some Simmons gen2's, but am still waiting on their arrival. Our snow is packed from winds, so I haven't needed them yet anyways...just gonna beat up the tuner skis until we get more snow. Love your pictures.

 

[YukonMP]

I've been waiting for mounts, I pick them up tomorrow. I was able to get a good deal on Slydog Powderhound(8 inches). The fellow who dropped off the neighbours sled said the front end was always on top with 8 inch simmons. Tagish Lake can be all powder or so hard you could drive on it. I will keep and use the tuners a lot but there is a time when they could be my death. If we get a lot of snow early we have tons of overflow and a guy just has to pin it and get out(hmmm .... and which way is out). The tuners just would not get on top. Also, the MP is just so nice to screw around on that I'll poke my nose in here and there and if it is out of the wind there can be a lot of powder. That mountain I was on can have two feet of loose on a three foot base.

On another topic. I'm picking up some Redline Water Wetter tomorrow(I believe it is Moose approved). My sled came 60% antifreeze/40 water, which is a little much. Water actually cools better than AF but we need AF for freeze protection. I'll weaken my mixture a little and add Water Wetter which makes the coolant more efficient at heat transfer. It isn't a lot but cooler is better and the stuff is cheap. Mine overheated in the spring. I'm also picking up some perforated metal to build a cover in front of my rad so I'm going to be losing a little there.

A final aside, none of my business but you look quite young in your picture.

 

[Jason Harrell]

Yeah..that's my boy in the picture...he wore out his arms that evening pulling in silver after silver salmon. My wife cut him off because she was tired of cleaning fish. I have a face for radio so I don't show it much. I will tell you that I came up on open water in the dark while on my mp...I was almost on it, so I squeezed the throttle and she plowed through just fine...kinda porpoised on me, but I blamed it on the skis. That moment answered a lot of questions I had about the mp...gave me confidence in her abilities. Anyways, I can hardly wait to try the Simmons skis...kinda want to pick up some pilot 6.9's as well...they have been on eBay for some decent prices. My overheat light only came on once while I was towing my kids at slow speeds...was kinda warm out at the time. I will add the cable ice scratchers for now.

Gonna change my picture and add myself and my daughter.

 

[Mooseman]

The radiator is really for cooling while stopped when the fan kicks on. The tunnel heat exchanger is the main cooler when moving while the radiator provides additional cooling in low snow but on its own, is not enough. I remember my original coolant mix was way too strong, probably like 80/20, or possibly pure coolant. Yamaha must be afraid these things will run in -50c or something. It also overheated regularly but that was back in 2009 when it had only 800km. Switched it to 50/50 and Water Wetter and unless I'm running in really low snow for a long time, overheating is under control. The idiot light is quite conservative, turning on at like 105c (221f) IIRC so it's far from being overheated. The fan comes on at 90c.

I installed a temp gauge and it gave me some insight as to what is going on with my engine. Pretty useful when riding on ice or road running.

 

[ALinUTAH]

I bought a 2014 new and rode it two seasons without changing anything. I always found sidehilling difficult. Not just in the deep, but even on a trail I really had to hang off to keep it from heading straight downhill. Today I adjusted the swaybar to the softest setting and WOW it's like a different sled. It goes where I point it now. And also handles the mogully trails better now that the skis can work more independently. Think I'll order some 8" powderhound skis.

This forum has been helpful. Thanks!

 

[YukonMP]

I think I may be following in your tracks the next time Blue is in the shop for de-boogering. Karl is another Yukoner who had a fairly tricked out MP. Stock engine but extended track, geared down,GenIIs and a bunch else. He was a big advocate of sway-bar removal, as is my dealer. It was always on my list to try after I got wider skis which I have done.

It seems a logical test for me to just leave it right off for a couple days and then reinstall at the softest setting. For anyone following this that may not have the manuals the 2014 comes from the factory with the bar set in the stiffest position, meaning the skis are most coupled ie.if the sled rolled right in a sweeping turn to the left the anti-sway bar lifts up on the left ski. In theory this keeps the sled nearer level.

So I guess when I remove the bar when I lean into a side hill I compress the uphill shock and the downhill shock is free to extend fully and ....presto-voila .... in theory this keeps the sled nearer level.

(is there an echo in here?)

I may have to mess with the front shock pre-load with the bar off. We come factory set almost at the softest and with the bar in and at the stiffest setting the shocks work together, that is a bump up on one side is absorbed by both shocks, one directly and the other through the sway bar.

Welcome AL, as more of the guys get snow it will start cooking around here. What kind of riding do you do, we like pics. I was out today and three others people took my sled for a spin. Rave reviews from the guy on a scandic, he said it felt nimble. As it sat it was over 700 pounds so I guess he was a 260 pound ballerina ?? What he felt was low engagement, torque, balance and a smooth predictable throttle that makes it possible to maneuver this thing at low speeds as we pick our way through the bush.