New Sidewinder owner - First Impressions/Accessories/Problems/Questions

[WinderFab]

Congrats on the sled. Welcome to the TY site.. You did your homework and came to the right place for your sled. Good to see someone that did a lot of reading FIRST then come on and post..
Turboflash covered most of it.. Like to add the top gear/bushing has not been fixed on the 2022. Most are putting the DMC gear in OR a better bushing in top gear. BOP wedge should go in at zero miles. OR the "new" BOP fix would be a good product for you if your not doing the wedge.. I ride with someone who has the exact same sled as you/ he saw that same code one morning after starting sled. Went away, so not sure what that's about (I remember it(code) was something about power steering)?
MUST do things IMO >> ROV delete, BOP fix on drive shaft, weld screw on roller in chain case, top gear bushing.. Once you do these things these sleds are pretty bullet proof actually. I find them very predictable in handling and run quality is exceptional.. One last thing would be the oil tank seal. They seem to come pretty thin on gasket material. And its as if they used a low quality gasket material.. Keep a eye on your seal.. Mine leaked in a couple hundred miles, even after doing ROV delete from zero miles.. I did the BOP gasket on oil tank.. Some are just using a better gasket material.. "great stuff" ?

Yes “great stuff” seems to be the best product if going this route. My 20 started leaking after my first ride in Quebec and it’s been good ever since.. Thanks to NYturbo for recommending me this product..

 

[WinderFab]

I know many people have done the roll over delete. I had over 10k on my last sidewinder and never had a problem. My buddy has 5k on his 2020 T-Cat and has never had a problem. We do thaw our sleds out after every ride so that is probably what keeps my RV from freezing.
That being said, the 2020 and up are heated. IF you can remember to turn your key on and not start your sled first thing in the morning it may heat the ROV up enough to thaw out any condensation. This is what I will do to my 2022 on the days my sled gets left outside at camp.
The small amount of vapor that goes through the engine is a non-factor IMHO, modern cars have been doing it for years.
This is just my experience with the ROV.....
Something, the BOP wedge or new style bearing is a must.

Stain the vapor is actually quite a bit, well at least on mine it was. First ride on my sled and air box had enough milky oil to run out of the air box and down the belt guard. Same 3 day trip and every morning while warming up the sled I cleaned out that gunk partially frozen in the air box.

 

[EWK]

Thanks for all the feedback. Based on your advice I've ordered the BOP driveshaft saver and the ROV bypass/vent kit. For the ROV, based on everything I've read, I am not going to connect the BOP vent hose from the oil tank to the valve cover - I'll create a loop out of it and run it back down towards the floorboard and see how that works. I'll monitor how much mung builds up in the airbox - and my next step would be to replumb the hose from the ROV out of the airbox and through the bulkhead like I see at least one other has done, or possibly bypass the ROV all together.

 

[Yamifan]

On our 22's I found zero lubrication on any pivot points. I pulled both skids and greased every pivot point I could. I found the bearings are from China so I replaced the top 2 bearings (since I had skids out) with Timken. Also pulled ski bolts and lubed. Alignment was off on both sleds. (1 nearly 1" toe out) Lube exhaust bolts with nickel anti seize. Chaincase tension was 2 turns out on 1 sled and 2 1/2 out on the other. Neither chaincase oil level ran out the check hole so I added some. No boost leaks were found on either sled. I added the BOP axle savers to ours along with Thunder Products Clutching. (675 miles on each so far and literally no dust blew out after the 2 trips) Track stretches alot! I can't remember anything else right now other than so far nothing but smiles. Very quiet and smooth machine. I don't miss the Apex one bit.

 

[EWK]

Yamifan - can you share what you did to your clutches?

 

[Yamifan]

Yamifan - can you share what you did to your clutches?

I travel 500 miles one way to ride so wanted bolt in tested and proven setups...don't like to waste time on vacation jacking around tuning myself. I told Tim/Terry at Thunder what I had for measured offset and they machined the secondaries, put their helix, rollers and springs in and sent me the weights and springs for the primaries & belt adjusters for the secondaries. They provided the setup in their Big Venom weights and both machines pull hard and shift flawlessly in my opinion.

 

[EWK]

A question on ROV bypass/delete that I have not been able to find an answer to...
So to bypass the ROV - I understand that you replace the hose going to the ROV with 5/8" fuel hose and make a loop that goes up and back down and out by the footwell with an angled cut at the bottom. Do you need to electrically disconnect the (heated) ROV and plug/remove the hose going to it?
Sorry - I am not near the sled and cant visualize this.

 

[Doc Harley]

A question on ROV bypass/delete that I have not been able to find an answer to...
So to bypass the ROV - I understand that you replace the hose going to the ROV with 5/8" fuel hose and make a loop that goes up and back down and out by the footwell with an angled cut at the bottom. Do you need to electrically disconnect the (heated) ROV and plug/remove the hose going to it?
Sorry - I am not near the sled and cant visualize this.

Once finished running hose for ROV delete, its best to pick a spot in hose (3"+/- from end) and slice it open, lengthwise. Think of it as a backup plan in the event the tip of hose ices up and pressure has no where else to escape.

 

[Clintww]

Thanks for all the feedback. Based on your advice I've ordered the BOP driveshaft saver and the ROV bypass/vent kit. For the ROV, based on everything I've read, I am not going to connect the BOP vent hose from the oil tank to the valve cover - I'll create a loop out of it and run it back down towards the floorboard and see how that works. I'll monitor how much mung builds up in the airbox - and my next step would be to replumb the hose from the ROV out of the airbox and through the bulkhead like I see at least one other has done, or possibly bypass the ROV all together.

I did what you are planning with the oil vent at the beginning of the season. It still pushed oil water mixture into the intake tract behind the air filter after just one ride with the ROV connected. I now have the valve deleted and kept the BOP hose to the valve cover also. I also drilled out one of the aluminum plugs to max size and placed that on the tank. I left the valve cover fitting with the small diameter. If you don't want gunk, you will have to delete.

 

[blevis213]

A question on ROV bypass/delete that I have not been able to find an answer to...
So to bypass the ROV - I understand that you replace the hose going to the ROV with 5/8" fuel hose and make a loop that goes up and back down and out by the footwell with an angled cut at the bottom. Do you need to electrically disconnect the (heated) ROV and plug/remove the hose going to it?
Sorry - I am not near the sled and cant visualize this.

Ewk did you ever figure out what else needs to be done besides the 5/8 hose to complete the rov delete?

 

[EWK]

Ewk did you ever figure out what else needs to be done besides the 5/8 hose to complete the rov delete?

I am clear on everything except what guys with the heated ROV are doing about disconnecting it electrically and/or removing it completely.
I read a post where someone said to disconnect the wires and tape them off. I wouldn’t mind hearing about opinions on that question as well as this idea……:
-Install BOP vent plug/line (just in case line to ROV does freeze up).
-Leave heated ROV in place and functional.
-Re-route hose leaving ROV so that it does not discharge into the air box and route it out the bottom of the sled somewhere where it can discharge to the snow.

That seems to be the best of both worlds to me - but maybe I’m missing something?

 

[blevis213]

I am clear on everything except what guys with the heated ROV are doing about disconnecting it electrically and/or removing it completely.
I read a post where someone said to disconnect the wires and tape them off. I wouldn’t mind hearing about opinions on that question as well as this idea……:
-Install BOP vent plug/line (just in case line to ROV does freeze up).
-Leave heated ROV in place and functional.
-Re-route hose leaving ROV so that it does not discharge into the air box and route it out the bottom of the sled somewhere where it can discharge to the snow.

That seems to be the best of both worlds to me - but maybe I’m missing something?

Yea I have the heated rov also and would like a step by step explanation on what needs to be done for us not so mechanically inclined people lol.

 

[North Iowa winder]

I am clear on everything except what guys with the heated ROV are doing about disconnecting it electrically and/or removing it completely.
I read a post where someone said to disconnect the wires and tape them off. I wouldn’t mind hearing about opinions on that question as well as this idea……:
-Install BOP vent plug/line (just in case line to ROV does freeze up).
-Leave heated ROV in place and functional.
-Re-route hose leaving ROV so that it does not discharge into the air box and route it out the bottom of the sled somewhere where it can discharge to the snow.

That seems to be the best of both worlds to me - but maybe I’m missing something?

I didn't think BOP vent provided enough air volume if rov was froze. Still installed it but also deleted with 5/8 hose as stated above by another member. I wanted MAX pressure relieve. It's a bad deal when tank seal blows out and you have oil all over hot exhaust. I unhooked connections and taped them up.

 

[WinderFab]

Yea I have the heated rov also and would like a step by step explanation on what needs to be done for us not so mechanically inclined people lol.

It’s not hard at all, if you have the heated rov or non heated rov the best way is to bypass it all together. I have a 20 so mine is heated, disconnect and tape up the 2 wires going into the rov by pulling them straight out and off the rov wire terminals, I removed my rov but you can leave it mounted. Next remove the hoses on either end of the rov, 20 and newer sleds have the one end going into the air box just remove and cover the hole with a good tape or get a rubber plug from hardware store. Last step is to get some 5/8” id fuel line and install it like many of us on here have with a loop and out the bottom near your boot, and your done and you never have to worry about it ever again.

 

[blevis213]

Thanks just the info I needed.