2006Apexed
Veteran
- Joined
- Jan 20, 2020
- Messages
- 44
- Reaction score
- 28
- Points
- 73
- Location
- Wisconsin
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2006 Apex RTX
Greetings, my name is Dave and I just bought me a month ago a very nicely kept 2006 Apex RTX with a 121” track and 14,000 miles.
Previous owner states he did regular maintenance and the machine looks very nice cosmetically despite its age. Mods done by previous owner are an ice ripper 1.25 track, mid height Yamaha windshield, ROX bar risers, updated bars, and an undisclosed clutch kit. Also done about a thousand miles ago was the exhaust to correct the doughnut issue.
I loaded her up and traveled to my land in Tomahawk, WI and took her out on the trails. From the get go clutching was abrupt and not to my liking. I was bottoming in moderate whoops (I’m 230lbs in my birthday suit), the machine seemed to have way more power than traction, and upon deceleration the rear end would swap side to side. I played with the dampening dial and increased the rear preload on the monoshock to max...it made little difference. The last sled I owned almost 10 years ago and only had for a year was a 2010 Polaris Rush. I liked the tall seat and ergos on that sled and the Apex with its 14 year old and 14k mile stock seat left my almost 60 year old knees too bent and sore. Lastly, the left ski tracked beautifully, but the right ski was pogoing. I played with the air pressures on the Fox Floats, but no difference.
Now some might say I bought the wrong sled, or that the thing is old and outdated, and they may be right if I just keep riding it as it is. The thing is I LOVE the motor and have a lot of faith in Yamahas engineering.
I will admit I’m just re-entering sledding and while very well versed in motorcycles...am clueless to sleds. So it’s off to the internet and this forum to see what I can make this sled become. I bought it for a fifth of the price of a new sled and have some cash to throw at it.
First thing was to address the bottoming. I researched heavier springs, rebuilding and revalving the monoshock, but kept coming to the realization that if brand new it was lackluster and now outdated...why throw good money after bad. What kept coming up was the M20 AirWave. The cost almost doubled the cost of the sled...but after endless sleepless nights fantasizing of riding on a cloud, the order was made.
The next suspension issue was the front shocks. While the first gen Fox Floats held air and had no outside oil leaks, upon removal from the machine it was discovered the right shock had less dampening and a third of the travel as the left. Oil must have migrated internally creating hydraulic lock. Searching locally without success they were shipped to HyGear for rebuild, revalve, and installation of their dual chamber air chambers.
Now the seat. It looked in great condition, but my lard a$$ squished its old and low foam way too much. Enter Seat Concepts where I ordered the wrong seat. Be advised their website can be confusing with different year Apexes, make sure you read the detailed applications. Consumer shipping on these large seats ain’t cheap. Now on its way is an all black, firm foam +2” taller seat kit.
Lastly, for now, is the clutching. I almost went the less expensive route with a soft start primary spring, but ended up calling Ulmer Racing and ordering their kit tuned for my desired riding feel. Upon disassembly I realized the machine had a clutch kit, possibly an old Ulmers kit...oops, a $400 mistake. The new kit arrived and I compared parts. The helixes are different, the primary spring is differ t, and the weights are different, whew, I hated the original clutching, but now have a renewed hope.
Today the M20 gets installed and maybe the clutch kit. I’m still waiting for the front shocks and seat kit.
My goal is to have an awesome sled tailored to me at a significant cost savings over a new sled that may need mods also to optimize it to my performance tastes. Please follow along on my rebuild and see how things turn out.
Previous owner states he did regular maintenance and the machine looks very nice cosmetically despite its age. Mods done by previous owner are an ice ripper 1.25 track, mid height Yamaha windshield, ROX bar risers, updated bars, and an undisclosed clutch kit. Also done about a thousand miles ago was the exhaust to correct the doughnut issue.
I loaded her up and traveled to my land in Tomahawk, WI and took her out on the trails. From the get go clutching was abrupt and not to my liking. I was bottoming in moderate whoops (I’m 230lbs in my birthday suit), the machine seemed to have way more power than traction, and upon deceleration the rear end would swap side to side. I played with the dampening dial and increased the rear preload on the monoshock to max...it made little difference. The last sled I owned almost 10 years ago and only had for a year was a 2010 Polaris Rush. I liked the tall seat and ergos on that sled and the Apex with its 14 year old and 14k mile stock seat left my almost 60 year old knees too bent and sore. Lastly, the left ski tracked beautifully, but the right ski was pogoing. I played with the air pressures on the Fox Floats, but no difference.
Now some might say I bought the wrong sled, or that the thing is old and outdated, and they may be right if I just keep riding it as it is. The thing is I LOVE the motor and have a lot of faith in Yamahas engineering.
I will admit I’m just re-entering sledding and while very well versed in motorcycles...am clueless to sleds. So it’s off to the internet and this forum to see what I can make this sled become. I bought it for a fifth of the price of a new sled and have some cash to throw at it.
First thing was to address the bottoming. I researched heavier springs, rebuilding and revalving the monoshock, but kept coming to the realization that if brand new it was lackluster and now outdated...why throw good money after bad. What kept coming up was the M20 AirWave. The cost almost doubled the cost of the sled...but after endless sleepless nights fantasizing of riding on a cloud, the order was made.
The next suspension issue was the front shocks. While the first gen Fox Floats held air and had no outside oil leaks, upon removal from the machine it was discovered the right shock had less dampening and a third of the travel as the left. Oil must have migrated internally creating hydraulic lock. Searching locally without success they were shipped to HyGear for rebuild, revalve, and installation of their dual chamber air chambers.
Now the seat. It looked in great condition, but my lard a$$ squished its old and low foam way too much. Enter Seat Concepts where I ordered the wrong seat. Be advised their website can be confusing with different year Apexes, make sure you read the detailed applications. Consumer shipping on these large seats ain’t cheap. Now on its way is an all black, firm foam +2” taller seat kit.
Lastly, for now, is the clutching. I almost went the less expensive route with a soft start primary spring, but ended up calling Ulmer Racing and ordering their kit tuned for my desired riding feel. Upon disassembly I realized the machine had a clutch kit, possibly an old Ulmers kit...oops, a $400 mistake. The new kit arrived and I compared parts. The helixes are different, the primary spring is differ t, and the weights are different, whew, I hated the original clutching, but now have a renewed hope.
Today the M20 gets installed and maybe the clutch kit. I’m still waiting for the front shocks and seat kit.
My goal is to have an awesome sled tailored to me at a significant cost savings over a new sled that may need mods also to optimize it to my performance tastes. Please follow along on my rebuild and see how things turn out.
