Ok it happened again

[Steve Wright]

A bit of history, last spring I was riding with a couple of guys. It was -42 celcius and the snow dust was hanging low in the air. We had just past 3 riders heading the opposite direction and our lead rider decides to brake hard because his zipper on hid ski pants was undone. The middle rider barely got stopped and with the snow dust I was upon them rather quickly. I braked and my Viper slid sideways layed over on its side and bucked me off. I landed on my back and broke 5 ribs. I wasn’t going very fast when I was thrown off but ......big guy hard ground don’t mix. There was no damage to the Viper.

Fast forward to today out with a buddy (he was leading) we topped a hill to a surprise stop sign. He braked pretty hard I hit the brakes and the Viper slid sideways again layed over again and bucked me off. I didn’t think I locked it up but must have. In a fair bit of pain and this time damage to the Viper. Bent the handlebars and steering colum, windshield is screwed and the black plastic piece on the left side that the windshield fastens to. Not sure what it is called. I haven’t taken it apart yet to see if there is any other damage......in pain see above.

My question is why does it keep sliding sideways when I brake hard and can I fix this to avoid it happening? Any other sled I have had just slid straight

 

[TrueBlue]

A bit of history, last spring I was riding with a couple of guys. It was -42 celcius and the snow dust was hanging low in the air. We had just past 3 riders heading the opposite direction and our lead rider decides to brake hard because his zipper on hid ski pants was undone. The middle rider barely got stopped and with the snow dust I was upon them rather quickly. I braked and my Viper slid sideways layed over on its side and bucked me off. I landed on my back and broke 5 ribs. I wasn’t going very fast when I was thrown off but ......big guy hard ground don’t mix. There was no damage to the Viper.

Fast forward to today out with a buddy (he was leading) we topped a hill to a surprise stop sign. He braked pretty hard I hit the brakes and the Viper slid sideways again layed over again and bucked me off. I didn’t think I locked it up but must have. In a fair bit of pain and this time damage to the Viper. Bent the handlebars and steering colum, windshield is screwed and the black plastic piece on the left side that the windshield fastens to. Not sure what it is called. I haven’t taken it apart yet to see if there is any other damage......in pain see above.

My question is why does it keep sliding sideways when I brake hard and can I fix this to avoid it happening? Any other sled I have had just slid straight

Sorry to hear this, start staying further back giving you more reaction time. Without studs your stopping distance is muck longer.

 

[murdered141]

Prolly has to do with you track, im assuming your running the stock rip saw 2, that track was designed to break traction in the corners on hard acceleration, maybe it pack's the snow in a way that causes it to go sideways, studding the track should help a lot if not already studded, last and final, no matter how hard i run i stay far enough behind to let the snow dust settle.

 

[Steve Wright]

Sorry should have given some info on the sled I have 96 studs down the middle, C&A XPT skis with 8” Bergstom skegs. Stock Ripsaw track

 

[mark f]

Sorry should have given some info on the sled I have 96 studs down the middle, C&A XPT skis with 8” Bergstom skegs. Stock Ripsaw track

Just a thought but could be too much weight on front end and too much carbide. kinda like a race car... front end dragging down more than your track so its coming around on you. but as I say just my 2 cents

 

[savageman69]

^^^^yep

 

[DVW]

A bit of history, last spring I was riding with a couple of guys. It was -42 celcius and the snow dust was hanging low in the air. We had just past 3 riders heading the opposite direction and our lead rider decides to brake hard because his zipper on hid ski pants was undone. The middle rider barely got stopped and with the snow dust I was upon them rather quickly. I braked and my Viper slid sideways layed over on its side and bucked me off. I landed on my back and broke 5 ribs. I wasn’t going very fast when I was thrown off but ......big guy hard ground don’t mix. There was no damage to the Viper.

Fast forward to today out with a buddy (he was leading) we topped a hill to a surprise stop sign. He braked pretty hard I hit the brakes and the Viper slid sideways again layed over again and bucked me off. I didn’t think I locked it up but must have. In a fair bit of pain and this time damage to the Viper. Bent the handlebars and steering colum, windshield is screwed and the black plastic piece on the left side that the windshield fastens to. Not sure what it is called. I haven’t taken it apart yet to see if there is any other damage......in pain see above.

My question is why does it keep sliding sideways when I brake hard and can I fix this to avoid it happening? Any other sled I have had just slid straight

Sorry to hear about your injury. The back end coming around has happened to me. It is most likely to happen during a panic stop like you experienced. It happens to me when I lockup the brakes. When this happens the track would rather go one way or another rather than straight. It’s kind of embarrassing because it would never happen if I could always use my racing skills. Hayes has a antilock system for dummies like me. Might be a hard sell with ego getting in the way. Right about now some folks are saying “not me” but be honest.

http://www.snowmobile.com/products/hayes-trail-trac-brake-system-review-1812.html

 

[Zoggan]

I've been riding A LONG time. As far back as I can remember whenever I lock up a track it wants to slide sideways. Worse without studs. Just release the brake and it will straighten out. If you don't have enough space to do this you're following too close. I slide my track coming to stops all the time, it's fun. If I stayed on the binder too long, yes it would come around too far and roll and I'd be on my face!

 

[cannondale27]

Get your butt as far back on seat as possible and NEVER lock brake or if it does you must force back end to go back and forth without rotating too far. You do this with your legs and the bars. Looks stupid but actually is a very fast way to stop a sled. Practice a controlled lockup.

 

[srvfan]

sorry to hear about your accident , is your sled studded ? without the studs the track will lock up and slide much easier as it looses traction . A car with snow tires VS without does the same thing .Even with ABS it will start pulsating it much quicker without studs on sled track or snows on a car

 

[Steve Wright]

Yes 96 studs down the middle. I was wondering about to much carbide on the skis but 8” is what they recommend for the Viper with 96+ studs. Was also thinking, and I have to check this a rusty brake disk would cause it to lock up way sooner than it should.

Not sure if I’m going to put it through insurance or not. I really don’t want to and at first glance the damage doesn’t look to bad( steering column, handlebars, windshield and the black plastic instrument panel that the windshield fastens t) but would hate to get it apart and find more wrong with it and it would be to late for insurance claim. I could probably get all those parts second hand reasonably priced.

 

[PAvector]

I have a 14 Viper and find there isn’t much braking feel. They made some changes on 15 and up to help this. Not sure if this would help or not.
I would look into trying to get more weight on the skid and off the ski’s. Try increasing the tension on the front skid shock.

 

[SumpBuster]

Sorry to hear that. But, what Cannondale said. And practice all kind's of maneuver's someplace. My daughter stopped on the trail a.few years back, and naturally, I was back farting around with my riding friend and didn't see in time,.so went sideways to.scrub off speed but almost too far...didn't roll it but that was the apex...I think the sidewinder would go over. Stopped short in any case...lol, but I hate it when people just STOP....have to watch out for everyone else 100%...

 

[snowfever27]

Yes 96 studs down the middle. I was wondering about to much carbide on the skis but 8” is what they recommend for the Viper with 96+ studs. Was also thinking, and I have to check this a rusty brake disk would cause it to lock up way sooner than it should.

Not sure if I’m going to put it through insurance or not. I really don’t want to and at first glance the damage doesn’t look to bad( steering column, handlebars, windshield and the black plastic instrument panel that the windshield fastens t) but would hate to get it apart and find more wrong with it and it would be to late for insurance claim. I could probably get all those parts second hand reasonably priced.

I run 96 studs down the middle on my 2015 XF 7000, stock ripsaw II, it has the stock AC 4” staggered carbides. If I start going way too fast in the super tight curves, the sled will start to plow slightly, but I don’t mind it, it’s almost a safety check, because when it gets to that point it’s time to slow down a bit before my fun, fast day of riding turns into a bad day with an accident.

I would run 6” carbides at the maximum. I think those 8” carbides are biting too much. My track will swing a little when I lock up the brakes hard, but it doesn’t sound as aggressive or as violent as what your sled is doing. I really like the cat skis with the staggered carbide. They’re not too planted, but they still turn. When the stock wear carbides wear out I may try 6” duallys but for now I’m happy. I hope you heal up quickly, and give some less aggressive carbides a try, I think that will make a big difference.

 

[09nytro]

Check your ski toe , I have my toe at 3/8 with my powder pros !