picked up new 06 apex and have a question?

[jkenosh]

i picked up my new 06 apex and from riding it from the trailer to the garage it felt like a brake was on every time i let off the gas, is this normal for a 4 stroke, this is my first new snowmobile purchased, and it just dont seem right, i contacted my dealer and he says wait till it snows and if it has any issues after break-in he will address them.

 

[chance3131]

Very normal. Engine is tight, and there is engine breaking going on with these four strokes. Wait until the snow flies, and you will forget all about this, because you will be on the gas so much the ski's will be off the ground. Enjoy.

 

[LJ 452]

Well, first make sure the parking brake is not on. But I do remember damn near falling over the bars when I let of the gas. Most likely you've got a lot of front end preload, add to that the friction of the grass, brand new skaggs, add to that a very tight motor and bada bing. Since you've riddin it I would either take her for some grass runs or don't touch it until you plan on breaking it in properly. By properly I'm refering to Motomans' technique. Do a search and you'll find out what I'm talking about. By the way congrates on the new sled.

 

[nobody]

Parking brake for sure!!

 

[MCApex44]

Did it myself (left the brake on)when I first brought my Apex home...backing it off the trailer and the sled didnt seem to want to move at all so I kept on giving it more gas. I didnt notice the brake was on till I got it off the trailer...felt like a dummy when I figured it out.

 

[actionjack]

same here

When the sled is new and you're not used to it, you may damn near go over the bars from the engine braking. You get used to it, it lessens some as the engine breaks in, and, IMO, is an advantage in agressive trail riding.

 

[jkenosh]

the parking brake definetly wasnt on, i checked that right away, i hope its just tight. not going to do any grass runs, ill wait for snow. going to break it in like motoman recommended in his article.

 

[Bakemono]

4-strokes have a lot more engine braking that do 2-strokes.
I remember the first time I rode a Yamaha 4-stroke (2 years ago when I demo rode an '05 RX-1).
We got back from the demo ride and I was standing up riding it. I let off the gas to let it coast to a stop like I do with my 2-stroke and the engine braking was so strong I almost went over the handlebars. Good thing I had a helmet on, that way no one knew who I was...LOL.
One thing you are going to learn too is that you can run a lot deeper into the corners because you have the engine braking to help slow you down.
Just dont be too brave at first, Id hate to see you wreck your new sled.

 

[APEX 21]

yep thats pretty much normal. my Apex did the same thing. it'll be fine on snow. The first time I let off a 4stroke (03 RX-1) it pushed me over the bars. ENJOY

 

[craze1cars]

I don't know how fast you were going, but I wouldn't expect a slow speed drive from trailer to garage to have much engine braking....the engine was probably spinning faster than the track is...but I understand exactly what you're feeling and I somewhat disagree it's the 4 stroke engine in this circumstance.

New carbides digging...yes. No snow lubrication on new hyfax...yes. Track clipped every third...yes. Parking brake...yes. But engine braking? I doubt it unless you exceeded maybe 20 mph (a wild guess on that number).

Nobody has mentioned track tension yet. General opinion is that the Yamaha spec (and likely your dealer setup) is far too tight. This creates a significant braking effect and a lot of extra friction.

I've noticed this mono skid does not spin the track anywhere near as freely as my other sleds of other brands...especially when I first brought it home from the dealer...and even with the belt completely removed to take the 4 stroke engine out of the equation. There just seems to be a lot of friction under there, and likely (hopefully) it will loosen up a bit with time, but track tension was largely to blame for this effect on mine. I also installed SLP wear pads. It turns much more freely now, but STILL not as freely as my Ski-Doo. Again, this is with belt removed. Will be interesting to see how it goes after it's broken in a bit on the snow.

 

[yamadoo]

If it is not parking brake it is the engine braking and summer friction items mentioned.
This is very noticable at first then you just learn that your four stroke does not coast, Some people even assign a heavy front feel to the engine braking bcz of the wt shift associated with braking.

I have an apex and you will love it. It will feel different......BETER.
yamadoo