Review/Thoughts

[secretspot]

Hey all,

After some great years using a 1991 Arctic Cat Panther, I opted to upgrade to a Venture MP. In full disclosure, I haven't really ridden any of the new sleds...ever. Been on an MXZ but nothing comparable to the MP. I wanted something reliable for ice fishing and pulling gear. Long story short, I am not sure if it's because I am such a novice or what but I have been very disappointed with the handling. Everything I have on the sled is stock (the adjustments are stock) except for 8'' ski skins. Here are my issues:

• Yes, I do get ice boogers. I generally store the sled in a heated area but when I take weekend trips, it is a PIA to have to continually bang the ice off the sled.
• My biggest issue, by far, is the lack of control I feel I have. The sled seems very tippy. Perhaps I need to play with the adjustments? Any thoughts? I feel like every time I turn, the sled is going to go over. Maybe it's just that all the new sleds are top heavy?

I did have a custom ice fishing mount made for the sled which works great when I am going over smooth terrain. Throw in a few bumps and another rider on the back and it's more tippy than a racing canoe.

Venture Auger Rack

• secretspot
• Feb 2, 2015
• 1

Venture Side

• secretspot
• Feb 2, 2015

Anyway, I would be interested in hearing your thought on adjustments I could make to make the sled more stable. I am no mechanic...but will do my best. Thank you in advance.

 

[Mooseman]

Yamaha doesn't call the MP the "pickup truck of snowmobiles" for nothing. It handles like one. The high center of gravity is the main cause and that rig you added will just make it downright squirrelly. There are things you can do to alleviate the tippyness but you'll never be able to get rid of it. Just the nature of this beast.

Check your owners manual and check for adjustment to the sway bar. You can adjust it to make it stiffer.

Those ski skins will help with floatation but are terrible for steering. I had them under my stock VK 7" skis and were awful, steered like I was on quicksand. You would be way better off with some aftermarket skis like Slydog 7 or 8" Powderhounds or Simmons Gen II.

You can swap the ski spacers so the skis are more outboard with a wider stance.

Lastly, shocks. I put in some adjustable shocks from a Phazer FX and found that those helped immensely. I've got it dialed in to have a good balance between stiffness and comfort and noticeably reduced the tippyness.

 

[secretspot]

Mooseman,

Thank you for the feedback and I will look into the sway bar. I misspoke-I have the Simmons Gen II's on the sled now. I think I need to play with the shocks. It is difficult to do in freezing weather.

 

[Mooseman]

The stock shocks are not adjustable except for the spring preload. You could lower the preload so that the A-arms are as flat as possible to make the stance as wide as possible.

 

[YukonMP]

Hey Secret,

I'm much in the same boat as you ... ice fisher with limited/old school sled experience, and I too just got an MP. Before I say anything here is the caveat, I know almost nothing about dialing in sled suspensions/handling. But here is what the physicist in me sees in your set up.

You have moved your center of gravity way up and the mass of everything in that basket gains momentum like a pendulum when it sways side to side. Front to back, you are prying down on the back of the track with a big lever so a bunch of weight that would normally be on the front end isn't. In a way that pendulum effect I described could be thought of as a lever or long handled wrench if you like. When the terrain tips the sled 30 degrees I wouldn't expect it to ever come back.

Just looking at our sleds I'd guess that the center of gravity is at about top of tunnel, under the gas tank lid. Mine is about at my belly button (beer does that), ditto the passenger. Just having a passenger or having the lighter of two drive changes handling. I believe part of the solution will be getting all, or at least a lot more, of the load on the skis. I think that is done by shortening the limiter strap. Don't worry, this won't be up for long before the friendly Moose helps us out if I'm totally out to lunch.

 

[Mooseman]

Nope. You're pretty much bang on. That mile high rack will only take things worse.

 

[secretspot]

This is great, thank you both. I am not sure how to adjust the limiter strap but will look into it tonight. The basket was a good idea in theory...

 

[YukonMP]

You seem philosophical in regards to the merit, or not, of your basket. Good on you, it may not be far off. I have an idea you put it way up in the air so you can still tow off the hitch, a flip up tent I'm guessing. You could lower the basket and tow off it. You would still be shifting a lot of weight off the skis but at least you would have got back to just normal MP tippiness.

 

[secretspot]

YukonMP, you are absolutely right. The reason I put it so high was so I could still climb banks here in Maine without worrying about my Otter sled. That said, the goal was also to have it in case I wanted to do a short trip with limited gear. It fits the auger, bait bucket and traps with room to spare. Looking back, I wish I had put the auger rack on the front to weigh down the skis a bit more. I appreciate the insight, though and may consider lowering the basket and adding a hitch.

 

[campsleder]

You need a nice toboggan ! Pull up the limiter strap a inch or so ,move skis to widest position .

 

[secretspot]

Rayclar, I know the auger mount on the front wouldn't be ideal but it would be better than where it is now. I too like the 4 stroke and that is why I went Yamaha. The ski-doo expedition was also on my radar and I actually would like the long track. My friend purchased the expedition ACE 900 and we both really like it.

Campsledder, I have an Otter Pro sled size large. It works great but I wanted the basket for quick trips so I didn't have to worry about the sled sliding around.

 

[secretspot]

You need a nice toboggan ! Pull up the limiter strap a inch or so ,move skis to widest position .

Is it easy to adjust the limiter strap?

 

[Mooseman]

With the skid in the sled, easiest is to have someone sitting on the sled, unbolt the strap and change the hole position.

 

[campsleder]

I had to drill a couple of new holes on the strap

 

[Mooseman]

Same here. In fact, mine weren't even holding the arm down, basically the shock was holding it. My original gas shock got destroyed when it got hyper extended because the straps were stretched out.