RS Venture 2006 Question for owners

[cgwiz]

My best friend has FINALLY decided to come over from DOO to Yama and is looking at a 06 RS Venture. For those of you who own a 06, what gas mileage do you get, how does it ride solo, and what problems have you had with the sled. He's already a "4-stroke convert" realizing the advantages, but I'm trying to keep all problems to a minimum by addressing them pro-actively

Thanks

Cgwiz

 

[hondo]

I have an 05 Venture. Same sled, 06 windshield is 2" taller and wider.

RS Venture was designed with a 27" (+/-) slide span without any inside or outside intermediate wheel suspension, thus causing premature hyfax wear.

Marginal snow wheels mounted approximately 9.5 inches forward of the rear axle helps considerably.

Over sized Kimpex/Polaris bogie wheels 1/8" OD larger, also helps reduce track howl and hyfax wear.

For further info go back and read some other threads regarding this issue. There is much written on this topic.

I also have the heavy rear spring for 2 up riding.

This sled also makes a great single cruiser.

Recently, had a pivot arm failure which you can read about. It is on the same page as your thread.

Current miles 8,352. Motor is flawless!

Getting about 17 mpg lately.

Hope this helps.

 

[maddogjeff]

I'm a fast, aggressive rider and it's been a great single rider sled for me, very comfortable but definitely harder to turn that a short track. Adding a left 45* handle bar hook helped alot.

My biggest issue has been the idler/bogie wheels. Having studded my track, Yamaha left me in the cold. Ended up machining the mounts and putting Ski Doo idlers on.

I've been riding in QC this year and haven't been keeping track of the gas mileage since you're buying liters up there. Last year I was only doing 14 but I had the idler wheel problems.

Don't stud and have the dealer put in writing he will take care of any idler/bogey wheel problems.

 

[cgwiz]

Thanks for the info! How does the sled ride/handle with a passenger. Also, did you notice the weight when riding.
Chuck G

 

[zigyqhouse1270]

hondo just wondering how much you and your passenger way i am having a bottoming ou tproblem even with the bigger springs and shock and it is correct that they only offer the rear springs and shock right oh and do you know the wieght copacity of your sled.

 

[hondo]

Cqwiz and zigyqhouse1270:

With the regular rear spring we were bottoming out quite a bit last year, thus the reason for the spring change.

My wife is 120 lbs. I am 235 lbs.

With the (white) preload spring blocks up, and the (black) rear spring blocks set to (H) heavy I find the sled to be tippy, however the sled does not bottom out, and provides a good ride.

The sled is not hard to control in corners. The corners certainly need to be driven more slowly, and under control. You just have to learn the sled, understand your driving capability, your passengers riding ability, and more importantly their comfort level.

In my first post I forgot to mention, I have a set of skidoo precision skis. This was a less expensive upgrade instead of putting on a set of simmons skis on the sled. This makes a big difference.

When I ride solo, the white preload blocks are down in the stowed position, and set the (black) spring blocks to (M) medium. My front suspension is soft at all times. These settings allow the suspension to work the bumps well, and provide a superb ride.

As you get some miles on your sled, both the front and rear suspension will become looser and more free to work. This also makes steering more responsive as well. I started to notice the difference around 7,000 miles. The sled responds more with slight leans in other words, by adding side loads.

Today, I rolled 8,532 miles.

Off hand I don't recall what the weight capacity of the sled.

As far as the sleds dry weight: 622 lbs, + 85 lbs fluids + 355 lbs (2 passengers) = 1,062 lbs gross weight.

I kid all my friends; "Yeah Buddy, a thousand pounds of Candy Apple Red comin' at you!"

It works for me!

Hope this helps.

 

[hondo]

TTT

 

[hank]

Just returned from a saddlebag trip to the Copper Harbor area where I put ~550 miles on my 2006 Venture riding solo. The Venture (and the triple 4-stroke) are awesome and the sled is quickly becoming my favorite. I replaced the stock wear bars with a set of 8" Bergstrom triple-points and my dealer installed the extra wheel kits for the rear of the skid (the 06 skid has mounting holes where the 05 did not). I have 800+ miles in mostly good to excellent trail conditions. I have not had any problems with hy-fax wear or wheel delamination. The motor is incredibly strong and only notice track noise between 30 and 40 mph, at 40+ all you hear is the whine of the motor. The sled is so quiet that you can actually hear the carbides cutting the ice at speeds above 40mph - pretty cool. I have the luggage bag (which replaces the rear seat) and had plenty of room for a 4 day trip. I ride double with my kids (ages 7 and 11) and they are very comfortable riding on this sled (I bought a set of the gauntlets to help keep their hands warm). I also installed a shorter windshield (stock Vector) as I don't like to look through the top of a windshield. We had an 05 RX-1, an 06 Venture GT and an 06 Attak in the group I was riding with and the RsVenture was the consensus as the best riding machine in the bunch. I would estimate my mpg at 18-20 depending how much I was enjoying the acceleration of the sled. The Venture got 10-15% better mpg than the RX-1 (can't compare to the Venture or the Attak).

 

[BA]

Hondo,
Did you replace the front skid spring or the two rear skid springs?

I confer that ski replacement is almost mandatory. I'm going to try the 6.9 ski-doo mtn skis.

So many positives with this sled. The 1.25 x 144 allows you to have a little fun in the powder.

Just need to work onthe howl and steering issues.

Thanks,
BA

 

[hondo]

BA,

The two rear springs. The sled doesn't bottom out riding two up, which makes my bride real happy.

I don't know anything about the mountain skis.

I ride mostly trails, but am beginning to ride more often off trail on un-used logging roads with a buddy, largely due to the fact that the precisions provide better floatation, plus the snow conditions allow this type of riding a little earlier this year.

Another reason to have a near "bullet proof" machine!

Venture is a remarkable multi-purpose sled!

 

[cameron]

hi

This sled is great i came over from a cat and i`m glad i did.I have 750 mile on it so far and no problems.Get about 17 to 20mpg ,depend how you ride,17 on an avg.I would recomend you buy the tf venture model instead on the rs venture.It come with an longer track and a stiffer ride.I`m 200lb and havnt bottomed out yet.I removered the back seat an put in the yamaha cargo bag.Its a must.I live i north so i wake up to 40 below lot`s so i installed a primer to help with the cold starting.Nock on wood havnt failed me yet.I would post a pic but cant seem to get that to work.

have fun

 

[hondo]

RS Venture is indeed a noteworthy sled!

I just rolled 9,274 miles.

For everyones information:

My dealer suggested that I bring the sled in around 10,000 miles to check the chain case bearing. This is just precautionary measure in order to prevent a massive chain case failure. His mechanic has seen some wear and failures around this mileage mark.

I am going to have him check it this week. I have some high mileage trips planned for the following two weeks.

In addition, last year, and since the installation of the Kimpex/Polaris wheel kit to replace the Yamaha wheels, coupled with the installation of marginal snow wheels I have 7,450 miles on this set of hyfax (slides). I probably have another 1,000 miles left. The 1/8" OD larger wheels really work well. They also help reduce the track howl noise issue.

Hope this helps!