RX Warrior Tuner Ski / Handling problems

[taylmeistr]

Newbie user/RX Warrior owner - I picked up an '04 RX Warrior late this summer and have done a bunch of work to get it up to my standards. It had the stock skis with 9" shaper bars on it. I bought a set of Yamaha Tuner skis along with 6" inner and 4" outer carbides. I rode it a bit last week with the old stock/shaper bar setup and it wasn't bad. A little darting and decent turning when road riding (ice/light snow) and decent cornering on lightly packed trails (ten inches groomed once). I then installed the new Tuner with the carbide setup described above. Turning was tighter and more precise on the road ice but darting definitely increased. I took to the trail and quickly found that my Warrior only wants to go straight!!! I had to slow down and creep through corners else I would have been in the trees... On the trail is felt like my skis and carbides just weren't doing their job.

I have read nearly every post on handling, suspension setup/tuning and the Tuner skis on this forum. So far, I have left the suspension settings the way they were when I got the sled (it seemed to work fairly well with the stock ski set-up). There is quite a bit of pre-load on the front shocks. The FRA is set at the hardest (third setting) and the transfer sits right in the middle with me sitting on the sled.

My first instinct (goal is to get happy with the Tuner skis) is to crank the limiter straps to get some more ski pressure. I am also thinking about dialing down the pre-load on the front shocks (taken from advice/posts in this forum). Am I on the right track here?

I weigh about 235lbs. and I am running a brand new Ice Ripper XT (pre-studded) 136" track.

Any suspension tuning/setup advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[grader]

from what ive read about the tuner skis, i think you have too much carbide on them. when you do ski alignment, put a bungie cord between the ski loops to take out the slop. lay a straight edge along the track that extends up to the ski tip, and measure from it to the carbide stud, front and back. aim for 1/8 to 1/4 inch toe out. suspension adjustments will help with ski pressure, but the darting should be gone.

 

[taylmeistr]

Grader - I greatly appreciate this info but have questions. I thought I was aligning my skis correctly until I read your advice. You say to measure to the "carbide stud" front and back. If you are referring to the studs on the front and back of the carbide runner - they are not very far apart on the tuner ski setup. On the stock ski, these studs are (guessing) roughly 18 inches apart. The studs on the tuner ski carbides are only about 10 inches apart (the host bar is much shorter than on the stock ski setup). Does the 1/8 to 1/4 inch toe out still apply or is the tolerance smaller because it's so much shorter?

 

[grader]

the reason to use a stud as a measuring point is it runs paralell to the track, unlike many skis that have tapered edges and make it difficult to measure from.if the host bars are short, then toe out at that point at the front will be very small, as its the ski tip that is toed out 1/8 to1/4. i would make them paralell at the studs, and the slack in the steering will give the proper toe out.

 

[taylmeistr]

Just to follow up for anyone else switching to the Yamaha dual runner "Tuner" skis - I did a proper ski alignment with a toe-out of about 1/8th inch and I tightened up my limiter straps about 1/2 inch (on each side) and have enjoyed a VAST handling improvement in my RX Warrior. Darting is all but gone and, in most conditions the sled has been handling like it is on rails. I still experience the ubiquitous understeer and inside ski lift that is inherent to the RX but overall am very happy with the Tuner skis.

My next steps will be to add a heavier sway bar (13mm) and to replace all of the front suspension bushings. these improvements will have to wait until spring/summer as the riding up here in the U.P. is the best it has been in years.....

 

[Bluebullet]

Tuner ski's are the best improvement I have done, I am only running 4 mid and 2 on outside. Alignment is a must for sure. Nice job.... enjoy!