Heritage
Expert
We finally got enough snow to ride this past week...and I and a group of friends took a 3 day trip. Most of my buddies ride older sleds...the only sleds that were newer than my attak...were an 09 ski-doo 800 Ptek, a 2013 800 Rush switchback, and a 2012 Polaris 550 fanner.
The good:
We rode over to price county (phillips area)...most of the trails were flat, and smooth...a few thin spots, and a few icy corners...but overall I would rate their trails a 7 out of 10. We put on over 300 miles in 3 days (not alot ..but decent) It was bitter cold all three mornings...it was never above 5 below when we left each day (and windchills were 30- 45 below on the first day).
The Attak got 14.5 mpg, and ran decent the whole trip.
The bad
3 times my relay froze up (in the mornings)...each time I got it working, and it was fine the rest of the day...but ...as you can image, the 2 stroke crowd, gave it to me good about my POS four stroke delaying everybody.
Lost an idler wheeler (rear small one)...just had put new hyfax on before the trip....and due to the hard icy conditions burned them right down...could smell burning hyfax the whole first day...didn't matter what I did..stop...kick snow in there...and then wait (did that 4 times)....I thought I had burned the damn things right off....but after the first day...they didn't wear anymore...they look thin...but are not worn through...went another 210 miles on them....no burning smell, and not worn anymore or anyless...they just wore down to certain point and stopped....but it did have me worried....replaced hyfax wheel the next morning, and I am sure that helped.
As I mentioned above...relay froze up on me 4 times...an annoyance more than anything else...easy fix....but embarassing...took alot of ribbing for that...lol
The trails the 2nd and 3rd day were more loose, and more packed powder than concrete like they were on friday...the trails in price county are very cool...they twist and turn through the woods...very scenic...though I must say, those tight wooded trails were hell on my shoulders...by the third day I was completely wore out...VERY SORE....throwing that attak around on tight trails can really wear you out (well at least us older outta shape guys...lol)....I think I need to seriously look at an EPS equiped sled...or go different direction...it was the first real ride of the season, so I am very sore.
So....what I have figured out so far....is my attak gets the best mileage of any sled in our group...and at this point is still the fastest sled in our group (the 800 rush, and the 800 ski-doo did not want to race...lol)...but it is a real handful in certain snow conditions, and the weight will wear you out quickly...the mono actually works really good on groomed trails...the other guys felt more of the small junk than I did....though the bigger stuff was rougher on me.
Bottomline:
I still really like my attak....the sound and feel is just not like any other sled out there...but I have to face reality as I get older...this is just too heavy of a sled for me to throw around anymore....so...it makes me think about going smaller and lighter...or getting an eps equiped vector (I honestly don't need the power anymore...this attak goes way faster than I need to go)...I am thinking of trying something different....but am very hesitant to go away from yamaha...The engines are simply unmatched in the industry...I am waiting to see what this new model is...but...I prefer to buy a 2 year old used sled...I cant justify spending over 10 grand on a toy (any toy)....not with the way the economy and the winters have been lately...so....I may have to switch brands....dunno...got lots of thinking to do.
The good:
We rode over to price county (phillips area)...most of the trails were flat, and smooth...a few thin spots, and a few icy corners...but overall I would rate their trails a 7 out of 10. We put on over 300 miles in 3 days (not alot ..but decent) It was bitter cold all three mornings...it was never above 5 below when we left each day (and windchills were 30- 45 below on the first day).
The Attak got 14.5 mpg, and ran decent the whole trip.
The bad
3 times my relay froze up (in the mornings)...each time I got it working, and it was fine the rest of the day...but ...as you can image, the 2 stroke crowd, gave it to me good about my POS four stroke delaying everybody.
Lost an idler wheeler (rear small one)...just had put new hyfax on before the trip....and due to the hard icy conditions burned them right down...could smell burning hyfax the whole first day...didn't matter what I did..stop...kick snow in there...and then wait (did that 4 times)....I thought I had burned the damn things right off....but after the first day...they didn't wear anymore...they look thin...but are not worn through...went another 210 miles on them....no burning smell, and not worn anymore or anyless...they just wore down to certain point and stopped....but it did have me worried....replaced hyfax wheel the next morning, and I am sure that helped.
As I mentioned above...relay froze up on me 4 times...an annoyance more than anything else...easy fix....but embarassing...took alot of ribbing for that...lol
The trails the 2nd and 3rd day were more loose, and more packed powder than concrete like they were on friday...the trails in price county are very cool...they twist and turn through the woods...very scenic...though I must say, those tight wooded trails were hell on my shoulders...by the third day I was completely wore out...VERY SORE....throwing that attak around on tight trails can really wear you out (well at least us older outta shape guys...lol)....I think I need to seriously look at an EPS equiped sled...or go different direction...it was the first real ride of the season, so I am very sore.
So....what I have figured out so far....is my attak gets the best mileage of any sled in our group...and at this point is still the fastest sled in our group (the 800 rush, and the 800 ski-doo did not want to race...lol)...but it is a real handful in certain snow conditions, and the weight will wear you out quickly...the mono actually works really good on groomed trails...the other guys felt more of the small junk than I did....though the bigger stuff was rougher on me.
Bottomline:
I still really like my attak....the sound and feel is just not like any other sled out there...but I have to face reality as I get older...this is just too heavy of a sled for me to throw around anymore....so...it makes me think about going smaller and lighter...or getting an eps equiped vector (I honestly don't need the power anymore...this attak goes way faster than I need to go)...I am thinking of trying something different....but am very hesitant to go away from yamaha...The engines are simply unmatched in the industry...I am waiting to see what this new model is...but...I prefer to buy a 2 year old used sled...I cant justify spending over 10 grand on a toy (any toy)....not with the way the economy and the winters have been lately...so....I may have to switch brands....dunno...got lots of thinking to do.
Heritage said:
I put on a little over 300 miles on my Attak on our first two day trip of the season. Half the miles were in ditch trails and the other half in the wooded twisty trails.
With Snowtrackers and Mtn skis the sled steering seems light.
My over 40 shoulders and core feel fine today.
Drove my buddy's 2012 Apex SE for the last 50 miles home. ( ditch trails) His hands were cold. Mine were smokin'.
I use a combination of hand guards and YamaHeaters. So we traded to keep his hands warm.
Didn't really notice the EPS compared to my Attak. Granted we were not in the twisties. It may shine there but the opportunity did not arise to trade then.
Buddy did comment how smooth my machine was in the bigger bumps than his SE ( fox floats). The SE takes the small stutters alot better than my Attak (stock shocks).
The ride, feel and sound between my 6yr old machine and his new machine are almost the same. Was thinking of upgrading next year but now I think I will wait until Yamaha really changes something.
All in all, a good couple of days driving Yamahas.
MarkRTX
Expert
I thought the same thing...at first. I had a 09 LTX (Attak) and had that sled dialed in and was fast really fast 119 gps on 2500 ft track and many times showed 117 gps on RR beds. So when I totalled mine I first had a bad bout of depression and bought a skidoo but after one trip and meds I sold it and started looking for another Yammie. I found a very good deal on a 2011 SE and from the first ride I haven't looked back. This sled rides awesome setup is key here with the Floats all around and before we lost the snow a 250 mile ride was nothing where with my two previous Apexes I would be sore real sore sometimes. After two major back surgeries this sled flat out rocks and with just a PCV and Ulmer Clutching this is faster than my previous very well setup Apexes. Top end they are about equal but low to mid range my SE is a animal. The EPS helps way more than you can realize in just a 100 mile ride let alone 20 miles also check out my thread about my review of the Apex SE. If this sled wasn't that good I wouldn't say so. I love Yammies but if it wasn't better than my other two Apexes especially my 09 LTX I'd say so. Thats my two cents hope this helps.
