Stretching an APEX....to gear down or not to gear down.

[journeyman]

Do most Apex owners that have taken a 121" Apex and turned it into a 136" machine gear down to the ATTAK/ LTX gearing?

The reason I am asking this is this: I have a friend (My Avatar photo) that owns a 2007 red ATTAK GT that he bought new. The sled is bone stock and from day one it has always been faster than heck. I won't waste anyone's time listing all the sleds I have seen this thing take down. That being said a couple years later he bought a used 2006 121" Black Apex GT. Being he liked these sleds in 136" better he had one of my friends stretch it out into a 136" with a standard Ripsaw track. The strange thing is he cheaped out and didn't want to spend the extra $$$ on new gears so he left it at the higher 121" gearing. THIS IS WHAT I FIND WEIRD..... He claims that the black 2006 stretched GT with the higher gearing will smoke his 2007 red ATTAK from top to bottom. Anywhere, anytime. They both have several thousand miles on them now.
IMO I thought the black one would have been geared too high with that gearing after stretching it out to 136".

any thoughts??

 

[granto211]

I stretched mine 2 a 144" did both upper and lower gears. 23/40. I absolutly love the response to it. For how drzmatic of a change it makes gears r cheap. 35$ for the upper and $150 for the lower. I was never intrested in doing 120mph accros a lake so the 5-10 mph loss was fine with me. I want the trail snap 40-80 and its got it.

 

[journeyman]

Yes I understand that leaving it geared up should equate to more MPH in the end but usually the acceleration or ET suffers....hence it takes you longer to get there. In this case the geared up machine not only out accelerates it, it out top ends it too. Is it that these 4 strokes torque band is so broad versus a 2 stroke that the snowmobile rules of physics that we were so acquainted with have no bearing?

 

[granto211]

Not sure what u mean, i geard down my upper and geared up my lower which = more acceleration and loss of top end. Give ulmer a call, dudes a freak he can tell u what u wanna know.

 

[journeyman]

Oh I know Al Ulmer. He and his dad are very honest people......the best!! That being said I was just curious. I have been scouring the want ads etc. and really don't care if it's an Apex or an ATTAK/LTX. In the end I would like it to be the 136" which I could easily convert an Apex to. My thoughts though lie in the question I posed. On an Apex pushing it out to 136" do I re-gear it or leave it. When this friend did not re-gear it lower to a std. ATTAK type gearing I thought he made a mistake. Then hearing his results puzzled me to say the least.


Even little questions like these are why I became a VIP member of TY. I have been on here alot over the years since the original TY format and probably have gained alot of knowledge for FREE. Not that I didn't have any Yamaha snowmobile knowledge coming in.....it just expanded my horizon and has answered so many little questions for me. So I finally payed my dues this year because I want this site to survive.

How's that for a plug?

 

[Newfie Apex]

gearing

When I streteched my apex to a 136 ulmer suggested that I drop a tooth on the upper gear...Now I did install a 1.5" lug track...this may have a different effect than what you are looking for

 

[APEX 06]

I gear down from a 24-23 top. Lost about 6 MPH on the top end. But picked up more speed in a half mile.