Trail Performance Gains on STOCK TUNED SW's: Please post up your set-ups

[VX1R]

mind sharing your setup on the Slp Mohawk ski's. which ski mounting hole did you use and rear center shock adjustment etc.

ritchie.....I think that you’ll really like the SLP Mohawk skis on your ‘Winder. As with any aggressive ski you'll need to lighten your ski pressure or you’ll end up with heavy steering and arm pump.

On my sled I set the limiter strap in the longest position. For the ski springs I set them fully loose at full extension with the front end suspended off the ground (the spring retainers would just hold the spring lightly on each end of the spring) and then preloaded the ski springs with 5mm of spring tension. I also gave the spring on the front skid shock an additional 5mm of preload from the stock position. These changes will all help to lighten up the steering effort running the Mohawk skis.

One additional change that I made that was probably the most significant was to replace the stock rear torsion springs with the lighter rate springs that are available from HyGear. The weight transfer with those springs really made the biggest change.

I’ve got the compression setting on the ski shocks set soft with the front skid shock set at medium, and the rear shock set at soft.

This is how I set up the suspension initially, but rider weight and trail conditions along with your own personal preference can dictate slight changes. That’s what’s nice about adjustable shocks.

I think anyone that has driven my sled would agree that it goes where you point it with complete confidence and with minimal steering effort with the changes that I’ve mentioned here.

Hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction (pun intended).

 

[JPS]

2017 XTX SE 141 CURRENTLY700 MILES ON THE CLOCK, BOUGHT AS LEFT OVER IN NOVEMBER. PRIMARY CLUTCH: WEIGHTS, TP, SPRING- TP ORANGE WITH GLIDE WASHERS, STOCK ROLLERS, DRIVEN CLUTCH: 33/35 TP, ORANGE TP AT 2-3, TP ROLLERS. 8JP BELT, STOCK GEARING, 1.6 TRACK. SKIS : 6.9 PILOT 6 INCH WOODYS . REAR SUSPENSION : HYGEAR PRO LINKAGE, DUAL RATE CENTER SPRING. I RAN SLED STOCK FOR FIRST 200 MILES THEN STARTED TO MESS WITH THE CLUTCHING. SUSPENSION AND SKI CHANGES WERE MADE FROM NEW. SEEMS TO PULL A LITTLE BETTER DOWN LOW TO MID WITH TP CLUTCHING BEST ON LAKE PACKED DOWN 3/4 MILE WOT 113 ON THE DASH WHICH WAS 112 ON PHONE GPS 8700 RPM. I AM GOING TO MAINE THIS WEEK FOR 5 DAYS AND WANTED TO GET RPM UP JUST A BIT TO 8900-9000 SO I MADE SOME CHANGES AGAIN. FIRST I WANTED TO TRY 3-1 ON SECONDARY SPRING SINCE THE TRAILS IN MAINE ARE A BIT FASTER RUNNING AND NOT AS TIGHT AS NY WHERE I USUALLY RIDE LITTLE FASTER UP SHIFT WAS THE THOUGHT AND I STILL NEED TO GET RPM UP BUT WITH LESS SPRING WRAP I TRIED A BIT MORE OFF THE TIP OF THE WEIGHTS. I TOOK THE 2 THIN WASHERS OFF THE TIP. THEY ARE .4 GRAM EACH SO I WILL SEE HOW IT DOES THIS WEEKEND??? ITS ALL A GUESS, NO 2 SLEDS ARE IDENTICAL. SEEMS AFTER ALL THE SCREWING AROUND AND MONEY SPENT ON CLUTCHING THERE IS VERY LITTLE GAIN OVER STOCK . i CAN SAY THAT ON PACKED SNOW WITH MY TRACK AND SUSPENSION SET UP AND MY HUSKY 255LBS ON THE SEAT THIS THING DIGS IN AND PUTS THE POWER TO THE GROUND, VERY LITTLE TRACK SPIN. ​

well just got back from Maine and got to try it out again with changes. TP HH weights aluminum bolt with thin washer middle, brass bolt no washer tip. 33/35 orange TP secondary spring at 3-1 rpm 9,000 settled at 8900 for 3/4 mile on very hard pack frozen groomed snow. 8 degree outside temp 118 mph on speedo and 116 on gps. clutches warm, not hot at all. I am staying with this set up, sled is performing great, i dont thing there is anything left to improve performance keeping it stock. I have to date 1495 miles this year on my stock JP belt and it still looks great. Thanks Lonn and NOS PRO for your help. once finely tuned for rider weight, sled, track, correct offset TP clutch products deliver.

 

[ritchie]

ritchie.....I think that you’ll really like the SLP Mohawk skis on your ‘Winder. As with any aggressive ski you'll need to lighten your ski pressure or you’ll end up with heavy steering and arm pump.

On my sled I set the limiter strap in the longest position. For the ski springs I set them fully loose at full extension with the front end suspended off the ground (the spring retainers would just hold the spring lightly on each end of the spring) and then preloaded the ski springs with 5mm of spring tension. I also gave the spring on the front skid shock an additional 5mm of preload from the stock position. These changes will all help to lighten up the steering effort running the Mohawk skis.

One additional change that I made that was probably the most significant was to replace the stock rear torsion springs with the lighter rate springs that are available from HyGear. The weight transfer with those springs really made the biggest change.

I’ve got the compression setting on the ski shocks set soft with the front skid shock set at medium, and the rear shock set at soft.

This is how I set up the suspension initially, but rider weight and trail conditions along with your own personal preference can dictate slight changes. That’s what’s nice about adjustable shocks.

I think anyone that has driven my sled would agree that it goes where you point it with complete confidence and with minimal steering effort with the changes that I’ve mentioned here.

Hopefully this will get you pointed in the right direction (pun intended).

Thanks for the info. I have put on a few miles with the mohawk ski's and am generally pleased with them. I am just trying to dial out some ski lift. I think I will follow your lead and loosen the front springs to see if that will help.

 

[LouTurbo]

Primary Clutch: TP Big Venom kit
Spring: Thunder Products Orange with glide washers
Weights: TP (heavy hitters)
Weight set up: set up by Lon for me (250lb)
Rollers: TP
Secondary Clutch:
Spring: TP orange
Spring Wrap:3-2
Helix: TP 33/35
Rollers: Hi-Torque
Offset: stock
Belt: 8JP (BOP adjuster)
Gearing: Stock
Track: Woodys signature
Skis: Stock tuners (Pilots ready to go)
SW Model: LTX LE
Most Common Riding Conditions: Trails in Ontario
Misc. Comments: Came off second broken primary spring in 2,000km so much better now. However, after 300km, still scuffing new TP orange primary with glide washers.
Possibly the primary is hanging up a little since still scuffing spring.
176kmh (110mph) on GPS (184 speedometer) on bumpy crusty lake. I let up because of the bumps but the speed was still climbing.
Trails were very hard pack groomed so traction was wicked on Friday where I was riding from Kawarthas(Balsam Lake) to Dorset, pulling the skis in the air by gunning it over the slightest bump.
Mainly I bought the Heavy hitters as I will be going to a tune but not sure if they are the best fit for TD or Hurricane.

Racing my buds all stock identical Sidewinder with same studs and stock clutching there was little to no difference, there were times when he pulled ahead and times when I pulled ahead from stop and rolling.

 

[Riceburner]

Primary Clutch:
Spring: Stock
Weights: Hurricane Version 2. No insert. Large screw and small screw middle.
Weight set up: Mike Knapp. [Thanks Mike]
Rollers: Stock
Secondary Clutch:
Spring: Stock
Spring Stock
Helix: Stock
Rollers: Stock
Exhaust: Hurricane Hindle

Belt: 8JP
Gearing: Stock
Studs: Woodys 144 Megabytes 1.45
Skis: Stock Tuners with 2018 Aggressive Sno Trackers. No push to speak of on groomed trails
SW Model: LTX LE
Most Common Riding Conditions: Trails
Misc. Comments: 100 miles on sled. RaceWerx easy adjust on 1.

RESULTS ;

Max RPM 8800.
Raced 660' on soft snow VS 2 stock Winders that were well broken in. I finished 4 to six lengths ahead of the bone stock broken in Winders.
Also Raced couple of 850 Doo's . One well set up very close at end hole shotted me but ran him down easily. Waxed the other.
I'm not sure how well the bushings in these weights will hold up over time but in combination with the Hindle the results were every bit what Dave Marshall told me to expect.

 

[STAIN]

I am surprised by the amount of people running shallow helix and stiff spring instead of a steeper helix with the stock spring. Springs are cheaper I guess. But I believe a steeper helix/softer spring will preform better.

 

[Snowaddict]

2017 LTX LE studded (3 per bar-combo of doubles and singles on inside only.)
Primary Clutch:
Spring: Thunder Products Orange
Weights: TP (heavy hitters)
Weight set up: as set up by TP minus 1 thin washer in the tip (originally there were 2 in there)
Rollers: Stock
Secondary Clutch:
Spring: Stock
Spring Wrap:3-3
Helix: Dalton 35/39
Rollers: Thunder Products
Offset: stock
Belt: 8JP
Gearing: Stock
Track: Stock
Skis: Stock tuners (will be upgraded in the future)
SW Model: LTX LE
Most Common Riding Conditions: Trails in WI (mostly NE)
Misc. Comments: only ran all stock set up for first 400 miles. Had my secondary machined for coil bind (thanks again @NOS-PRO) then and switched to TP clutch kit and secondary rollers, and 35/39 Helix (thanks to @jonlafon1.) Also, wrapped stock secondary spring to 6-1. This set-up worked well and clutches were only warm to the touch. RPMs were a little low at 8500 on prolonged pull. Best top speed was 108 mph.
Beginning of this season switched to TP orange secondary spring wrapped at 2-3. Clutches were hotter than stock and more so than I liked. RPMs went up a little. But still a tad low. Didn't have much of a chance for top end runs, but the 1 I did have was 100 mph and it just felt like it was somewhat stuck there.
2 weeks go decided to go back to stock secondary spring wrapped at 3-3. Also, removed 1 thin washer from the tip and added Barn of Parts belt adjuster. RPMs went up (8700-8850) and clutches are still only warm. So, far this feels the best. Haven't had a chance to get a top speed run in on this set-up yet. Hopefully, this week. Doing a trip to Rhinelander and surrounding areas.

Update 2/21/2018

Tried the above set up last weekend around Rhinelander and the past 2 days in the UP. Still at 9,000 on initial grab of the throttle and 8,700-8750 on prolonged pull. New top speed (speedo) of 114 mph. Pretty happy with this. I know it's really close. Am debating if I try wrapping at 6-1 to get a little more backshift and possibly another 100 RPM. The only other thing I know I'm going to change next year is the skis. Now leaning towards Cat skis, as I got to ride @jonlafon1 's 2017 SE beast (not kidding it's a monster!) Handled every well with minimal effort.