Venturing Lightly a Canadian Multi-purpose

[karl]

hi, I've been lurking around this site for a year now and thought I should come out from behind the couch.

I rode sleds 30 years ago when a 440 free air was a fire breathing monster. I am returning to the sport because of the emergence of 4 strokes and Yamaha's committment to their development.

I live in the Yukon Territory, Canada and purchased a Venture Lite MP last year. This is a one-up utility version of the Venture Lite. I bought that particular sled because of the 16" track format and the fact that it did not have all the heavy rear seat hardware and back rest. I have attached two photos that show the evolution of the mods. I have other more detailed photos if anyone would like to see them. basically I lightened the rear deck, built a super light rear seat mount, stretched the rails and re-tracked with a 159"X16"X2" Challenger.

This is a great site, with a lot of good ideas and inspiration. I see a few comments and posts on the Venture Lite series and think it would be valuable to have them collected up in a specific area although a lot of the general Phazer stuff applies to the Venture Lite sleds.

Anyway, I guess I am out from behind the couch now Karl

 

[aksteepndeep]

I love the sled. Congrats on stepping around the corner!! Welcome

 

[asrx600guy]

what is an old fart doing with snowboards?

 

[Topper]

Nice job Karl. I was starting to think I was the only MP owner on this site, nice to have company. Love that rear seat, much better than the heavy Yamaha version. Topper

 

[Superman]

Do you have ski skins on there?

 

[BV1]

Welcome Karl! Great pics, tell more about your mods

-Steve

PS. Did you find my wallet behind there?

 

[karl]

Hi guys, no Steve I didn't find your wallet but I did find enough loose change to buy some beer and there was enough old popcorn to keep me fed.

and hey! whats wrong with an old fart on a snowboard. I'll take that and raise you one. I am also a level two snowboard instructor. I bought the sled because I was getting pooped out earning my turns in the backcountry and wanted an easier way to get up the mountain.

There probably aren't many of us Topper, I think the mp has a narrow market. I think it is a great machine.

The sled was ok right out of the box, but I knew I wanted to lighten it up. My end goal is to have Phazer plastic up front and to get rid of the heavy hood and windshield - who knows if I will ever get there. I think I could get to a sub 550lb dry weight if I worked at it. kind of a phazer on steroids

the first add on was 9" skins, this stopped all the diving when I would let off on the throttle and it handles way better in the soft stuff which is where I ride. next I pulled the rear rack and fabed up a rear deck with a tie-down rail around it. I bought the rear seat with my Yamabucks when I bought the sled, but I didn't get any of the heavy metal to go with it so I laminated some light aluminum to plywood for a super light mount set up. I rode it like this for the season and it always felt like it needed more track and traction.

For this season I bought a track and rail extentions from Track USA and installed some Yamaha minimal snow idlers for the front of the skid. with the track extention I have cut down the rear bumper and hitch and will extend the bumper about 8" and reinstall the snow flap. I also dropped the gearing down. the mp already has a gear set that lives in the basement but I went to a 17 tooth drive gear anyway. At this point I am not interested in pumping up the engine, it seems to have all the power I need. I am going to route the exhaust out the rear of the tunnel to just above the snow flap and hopefully stop some of the slush build up that occurs from having the muffler outlet inside the tunnel.

I have attached a few more pictures that show some of the detail

Karl

 

[apeddigrew]

hi, I've been lurking around this site for a year now and thought I should come out from behind the couch.

I rode sleds 30 years ago when a 440 free air was a fire breathing monster. I am returning to the sport because of the emergence of 4 strokes and Yamaha's committment to their development.

I live in the Yukon Territory, Canada and purchased a Venture Lite MP last year. This is a one-up utility version of the Venture Lite. I bought that particular sled because of the 16" track format and the fact that it did not have all the heavy rear seat hardware and back rest. I have attached two photos that show the evolution of the mods. I have other more detailed photos if anyone would like to see them. basically I lightened the rear deck, built a super light rear seat mount, stretched the rails and re-tracked with a 159"X16"X2" Challenger.

This is a great site, with a lot of good ideas and inspiration. I see a few comments and posts on the Venture Lite series and think it would be valuable to have them collected up in a specific area although a lot of the general Phazer stuff applies to the Venture Lite sleds.

Anyway, I guess I am out from behind the couch now Karl

 

[apeddigrew]

Wicked sled Karl. Welcome! Where did you source the track and skis?

 

[YukonMP]

Wicked sled Karl. Welcome! Where did you source the track and skis?

Nice sentiment but that is a 12 year old thread and Karl was last seen on TY 5 years ago. I have been keeping my eye out for this sled and have never seen it. What I wouldn't give to try it out above treeline.

 

[Mooseman]

Holy necropost!

 

[apeddigrew]

Nice sentiment but that is a 12 year old thread and Karl was last seen on TY 5 years ago. I have been keeping my eye out for this sled and have never seen it. What I wouldn't give to try it out above treeline.

oh bother! . Yes, me too!

 

[karl]

well hey, it was a fun project..... haven't been sledding for about six years, but I'm back... old but not dead yet.
just bought a 2016 SR Viper M-TX 162 with 800km on the dial. should be everything my tracked MP was with a bunch more horsepower.

 

[Mooseman]

Well howdy stranger! So what happened to the MP?

 

[karl]

Well howdy stranger! So what happened to the MP?

I cleaned it up and sold it about the time I dropped out of sight here. I think it went north from Whitehorse to one of our smaller communities. It was a fun sled and a great project.