when are we going to see the carbon fiber sleds.

[rtx moose]

its been 5 years since yamaha patented the carbon fiber frames for both a 3 cylinder and 4 cylinder,can only imagine its a huge testing platform..they have tweeked the patent just about every year since 2015!Wondering if we will see them?the 4 cylinder calls out a supercharger!

 

[srvfan]

I believe FAST made a few Carbon Fiber tunnel blade sleds years ago. Not sure if it would be worth the expense . The Tunnle is pretty much the lightest part of the sled allready.

 

[TPAY243]

That's just what we need something to drive the price up even more. Aren't the current models expensive enough. What performance gains would you actually get out of Carbon Fiber vs the cost.

 

[DGZRT]

Sled can’t get much more expensive. I hate to say it but I’ll never spend 18k for something I might get to ride 10 times a year. If they can perfect there Plastic/ with carbon and be able to mold it cheaply into anything hopefully it will drive the price down . They need full function sleds at 10 k not 20 . The aftermarket made an all plastic rear suspension and it was one of the best ! Now we just need Yamaha to make the plastics cheaper and better I’m still hopeful for a 120hp 4 stroke 25 mpg sled that is light and will last . But I would take the old Viper 2 Stroke in a modular plastic sled any day I know they’ve been testing parts in their Motorcycle division. Let’s hope the sleds are next . And Yamaha buy that AD Boivin rear suspension patent and make it better!!

 

[TPAY243]

An all plastic rear suspension you lost me there, who would be the manufacturer of that.

 

[DGZRT]

Google the AD Boivin ZX2 suspension. Wish they still made it !

 

[TPAY243]

That might have been a savior for you Delta box guys but the Pro Cross chassis is leaps and bounds better. I would think that if that suspension was all that good they would still be selling them. Yamaha struggles with snowmobile suspension I don't think you want them releasing anything new unless they get help from someone else along the line.

 

[DGZRT]

That might have been a savior for you Delta box guys but the Pro Cross chassis is leaps and bounds better. I would think that if that suspension was all that good they would still be selling them. Yamaha struggles with snowmobile suspension I don't think you want them releasing anything new unless they get help from someone else along the line.

Don't get me wrong . I drove your exact sled 2014 Viper LTX for many miles and it was an excellent ride . I do think the Procross is a much better chassis but I think all of us would like to see a Japan built sled and chassis. That's where I was hoping the patents that were shown would lead to . I wish they would "Yamaha" would buy the rights to the FAST Blade sled and rework it with a 4 stroke . But that just makes too much sense. I'm guessing it will be a collaboration with Arctic cat in the Future .

So what do the conditions up in Northern Wis. look like ?? Are we close or do we need 10" of more snow ?

 

[TPAY243]

We are out packing were we can, swamps and lakes are froze up nice we just need 4 to 6 inches of snow and think we will be able to open. I honestly think we are in better shape now than we were last year at this time. We struggled all last year caused thing's never froze up properly, I don't think we will have that problem this year.

 

[Surestick]

Funny, there's been some talk in the cycling world that we're getting close to the point where carbon frames are going to be cheaper to make than aluminum ones within the next few years.
Carbon is certainly making its way down into the less expensive higher-end bikes where aluminum used to rule. That said, Aluminum bike frames are usually TIG welded and then heat-treated where snowmobiles seem to be bent and rivetted which is probably less labor-intensive and, more importantly, less requiring of skilled labor.

Off on a tangent here but I've been lusting after my own version of the Powermodz Monster Elan (I've got a Polaris 440 Fan motor and a 16x136" skid set aside that I'm planning to use). I have been thinking of building the chassis out of carbon, videos of people doing vacuum forming of carbon are plentiful on YouTube and make it look fairly easy (famous last words, right?). Carbon does seem to be easier for the hobbyists to use for one-offs anyway. The only thing that's really slowing me down is figuring out if I want to use the same modified front suspension as the Powermodz guy (modified Skandic) or figure out some sort of A-arm thing. The Skandic front seems to be a lot easier to mount in a Carbon frame but then chopping up a used front off a scrap sled would be just as easy to mount into carbon, so...

 

[TPAY243]

Well I'm not into bicycles so I wouldn't know to much about that part but anything that I have seen that involves Carbon Fiber is extremely expensive.

 

[Surestick]

Well I'm not into bicycles so I wouldn't know to much about that part but anything that I have seen that involves Carbon Fiber is extremely expensive.

Snowmobile manufacturers are invested in tooling and a workforce to make aluminum snowmobiles.
Buying all the tooling and hiring or retraining workers to make things any other way (carbon) would be expensive and that price would be passed on to consumers in a market where the economy is rough for a lot of people.

 

[DGZRT]

I’m sure the Patent from Yamaha was for Carbon infused plastic. That would make it cheaper and easier to mold . Maybe in ten years we will be able to 3D print parts lol

 

[mooseflyer]

Another thought I don't see mentioned above: what's the repair cost of aluminum vs. carbon after an encounter with a tree, trailer, buddy, etc, etc..... my guess is mucho dinero....

 

[rtx moose]

I’m sure the Patent from Yamaha was for Carbon infused plastic. That would make it cheaper and easier to mold . Maybe in ten years we will be able to 3D print parts lol

It is carbon infused