Yamaha Poll: What Skis are you running on your Sidewinder?

[Turbo 998]

Sidewinder Model: RTX LE
Track Length: 129
Studded: No
Type of rider: Aggressive Trail Rider.

What Ski?

 

[actionjack]

17 SideWinder LTX LE 137
1.6 Ice Cobra
Aggressive Trail rider with off trail aspirations

The Tuners IIIs were never on my sled. Their narrow appearance did not give me confidence for the occasional off trail excursion I hoped to do. I was hoping for a balance of good trail manners AND decent flotation and the 17 MTX skis were not available yet so I had my sled delivered with '16 Viper MTX skis and installed semi-aggressive Snowtrackers. Flotation was good but too much understeer and super light steering. I just ran in a XC race with SlimJim Dooleys for my MTX skis and that is a pretty good set up but still a touch too much understeer. I think I'll put them on my Attak and try the Pilot 6.9's for next season on my Winder. The Tuners are available free to a good home.

 

[Kris711]

2017 Sidewinder Ltx se 137

Studded

Trail rider

Curve skis 6" carbide
Had no confidence in Tuners with 6" in and 4" out pushed quite a bit


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[dgjr636]

Sidewinder Model: LTX LE with 3500mi
Track Length: 137
Studded: Yes 1.325 192 Woodys 144 middle 48 outside
Type of rider: Aggressive Trail Rider/ touring.

1st) Tried many different carbides on stock tuners but always had hard steering and push with unpredictability in all conditions.

2cd) tried C&A's with 6" slim Jim's. Cornered great but steered very hard and darted a bit in hard pack.

3rd) tried Curves with 6" slim jims. Had the same result as the C&A's maybe a little lighter steering but still hard.

4th) tried Cat skis with dooly 8" carbides. These were 2cd best in my book. Much easier steering and no darting. Only down fall is they pushed way more and had inside ski lift on hard pack.

5th). The best I found by far. 6.9 Ski-Doo pilots. 8" round bar in center and 4" round bar on outsides. This made the sled feel like it had power steering compared to the rest with great flat cornering, predictability, floatation, and 0 darting. I could go as fast as I wanted with 1 arm and totally feel in control at all times.

 

[InRBigness]

16 Viper XTX MPI Turbo 141 x 1.6" track no studs.
Tried many adjustments, then just ordered Curves with the 6" runner and the outside edge. Way better handling

 

[SideHogger]

2017 Ltx-Le Sidewinder: FYI for everybody. I went with Curves and started with the stock rubbers. Sled turned easy and handled fantastic. Decided to put curve rubbers on thinking they would make sled handle even better. WRONG! Couldnt steer the damn thing. Like I put ten inches of racing carbide on the front of it. Immediately went back in garage, put stock rubbers back on and BINGO, easy steering again! Just my 2 cents.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Installed pilot 6.9s onto a Ltx LE model, fixed all the poor handling/heavy steering issues the stock skis have.

For 2018, I am buying my new SW with NO SKIS(yes they are that bad) and will be installing my own Pilots.

Might want to start installing different skis on these, as my dealer is getting a huge backlog of tuners in back! lol

 

[jayden84]

2017 yamaha sidewinder xtx se:
stock skis with snowtracker runners , was able to lighten up the load on the front. Steering is light and handles great on the trails, had the same setup on my viper as well. its like putting a different set of skis on with just the runners I find.
with stock runners I find the steering is heavy due to having to have so much ski pressure to make that sucker bite and turn

 

[ishpeming fan]

2014 viper ltx , studded , stock skis for 2014 not tuners but pushed to much, slt straight line with spoons pushed to much, curves with 6 "shaper bar and 4"leading edge,, awsome corner hookup, no darting, and easy steering effort . 137' track , hard charging trail rider

 

[STAIN]

Anyone running Simmons skis? I just got a good deal on a lightly used set.........

 

[StumpJumperBob]

Sidewinder Model: LTX LE with 2800mi
Track Length: 137
Studded: Yes 1.325 192 Woody's Grand Masters 144 middle 48 outside
Type of rider: Aggressive Trail Rider
Weight: 200lbs in gear

Did not try stock carbide setup. I tend to like more bite than stock on any sled.

First attempt: single 8inch Bergstrom Triple Points on each Tuner Ski with single stock carbide outside. (16inch bergstrom / ski savers center + stock carbides)
After first day riding, noticed stock setup was extremely ski heavy. So much so that when I leaned in to a turn, I thought the rear end was going to come around.
Made adjustments to limiter strap and all shocks with most adjustment on center front skid shock to take load off skis.
Sled no longer felt like it was going to come around but lacked bite in corners.

Second attempt: added a second set of 8inch Bergstrom Triple Points on each Tuner Ski (a total of 32 inches of carbide + ski savers on center)
After minor suspension adjustments, sled handles very well on hardpack. Skis still push under very aggressive riding in deeper / loose snow... but MUCH improved.

Have a set of 5.7 Pilots waiting in the wings to test - but have not felt the need as of yet. That's a project for next year.

Still on first belt @ 2800 miles.

 

[Billy231FDNY]

After reading this I'd like to comment.
Purchased 2 leftover sleds a few months back.

2015 XTX-SE 141" for the wife. (Her first sled and I'll use it also at times)

2016 STX-DX 146" for myself, have ridden a lot over the years an aggressive rider at times yet this sled seems like it can be comfy and reliable just as the XTX.
I assembled both sleds myself being bought as leftovers and shipped to me in crates, I couldn't help but sigh when I was putting the OEM skis and carbides on. Very skimpy and not a confident feeling. Sadly I didn't get to use either sled missing the last drop of snow in the northeast this past winter.
So during the downtime, I'm reading this thread and don't see many of any longer track sleds commenting on this topic.
I'd like to hear from someone as well or of these comments from the 137" crowd feels the Curves (seems most common so far) will work on both out sleds, I can use some help. I don't feel like wasting time in the winter playing around with diff set ups. I think suspensions will be enough of a job to tackle on the trail to find the sweet spots for.
Thanks for any help and comments.



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[fatchance]

2017 Sidewinder LTX LE 137" studded 4/2 up the middle.
I gave the Tuners a try , but being an aggressive rider I just COULD NOT TRUST THEM. There were too many times where they were just plain dangerous! And this while the sled had very heavy ski pressure and heavy steering.
I put the Pilot 6.9" skis on without changing anything and my trust issues went away immediately. I was able to reduce ski pressure drastically allowing much lighter steering effort while maintaining very precise turning ability.
My only concern with the pilot skis is that they are made a bit flimsy. It would be nice to see this ski made a bit more rigid and durable.

 

[yamadooman]

2017 LTX LE, going to stud either 144 or 168 (outside included)
After reading about the Tuners, I have decided to run my Pilot 5.7 R's with SnowTrackers.. They have worked exc on all of the Skidoos I have ridden in the past and will give them a shot on the Winder.. By the way just picked it up (174 miles on it).. Very excited to give it a try, wanted to Snow Check one back in Spring of 16, but held off.

 

[Mike P]

LTX-DX
Woody's 6 and stock 4s no studs.

Very jittery on early morning rides on frozen slop which happen a lot this year.(crap winter in WI) Never really felt comfortable all season because corner to corner I wasn't sure what to expect. I did notice the best handling was when the trails were a little choppy in the corners. The turners hooked up really good then! Freshly groomed hard trails were the worst for me. When I was the first one on a groomed trail steering was super heavy. If there were a few sleds a head of me the front was very darty tracking other sleds. Again, the best handling for me was when the trails were a little choppy. I have 4000 miles on my 2014 Viper with 6 inch duals and I never had an issue. Will have to bend over and buy new skis next season. It will be on santa's list!

SR-Viper RTX SE 2014
Studded 90 down the middle
MPI kit
Trail
I have a 2014 Viper RTX and tried the Tuner ski from the beginning and they were really bad most of the time. I had never tried the original Arctic Cat ski that came with the sled, thinking that I needed a dual keel ski. I put the Cat ski on with Cobra Carbides from Quali-Pieces, great combination.