Your definition of Railing in the corners

[rhoag]

If someone says their sled rails in the corners that is subjective. I guess I was spoiled back in the old days of riding my SX, vipers and SRX's ... now those things railed. My definition of rails: stays flat with no inside ski lift and goes where you point it.
The reason for this post is I wonder if I am just expecting to much out of my XTX with it's weight and not so low center of gravity. I have the hygear triple rate springs, 6.9 pilots with 6" shapers in the middle and stock 4" on the outside, weight transfer set to minimum, center shock preload at minimum (10mm), and limiter strap stock hole.
As long as I ride at a moderate pace 40-45 MPH it's great very minimal inside ski lift and for the most part goes where I point it (depends on snow/trail conditions). At night when I ride a bit slower and can use the whole trail and hit the apex of the corner it rails.
I feel that the sled is as good as it's going to get. Is there anyone out there with an XTX that has no inside ski lift when riding hard?

 

[rancidjo]

Definition:
railing in the corners - is a subjective phase, but best described when not riding a Yamaha

 

[kinger]

rhoag - I got to spend some time on a XTX this last week and helped the owner dial it in a little bit. I agree I dont think the XTX will ever rail like my viper of course they are much more comfortable but I think any XTX owner will have a hard time keeping up with me in the trees.

That said the sled loves driver input and the harder you work the better and faster it goes. I woudl drop the limit strap one hole and move the sway bar to the other hole and see how you like it. One thing I noticed is ski pressure will start to become a issue pretty soon and you will need popeye arms to turn it.

Good luck post the results of adding more ski pressure!

 

[Yamadog]

Well heres the funny thing. Christmas weekend in the up I met a guy with one and rode over 200 miles with him on Sunday. I am on an o5 rx 1 clutched, Ohlin front shocks, 13 mm sway bar, Penske shock n the rear mono and simmons skis with 8" bars inside & out, 96 picks down the middle. He had a can & no picks. On a flat groomed trail out to 90 mph dead even. I pull him a sled or 2 after that. On tight twisties he really had to throw the sled around and could not lose me.

Then this Saturday night we ran from Island lake, WI to Greenland MI and 3 miles from Pats Yamaha my buddies Apex just quit. It is an 06 RTX with 6,000 on it. We just did the headers, flex tubes and donuts. It was runing fine and then would idle but touch the throttle and it would quit. I towed him to Pats at 6pm (closing time) they looked at it and said no idea but would stay open if he wanted to buy a new sled so he did. A decked out 2010 XTX with every aftermarket accessory and a polished tunnel.

We now had 117 miles to go to get back and it was 8:30 pm Brand new out of the box no studs and he walked me like a dog from the get go. He stopped 2 times to adjust the front clickers and the trails went from glass to 2' moguls and he smoked me on everything. They had installed the taller windshield and side deflectors, it was -5 F and we were running a true 80 to 90 mph and he was as warm as a bug my BVS2 froze solid and would not let in air. I am truly impressed. I have seen a lot of new models come and go but this sled is a complete package for thos who can ride it the way it needs to be ridden.

He is tall and lanky and sit with the gas cap in his crotch and arms are out at 90 degs. There is no noticeable inside ski lift and the harder he pushed it in the corner the more stable it cut the apex of the turn.

On Sunday we took it out into drifted loose snow almost 5' deep and tried to stick it and it would climb out of everything. The tunnel cleans out and the angle does not seem to trench but rather pack snow under the track.

I truly think that the rider position has a lot to do with it. I have bad hips, knees and back and cannot sit up front and I could not get the sled to turn at all.

All I know is know I am not the fastest guy in my group and he will be waiting for me at the next stop sign.

 

[rhoag]

Yamadog,
I'm still one of the fastest riders in our group on my XTX and it does have to be ridden like a sportbike. Set your speed and either accelerate or hold steady throttle through the corner.
I think the problem is me! As I get older and I see the little 3 year old blonde girl riding in front of daddy, it has made me ride ....well lets just say more on my side of the trail. So now I can't take the fastest and easist line through the corner in fear of taking someone out. I just have to accept that I have to ride slower if I want to take safe lines!!
I can't believe that we the group I ride with) didn't kill ourselves or others back in the day!

 

[TJRTX]

Trust me its not you. With the high center of gravity and heavy motors of new yamaha sleds theres only so much you can do.Ever since two of my riding buddies bought doo's( 07 600 ho, and 09 tnt) Ive been trying to get my apex to corner like them, but no such luck.When you do get the yamaha to turn in corners, the tradeoff is inside ski lift.NO ski lift equals push in corners.There's no happy medium.I totally agree with your definition of great handling,thats why i think its funny when apex or nytro owners claim their sleds outhandle anything out there.Yes you can keep up with other sleds through the woods but you'll have to work a lot harder at it to get the same speed.I love my apex but by the true definition of great handling i'll admit its not a the top of the sled world.

 

[tcona-AGT]

Yamadog,
I'm still one of the fastest riders in our group on my XTX and it does have to be ridden like a sportbike. Set your speed and either accelerate or hold steady throttle through the corner.
I think the problem is me! As I get older and I see the little 3 year old blonde girl riding in front of daddy, it has made me ride ....well lets just say more on my side of the trail. So now I can't take the fastest and easist line through the corner in fear of taking someone out. I just have to accept that I have to ride slower if I want to take safe lines!!
I can't believe that we the group I ride with) didn't kill ourselves or others back in the day![/quote]

Unless it's a one-way trail--you're gambling with someone elses life when you cut corners on the inside just to prove your fast.

We get too soon old & too late smart.

 

[STAIN]

Have you tried to widen your ski stance yet? Mine keeps the inside ski flat so far---I have yet to ride it on rock hard trails yet though. That being said I love my XTX so far. New rider forward sleds with thier higher CG will never be as flat as old ZR's, XC's and SRX's I don't care what brand it is and I have ridden them all---but--- have you ridden one of those old beasts latley? No thanks!!!
When I bought my XTX I went in to it with this mind of thinking--I believe this sled to be sort of jack of all trades, master of none kind of thing. Is it the best mogul masher?--no, best deep snow sled?--no, best trail cruiser?--no, best flat out top speed sled?--no. Does it do all those things pretty damn well?--Hell yes!!! There may be sleds that excell at some of those area's better but will be terrible in other situations. I have been riding other sleds when certain conditions or types of riding comes up and think to my self " man this sled sucks to ride in this situation" I haven't felt that way yet about this XTX be rough trail, powder of cruising it just seems to handle it all.
Sorry for the long winded rant, but I bought this sled to just what it does--a little bit of everything!!

 

[Yamadog]

Yamadog,
I'm still one of the fastest riders in our group on my XTX and it does have to be ridden like a sportbike. Set your speed and either accelerate or hold steady throttle through the corner.
I think the problem is me! As I get older and I see the little 3 year old blonde girl riding in front of daddy, it has made me ride ....well lets just say more on my side of the trail. So now I can't take the fastest and easist line through the corner in fear of taking someone out. I just have to accept that I have to ride slower if I want to take safe lines!!
I can't believe that we the group I ride with) didn't kill ourselves or others back in the day!

Well we all get older, I older than when I wrote that other post reply. But lets not lose track of what we are talking about. We do some crazy things in the name of fun but I have never once placed anyone in jeopardy. I do most of my fast riding at night where headlights are always visible and a foot off is my problem. We have a lot of trails in hardwood forest that are tight twisties and there is not a corner we can't see through.

In over 30,000 miles I have been hit 1 time by another guy nothing serious and 1 time I hit an embankment (my fault and very serious) I still run hard and use my side of my trail. I ride wide open when I am more than sure of the trail ahead. I have had some close calls but I had 2 in the truck on the way up to the UP this week.

I have to say as much time as I spend on a sled other than rookies on rentals I have had very little trouble on public trails. Those people who freeze rather than react cause more problems - speed doesn't kill indecision does.

Enough of the preacher talk I do love the XTX but I cannot ride it and you must ride it like you stole it. Most race cars suck at 55 but light em up and they can do amazing things. There is no magic bullet a sled can't joyride, speed burn and deep powder rock its not going to happen and you have to decide what you want to ride the most.

 

[berge75]

I have 1000 mi on my xtx, and after 400 mi I realize how much easier it is to go fast on this sled compared to the old apex. I was riding with a friend in the up mich. before x mass and he has a new 2010 xrs 800 ,I could run him down in the twisties, and this is the first sled I could do this with since I had my sxr700. The xtx with the Hygear sport x package corners flater than that ski doo. Now if it did'nt ride like a lumber wagon, but that's another story...

 

[peterdb]

i know it's not feasible for everyone (jobs and such); i do 95% of my riding sunday through wednesdays. far less snowmobile traffic. i count hundreds upon hundreds of sleds coming south on their way home as i head up.
i usually pass MAYBE half a dozen sleds on the trails in 3 days (600 miles) of riding during early week. i passed twice that many sleds in 2 hours this past weekend!
this gives you a little more saftey/freedom to rip the twisties as fast as you can

sorry....i went a little off topic

 

[Yamadog]

Saturday night we did 220 miles from Island lake to Greenland and back the only sleds we saw were at bars. You could not even get in the door at the Hoop & Hollar.

 

[cannondale27]

Just got done with a 100mi ride on the old SRX.Been putting alot of effort into Phazer to get it to "rail" its much better but only way to think it rails is to never ride the SRX again.Not even close.But in real life head to head running there is whoops and holes in those corners that will literally hurt you physically when on SRX on Phazer or XTX you just smile.Evens things out alot believe it or not.Dont forget about traction also.Those SRX's dont hook up anywhere near as good as our sled coming out of corner most times.XTX setup as yours is is way better than the Phazer but I agree our sleds dont rail.

 

[arteeex]

Railing the corners means not hitting anything in the process.

 

[APEX 06]

Railing the corners means not hitting anything in the process.

Thats what I think.