As most of you will know by now, there was a terrible avalanche at the Big Iron Shootout on Boulder Mountain in Revelstoke last weekend. (Note: The Big Iron is not an organized event but an annual gathering of riders intent on challenging the hill and each other in some unofficial runs.) I have known some big slides over the years but never one that came down in front of so many sleds. The fact that only two lives were lost can be attributed to many of the riders being avalanche aware (educated) and prepared to deal with such an event. The reason I say this is because of the unlikelihood of anyone in the media recognizing the fact that the risks assumed by many mountain riders are very calculated and acknowledged with formal training and safety equipment. They would much rather paint the picture of a bunch of yahoos running amok in the mountains as they call on governments and law enforcement for restrictions. The efforts of the survivors should be applauded as they were prepared and able to save the lives of many. That said, our hearts go out to the families of the two men who lost their lives.
Last week was interesting, Jon, Richard and I traveled to our testing center in Wisconsin to evaluate some future projects and discuss everything from the new Apex release to the latest accessories plans. The testing was difficult due to the trail conditions. We ran a section outside of Hurley which ranged from mush to muck with lots of rocks popping up, sink holes with sucker snow on the edges ready to pull you off the trail if you tried to hug the sides… The test terminated in a freshly plowed logging block with skidder tracks deep enough to swallow a snowmobile. Given the conditions the sleds ran great, I’m just glad it wasn’t mine!
Next week I am heading for what will likely be my last ride of the season. There is still lots of snow in northern Japan and I’ll be doing planes / trains and automobiles for at least 48 hours of the trip… Will make a point of snapping a couple of pics for Sled Talk and visiting my most favorite sushi bar in the world in honor of Karl Ishima, who will retire the end of this month.
Karl is the father of the Bravo and both VK models. He was also influential on the SnoScoot project, Vmax 4 (from his post in the USA) the OMP that almost was and the RX-1.
It would be great to get some comments from people that have owned any of the above mentioned snowmobiles as I want to put together a little presentation for his retirement party… anyone have any farewell wishes for one of our most seasoned engineers?
Now that all the new sleds for 2011 have been announced and the excitement is melting away at the same rate as the snow on our local trails–it’s time to make one last announcement from Yamaha.
After the new Apex hit the trail and the on-line discussion took off, a few guys were quoted as saying there must be more. Another rocket that will roost the competition…
Well once again, you will see it here first. We have a high performance twin track snow machine coming to Canada in very limited numbers next fall. Much of the technology is focused on getting the most from the new 4-stroke engine using a hydrostatic drive and yes… power steering. Because of the limited production we are targeting only regions that get lots of snow. I am willing to go on record to say we are absolutely going to blow away our competition with this announcement… here’s a video clip that Bryan and Danny put together to give you the first scoop.
NOTE: you must go to Sled Talk to see video content if you are reading this from an email. cheers cr
Checking out some bolt on stuff this week. Randy Swenson (Team Thunderstruck) is our newly appointed western regional manager for Yamaha and was in town so I grabbed him on Tuesday night for a ride. The snow conditions around south Simcoe are getting real skinny but it was still worth the effort to get with Randy. I had a set of HID lights in my Apex to try out as well as the newest version of the TRIC ice scratchers… and I’m glad I had both.
The HID lights are really intense and in my estimation worth the price of admission. I will definitely be running these on any of my future sleds. We were running a rail trail tunnel through the bush at a significant velocity. It seemed illuminated similar a freight train -very nice! Not sure how much the scratchers were helping across the now snow-bare, plowed corn fields we had to run, but there is likely a clean strip that won’t need to be harrowed in the spring!
Randy was running the same sled that Matt smashed the world 24 hour distance record on. All I did was change the oil, tighten the track and replace the carbides (broken studs). The steering was still nice and tight and everything was running good as new. Got a chuckle out of Randy when he said this was the longest he has sat down on a snowmobile in recent recollection and his throttle thumb was cramping from the steady throttle settings down Lake Simcoe. He also remarked how powerful the sled felt at sea level, which coming from a man who runs upwards to 400hp in his ‘first ascent’ machines, is quite a statement.
We are heading for Wisconsin next week to hook-up with the US based, testing and planning guys. Hopefully we’ll have enough snow to check out some of the future projects they are working on. Won’t surprise me if we end up in the UP.
Wade is holding down the fort at the annual media ‘Snowshoot’ which is taking place in West Yellowstone as I write this. So far I haven’t heard much about what is happening there but I am sure there is lots of schmoozing between the OE’s and journalists, we’ll have to wait and see what actually gets printed. So far it would appear the new Apex is a hands down winner for the most advanced, evolved / changed 2011 model released thus far, but I’m not completely up to speed and have yet to see how strong the marketing spin will be behind the emissions motor oriented line-up from Quebec. What? Now ’4-strokes are lighter than 2-strokes’? Really now, that’s simply amazing. How do you spell ‘sled of the year?’
Yamafest is a go out in Revvy and I understand that Gilles from G-Force will attend along with his world-speed record holding Apex Streamliner and a Yamcharger equipped mountain sled. Randy and the boys are planning a few surprises for the participants, only wish I could make it out this year…
We’re looking at temperatures upwards of +10 degrees C this weekend. Could it be time to put some air in the tires? Hmmmm.
Just a brief update today. I received some info regarding Danes questions over on TY. Surprising as it may seem, the Apex XTX is faster than the SE or standard Apex. It blows it away up on top by a blistering 1.4 kph… that’s .87 mph for the metrically challenged.
The A-arms on the new Apex are the same as the 2010 (current arms) however the spindles and tie-rods are different, therefore your a-arm kit will work (that’s not to say Yamaha would ever endorse such a modification, don’t doo it).
Finally it appears that the torsion skid and extra track length on the XTX will add a whopping 9 pounds to the overall weight of the base model sled. Please don’t tell anyone over at Skidoo marketing or we will most assuredly be faced with another good reason why not to own another reliable Yamaha
That’s it… keep an eye on ‘yournextsled’ for the latest poop from the web
It has been ten days since I took a group of great guys for a ride on the new ‘mystery sled’ which by the way is not so much of a mystery any more . I have spent a ton of time on the forums reading what the men who actually rode it had to say and all the comments and conjecture from the folks who haven’t. I notice something on Sled Talk that I see on the forums as well. Each post is read by approximately 100x the number of people than actually write a comment. It really makes me wonder what the silent majority thinks of it all and more importantly how powerful is all the word of mouth being generated outside of the internet?
Sledfreak made a good comment here last week comparing magazine articles to social media “I find way more valuable information on the internet forums. There is also a lot of misguided information, but you have to read through the dirt to get to the good stuff.” I have observed the well moderated forums like Totallyamaha and Dootalk (hats off to the owners and mods) maturing over the last few seasons . There is a lot less ‘bashing’ than in the old days. That said, there is such a wide range of users participating that there will always be a contrary view point (or 10).
I am preparing to address our field staff at a meeting next week in Quebec and plan to hit some topics using examples I have learned right here on Sled Talk and over on TY. Some of you might remember a survey I posted on-line for Apex owners a couple of years ago. Several questions referred to your satisfaction levels of various components and functions. I was able to filter different model year data (06 to 07 to 08) and found some significant trends all relative to the ongoing changes that were made in production to each model year. The mono rear suspension is a good example with far fewer issues (much higher satisfaction) in 08 than 06. The point is; when I read comments on the forums comparing an 06 with what is perceived as the same thing coming in 2011, suggesting it is not changed enough to be worthy of a trade up, I have to shake my head.
There is another whole cross section of guys who are looking for the next generation of 4-stroke off-trail machines, basically a revamped Nytro on steroids. Clearly the ‘mystery sled’ is not a mountain machine or a snow crossing boon-docker. No – its a dedicated trail sled and clearly, a disappointment for those that are looking for something else. I have been checking out the avatar, location or signature after reading a negative rant on the OMG often to discover the author is riding a Nytro or competitors equivalent machine. It’s good to vent and its helpful for us to see where your interests lay, just remember that we all have different needs and expectations regarding our sleds. Interesting fact: over 60% of the machines sold up here are used on the trail.
Anyway the coolest thing about all of this is that you can participate in the forums if you choose. When someone who has experience with a machine posts, you can challenge him or ask a question. You won’t find that little feature on any of the corporate web-sites (with the exception of Sled Talk ). You will also find plenty of ‘dirt’, the negative and sometimes off-colour comments, but give it some time and the ‘self policing’ attribute of the on-line community will generally put things in proper perspective, either confirming or denouncing the source and their agenda.
Many of the 2011 model comments have addressed the issue of lightweight and EPS (power steering) often in the same reference. Did I just confirm that Yamaha will be the first manufacturer to offer EPS on a snowmobile? Of course I didn’t. But if we did… could EPS possibly offer the same benefits of having light weight? Could it offer some new benefits, even greater than light weight alone? What is the real benefit of having light weight in a trail machine when you are seldom if ever stuck or faced with carving a turn in deep powder? Is it possible that there are still some features yet unknown and the sum total of all could far outweigh the spec sheet? Naw it’s just warmed-up left-overs, right?
I can find just about every possible answer to the above, the good the bad and the ugly. What I’m really liking is what the guys that have actually rode the sleds have to say (okay at least 90%). That’s why we released it ahead of the official date. Real riders, their own words speaking on neutral ground. Sure we could post rider testimony on our own web-site but who would believe it? I sure wouldn’t! After-all we would edit, dip it in sugar and whitewash it with cream-cheese before showing anyone, its what most big companies doo right? These days even the magazines editorial credibility is suspect (I refer back the SledFreaks comment).
You might hate the lack of disclosure, you might enjoy the chatter and imaginative conjecture or you might appreciate the preview coming from real riders with no corporate censorship or financial influence. But no matter how you look at it, we have surly given you something to talk about!
We were out on Lake Simcoe yesterday to do some photography and run a few tests on our sleds. My old friend Gordo was nice enough to let us use his property on the shores of Cookes Bay where we knew the ice was good and safe. I have been evaluating the little Yamcharger from G-Force which is a low boost supercharger running directly off the crank that requires no engine modifications. I have been getting a lot of requests to post about my experience with it and what level of performance I’m getting.
First off I have to remind you, that Yamaha does not endorse any modifications or accessories which have not been tested and approved by us. That said, we are always looking for new ideas and technologies which would explain why I am running a sled that would not be considered stock.
The conditions on the lake were not ideal as the limited snow pack was allowing significant track spin even at speed. This was the first time I was able to hold enough throttle to check RPM and discovered I need some more weight in the primary, The Yamcharged engine was running up towards 11,000rpm and if I wasn’t on the rev limiter I was darn close. The next step is to do some clutching which I believe will yield a bit more when I pull the numbers back down.
The comparison sled we used is a current Apex LTX (136in) and my sled is a 121. We ran from a rolling start and were still accelerating past the camera. The clip here is the best out of three runs, it really depended on which sled was hooking up but the Yamcharger clearly had an advantage given enough lake.
Does it make the extra 20 ponies, I sure think so. Just remember it takes a lot of horsepower to go just a little faster on the top when you factor in all the forces involved. So is it worth the bucks? Only you can decide, there is nothing wrong with the performance of a stock Apex but alas, I can hear Tim Allen grunting in the background.
Thinking about playing ‘hooky’ next Wednesday and going for a ride somewhere north of town, anybody want to hook up to try the Yamcharged Apex and do some trail riding?? Muskoka / Haliburtons. lemme know
The email response I got back from my inquiry was a surprise. ‘Wouldn’t recommend you to ride on the rail trail, it’s closed. Too much snow, everyone is stuck up here. Plans are to head out tomorrow with some mountain sleds to try and break it out…’
What!!! too much snow? And so I loaded up the Apex and set out earlier this week in disbelief. Traveling north from the office, there wasn’t a lot of snow on the ground and I blew past a couple of areas which I had considered might meet my needs to shake out the new Yamcharged Apex and validate version 2 of our new Tric Ice Scratchers. Strangely enough, about an hour into the drive the landscape appeared to be masked off and air-brushed as I drove into a winter wonderland.
After a brief but frustrating search for an appropriate fuel station, I dropped the sled and pulled on my lid, relishing the first-ride-of-the-season brain clutter and excitement. The rail trail exited town along the shores of a lake, as I was pulling away from the truck, two Yamaha’s went by heading in the same direction. They certainly weren’t in a big hurry but it was nice to have some company as I listened for any signs of discontent from the motor, watching the idiot lights while sniffing for anything that might indicate a problem.
Several clicks in we hit an intersection and the guys let me pass. I’m a big believer in lots of varied RPM during break-in, no cruising along at steady speeds or long intervals of high revs. The boosted engine was running great. The trail was well packed, only lightly chopped and if I didn’t know better I would have said it was in typical mid-season condition. I did however encounter a couple of trees down across the trail, seemingly there to remind me to take it easy.
The scratchers were giving the odd tap to the pan to let me know they were still there and the engine response was excellent. G-Force included a set of their own primary weights to match the boosted horsepower and the whole package made for crisp instant response at all rpm’s. When I pulled up back at the truck, I had turned the first hun on the odo with everything working perfectly. I did discover some issues with the prototype scratchers which will be fairly simple to address but the Yamacharger so far gets two thumbs up.
I reckon back to the front mount turbo I had on the Warrior and the first ride when I experienced both an oil leak and exhaust leak right out of the hole. I struggled for a month to get the bugs out of that sled and swore I would never build another mod project for my daily ride again. Needless to say I was relieved when the Yamcharger got me home without a hiccup. I know its only a hundred km but normally if something is really wrong it will show up in the first go round. Now I know what you’re thinking: how was the boosted performance? and I can’t say just yet.
The engine is- seat of the pants- stronger than stock, most noticeable in it’s response. It just feels like it wants to go. There is no excess vibration, there were no weird sounds, there was nothing in the drive sensation to indicate the modification. This thing is the perfect example of a sleeper sled… more to follow.
I don’t know too many people who ride that haven’t heard of Kenny Roberts unless of course you’re still a kid and your dad had no appreciation of premium fuel and bean oil. In the 70’s King Kenny was the reining monarch of road and dirt track. Mr Starr was kind enough to share the following trailer with us this morning and I thought I would pass it along. I know this is Sled Talk but our performance roots are found right here. All hail the king!
I received an interesting belated comment to my post ‘Injection Is Cool But…’ from Angus (’Doc’) regarding snowmobile 4-stroke operation in the extremes of the high Arctic. Rather coincidental, having just been on the phone with Kurt from SledStart. I am looking forward to trying out a SledStart on my Apex this season but not because I’m adverse to walking outside to start my machine. I think this device could be a life saver in certain conditions as it has an auto function that will self start based on preset time or temperature. I have lived in regions where the mercury falls below minus 50 for days on end. You simply don’t turn off your engine for any length of time, if you do, good luck cranking it over (doesn’t matter what it is). This gizmo will fire up the engine when it gets cold and idle until heat-soaked when it will shut down until the block cools again… SledStart looks to be well built very well thought out.
On another subject, shock absorber maintenance is something that is often overlooked. Under certain conditions, ice crystals (comprised of water, salt, dirt, etc.) can build up on the damper rods. Hit a good bump and the rod is knocked past the seals and will deposit it’s payload in the warm shock oil. Combine this with the constant cycling of the oil through the damping system and it doesn’ take too long for the oil to break down and become contaminated. Most of our shocks are rebuildable if you have both the know and parts. Our factory is only able to supply complete shock assemblies to us from the shock vendors which largely takes us (and our dealers) out of the loop for shock rebuilds. The good news for Canadians is there is an option. Factory Connection Canada located in Drummonville Quebec is now offering complete shock service for Ohlins, Fox, Soqi and KYB. They provide both retail and dealer sales. I’ve heard good reports on their service (they are the certified FOX warranty rebuild center). The recommended interval is every 5000km or less depending on use. Factory Connection is also available in the USA. You might be surprised at what a difference a clean fresh shock means to your ride.
While I’m endorsing some cool stuff outside of genuine Yamaha offerings, check out Bullhead Motos site. They have specialized in SnoScoot and SnoSport restoration and mods. Pretty cool, I know one eight year old in particular that would absolutely love a pink (or maybe blue) one!
Jon and I have been kicking around some more ideas on how we could include some of our Sled Talk friends in select development projects. It’s hard given two can only keep a secret when one is dead but I think I have an idea, we’ll call it the ‘YBTT’, y’all know how much we here at Yamaha like our acronyms!… stay tuned.
I was reminded twice this week about a statement I made in the post ‘Blackflies and Snowflakes’ regarding my decision to once again ride an Apex. To reiterate I was completely sold on the new Vector for next season, it is our best handling snowmobile out of the box and the injected motor leaves nothing on the table for corner to corner acceleration. So what made me change my mind?
Simple answer: horsepower. A few years back Nick King who was with Kelowna Yamaha at the time, now with Vernon Motorsports built me up an MCXpress, front mount turbo Warrior with input from the ‘Bellymon’ Randy Swenson. The sled was a blast but not the most ‘user friendly’. Even with the boost dialed down well under ten pounds it still outran every single machine that I came up against. Funny though, in the two years I had it, I never really trusted it like I would have a ’stocker’.
There is something about mod engines that leaves a nagging thought in the back of my mind. Kinda like when you go for a ride knowing the spouse or significant other has something else in mind for you and it ain’t sleddin. This surfaces often enough to counteract some of the ‘juice’ of riding a kick-butt, sleeper-sled. The only difference is, with one the worry is about what happens when you get home and with the other the worry is if you will even make it home… but I digress.
My Apex has been in the capable hands of Gilles Gagne and the good folks at G-Force over the summer. Gilles showed me a prototype supercharger last spring when I visited his shop that really caught my attention. Unlike many of the current boost devices, this system is designed to deliver only low pressure and requires no engine mods or octane. The logic Gilles applied is not everybody needs or wants a 250 hp plus snowmobile . The Apex is already so close to the perfect balance of power and acceleration that a little ‘kick in the pants’ in the upper range is all that most trail riders will want.
Gilles system is so simple it’s brilliant. Based on the fact that the Yamaha 4-cylinder engine is geared down to facilitate clutch durability and the crank turning over 10,000 rpm, a direct drive impeller has the potential to create enough boost to effectively increase the power, in this case, by a minimum of twenty horsepower from a completely stock motor.
The ‘Yamcharger’ is a work of art. It bolts onto the end of the crank and feeds a custom air-box through a simple duct tube, no inter-cooler, no belts, gears, head shims or exhaust mods. In fact all that is required is a simple relocation of the oil surge tank, some additional hood duct work and a filter. The required bits and hardware are all included in the kit
What it all boils down to is for the old school cost of a set of pipes and some cylinder grinding, you can have an additional twenty horsepower at your thumb and no nagging thought that the engine could grenade at any time, that’s not to say the wife may not be peeved when you get home but at least you’ll get there!
We have a whole bunch of RX based engines still reliably spinning away out there with many customers waiting for the next iteration of the 4 holer. I’m thinking that the Yamcharger could be just the ticket to freshen up the old ride (RX-1’s included).
According to G-Force testing last winter the lake sled to beat was the Z1 turbo Cat, the stock Apex would hole-shot but given enough distance the boosted kitty would eventually real it back in, as it should having over 170hp. With a Yamcharger installed the Apex won the holeshots even more convincingly and also stayed out in front consistently.
I have a bunch of pictures and information on the development and testing of the Yamcharger and will save it for another day if anyone is interested. Note the images I posted are all of pre-production parts, G-Force is using hard tooling for production.
I’ll close now by saying Gilles is a perfectionist and has gone to great lengths to develop a kit that meets Yamaha quality and durability standards.
The Yamcharger is going into production later this month and will be available to Canadian Yamaha dealers direct from G-Force. The retail pricing as far as I know will come in well under 2500 Canadian loonies and installation is a snap.
So let me ask you, if given the choice and the cost wasn’t at issue, what would you pick to ride. A great handling new Vector FI or a mildly blown but reliable Apex beast? Yeah, that’s what I thought!
Right now Gilles and his team are in their final stages of preparation before leaving for the Bonneville Salt Flats on the 13th with their Yamaha powered streamliner set on breaking the world speed record for snowmobile. Bon chance mon amis! Storm in bonneville
Before I jump into the next part of the Viper story, there are a couple of news bits I’d like to share with you. First our very own Randy Swenson has been recognized as mountain rider of the year for his performance in Thunderstruck 7, (link to see the new trailer for TS8), which also received the Oscar for extreme snowmobile film of the year. Congrats guys!
And for the go fast crew, it is official, Gilles Gagne and his G-Force / Lamtrac team have been officilally accepted by the Bonneville promoters and world sanctioning body, the FIM to challenge the world speed record with their blown Apex streamliner during speed week on the salt, September 20-26, Wendover Utah. He is silently hoping to break the motorcyle record of over 300 mph!
… The monoshock performance became the main focus for the ‘what’s next’ debate. Engineering finally concluded that the ill fated ‘boinger’ could not be massaged into an acceptable component leaving us with only one option, use the Pro-Action plus system. The domino’s started to fall in sequence. Without the long travel mono-shock the unequal length, rack-steer, front end plans died on the vine and next thing we knew our baby had morphed into an SXr chassis / suspension with a lightened up SRX motor. A long way from the original ‘all-new’ concept.
None of this helped to hit our weight targets which would have seen the Viper coming in significantly less than the SXr700 but how could it when it used the same chassis and suspension? The suspension eyeball was still aimed at a big bump / ditch banger target. The original testing criteria for the monoshock system was set to run a section of 3-3.5 foot bumps spaced at 20 to 40 inch intervals running a steady 35 to 45 mph…sitting down! The gentleman from sales who was adamant about this is no longer employed by Yamaha so I can say this… buddy you were outa your gourd!
I have learned when speaking with many sledders, the moguls they describe are often scaled similar to their manhood, where the three foot bumps they’ve been riding all day are really a foot and a half at best. Regardless, once a target has been established we don’t mess with it and when the monshock went away the ProAction really had its work cut out for it.
We had several years of tweaking the Pro Action system and as we all know, there is no magic setting to offer a plush ride and still resist serious hits. It was explained to me once that the first 8 inches of suspension stroke was fairly progressive but became linear towards the latter part of the travel then digressive as it fell through itself at the end. Think of it this way, riding through a series of 1-2 foot stutter bumps with the suspension stroking under ten inches, life is pretty good, staying flat and plush, that’s progressive. Now bomb down a smooth hill with a g-out at the base pushing the skid deep into the stroke and hit a small frozen pine cone, suddenly it bottoms hard and unexpectedly, loosening up your back fillings and sending that unmistakable tingle up your spine (that’s the digressive part.) ouch!
It was this severe bottoming that could break stuff and in the case of a bump sled, needed to be addressed.
Whenever the spring rate was stiff enough to limit the bottom out, ride comfort suffered. Engineering was reluctant to use multi-rate springs and position compensating valving and Kayaba had certain limitations to settings if there was a chance of bending the damper rods. In the end the short center shock received some very stiff compression damping and the stiffest spring we had. The ride wasn’t plush but it could take a pretty good hit. But, as fate would have it, someone made a change to the front shock spec after final testing / pre-production sign-off and before production. I have not been able to find out exactly who or why but the first production units started showing cracks in the hoods, which after investigation, was credited to over damped front shocks. Instead of the small bump energy being absorbed, the shock remained rigid and all the rattling went into the chassis. At the same time the stiff front end was being kicked up by the bumps which were now coming into the center shock farther back and effecting the coupling point making the already stiff rear end even less compliant…
In the next segment I’ll focus not so much on what we had intended to build but what we brought to market and how we positioned it. I spoke to Masa Saito (seen in this Alaskan fishing trip photo) earlier this week and he promised to dig up some development stuff when he is at factory later this month. I have some interesting documents from the research and marketing side to sprinkle in. cheers cr
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