Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
I rode the Summit XP Everest 800. In 4 days I found a few issues with the sled. The secondary adjuster was backing out on its own. Why is it plastic?
The fit and finish of the sled isn't very good. The panels and things just don't line up nicely. The ski's are okay, I love the handlebars and the riser, and it is a nice track. The seat is too soft or not thick enough, I could feel the gas tank underneath it.
The sled handles AMAZING in the bumps. We were coming down the mountain through 3 to 4 foot moguls and I was doing over 100 km/h at times without bottoming the sled out. I could not believe how well this skid and chassis handles the bumps, on a summit of all things.
The suspension is nice, the throttle response is a lot slower than the Nytro and the motor is less torquey.
The lack of toe holds was interesting, I got used to it quickly but like them there to help pull the sled over, but the plus side was that you didn't have snow piling up right where you want to put your feet.
The running boards are nice, lots of holes, could stand to be a bit more aggressive I think.
Overall I give that sled a 8 out of 10. It didn't handle as light while carving as I thought it should and I don't think it is as nimble as it could be.
I have a new understanding of how much weight matters in the mountains. I hope to bring my MTX next year to compare, I'm sure the weight difference would hinder me, but I'm not sure if it would be that significant giving the excellent balance of the MTX and the torque of the engine.
The fit and finish of the sled isn't very good. The panels and things just don't line up nicely. The ski's are okay, I love the handlebars and the riser, and it is a nice track. The seat is too soft or not thick enough, I could feel the gas tank underneath it.
The sled handles AMAZING in the bumps. We were coming down the mountain through 3 to 4 foot moguls and I was doing over 100 km/h at times without bottoming the sled out. I could not believe how well this skid and chassis handles the bumps, on a summit of all things.
The suspension is nice, the throttle response is a lot slower than the Nytro and the motor is less torquey.
The lack of toe holds was interesting, I got used to it quickly but like them there to help pull the sled over, but the plus side was that you didn't have snow piling up right where you want to put your feet.
The running boards are nice, lots of holes, could stand to be a bit more aggressive I think.
Overall I give that sled a 8 out of 10. It didn't handle as light while carving as I thought it should and I don't think it is as nimble as it could be.
I have a new understanding of how much weight matters in the mountains. I hope to bring my MTX next year to compare, I'm sure the weight difference would hinder me, but I'm not sure if it would be that significant giving the excellent balance of the MTX and the torque of the engine.
Yellowknife, I currently ride an 07 Phazer Mtn. Lite and was considering an upgrade to a Nytro Mtx or a XP Summit. I ride in the UP of Michigan. I am not much of a hill climber as we don't have any all that big here. Michigan's highest point is right in my back yard but it is only 1979 ft. How is the carving abilities compar between the two??
Does the front end come up on the Nytro vs the XP??? Like to do the occasional wheelie stand. Thanks
Does the front end come up on the Nytro vs the XP??? Like to do the occasional wheelie stand. Thanks
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
The MTX is a better carver - it is well balanced, more than the XP.
The front end comes up way easier on the MTX, hands down. The torque is awesome.
And don't forget - you shouldn't have motor problems with the MTX vs. the durability issues with the 800R's.
I think your riding area sounds like mine, and the MTX would be a better fit than the XP for you.
Did you check out the XTX? That might even be better if you are on trails half the time or more.
The front end comes up way easier on the MTX, hands down. The torque is awesome.
And don't forget - you shouldn't have motor problems with the MTX vs. the durability issues with the 800R's.
I think your riding area sounds like mine, and the MTX would be a better fit than the XP for you.
Did you check out the XTX? That might even be better if you are on trails half the time or more.
I do about 300 miles of trail riding a year..Business related stuff with rookies. The rest of my miles are all off trail, with the occasional stretch of trail getting to the powder.
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
Sounds like the MTX is a better fit...that being said, here's the latest from my end:
All Kinds of Updates:
I’m a bit behind with posting, but I promise not to leave anything out. At the same time, I better do it in installments otherwise it will take you 3 days to read and scroll through 270 pictures.
I’ll start with the latest stuff and backtrack through the next week or two.
#1: I’m not impressed with my Yamaha’s lately – here’s why;
- My Phazer has been in the shop for weeks. I’ve been waiting over a year for fixes from Yamaha for a couple of issues/design flaws with the sled. Snow build-up under the hood, loose steering, ice buildup from the open tunnel, poor cold starting capabilities, loose motor mounts, just to name a few.
The latest thing, after all these months was to install the fixes for these issues only to find that my rear suspension rails were cracked. That shouldn’t happen. Even my ball joints were toast after 5000 km’s. That’s not durability – what’s going on? Have I given up blown motor’s from BRP only to purchase new sleds that fall apart around the motor?
I understand that it takes time to develop solutions, etc. but I’m seeing that there is not enough product testing and development going into these models before they hit the consumer, and it is getting worse every year from each manufacturer, and they all try to beat each other to the punch with early releases. GIVE IT A REST!! How about putting out a product that is relatively free from defects for a change???
Clearly I’m frustrated, and that extends to my Nytro MTX, but more on that in a later post.
Awhile back I installed a power cable for my Garmin GPS onto the dash of my sled. It is hard-wired into the battery so that the GPS remains on regardless of the ignition selection.
How many years did people tell me that GPS’ freeze in the cold and the screen don’t work. Well that a load of crap. I had my GPS working down to –45. The screen doesn’t freeze, and it had no heat assisting it. It simply needs to be properly powered – batteries obviously won’t do it (except for the sled battery)
I’m glad I installed it (thanks Nate) and it works awesome!! Highly recommended.
I also have pictures of my newly welded hitch. As I commented before, the factory design was weak and didn’t hold up.
Switching gears – I had put on a Yamaha Cover for my Nytro MTX. It didn’t fit, it didn’t even extend over the rear bumper. It was a poor attempt at providing a cover for the sled so I took it back.
Sled Solutions offered a cover for the MTX, so I figured I’d give it a try. It took awhile to get it, but it is one hell of a cover by the looks of it. Will it withstand the test of time? We’ll find out. It really does stretch to fit over the sled though. It took a couple of applications and letting it sit overnight partly on the sled to stretch accordingly, but it fits awesome now, and over the entire sled, front to back, including my tour buddy and my rear rack and hitch!
Again, these pictures are from when I first started to put it on and stretch it. I’ll take more of it fully applied over the entire sled later.
And finally, to wrap up this post, I’ve got loads of pictures from Revelstoke that may have not made it into the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFMBCi34qgE)
Here’s a few from the pack – I’ll spread them out over the coming weeks posts;
The Summit’s we rented:
Coming through Turtle Mountain:
Steve and Ray:
Prep time on day 1:
Steve:
One of the other group riders:
That’s all for tonight – stay tuned for more soon
Cheers,
YK
All Kinds of Updates:
I’m a bit behind with posting, but I promise not to leave anything out. At the same time, I better do it in installments otherwise it will take you 3 days to read and scroll through 270 pictures.
I’ll start with the latest stuff and backtrack through the next week or two.
#1: I’m not impressed with my Yamaha’s lately – here’s why;
- My Phazer has been in the shop for weeks. I’ve been waiting over a year for fixes from Yamaha for a couple of issues/design flaws with the sled. Snow build-up under the hood, loose steering, ice buildup from the open tunnel, poor cold starting capabilities, loose motor mounts, just to name a few.
The latest thing, after all these months was to install the fixes for these issues only to find that my rear suspension rails were cracked. That shouldn’t happen. Even my ball joints were toast after 5000 km’s. That’s not durability – what’s going on? Have I given up blown motor’s from BRP only to purchase new sleds that fall apart around the motor?
I understand that it takes time to develop solutions, etc. but I’m seeing that there is not enough product testing and development going into these models before they hit the consumer, and it is getting worse every year from each manufacturer, and they all try to beat each other to the punch with early releases. GIVE IT A REST!! How about putting out a product that is relatively free from defects for a change???
Clearly I’m frustrated, and that extends to my Nytro MTX, but more on that in a later post.
Awhile back I installed a power cable for my Garmin GPS onto the dash of my sled. It is hard-wired into the battery so that the GPS remains on regardless of the ignition selection.
How many years did people tell me that GPS’ freeze in the cold and the screen don’t work. Well that a load of crap. I had my GPS working down to –45. The screen doesn’t freeze, and it had no heat assisting it. It simply needs to be properly powered – batteries obviously won’t do it (except for the sled battery)
I’m glad I installed it (thanks Nate) and it works awesome!! Highly recommended.
I also have pictures of my newly welded hitch. As I commented before, the factory design was weak and didn’t hold up.
Switching gears – I had put on a Yamaha Cover for my Nytro MTX. It didn’t fit, it didn’t even extend over the rear bumper. It was a poor attempt at providing a cover for the sled so I took it back.
Sled Solutions offered a cover for the MTX, so I figured I’d give it a try. It took awhile to get it, but it is one hell of a cover by the looks of it. Will it withstand the test of time? We’ll find out. It really does stretch to fit over the sled though. It took a couple of applications and letting it sit overnight partly on the sled to stretch accordingly, but it fits awesome now, and over the entire sled, front to back, including my tour buddy and my rear rack and hitch!
Again, these pictures are from when I first started to put it on and stretch it. I’ll take more of it fully applied over the entire sled later.
And finally, to wrap up this post, I’ve got loads of pictures from Revelstoke that may have not made it into the video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFMBCi34qgE)
Here’s a few from the pack – I’ll spread them out over the coming weeks posts;
The Summit’s we rented:
Coming through Turtle Mountain:
Steve and Ray:
Prep time on day 1:
Steve:
One of the other group riders:
That’s all for tonight – stay tuned for more soon
Cheers,
YK
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
More Pics From Revelstoke:
Here’s Ray carving in front of an amazing backdrop
The 3 of us goofing off on the antiques!
Day 1’s Mileage Info:
Day 2’s Mileage Info:
Teedering on the edge of Frisby Ridge:
Here’s Mike:
No shortage of being idiots at breakfast:
Ray Carving some more:
And finally, this was definitely the best series of pictures throughout the trip. On day 1, I did this a few time:
The guide told me it was impossible to flip the sled over onto its back (unless I got air)…
There was a drift worth hitting so I hit it at full throttle and held on with everything I had…it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done on a snowmobile…take a look…
At this point I was totally vertical and I have no idea how many feet I flew. I ended up flying off when the sled hit the snow, it came down directly on its rear bumper and I was jerked from the handlebars, bashed my back off the tunnel and hit the ground. HAHAHA!
The snow dust of me falling off…
What a rush…
Here’s Ray carving in front of an amazing backdrop
The 3 of us goofing off on the antiques!
Day 1’s Mileage Info:
Day 2’s Mileage Info:
Teedering on the edge of Frisby Ridge:
Here’s Mike:
No shortage of being idiots at breakfast:
Ray Carving some more:
And finally, this was definitely the best series of pictures throughout the trip. On day 1, I did this a few time:
The guide told me it was impossible to flip the sled over onto its back (unless I got air)…
There was a drift worth hitting so I hit it at full throttle and held on with everything I had…it was the craziest thing I’ve ever done on a snowmobile…take a look…
At this point I was totally vertical and I have no idea how many feet I flew. I ended up flying off when the sled hit the snow, it came down directly on its rear bumper and I was jerked from the handlebars, bashed my back off the tunnel and hit the ground. HAHAHA!
The snow dust of me falling off…
What a rush…
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
So here’s another update as I file through pictures of the past month.
More from Revelstoke:
Nate and I went riding a couple weeks ago, of coarse we never ended up getting even close to where we were going to go, cause he always ends up climbing hills and I can’t help but follow, even though it gets us into trouble.
On this trip we made our way to a pond that I swear by the location of it, mankind has never put tracks on it before, so we left it alone just to be nice…
AS IF!
Go Nytro Go (you snow sucking steering boot bustin etc. Machine!)
Something went horribly wrong…where’s my sled???
Aftermath…
Now let’s rewind…to when the trip started…with this:
Yes the fantastic explosion of Nate’s belt…
Back at the pond…
Nate went home and I headed to the tent to join the boys with some fishing and fire!
Stay tuned for more, where I show you what’s not so good about the Nytro’s design.
More from Revelstoke:
Nate and I went riding a couple weeks ago, of coarse we never ended up getting even close to where we were going to go, cause he always ends up climbing hills and I can’t help but follow, even though it gets us into trouble.
On this trip we made our way to a pond that I swear by the location of it, mankind has never put tracks on it before, so we left it alone just to be nice…
AS IF!
Go Nytro Go (you snow sucking steering boot bustin etc. Machine!)
Something went horribly wrong…where’s my sled???
Aftermath…
Now let’s rewind…to when the trip started…with this:
Yes the fantastic explosion of Nate’s belt…
Back at the pond…
Nate went home and I headed to the tent to join the boys with some fishing and fire!
Stay tuned for more, where I show you what’s not so good about the Nytro’s design.
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
Design issues and frusterations!
A couple of weeks ago I hauled the Nytro into the garage for some routine maintenance and to check things out…and I found a lot.
It’s tough to keep my frustrations calm because I seem to have the same issues with both my Phazer and my Nytro, and what seems obvious to me is definitely not obvious to those who have designed these units.
First, the usual…look at the snow buildup. This is pathetic and it really is the worst thing about this sled…
Even the reverse gear shift freezes with ice…not good.
Even when I block holes in the cowling, snow still finds a way in!
I found a small coolant leak but that was easily solved (last I checked) with the tightening of a clamp…
I’m going to jump around a bit here with issues cause of the order of my pictures…remember when I installed the Yamaha fuel bags? Well, they just received a failing grade.
They fill with snow from where the bracket goes into the back of the bag…
The zipper let go on the one bag and I lost the contents (my snow bungee!)
The bags themselves started ripping where the mount goes through them. Even the bracket itself was bent from ice buildup getting in behind it.
I decided to remove them both because they collect snow and with a broken zipper it was pretty useless. I could have left the brackets on and just put the fuel cans on there but at 5 liters a side I didn’t think it was worth it.
My windshield bag finally came in though – the one that works with the tall windshield…its a Velcro install around the speedo…not sure if it will hold up but the bag is actually pretty awesome for spare mitts and stuff, I’ve used it every ride since the install…
I removed the tour buddy to have a look at it and see how it was doing. I was suspicious of the heat from the muffler causing the tour buddy to warp, but there was no damage at all from heat around the muffler – there was however some wear on the fuel lines because they were pinched up against the heat shield that surrounds the muffler…I wrapped them up and padded them with heat reflective tape…
The exhaust turnout on my sled started causing problems for my tour buddy. The heat was causing the tank to bulge…
I decided to remove the exhaust turnout and redirect it upwards to solve this problem. Will it collect materials like snow inside? Not while the sled is running, yes while the sled is off, but I don’t think it’s a big deal, it gets blown out as soon as you fire up the sled.
With the installation of ice scratchers from earlier in the season, they seem to leave their mark on the rails…
And the second worst problem about this sled?
I want to know if Yamaha can come up with a solution to oil spilling out the breather into the airbox. At the very least, the mountain sleds should have a fail safe when it comes to this. When the sled is on its side it spills out oil. It’s really a pain and makes a huge mess…
Remember when I bent/broke my bumper? Well the new one finally arrived with Yamaha’s Floatation Plate! A few have questioned if the plate would work, and whether or not it would just scoop up more snow.
Beefier bumper? Didn’t weigh anything…
Okay, the bumper was easy to put on. The Floatation Plate was another story. It comes pre-drilled for installation, and the way this thing installs is pretty wonky if you ask me and I wasn’t impressed, everything seemed like an afterthought on this thing so that it could hit the market in time…hmmm…that happens a lot.
I had to remove the belly pan, only to find that the front of it was busted from ice buildup…
Those plastic push-pins are junk, I can’t believe plastic is holding up the belly pan, and I can’t believe the belly pan is plastic to begin with! It’s surrounded by gaps that snow gets into and causes problems. Frozen steering, busted steering boots, belly pans hanging down 6 inches….come on…these designs are for groomed trail riders, not powder riders.
Whaa whaa whaa. lol
Here’s the floatation plate…
I was swearing my head off (bad day I guess) because NONE of the pre-drilled holes in the floatation plate lined up. Why? I don’t know…you tell me. Is it because they were off? Is it because the front frame of the sled flexed too much in 4000 km’s of riding? One spindle is 3mm further away from the frame than the other spindle. Maybe I hit too many trees.
Regardless the instructions were not very good. The way they want you to do it is hold stuff in place and use a marker to identify where to drill a hole – yes, you gotta drill into your side panels.
That didn’t work so well, so I took everything off the sled and set it up on the floor to align it and drill it in place…
So guess what replaces a few push pins? Threaded circlips. Try lining these up. What a pain…they slide around when you are trying to thread your bolt in…
Anyway after a lot of yelling at myself outloud I got the stupid thing installed…
The front of it is held on by clamps…not really that good in my opinion…but Yamaha’s other skid plates are the same install around the bumper, like on my phazer.
One thing I will give credit to the designers of this floatation plate for is that it covers under the clutches and the oil reservoir – that’s panel to panel, not just the belly pan. That’s the way a skid plate should work, what good is it if it doesn’t protect vital components other than the motor?
So I looked at it thinking, yeah…it will accumulate snow in the front A-arms, and it will likely build-up snow and ice between the belly pan and the skid plate itself, but the one piece design of it may not only prevent snow from coming into the engine area but it really does look like it will help in floatation when carving and in deep snow.
What’s the verdict? I have an answer – more to come.
A couple of weeks ago I hauled the Nytro into the garage for some routine maintenance and to check things out…and I found a lot.
It’s tough to keep my frustrations calm because I seem to have the same issues with both my Phazer and my Nytro, and what seems obvious to me is definitely not obvious to those who have designed these units.
First, the usual…look at the snow buildup. This is pathetic and it really is the worst thing about this sled…
Even the reverse gear shift freezes with ice…not good.
Even when I block holes in the cowling, snow still finds a way in!
I found a small coolant leak but that was easily solved (last I checked) with the tightening of a clamp…
I’m going to jump around a bit here with issues cause of the order of my pictures…remember when I installed the Yamaha fuel bags? Well, they just received a failing grade.
They fill with snow from where the bracket goes into the back of the bag…
The zipper let go on the one bag and I lost the contents (my snow bungee!)
The bags themselves started ripping where the mount goes through them. Even the bracket itself was bent from ice buildup getting in behind it.
I decided to remove them both because they collect snow and with a broken zipper it was pretty useless. I could have left the brackets on and just put the fuel cans on there but at 5 liters a side I didn’t think it was worth it.
My windshield bag finally came in though – the one that works with the tall windshield…its a Velcro install around the speedo…not sure if it will hold up but the bag is actually pretty awesome for spare mitts and stuff, I’ve used it every ride since the install…
I removed the tour buddy to have a look at it and see how it was doing. I was suspicious of the heat from the muffler causing the tour buddy to warp, but there was no damage at all from heat around the muffler – there was however some wear on the fuel lines because they were pinched up against the heat shield that surrounds the muffler…I wrapped them up and padded them with heat reflective tape…
The exhaust turnout on my sled started causing problems for my tour buddy. The heat was causing the tank to bulge…
I decided to remove the exhaust turnout and redirect it upwards to solve this problem. Will it collect materials like snow inside? Not while the sled is running, yes while the sled is off, but I don’t think it’s a big deal, it gets blown out as soon as you fire up the sled.
With the installation of ice scratchers from earlier in the season, they seem to leave their mark on the rails…
And the second worst problem about this sled?
I want to know if Yamaha can come up with a solution to oil spilling out the breather into the airbox. At the very least, the mountain sleds should have a fail safe when it comes to this. When the sled is on its side it spills out oil. It’s really a pain and makes a huge mess…
Remember when I bent/broke my bumper? Well the new one finally arrived with Yamaha’s Floatation Plate! A few have questioned if the plate would work, and whether or not it would just scoop up more snow.
Beefier bumper? Didn’t weigh anything…
Okay, the bumper was easy to put on. The Floatation Plate was another story. It comes pre-drilled for installation, and the way this thing installs is pretty wonky if you ask me and I wasn’t impressed, everything seemed like an afterthought on this thing so that it could hit the market in time…hmmm…that happens a lot.
I had to remove the belly pan, only to find that the front of it was busted from ice buildup…
Those plastic push-pins are junk, I can’t believe plastic is holding up the belly pan, and I can’t believe the belly pan is plastic to begin with! It’s surrounded by gaps that snow gets into and causes problems. Frozen steering, busted steering boots, belly pans hanging down 6 inches….come on…these designs are for groomed trail riders, not powder riders.
Whaa whaa whaa. lol
Here’s the floatation plate…
I was swearing my head off (bad day I guess) because NONE of the pre-drilled holes in the floatation plate lined up. Why? I don’t know…you tell me. Is it because they were off? Is it because the front frame of the sled flexed too much in 4000 km’s of riding? One spindle is 3mm further away from the frame than the other spindle. Maybe I hit too many trees.
Regardless the instructions were not very good. The way they want you to do it is hold stuff in place and use a marker to identify where to drill a hole – yes, you gotta drill into your side panels.
That didn’t work so well, so I took everything off the sled and set it up on the floor to align it and drill it in place…
So guess what replaces a few push pins? Threaded circlips. Try lining these up. What a pain…they slide around when you are trying to thread your bolt in…
Anyway after a lot of yelling at myself outloud I got the stupid thing installed…
The front of it is held on by clamps…not really that good in my opinion…but Yamaha’s other skid plates are the same install around the bumper, like on my phazer.
One thing I will give credit to the designers of this floatation plate for is that it covers under the clutches and the oil reservoir – that’s panel to panel, not just the belly pan. That’s the way a skid plate should work, what good is it if it doesn’t protect vital components other than the motor?
So I looked at it thinking, yeah…it will accumulate snow in the front A-arms, and it will likely build-up snow and ice between the belly pan and the skid plate itself, but the one piece design of it may not only prevent snow from coming into the engine area but it really does look like it will help in floatation when carving and in deep snow.
What’s the verdict? I have an answer – more to come.
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
The saga continues…
Yesterday I went for a 235 km (147mi) ride with Bruce. The big lakes are like cement right now but the wind protected bays and ponds are pure powder gold.
After 500 km’s of testing with the Yamaha Floatation Plate, it too receives a failing grade.
Why? Here’s why:
The damned thing fell off!!
So what’s the problem? How about the age old snow and ice buildup. Am I providing enough proof that this is a major problem with these sleds?
We were powder riding, I stopped to talk to Bruce and he pointed out that my skid plate was falling off. There was so much snow and ice build-up between the belly pan and the skid plate that it pushed the skid plate right off in a variety of ways…
On a couple of bolts, even with washers that I had installed, they punched right through the skid plate from ice buildup. On a couple of others, you know those threaded circlips I showed you? It took them right off the sled, space, bolt, circlip and all – still attached to the skid plate. In other spots, the clamps I showed you in the front? They busted clean off!!
Like come on – this is crazy! Obviously I’ll be going to get my money back and return the skid plate.
It was hanging by one clamp when we seen it, so I removed the clamp and put the skid plate on the back of the sled. I thought I could make the thing get air!
So what’s next? Right now I’m waiting for the belly pan to fall off. There ice buildup between the motor and the belly pan, then ice buildup between the belly pan and the skid plate, and ice buildup between the side panels and everything else on this sled’s front end.
I don’t have my own garage, I have to borrow one each time I do work on this unit, it’s not an option for me to thaw it out every night – and I shouldn’t have to. I’m not a happy sled owner right now.
Back to the trip at hand, we headed to Awry Lake. Here’s a forestry camp way out there for forest fire fighting/training I believe…
Hey, look at the DOO owner who’s having fun at my expense lol
One thing I do love about the Nytro is the space for fuel, even with the fuel bags removed I can fit 30 liters in the rack…+ 13 in the tour buddy…
I’d still rather have a larger main tank…hint hint…
I’m going out now to see what more trouble I can get into with the Nytro… ;-)
Yesterday I went for a 235 km (147mi) ride with Bruce. The big lakes are like cement right now but the wind protected bays and ponds are pure powder gold.
After 500 km’s of testing with the Yamaha Floatation Plate, it too receives a failing grade.
Why? Here’s why:
The damned thing fell off!!
So what’s the problem? How about the age old snow and ice buildup. Am I providing enough proof that this is a major problem with these sleds?
We were powder riding, I stopped to talk to Bruce and he pointed out that my skid plate was falling off. There was so much snow and ice build-up between the belly pan and the skid plate that it pushed the skid plate right off in a variety of ways…
On a couple of bolts, even with washers that I had installed, they punched right through the skid plate from ice buildup. On a couple of others, you know those threaded circlips I showed you? It took them right off the sled, space, bolt, circlip and all – still attached to the skid plate. In other spots, the clamps I showed you in the front? They busted clean off!!
Like come on – this is crazy! Obviously I’ll be going to get my money back and return the skid plate.
It was hanging by one clamp when we seen it, so I removed the clamp and put the skid plate on the back of the sled. I thought I could make the thing get air!
So what’s next? Right now I’m waiting for the belly pan to fall off. There ice buildup between the motor and the belly pan, then ice buildup between the belly pan and the skid plate, and ice buildup between the side panels and everything else on this sled’s front end.
I don’t have my own garage, I have to borrow one each time I do work on this unit, it’s not an option for me to thaw it out every night – and I shouldn’t have to. I’m not a happy sled owner right now.
Back to the trip at hand, we headed to Awry Lake. Here’s a forestry camp way out there for forest fire fighting/training I believe…
Hey, look at the DOO owner who’s having fun at my expense lol
One thing I do love about the Nytro is the space for fuel, even with the fuel bags removed I can fit 30 liters in the rack…+ 13 in the tour buddy…
I’d still rather have a larger main tank…hint hint…
I’m going out now to see what more trouble I can get into with the Nytro… ;-)
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
Ahh, the adventures continue…
Last weekend there were snow cross races going on in Yellowknife. I headed down with Mike and Nate and got a few shots of both the snow cross and the drags. The Rev’s dominated the XP’s in the snow cross and an XCR that wins year after year dominated the drags.
There was a Nytro in the mix that was winning drags but I’m not sure what he was up against…6’s or 8’s or both. He ended up losing in the end.
hehehe this was funny
Last weekend there were snow cross races going on in Yellowknife. I headed down with Mike and Nate and got a few shots of both the snow cross and the drags. The Rev’s dominated the XP’s in the snow cross and an XCR that wins year after year dominated the drags.
There was a Nytro in the mix that was winning drags but I’m not sure what he was up against…6’s or 8’s or both. He ended up losing in the end.
hehehe this was funny
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
After the snow cross races myself, Trevor and Greg packed up our things for a weeklong trip to Trevor’s lodge. I had plans to put on some major miles while exploring a few new areas.
The trucks were loaded and ready to go;
You can see my Sled Solutions Skinz cover. It pulls further over the rear bumper on the MTX. So far so good with this cover, seems awesome, just have to find out if it lasts the test of time/durability.
We had 3 sleds and 3 boggans, loaded with gear and fuel…
Greg and Trevor tieing down Greg’s boggan
Trevor’s sled and boggan load
The Nytro and the boggan I had
All set and ready to go
Now what could we possibly have to take with us requiring 3 boggans for 3 people?
Well, with my plans to ride till I drop, fuel was #1:
We have a crappy wood stove that is nowhere near air tight at the lodge, so we also use Kerosene Heaters for overnight…
And of course, our winter camping usually involves generators…
What are these for?
For towing behind the sleds of course. I was in fear for my life on that tube, what a blast, there’s video that will come later on that.
Can anybody guess what we took out there from this picture?
Breakfast time…
Snack time…
So, the week was going well until about the half way point. Of coarse I was soaking up the powder. It was everywhere so I was carving around every chance I got, until this happened…
Yes, it finally happened. I lost my belly pan.
The piss off was that I kept an eye on it and right before I was heading out for a ride I checked it and it was safely secured but with lots of snow and ice around it as usual. Next thing I know my belt is slipping, I look underneath and my belly pan is gone.
So that was it for me, I couldn’t ride the sled anymore. The rest of the trip sucked lol
Any kind of riding caused snow to be sucked into the clutch and I wasn’t about to risk blowing another secondary or something.
I can’t seem to win with my snowmobiling style up here. I encounter problems that most people don’t have to deal with. I know I’m in the powder snow all the time but that’s why I purchased a mountain sled. I need to come up with a solution to this problem. There’s far too many cracks where snow can get into the engine compartment, and from what I can see not many people are having this problem so it is unlikely Yamaha will jump in to develop a factory solution. At the same time it’s clear that if I want to ride this sled the same way I’ve got to do something to fix this. I will be speaking with the dealer Monday about coming up with a solution. The only thing I can see working is to seal every single crack with silicone, which will limit my access to the engine area, but at this point that would be better than losing skid plates and belly pans. I do think that belly pan should be metal though, and it should be secured with steel hardware, not plastic push pins. For the first time this year both my sleds are down. As of last week the Phazer was still down waiting for new rails to come in, but I’m hopeful it is ready for pickup now.
Does anyone know of a compound that I could safely smooth over and fill in the cracks where the plastics meet in the front of the sled? The trick is, about twice a season I need to be able to take it all back apart to change the oil/filter and reseal it again.
If this machine didn’t injest snow like it does, it would be a near perfect sled. It’s definitely worth keeping.
The trucks were loaded and ready to go;
You can see my Sled Solutions Skinz cover. It pulls further over the rear bumper on the MTX. So far so good with this cover, seems awesome, just have to find out if it lasts the test of time/durability.
We had 3 sleds and 3 boggans, loaded with gear and fuel…
Greg and Trevor tieing down Greg’s boggan
Trevor’s sled and boggan load
The Nytro and the boggan I had
All set and ready to go
Now what could we possibly have to take with us requiring 3 boggans for 3 people?
Well, with my plans to ride till I drop, fuel was #1:
We have a crappy wood stove that is nowhere near air tight at the lodge, so we also use Kerosene Heaters for overnight…
And of course, our winter camping usually involves generators…
What are these for?
For towing behind the sleds of course. I was in fear for my life on that tube, what a blast, there’s video that will come later on that.
Can anybody guess what we took out there from this picture?
Breakfast time…
Snack time…
So, the week was going well until about the half way point. Of coarse I was soaking up the powder. It was everywhere so I was carving around every chance I got, until this happened…
Yes, it finally happened. I lost my belly pan.
The piss off was that I kept an eye on it and right before I was heading out for a ride I checked it and it was safely secured but with lots of snow and ice around it as usual. Next thing I know my belt is slipping, I look underneath and my belly pan is gone.
So that was it for me, I couldn’t ride the sled anymore. The rest of the trip sucked lol
Any kind of riding caused snow to be sucked into the clutch and I wasn’t about to risk blowing another secondary or something.
I can’t seem to win with my snowmobiling style up here. I encounter problems that most people don’t have to deal with. I know I’m in the powder snow all the time but that’s why I purchased a mountain sled. I need to come up with a solution to this problem. There’s far too many cracks where snow can get into the engine compartment, and from what I can see not many people are having this problem so it is unlikely Yamaha will jump in to develop a factory solution. At the same time it’s clear that if I want to ride this sled the same way I’ve got to do something to fix this. I will be speaking with the dealer Monday about coming up with a solution. The only thing I can see working is to seal every single crack with silicone, which will limit my access to the engine area, but at this point that would be better than losing skid plates and belly pans. I do think that belly pan should be metal though, and it should be secured with steel hardware, not plastic push pins. For the first time this year both my sleds are down. As of last week the Phazer was still down waiting for new rails to come in, but I’m hopeful it is ready for pickup now.
Does anyone know of a compound that I could safely smooth over and fill in the cracks where the plastics meet in the front of the sled? The trick is, about twice a season I need to be able to take it all back apart to change the oil/filter and reseal it again.
If this machine didn’t injest snow like it does, it would be a near perfect sled. It’s definitely worth keeping.
rfabro
TY 4 Stroke Junkie
Wow, Yellowknife. Have you considered renting a heated garage with a couple of buddies? Would your belly pan and float plate be able to make it a few days on a trip if your sled thawed out between rides?
That's all I got.
That's all I got.
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
I have access to a garage when I need to do work, but not for thawing it out after each ride. There's no drain in his garage. I have to suck up the water with a shop vac lol
I think the belly plan and float plate would still bust off if I was out riding for more than a couple days, it accumulates too quickly.
I just realised the dealer has had my Phazer for 60 days. That's nuts. For most people that's a whole winter without a sled. That's how long my Ski-doo's were down with blown motors each season.
I think the belly plan and float plate would still bust off if I was out riding for more than a couple days, it accumulates too quickly.
I just realised the dealer has had my Phazer for 60 days. That's nuts. For most people that's a whole winter without a sled. That's how long my Ski-doo's were down with blown motors each season.
Unluckydiablo
Expert
Have you checked out the new skins plate? It has a hole in the center, supposedly when you are out of the powder, all the ice and slush drains. Granted, the benefits for you would be deminished, but might that be part of the solution?
One guy put a piece of styrofoam under in the shape of the skid plate, then custom mounted it. That way there was no ice or snow build up. Again, a thought?
One guy put a piece of styrofoam under in the shape of the skid plate, then custom mounted it. That way there was no ice or snow build up. Again, a thought?
Yellowknife
TY 4 Stroke Master
Interesting suggestions.
That skinz float plate will just fill with snow and ice and bust off like the Yamaha float plate did. There's too much heat coming off that motor, it attracts the snow, turning it to ice.
Do you have any futher details on the styrofoam?
It would appear any sealing would in fact have to be done from the outside as opposed to from in the inside. I should get an auto body shop to spray the bottom of my sled with box liner stuff lol
That skinz float plate will just fill with snow and ice and bust off like the Yamaha float plate did. There's too much heat coming off that motor, it attracts the snow, turning it to ice.
Do you have any futher details on the styrofoam?
It would appear any sealing would in fact have to be done from the outside as opposed to from in the inside. I should get an auto body shop to spray the bottom of my sled with box liner stuff lol
