On the fence with Snowchecking a G4-154-3

The Kickass One · Mar 28, 2017

Glad to see a thread stay on topic. Thanks for all the info. I'm more of a technical tree rider as well, but have those days of wide open spaces with big climbs with long pulls at WOT in Silver Mines, especially during spring riding. Bad spots to be in and worrying if belt is going to grenade! Stop lots to let cool down.

rightsideup · Mar 28, 2017

I get to ride one tomorrow not sure if will be a 17 or a 18. Let you know what I think my last sleds have been a 15 t3 174,a 16 pro 155 x 2.6 and a 17 pro le 174 x3. I have friends that have ridden them and love them but have concerns about the durability. I hope some of those issues have been mitigated for 2018. I personally would like to try a 154 x 3 if they have one even though there will be 2.5 to 3 ft of fresh tommorrow.

skegpro · Mar 28, 2017

Maybe the new belt will hold up better.
I assume you will be able to run the new belt in the 2017?

Can you buy the new belts yet?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

snopro · Mar 28, 2017

skegpro said:
Maybe the new belt will hold up better.
I assume you will be able to run the new belt in the 2017?

Can you buy the new belts yet?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

No part number given out in BRP Community yet skegpro.

deaner · Mar 29, 2017

Im guessing the 18s are going to be great sleds, but are still going to have some growing pains. Im sure alot of the 17 issues will be fixed. The biggest thing I would be worried about is the longevity of these engines. I have a bad feeling, but maybe Im wrong.

Jgibos · Mar 29, 2017

roadlinur113 said:
How would that compare to some of your past sleds? Similar...much worse?

I had a 2016 arctic cat m8000 last year and i had over 900MILES before i decided to change the belt for re assurance. Rode the same aggressive style on both sleds. Had electrical issues on the cat last year so i switched to doo this year and kinda regretted it. 200$ a belt is retarded if you put on 2000+ kms a season. Espesicially if they only last about 400ish kms. Getting expensive on a already expensive sport.

ktmsx350f · Mar 29, 2017

skegpro said:
Maybe the new belt will hold up better.
I assume you will be able to run the new belt in the 2017?

Can you buy the new belts yet?

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

New belt doesn't fix heat issue just a patch to hold it together longer. Some 18 belts were already used by kuster and some others. This is just hear say but i was told from a reliable source the new belt is better but still had issues.

skegpro · Mar 29, 2017

ktmsx350f said:
New belt doesn't fix heat issue just a patch to hold it together longer. Some 18 belts were already used by kuster and some others. This is just hear say but i was told from a reliable source the new belt is better but still had issues.

It does fix the issue if it grips in the sheaves better and does not slip as much......

rightsideup · Mar 30, 2017

I was out yesterday with ckmp and did not witness one blown belt with around 11 sleds operating in 2 ft of fresh heavy snow.

ktmsx350f · Mar 30, 2017

skegpro said:
It does fix the issue if it grips in the sheaves better and does not slip as much......

Yes you are correct a different compound could grip better. You could be right i guess i was just going off what i was told that the new belts had been put to use in sicamous and revelstoke and they were still having failures

Rotax_Kid · Mar 31, 2017

How is the 3" track on the 154? Trencher? Wheelie King? Overachiever?

deaner · Mar 31, 2017

Rotax_Kid said:
How is the 3" track on the 154? Trencher? Wheelie King? Overachiever?

Had one on a 16 T3. Surprisingly didnt trench at all. It is FREAKING squirrelly though. I put a baker skid on it and it was much better. Could have played with setup for a little more ski pressure but ended up selling the sled. Unreal fun sled. Can get annoying though when you're trying to get through something steep and technical though. Makes life much more difficult.

The Kickass One · Mar 31, 2017

deaner said:
Had one on a 16 T3. Surprisingly didnt trench at all. It is FREAKING squirrelly though. I put a baker skid on it and it was much better. Could have played with setup for a little more ski pressure but ended up selling the sled. Unreal fun sled. Can get annoying though when you're trying to get through something steep and technical though. Makes life much more difficult.

I bought that sled and took turbo and put on 154. Have the baker skid
off it's for sale. it's the wife's sled now.

154 is not a 3", it's a wheelie monster and crazy track speed. a real fun sled

deaner · Mar 31, 2017

The Kickass One said:
I bought that sled and took turbo and put on 154. Have the baker skid
off it's for sale. it's the wife's sled now.

154 is not a 3", it's a wheelie monster and crazy track speed. a real fun sled

No this was the sled after the turbo I sold you. Sold the turboed xm to you and bought a T3 154.

Yeah I think the 2.5 would be the way to go with the amount of trackspeed the turbo is gonna throw at it. Would be a fun sled for sure.

Im thinking about the Gen 4 as well, but know for sure that I would be going through lots of belts if I had one. If they do get them straightened out, Im actually thinking of going back to a 154 2.5. Not sure

The Kickass One · Mar 31, 2017

I was thinking the same with going to 2.5 -154.

They should figure out belt situation or pass out free belts like candy at Halloween. The belt thing is what's holding me back. The xm was great on belts.

PowPirate · Mar 31, 2017

I have a G4 154" x 3" and it is definitely the sled for me as far as handling. Yes, it is a handful to ride as it's nature is to slide and wheelie lots. Those are traits I specificly look for in a sled.

The bad and I mean really bad part of it is the way it eats belts! I ride in Sicamous area and I currently have 3300kms this season and I am just about to grenade my 12th belt this season. There is no way #12 will last another day the way it looks. It has been a very frustrating winter with this problem! BRP told me no warrantied belts back in December and I have been playing musical belts all winter just trying to get through this season. It is a real shame, because the sled is so awesome in every other way. They at BRP came so close to the perfect mountain sled, it would have been nice if they had not ignored what is such a huge issue for some of us.

roadlinur113 · Mar 31, 2017

PowPirate said:
I have a G4 154" x 3" and it is definitely the sled for me as far as handling. Yes, it is a handful to ride as it's nature is to slide and wheelie lots. Those are traits I specificly look for in a sled.

The bad and I mean really bad part of it is the way it eats belts! I ride in Sicamous area and I currently have 3300kms this season and I am just about to grenade my 12th belt this season. There is no way #12 will last another day the way it looks. It has been a very frustrating winter with this problem! BRP told me no warrantied belts back in December and I have been playing musical belts all winter just trying to get through this season. It is a real shame, because the sled is so awesome in every other way. They at BRP came so close to the perfect mountain sled, it would have been nice if they had not ignored what is such a huge issue for some of us.

What does playing musical belts mean ? You have blown 11 belts completely or not? You ride them till they have cords out then switch them out only to put them back on another time? Just curious as to the criteria what is a blown belt?

This is not meant to to read as an attack or accusation.....just looking for clarification. Thank you.

PowPirate · Mar 31, 2017

roadlinur113 said:
What does playing musical belts mean ? You have blown 11 belts completely or not? You ride them till they have cords out then switch them out only to put them back on another time? Just curious as to the criteria what is a blown belt?

This is not meant to to read as an attack or accusation.....just looking for clarification. Thank you.

Good question! I have a good answer for you.. I was lucky to be helped by Gates belts this winter and worked with the local representative to gather some info on what was going on with the carbon fiber belts on the 850's.. I was asked to keep track of exact mileage of each belt until failure, so I would take a good belt off at the end of my day and re-install a new one to break it in going down the trail and then up the trail the next day and then make that new broken in belt my new spare and then re-install the good one that came off the day before.. All while keeping track of individual mileage. It was a huge pain in the ass! Yes, they all came apart and most but not all of them delaminated on the inside which I find to be an awfully big coincidence with the "engineered wobbly sheave".. The worst part was having to bring them to failure without hopefully exploding a belt into pieces, especially in a bad place.

There was also sunny days where I knew I would be climbing much bigger stuff and couldn't blow a belt, so I would swap a really good belt for a not so great one that I didn't trust and save that one for blowing up on the next socked in tree riding day. I just wished all winter that I could even just get 800-1000 kms out of a belt and not deal with all that stuff, but it has been pretty un-attainable so far. Best one lasted 570kms in less deep snow conditions. Gates has also stopped warrantying belts for 850's because so many came back this winter. I love riding the sled for the performance, but I sure hope this gets figured out on the 18's.

deaner · Mar 31, 2017

PowPirate said:
I have a G4 154" x 3" and it is definitely the sled for me as far as handling. Yes, it is a handful to ride as it's nature is to slide and wheelie lots. Those are traits I specificly look for in a sled.

The bad and I mean really bad part of it is the way it eats belts! I ride in Sicamous area and I currently have 3300kms this season and I am just about to grenade my 12th belt this season. There is no way #12 will last another day the way it looks. It has been a very frustrating winter with this problem! BRP told me no warrantied belts back in December and I have been playing musical belts all winter just trying to get through this season. It is a real shame, because the sled is so awesome in every other way. They at BRP came so close to the perfect mountain sled, it would have been nice if they had not ignored what is such a huge issue for some of us.

Great info. It just blows my mind that anyone can go through 12 belts and BRP will say tough luck. Its great that they may be stepping up now (or maybe its just posturing because snowchecks have been so low), but to let someone buy a 17k machine and not stand behind them after 12 freaking belts is just crazy.

PowPirate · Mar 31, 2017

deaner said:
Great info. It just blows my mind that anyone can go through 12 belts and BRP will say tough luck. Its great that they may be stepping up now (or maybe its just posturing because snowchecks have been so low), but to let someone buy a 17k machine and not stand behind them after 12 freaking belts is just crazy.

Well 10 of those were Gates carbon belts, so technically they don't know about those ones.. After the first one grenaded on the first deep day I knew I was in for trouble and that's when BRP was saying no warranties on belts, so I had to come up with a solution quickly and that's when I bought my first Gates belt and the rest happened from there. It really made me angry that they would not acknowledge a problem and the whole winter passed with no free belts from BRP. Fact is, if I had not had a source of free belts, I would have had to purchase each and every BRP belt and who knows if they would reimburse me for that cost..

On the fence with Snowchecking a G4-154-3

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