tunning a mountain sled for trail performance?

[vgscapes]

Hey guys... I am considering getting an 08 m1000 its a left over at a local dealer and the price is right. One of the shop guys had mentioned cutting the track down to give it better trail manors. I love the way the sled looks and am seriously considering making it work. I love getting off trail and currently have a crossfire 700. I understand this isn't the most practical machine where i ride in NY because we don't get big snow and I do mostly trail riding but I was just curious if some of you mountain guys have any insight. Could I tame this sled to be a nasty crossover? Possibly cutting down the track and putting some bigger carbides on the ski's... or maybe this is just s dumb idea.

Thanks for any input

 

[Orrin]

I would consider setting the ski's a far apart as possible and adding a sway bar then trying it as is before cutting the track. If you still don't like it then post here to trade the track for the one you want, you may want to consider trading skids and tracks with someone looking to "mountainize" a trail sled.

 

[vgscapes]

hmmmm alright. are the sway bars easy enough to get in there. Also I forgot to mention its a 152

 

[Orrin]

Try the one off of your Crossfire, to be honest I can't remember how the sway bar connected to the suspension on my old sleds. I do know that my new 2010M8 isn't that much slower on the trail than my old F7 EXT and in fact I feel more comfortable braking into a corner and accelerating out of it with the M8. On a long trail with a reasonable amount of straight stretches I feel I could kick my own ass with the M8 if there were two of me and I still had that F7.

I just looked through some old pictures of my F7 and the lower A-Arm had a mount for the sway bar that the M sleds don't have so it would probably be too much work to do that.

 

[sledneck_03]

i runn a 155 in sask, for in sask i run teh front shocks really stiff and move my skis to the widest position, pull the limiter strap tighter and its good, if the tracks a power claw leave it. just get scratchers, the tracks stiff enough it will be fine for traction.

i trimmed my 5.1 polaris nubs off becuase they would just bend over and were soft as marshmellows, now its firmer and has a sharper edge to bite. i would love to have the cat track or the cat hcr track its alot firmer. i dont really ride trails so i let out my limiter to get it more of a powder sled again after the stiff front shocks but it was alot more trail manored after

it lifts the inside ski a bit on corners but you just need to move around, and the m chassis has lots of room to move.

 

[vgscapes]

this is exactly the input I was looking for... anyone else have some thoughts? Will the longer track smooth out the trail a little more than even my crossfire does compared to a 121... or is there a point that it starts to work against you being that much longer.

Also, I am a little concerned about the M's having less rear suspension travel.... My buddies and I ride like we stole the sleds from our x's. Is the M going to be able to take that kind of abuse?

I apologize if these are dumb questions... I just know mountain riding is a whole different beast. One I want to tame someday lol

 

[Crazy8]

The M's have 18 or 19" of rear suspension travel. You may have to clutch for lower elevations, not a real expensive job though.

 

[vgscapes]

I talked to the dealer again today. Its a 162 not a 153. He agreed with adjusting the clutching. He said another guy runs one locally and cut 3/4" off the track with a razor blade rather easily and runs a cf snow flap. He said he doesn't have any overheating issues and also mentioned that his mpg is comparable to some 4strokes he was running with. The mpgs being that close to a 4stroke really doesn't make sense to me but my biggest concern was that its not a complete pig. in the 12-14 range would keep me happy i think.

what kinda oil consumption are you guys getting with the 1000. I know two of my buddies have the newer 800's and they seem to sip it. My 03 mxz 800 drinks oil and gas. its in the 10mpg area and will eat a tank of oil in 220ish miles

also... its on 08 m1000 snopro.. he says his cost is 11100 and he would eat a grand. so 10100 for it brand new... but its a 2 year left over and been sitting outside. What do you guys think...?