Hi Everyone,
My season has ended and it's come time to sell my current sled that I've been riding for 4 years. The last 3 years I've been riding with a Kmod and Raptor shocks so I thought I'd make a review video on the suspension.
Before I get to the video, I'd like to talk about a few things that I don't mention in the video.
Shocks:
Most of you guys are aware that the Raptors are great shocks. I can attest to that. Dropping that coin initially was a tough pill to swallow but after decimating the stock shocks in one year, I knew they would pay off in the long run. And they have. They are sooooo much nicer. Both off trail and on trail. When it's super deep, yeah nice shocks don't do much for you, but lets face it, we ride crappy trails and mediocre snow most of the year. I was able to tour Raptors shop and meet Jake when I interned at Polaris in 2012. Jake is super passionate about suspension and regarded as an expert among his peers. His shock technology is top notch and he really cares that people are getting the most bang for the buck. My first set of springs were chipping and I called Jake to let him know. He sent me a new set right away no questions asked whatsoever. Thats customer service! I gave my chipping ones to my buddy for free. He powder coated them and ran them on his walkers.
The valving is basically perfect as far as I can tell for the beginner to advanced mountain rider for both off trail and on trail. The clicker adjustment makes a huge difference. So much so that fully maxed out it is a miserably rough ride. But if you're going to huck some seriously big jumps, this is a great feature. Small changes make a noticeable difference so it's rather easy to dial these shocks into your own personal sweet spot. I really couldn't be happier with my shocks and will be getting a new set with my new sled.
Kmod 37" A-arms:
Ive had a few different kinds on a-arms on my sled and these are by far the best. No spindle interference, tight delrin bushings, quality heim joints, and a perfect balance between tippiness and stability. It took me a while to get used to the 'quickness' or dare I say 'flickability' of these a arms in conjunction with the Kmotion, but once I did, I really liked it. I run my skis in the middle position and that also helps with the ski bonering problems and keeps the rubbers alive longer. I would compare the 'quickness' of my Pro with 37" arms and a Kmotion to the stock 'quickness' of an Axys. I've ridden a handful Axys sleds this year and had zero issues with how quickly it reacts to rider input. My Pro with 37" and Kmotion is just that much easier to ride that it's on par with the new chassis. I can't wait to see what the Axys will be like with the same suspension I had on my Pro!
Geometry:
I ran my limiters all the way out on my Kmod. You can really see the difference in what that means when the suspension is fully dropped out in the following pictures. With the stock skid, with the track just barely touching the ground, there is about 1" gap between the track and ground in the front. With the limiters all the way out on the Kmod, the front of my track is touching and the rear is about 2" above the ground. This makes the Kmod super playful and I love it for that. And since it's a coupling skid, once the skis are in the air, it dynamically starts to pull the front of the skid out of the snow to better keep you on plane. Longer limiters plus coupling equates to about the same flotation as a stock skid. If I wanted all out flotation and hill climbing ability I could pull those limiters up into where the stock suspension is AND have coupling and it would flat out launch onto the snow and provide the best flotation and hill climbing ability possible. I like to wheelie. I like to do hop overs, turnouts, no ski sidehilling, etc. Its super fun and I love to be able to do that yet have good flotation when I need it.
Here are some more pictures of the wear and tear on the skid in 3000 miles. No issues whatsoever. In one year on my stock skid I bent the rails, snapped multiple bolts, broke the front torque arm, and all my pivots were so sloppy the first 2" of travel were just pivot slop being taken up. 3000 miles on the Kmod and zero issues.
And finally here is the video!
My season has ended and it's come time to sell my current sled that I've been riding for 4 years. The last 3 years I've been riding with a Kmod and Raptor shocks so I thought I'd make a review video on the suspension.
Before I get to the video, I'd like to talk about a few things that I don't mention in the video.
Shocks:
Most of you guys are aware that the Raptors are great shocks. I can attest to that. Dropping that coin initially was a tough pill to swallow but after decimating the stock shocks in one year, I knew they would pay off in the long run. And they have. They are sooooo much nicer. Both off trail and on trail. When it's super deep, yeah nice shocks don't do much for you, but lets face it, we ride crappy trails and mediocre snow most of the year. I was able to tour Raptors shop and meet Jake when I interned at Polaris in 2012. Jake is super passionate about suspension and regarded as an expert among his peers. His shock technology is top notch and he really cares that people are getting the most bang for the buck. My first set of springs were chipping and I called Jake to let him know. He sent me a new set right away no questions asked whatsoever. Thats customer service! I gave my chipping ones to my buddy for free. He powder coated them and ran them on his walkers.
The valving is basically perfect as far as I can tell for the beginner to advanced mountain rider for both off trail and on trail. The clicker adjustment makes a huge difference. So much so that fully maxed out it is a miserably rough ride. But if you're going to huck some seriously big jumps, this is a great feature. Small changes make a noticeable difference so it's rather easy to dial these shocks into your own personal sweet spot. I really couldn't be happier with my shocks and will be getting a new set with my new sled.
Kmod 37" A-arms:
Ive had a few different kinds on a-arms on my sled and these are by far the best. No spindle interference, tight delrin bushings, quality heim joints, and a perfect balance between tippiness and stability. It took me a while to get used to the 'quickness' or dare I say 'flickability' of these a arms in conjunction with the Kmotion, but once I did, I really liked it. I run my skis in the middle position and that also helps with the ski bonering problems and keeps the rubbers alive longer. I would compare the 'quickness' of my Pro with 37" arms and a Kmotion to the stock 'quickness' of an Axys. I've ridden a handful Axys sleds this year and had zero issues with how quickly it reacts to rider input. My Pro with 37" and Kmotion is just that much easier to ride that it's on par with the new chassis. I can't wait to see what the Axys will be like with the same suspension I had on my Pro!
Geometry:
I ran my limiters all the way out on my Kmod. You can really see the difference in what that means when the suspension is fully dropped out in the following pictures. With the stock skid, with the track just barely touching the ground, there is about 1" gap between the track and ground in the front. With the limiters all the way out on the Kmod, the front of my track is touching and the rear is about 2" above the ground. This makes the Kmod super playful and I love it for that. And since it's a coupling skid, once the skis are in the air, it dynamically starts to pull the front of the skid out of the snow to better keep you on plane. Longer limiters plus coupling equates to about the same flotation as a stock skid. If I wanted all out flotation and hill climbing ability I could pull those limiters up into where the stock suspension is AND have coupling and it would flat out launch onto the snow and provide the best flotation and hill climbing ability possible. I like to wheelie. I like to do hop overs, turnouts, no ski sidehilling, etc. Its super fun and I love to be able to do that yet have good flotation when I need it.
Here are some more pictures of the wear and tear on the skid in 3000 miles. No issues whatsoever. In one year on my stock skid I bent the rails, snapped multiple bolts, broke the front torque arm, and all my pivots were so sloppy the first 2" of travel were just pivot slop being taken up. 3000 miles on the Kmod and zero issues.
And finally here is the video!
