Would love to test these 3 kits out or at least the yeti. I have a 16 TS LT with a 141 2.5 CE and tss. But frankly the snow sucks this late in the year....
Follow along with the video below to see how to install our site as a web app on your home screen.
Note: This feature may not be available in some browsers.
Would love to test these 3 kits out or at least the yeti. I have a 16 TS LT with a 141 2.5 CE and tss. But frankly the snow sucks this late in the year....
Nice write up , the Yeti ski is known for the darting in those conditions and it's to bad Toby did not have TS skis for that condition because you would of had a lot more fun .
The machines have to work a lot harder to push that ski in the condition that you described . And once you notice that you will realize how much any deep center heel ski hinders the machine , in those conditions .
The Yeti is an extreme ski and is absolutely amazing in powder and also rails the hard packed trails like a slot car .
The option of skis is a great idea , your gonna need more than one if you want to get the best out of each ride .
Out of curiosity, what is required to put a Timbersled ski on a Yeti kit? Do you need the entire Timbersled front end, or can you adapt just the ski to the Yeti front end?
So,,,,,,, will these different struts be at all interchangeable between the different kits?
Toby,
AWESOME thread!!
The shocks look great... I know that Jake at Raptor works hard on his products... good to see this effort out there.
On the RSS... looks Tight fulcrum point on the lower RSS eye (close to the chassis pivot) ... what is the spring rate on the RSS Spring?
What was the NET added weight (what was added minus what was taken off) for the RSS?
got the call from toby till asking if i wanted to demo the yeti and cmxbk. meet at jones pass, co (aka death on a stick) at 8am today 4/8/2016. the 2016 ts build (the joker) would not be available as there would only be 3 of us and toby was planning to work on the fuel map for his aerocharged yz450f. not a deal breaker by any means as i have been hoping to throw a leg over both the yeti and cmxbk this season to see how they compared to each other and also to my rig. for reference, i have a 2015 ts lt hooked to a 2014 yz450f with engine and chassis mods. i'm sure the 2016 ts has advantages over my 2015 but i feel my rig is a strong runner and a reasonable point of reference regarding the ts kit.
the conditions:
early morning crust from last night's freeze. horrible, horrible, and horrible. gratefully, i had not yet ridden a snowbike ever in these conditions. during the transition from winter to spring, i never ride early morning because i know how bad it sucked for snowmobiles. today, riding down the trail from the parking lot, it was hard packed but not much different from other hard pack during the winter. once it opened up into the first meadow, and this crazy "crust darting" started, the unpredictability made riding either of these machines zero fun. riding down a paved street would have been more fun. seriously. as the temps warmed up, combined with suspension adjustments, things got better and i was able to attempt to make reasonable comparisons.
the yeti:
i started out on the yeti. toby had just installed the rrs strut. it motored down the hardpacked trail well. the ski held it's line. got to the first meadow with crust and almost went over the bars several times. major darting. when i switched to the cmxbk, although still some darting, nowhere near as bad. we determined that the rrs installed length (which is adjustable) was a bit long. this increased ski pressure making the darting much more pronounced. we adjusted the rrs to full soft and raised the forks in the triple clamps and the darting became "manageable" (similar to the cmxbk). i would note that shifting your weight towards the rear of the seat also noticeably lessened ski pressure.
yeti ski: i have been one of those guys wanting a yeti ski. they may be the bomb in powder but for me it was nasty scary in these conditions. speed didn't matter. i will say toby and his right hand man steve seemed more comfortable with the darting, which i'm guessing is from experience but i can tell you, if you put a newbie on this ski in these conditions, it would be a problem, as in lawsuit problem. i also noticed (after fighting it for an hour or so) that in these conditions the ski wants to run uphill when sidehilling or turning around on an incline. once i figured this out, it made turning on crust easier as you weren't always fighting it. it was a disappointment not to be able to run this ski in softer snow but it is what it is.
yeti track: there is a reason for the maxtrax II for 2017. in today's conditions, the original maxtrax inspired little confidence as the lugs constantly folded over or slid-out in situations where serious throttle was required. hopefully the maxtrax II has a better design/durometer that makes it better in conditions like today but doesn't sacrifice too much performance in powder.
yeti performance: again, hard to tell in these conditions but there was one hardpacked hill that, when we climbed it, it appeared the yeti generated more mph speed than the cmxbk. yeti's claim of being able to pull 1 higher gear than the competition may have some merit at least in these conditions. suspension worked well and the small hits and compressions were handled easily. there wasn't anything i noticed, while riding, that i would have concerns about. i would also add that seeing a yeti up close for the first time, it is, in fact, a mechanized work of art; well done.
the cmxbk:
(for the cmxbk ski and track performance, see paragraphs above as this rig was equipped with the yeti ski and original maxtrax track and both performed the same on either machine.)
cmxbk performance: the cmxbk felt very good overall. i expected this as i have had experience with cmx in the past. mark and company take major pride in whatever they produce. i had the chance to jump this kit today over a windlip. the landing was fairly hard and when i went bigger, my ankles hurt a little. in fairness, my ankles are bad and for someone with "good" ankles, this may not be an issue. even though the solid strut may give up some points on big air hits, it was competitive without a doubt under all other conditions today. i did not like how the cover for the belt drive forced my right foot forward. i like to ride with the balls of my feet on the pegs and this was not possible with a size 11 boot. also, it should be noted that toby broke the belt on this kit when he landed after sending it off the windlip. although disappointed, he did say that he had 40 plus hard hours on the kit/belt. now, i have had my share of belt drives and broken belts. shock loading, at least the way i ride, is a frequent occurrence and that makes me nervous about rolling a belt drive. there is no denying the performance gains with a belt drive system, but i have never broken a chain. not saying it can't be done...just sayin'. in fairness to the cmxbk, once the belt broke, we stopped jumping the yeti as well. my gut feeling tells me if you shock load the yeti, it too will break. seeing that they are offering a bigger belt drive system for 2017 could indicate some truth to this.
to wrap things up, i had to get out on my ts kit to see how bad the darting would be on the ts ski. unfortunately, toby and company had to leave so i went solo. when i got to the "meadow of death" my ts ski did not dart at all. i smiled again as i wicked the throttle and started riding how i normally ride. before the yeti faithful throws shade at me, i'm sure the snow had softened up some, but less than 1 hour before, the darting was still noticeable on the yeti ski when we were rolling back to the parking lot. it would have been great to have the yeti and cmxbk there to compare but again, it is what it is. after experiencing this, i'm feeling there is an argument to owning 2 different skis, assuming the yeti is better in powder. i rode everywhere we rode earlier and i gotta say, my 2015 ts setup worked well. i knew performance-wise, it would be as good or maybe better in some areas because of the mods and setup but i was truly surprised that in some of the more "funky" situations, it was rock and roll. good times. i don't think you could go wrong buying any of the big 3 - yeti, cmxbk, or ts. from what i experienced today, and from what i've been reading, no clear front runner; at least for for 2016. try to ride them all but if you can't, buying any of the big 3 won't be a disappointment imho. still hoping to throw a leg over a mototrax (sooner than later) and a camso (?).
thanks again to toby till for the opportunity. if he posts my video "documentary" from today, hopefully i don't come off as too big of a momo....
jeff
Saw a Yeti 129 mounted on a 2015 KTM 450 SX-f in person at Kurt's Polaris in Seeley.
IMPRESSIVE.
Which ski do you like better?
I see people trading their "other" kit skis for the Simmons ski.
I have had 33 days on the Yeti ski that have been better than the Simmons ski, and 2 days that I would have rather had the Simmons ski.