glad to hear you had insurance! hopefully you can buy it back and part it out to recover some of the loss.
Aftermath of a tether failure...
- Thread starter theletup
- Start date
glad to hear you had insurance! hopefully you can buy it back and part it out to recover some of the loss.
T
theletup
Well-known member
I never said in my original post that I didn't have insurance. In order my top sled expenses/priorities are Beacon, probe, shovel, avy pack, insurance, AND THEN airframes, then oil gas and all that other stuff. I'm sorry that you don't have airframes. They are extremely bad *** and I too was very envious of people when I saw them before I finally got mine. It's okay...
J
jwentzer
Well-known member
Mounting Location
Do you have a photo of the mounting location you chose for the tether? I'm curious where/how you and the others on here have it mounted in/around the handle bar area.
Reason why is I have the same tether and have yet to have any issues with it freezing up or not shutting the sled down when pulled. I was in 3 to 4 foot of fresh all last weekend and didn't have an issue freezing up. So, I'm curious if I'm getting lucky or maybe the tether's performance depends on how it's mounted also?
I will post a photo of mine later this evening. The way mine is mounted is the "plunger" (probably not corrrect terminology) is pointed down wards and the assembly itself is directly behind the tubing to the handle bars. It's positioned directly below the point of the tubing and where the "mountain" bar meets the tubing. Obviously on the rider side of the handle bars...probably didn't need to state that but with some people on here, you never know!
I feel for ya and I hope you can get on the snow ASAP.
Do you have a photo of the mounting location you chose for the tether? I'm curious where/how you and the others on here have it mounted in/around the handle bar area.
Reason why is I have the same tether and have yet to have any issues with it freezing up or not shutting the sled down when pulled. I was in 3 to 4 foot of fresh all last weekend and didn't have an issue freezing up. So, I'm curious if I'm getting lucky or maybe the tether's performance depends on how it's mounted also?
I will post a photo of mine later this evening. The way mine is mounted is the "plunger" (probably not corrrect terminology) is pointed down wards and the assembly itself is directly behind the tubing to the handle bars. It's positioned directly below the point of the tubing and where the "mountain" bar meets the tubing. Obviously on the rider side of the handle bars...probably didn't need to state that but with some people on here, you never know!
I feel for ya and I hope you can get on the snow ASAP.
If you have insurance then you can be back on the snow in a week or two. I don't understand why you would get on here and complain about not being able to ride the rest of the season - "So my season is over after today's double fail"
FYI - There are plenty of great sleds out there for 7k.
The issue with your tether not working is a valid complaint and I hope you get it figured out so others don't have the same mishap.
Last edited:
If you can afford a new sled like his - you can damn well afford insurance. If you can't, you have bigger issues.
O
Oregonsledder
Well-known member
It would be good to know what happened with the tether, so maybe other accidents could be avoided. I always unclip myself from my tether and make sure that when It does unplug through normal fall off operation, that it is free of snow. After every ride I unplug it and let it dry out. I have never had any kind of a tether problem. I use the Polaris tether, and like MH I zip tied and taped the connector under the dash.
T
theletup
Well-known member
I basically owe the same amount on my sled as the insurance is going to pay off leaving me no money left over to buy another sled. I may part it out to come up with the $2000-$3000 down payment I'll need to buy a new sled. I wouldn't be bummed out if I was actually getting $7k to spend on something different... Basically I'm getting the sled paid off and am EXTREMELY thankful to not owe money on a broken sled but I most likely won't be able to buy one until next year unless I get a killer deal on something new. Seems smarter to hold off until spring or summer and maybe find a hold over or demo for cheap. I'm not coming on here just to complain... I'm not blaming anyone... This is a snowmobile forum so I just posted my snowmobile experience. Dude I was depressed as hell when I posted this last night... Felt like losing a puppy lol. Wouldn't you share your snowmobile story if you lost a sled that you loved? I put a lot of effort and time into it (which I do enjoy doing). That's part of the sledding experience for me. I like working on them. I guess on the bright side I get to tinker with whatever else I buy and know a couple of things I would have taken a different approach on. Sorry if I wasted your time.
Looking back I probably should have mounted my tether differently (pointed downward like stated above). Mine is more horizontal. I have mine mounted exactly the same as my buddies and he's been running it this way without a hick-up for the past 2 seasons. Mine worked perfect for the previous 700 miles before this incident. Deep powder, plenty of roll outs, plenty of real life situations where I came of the sled and it shut down instantly. Yesterday wasn't a powder day. In fact it was the opposite, 34sih degrees and wet heavy snow which is probably an even more problematic situation.
I do however have a sled that my son is not big enough to ride yet that I could really get back into the back country with! It's my '89 Yamaha Bravo 250 108". Come ride with me akmclean!
T
theletup
Well-known member
I think I did find the reason for the throttle sticking open. When I was coming around the first tree (the one I'm standing next to in the picture about 100 feet away), I think one of the branches clipped the bottom of the bolt that mounts the flipper causing a bend in the mounting/swivel bolt. So when I let off the throttle it must have held the flipper open. This is the only thing I can come up with as the handle bars were not hit by the second tree and after looking at the sled the bolt is bent and throttle sticks badly every time now.
R
rmscustom
Well-known member
This is where mine is mounted. I was assuming it was packing full of snow where the clip goes and not allowing it to retract fully. But after looking at it today and still not working right after it hasn't been rode for a week I think water might be getting inside turning to ice and blocking the connection. The wire going into the top of mine is not sealed. I'm thinking that could be the problem.
A
akrevrider
Well-known member
I mounted the tether on my Pro at the same place on the bars as yours. No issues with it so far. I siliconed the top to seal it and used dielectric grease on the plunger to prevent water intrusion into the housing.
Last edited:
J
jhurkot
Well-known member
I feel for you man, the same thing happened to me today. My throttle cable froze at wide open as I was carving and it bucked me right off. Watched it smash into a tree and thought that was my season done. Luckily it was just a lower a-arm.
To me the issue here that needs to be solved is snow is getting into the throttle block and icing up. The handlebar warmers must be heating up the plastic to the point that the snow is having an easier time sticking in there. I need to come up with some kind of rubber device that can seal off that entire area when the throttle is open and prevent any kind of moisture getting inside. It would be a thin black rubber with accordion style ribs in it.
To me the issue here that needs to be solved is snow is getting into the throttle block and icing up. The handlebar warmers must be heating up the plastic to the point that the snow is having an easier time sticking in there. I need to come up with some kind of rubber device that can seal off that entire area when the throttle is open and prevent any kind of moisture getting inside. It would be a thin black rubber with accordion style ribs in it.
J
jhurkot
Well-known member
I've also seen it where the key that slides in the bottom of the throttle block (with the allen screw that controls the tightness) pops out of its groove. If you do not reseat it properly and just retighten that allen screw the throttle flipper will actually bind and lock at wide open.
R
rmscustom
Well-known member
Mine did this after the first big hit I took. Took it apart and put it back together and its been good ever since. I figure it came put together wrong.
S
sledneck_03
Well-known member
That's the issue with insurance. I had replacement insurance on my truck with my package policy. Only issue was I paid 37,000 for a 52,000 truck (fiat deal) So they would only give me what I paid. Then I realized I was paying 260 a year for it to get 350 deductible, so for the ten years I was driving I paid 2600 to save 90 bucks in the case of an accident. **** sakes.
Actually that's a quadruple failure - rider failed, throttle failed, TSS failed, tether failed!
One in a million odds.
You should have bought a lotto ticket instead of going sledding that day!!!
Glad you are ok, but man that's a serious pile of wreckage on your hands.
One in a million odds.
You should have bought a lotto ticket instead of going sledding that day!!!
Glad you are ok, but man that's a serious pile of wreckage on your hands.
This is a write up I had last year on this tether. I am curious if you take the grounding mechanism apart (don't remember off hand how I did it, I think it was a allen wrench or screws) and see if there's any corrosion in it allowing it to stick together
Last edited:
T
theletup
Well-known member
Yep I agree with the guy in this post... I thought the clip style seemed more reliable before but now I think I will be going with a button style on my next sled. Never want that to happen again.
Speaking of insurance: It's funny because after talking with my dealer, finance company and insurance adjuster they all just stare at me like I'm lying about what happened. lol.. None of them can believe the odds of the throttle sticking and tether not killing at the same time. The a-hole insurance adjuster flat out said "hmmm... seems like I'm not getting the whole story here... So you're sure your tether was clipped to your jacket and didn't just stay with the sled? What really happened?" REALLY dude??? For one I pay you for FULL COVERAGE insurance! My sled didn't even come with a tether from the factory so I was actually making it a safer bet for you to add it in the first place, and why the f*ck would I put a tether on my sled if I wasn't going to attach it to my damn jacket?? Doesn't matter if I was wearing the tether or not, the sled smashed a tree and I pay for insurance for you to cover said accident. "You don't need to get worked up sir. I'm just trying to get the real story here." ???????? I crashed. End of story.
tether
I used to use that syle of tether on my handle bars. Worked really good until the handle bars broke off. I fell off with handle bars in hand which then full thrattled the sled and ripped the wires out to the tether so off the sleed went full throttle into a tree. I saved the track,skis and turbo. Everthing else was junk. So I now use stock polaris tether and have had pretty good luck. I always shut off sled by tether that way you know it is working.
I used to use that syle of tether on my handle bars. Worked really good until the handle bars broke off. I fell off with handle bars in hand which then full thrattled the sled and ripped the wires out to the tether so off the sleed went full throttle into a tree. I saved the track,skis and turbo. Everthing else was junk. So I now use stock polaris tether and have had pretty good luck. I always shut off sled by tether that way you know it is working.
