Alpha riding struggles

[Vern]

I’m just talking the general consensus on the interweb is to crank or pump the **** out of it, and in my experience that just seems to me it would create a poor performing sled, at least for climbing and deep snow.

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Uh-oh I thought the fts was supposed to be stiffer than the rear so it would “climb out” of powder? Mine has three settings on a knob and it’s on 3 ? I don’t really want to wheelie cause it’s still scary but I want the the best chance to stay on top and carve? My fronts are soft. I only set the coil springs for rider weight sag . I bet iam to light a rider for the stick spring but iam such a novice I didn’t mess with it.

 

[Vern]

Generally a softer fts will allow the skid to compress and get on top of the snow vs just trenching through the snow. On the older M series and proclimb sleds with coils it was common practice to run just enough preload on the fts to keep the coil spring from rattling or losing the keeper. More pressure on the fts will usually create more transfer, I.e. wheelies, and wheelies usually lead to trenching. Of course there’s alot of personal preference here, some people like a light front end that gets up in the air easy and some like it more planted and controlled. This is the concept between a Polaris khaos vs a standard pro rmk. Khaos pops wheelies and is more playful which helps if your into the bow ties and such, and the pro is more planted and predictable which tends to be better for climbing and such. Like I said I run a softer fts and all my clickers on 2 all the way around. It’ll still pull the front up when I need to but is not skis in the air on big climbs. I like the skis just a foot or so off the snow when climbing. I also run my ski pressures a bit stiffer at 70-75psi so the ski shocks are not just collapsing on side hills or maneuvers. It helps keep the front end up out of the snow while sidehilling.

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Ok iam going to change mine cause it’ll dig in pretty fast when I do it wrong. I’ll try it and see! Thanks!

 

[Albatroz]

It's so hard to tell how others rider

1 - can you turn by steering the wrong way? Absolut necessary riding, if not, practice and give it time
2 - are all fiberglass rods in track ok, if they break you get way more "lean" when you don't expect or want to
3 - adjust suspension
4 - in wet snow, i think it's a bit stubborn and doesn't always do what I want, a combination of the above I'm assuming is the reason for this

 

[boondocker97]

Iam new to all snowmobiles. I had a 16 cat m6 146 for a season and I’ve had this 21 154 hc for two seasons now. I have a habit of putting my knees in the plastics with my toes in the holes. Iam a small guy. 5’5 145lbs. I be been wrestling this thing since I bought it . Sunday I was having a way easier time getting it on edge by moving my feet back in the running board and stomping or just by shifting my weight hard or if I had momentum just locking out my knee real fast and it’ll change direction. Steeper you go the more you gotta go too but I had great success with it. Started noticing it when I was both feet on one side. Wrong forward is hard for me and so I cheat a lot doing both well my back foot would tip the sled way easier than my from t foot so I started experimenting and it just seemed to work. The farther you go back with more throttle burst the more extreme. I could do left u-turns easy . Right is hard for me but I did do some critical right side hills but also got rolled too. I was finally in wide trees in gentle slopes and was having great success just shifting the sled with my feet in neutral and some in wrong but it’s like I said I felt like I was going where I wanted off camber without the exaggerated one ski way in the air like the dial rail in front of me. Just my experience. In the picture of me stuck I needed to commit and go. I tried going to slow then I dug in the. I trenched. Was actually kinda a bad stick lol. I know jack shi$ but I want to get good so I’ve been trying hard and I’ve been frustrated cause I haven’t been able to dial in and like you wondered if it was the sled. I honestly think you need to have a quieter body on a alpha or you just go back and forth. I said it before I think you can go where you want to go with less effort but when you need to be panelled out you have to move your feet more than you may think.

I am all over the boards depending on what I am doing, but the neutral riding position I've discovered on my Alpha is the same as what you are describing. Feet about a foot back and push one way or another with my feet. Sometimes locking a knee. Both feet on their own running board unless it's a steep, slow sidehill line. Then I'll go wrong foot forward with my foot up in the footwell.

As for FTS settings I've always felt a dual rate spring setup was the most capable. Soft initially get up on the snow, but still have some bottoming resistance. With a Float if you have an Evol chamber you can run the main chamber softer and still get the bottoming resistance. Then for firmer, spring snow crank it up to get the front end light when you don't have to worry about trenching. If you want to do bowties all day on your tail in the deep snow then by all means keep it cranked. I like to go places.

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Does the rts have anything to do with deep snow performance? Iam headed to 3 feet of fresh in the morning and on a 154 and not great I’ll be stuck a lot lol! Is the rts? Just compression from hard landings and bumps and stuff?

 

[boondocker97]

A stiff RTS will help keep the front end down, but hinders weight transfer and can promote trenching. So yes it can have an effect. It's all a ballance, and finding what you like and works best for you usually takes some trial and error unfortunately.

 

[Vern]

Like boondocker said. I use the rts to help control transfer, and find the sweet spot for my liking. I prefer a more stiff rts personally, then use my body position fore and aft on the running boards to adjust transfer to a certain extent. Mess with spring/pressure settings a bit in the field and see what differences it makes

 

[line8]

Use clicker 1 and 2 on the rear. Test them and you will feel the differences.
FTS go to 1 on the clicker, your trenching will likely ease up. If you’re going to 3’ of new, your right thumb and your left and right feet/legs are going to be doing the magic while you ride.


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