I came up with some low budget improvements.
cheap tricks
- Thread starter eric82930
- Start date
The tusk mitts work awsome. $15 from rocky mountain atv. I don't have a stator on the sx so it is the only way to have hand warmers. They work below zero with light gloves for me.
The duct tape carb heater works awsome! I left a flap over the choke knob so I can stick a finger in to pull the choke. I haven't tried to peel it off yet so it might leave gunk on the cylinder if you worry about looks obviously this will be ugly.
The home made convex track was a ten minute hack job but works great. My kit is an 11 so it doesn't even have the flex arm. This convex feels much better. Won't climb as good but who cares. I have a turbo apex to climb hills..... With the side paddles almost gone, I was able to trim off the front of the skid to make more room for my heels.
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See picture below.
If you look close at the front track arm It is longer and is mounted a few inches farther forward in the skid frame. This makes the front ski WAY light. I can lift the ski just by leaning back and slight throttle. I don't have a tss shock either. Again, this probably hurts my hard snow climbing, the ski comes up evey time the power valve opens and I can't do anything about it but hoot and holler...
I used a skidoo xp arm. They are almost free because so many have done the t-motion upgrade. It needs to be cut to fit in the narrow skid but the top center shaft is the same size ID. I had to do a stand off bracket on the bottom shock mount because the shock bottomed before the bumpers hit. But I bet the coil shocks may have more stroke so you could just drill a hole in the center of the web on the rails and call it good.
I had to drill a hole further forward for the top of the rear arm too because the rear shock bottomed before the bumpers hit. This kind of mod always makes your sled look like swiss cheese from all the extra holes and you have to test all motions to be sure things don't bind up.
If you look close at the front track arm It is longer and is mounted a few inches farther forward in the skid frame. This makes the front ski WAY light. I can lift the ski just by leaning back and slight throttle. I don't have a tss shock either. Again, this probably hurts my hard snow climbing, the ski comes up evey time the power valve opens and I can't do anything about it but hoot and holler...
I used a skidoo xp arm. They are almost free because so many have done the t-motion upgrade. It needs to be cut to fit in the narrow skid but the top center shaft is the same size ID. I had to do a stand off bracket on the bottom shock mount because the shock bottomed before the bumpers hit. But I bet the coil shocks may have more stroke so you could just drill a hole in the center of the web on the rails and call it good.
I had to drill a hole further forward for the top of the rear arm too because the rear shock bottomed before the bumpers hit. This kind of mod always makes your sled look like swiss cheese from all the extra holes and you have to test all motions to be sure things don't bind up.
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The other mod you can't see is I was able to mount the jack shaft bearing holders about 3/8" further forward so I could get my chain and sprocket combo right without using a half link. The holes for the shaft are way bigger than the shaft so you just have to measure real carfull and re-drill the mounting holes for the bearing carriers. I turned them a few degrees so the new holes wouldn't overlap the orriginal holes. This will change your chain case tension also so you may have to change sprockets there if you are too loose already. Make a template so both sides are the same.
Also I noticed the bearing carrier center lines on mine were all offset .050" so I made sure to have the errors the same on both sides or the total error would have been .1" at the ends of the jack shaft. This might have been a first year production boo boo so the newer ones may be semetrical.
The bucket is a brake guard, I haven't tested yet. It is a 2 gallon plastic paint pail I trimmed to fit over the brake.....
Also I noticed the bearing carrier center lines on mine were all offset .050" so I made sure to have the errors the same on both sides or the total error would have been .1" at the ends of the jack shaft. This might have been a first year production boo boo so the newer ones may be semetrical.
The bucket is a brake guard, I haven't tested yet. It is a 2 gallon plastic paint pail I trimmed to fit over the brake.....
fuel tanks
Before I had a 3.5 gallon acerbis oversized tank and a 1 gallon mountain addiction tank on the back. I switched back to the stock 1.8 gallon on the front and bought a 3.4 gallon for the back. This also made the ski way lighter even before I modded the suspension arm.
Moving 10 pounds of fuel from the front to the back makes the ski pressure 20 pounds lighter becasue the whole chassis pivots around the center of gravity.
Before I had a 3.5 gallon acerbis oversized tank and a 1 gallon mountain addiction tank on the back. I switched back to the stock 1.8 gallon on the front and bought a 3.4 gallon for the back. This also made the ski way lighter even before I modded the suspension arm.
Moving 10 pounds of fuel from the front to the back makes the ski pressure 20 pounds lighter becasue the whole chassis pivots around the center of gravity.
missing picture
I forgot one. This is the xp suspension arm. And you can see where I chopped the front of my skid off to make more boot room. This only works with the convex paddles. If the paddles were full length they would rub my boot heels.
I forgot one. This is the xp suspension arm. And you can see where I chopped the front of my skid off to make more boot room. This only works with the convex paddles. If the paddles were full length they would rub my boot heels.
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Thanks for sharing. I need to get a set of mitts for the handlebars.
Another cheap tip. Only need 1 ice scratcher to keep the hyfax cool. Just used a leftover spare one. Works great, no need for 2.
Another cheap tip. Only need 1 ice scratcher to keep the hyfax cool. Just used a leftover spare one. Works great, no need for 2.
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mxracer299
Well-known member
A couple cheap tricks for your bike... if it's a 300 put in the thick base gasket and have your head cut to get 45 thousandths squish, red PV spring 2 1/2 turns in. Look inside your exhaust manifold and grind it flush where marches up to the cylinder, you can even trim it pretty well with a razor knife to take the lip off. Those things will give you some cheap hp, have your carb bored to 38mm or get one from JD jetting, good for another 3hp... Lots of room to gain power on a ktm for cheap!
What's the,advantage of the XP front arm?
It is longer so the front pivot is closer to the center of gravity so it takes weight off the ski and under accelleration transfers more to the back shock until the couplers engage. The ski is really light. I find it lifts sometimes in corners at 1/4 throttle. It may be too light for some people but I find I can always get more forward when I need to. Before this mod, I was always trying to get further back on the bike, not forward.
I rode back to back with almost the exact same bike with the stock arm and the stock arm was actually even harder to turn the bars from too much ski pressure. If I had a tss it might not be needed so much.
I did this on my apex and it made it feel lighter than most newer sleds but on vertical hard pack it would not steer at all. Since i climb vertical stuff alot on my apex I had to switch back to stock. I don't climb anything vertical on the bike so i haven't had any trouble with the forward pivot.
I rode back to back with almost the exact same bike with the stock arm and the stock arm was actually even harder to turn the bars from too much ski pressure. If I had a tss it might not be needed so much.
I did this on my apex and it made it feel lighter than most newer sleds but on vertical hard pack it would not steer at all. Since i climb vertical stuff alot on my apex I had to switch back to stock. I don't climb anything vertical on the bike so i haven't had any trouble with the forward pivot.
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DieselTwitch
Well-known member
I tired these for a while but found they kept killing my engine if I moved wrong with my arms, they hit the kill switch. I will agree they where nice when It was super stupid cold (-15!F)
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DieselTwitch
Well-known member
How doest the track port feel on it. I've thought about doing that as well. My 500 has plenty of tq but i do feel it could use some more track speed. did you measure how much weight it saved?
Turn the kill switch so it faces forward and you pull back with a finger to press the button.
I didn't measure the weight loss. But it rolls easier in my garage. less rubber to bend.
