Felker's clutch setup for 09 154X

[MtnDoo]

Dizzle,

You're spending a lot on sleds! More than the cost to setup a clutch by you know who.
I'm still boppin around on my old 08 clunker that's supposed to blow belts.

I'm running out of analogies. (actually that's not true, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night)
There's no secret sauce here, its just that the guy does his homework and charges accordingly for it. It's not for everybody.

If you just want parts and a xerox slip or an 800# to call, there are lots of well known good options.

RPM Motorsports in Lakewood will set you up with the parts your looking for and provide all of the SkiDoo OEM clutching specs for altitude - cheap! Great guys, really know their stuff - not sure if they've ever actually ridden a sled though. I think Duke1n went this route years ago. Wait.....they couldn't even get my Honda Snowblower to run right! Sorry....next.

Seriously, though - any of the mountain SkiDoo shops probably have developed less expensive setups that work well, and there are others that sell "kits" that know clutching pretty darn well who can help you cheaper.

Best of luck,

MD.


This isn't Felker, but may provide a little clutching motivation: CLICKY

 

[XC700116]

I don't think most people even know what is in their sled, or for that matter really care. They just care that it works!

While I agree with you I have a real hard time admitting this fact as I myself must know every nut and bolt in my sled. Drives me crazy not to. First thing I did when I got home from the dealer with mine was yank the clutches off and find out exactly what their setup was. Honestly I was not impressed with what was there but it worked well for a stock sled so I couldn't complain. Went out and broke in the motor and tore it apart again and had a modification festival in my garage.

I also know the pains that goes into a good clutching setup. Even when you know what your doing the testing time that goes into it is IMMENSE not to mention the price of buying a big azz box of clutching parts to try different combos with. I used to race Ice and Cross Country back home and in order to be competitive you had to have everything perfect day to day. This meant a different clutching and jetting package for every race and temperature swing of 10 degrees, and in MN altitude was a non-issue.

This does leads me to 3 statements about clutching setups for our style of riding.

1. NO setup is going to be perfect day to day.
2. NO setup will always translate perfectly from one sled to another even of the same make and model.
3. Honestly when you put together a package for the consumer market and it's beating the competition you are either lucky/good/both or your competition is Not.

That being said it is very hard to shovel out 7 bones when the competition is charging 3 and still getting much better than stock performance. It all lays in how much that extra $400 worth of performance is worth to you.

I also still think that it's a tough one to swallow to pay $400 more for the knowledge of the magic combination rather than parts it's a mental block that you need to get around. I agree that it is obviously a premium setup and that's what your paying for but it's still tough to swallow especially when you haven't personally ridden one of the sleds he has set up. This would be the case for most of the people asking questions I would assume, otherwise they would either not be interested or would be buying.

 

[MtnDoo]

For this reputed $400.00 premium, you'd think that Felker would be out of business by now - thwarted by the $300.00 bag of parts that works well in Minn or the UP.

See ya on the hill!

MD.

 

[BraapWraps]

I hate indecision, and I'm the captain of not being able to make up my mind. And this is how my mind would make it worse - I would worry about saving money, putting in a $300 kit and then going for the first ride and enjoying the new set up until a $700 kit comes along and spanks me and finally convinces me to buy the $700 kit. Now it cost me $1000 after all and a whole bunch of wasted time.

I'm going to have enough time wrapped up in reading and responding to this post that had I been working instead, I could have made enough money to buy a set-up

I'm telling ya, its all in the graphics anyway. You guys are looking way too far into this clutching stuff.

 

[bushy]

With Extreme gone maybe that price is what some people will have to pay to get their sled set up. I dunno, any other good skidoo wrenches on the front range? Is this shop taking advantage of the lack of competition? Can't say I'd blame them. The recession is probably taking a toll on them too. From what I've seen around I do believe that their shop will take care of your sled, but they do charge a premium. That said, I also believe you can get a bucket of parts and get pretty much the same performance if your handy with a wrench and don't mind putting in the time to learn. When all's said and done I might just as likely be better off, financially/emotionally, if I never cracked the hood on my sled. I do like to "tinker" though, and get satisfaction doing it myself. Got a bucket of burnt pistons and jugs for my trouble too. Ah well, this is my year!

 

[hoopers]

For this reputed $400.00 premium, you'd think that Felker would be out of business by now - thwarted by the $300.00 bag of parts that works well in Minn or the UP.

See ya on the hill!

MD.

I would just add, that if you buy a new sled from Felkers, the setup is included.

I've had two ski-doo's setup by Lynn, having purchased the sleds somewhere else. One of the ski-doo's was a new 2003 summit, purchased from a dealer in Utah. The summit was supposedly setup, but I decided to spend the $450 (what it cost in 2003), after much debate with myself.

I dont think there is anything special he does, except pretty much make sure everything on the sled is correct and tuned for Colorado.
I did watch him briefly on my 2003, and the first thing he did was check the clutch alignment (remember, this sled was supposedly setup by the Utah dealer), and it was waaaay off, which amazed me. I couldnt believe how far the clutch was off.
Lynn F told me that most clutches from the factory are not aligned....
So it made me wonder what else the factory forgets to do...

For this sled at least, it ran much much better after Felkers tuned it.

The other thing I consider is how much these sleds cost to begin with, and then to worry about 700 bucks....seems like penny wise, pound foolish...

the other point to consider is resale....I know there are many people that will only buy a used skidoo if its setup by Felkers...so maybe they are easier to sell when its time?

 

[trinitypowder]

The REV had Lynns port/clutch and ran great. The graphics made it untouchable. The XP has some stuff from a dude in Minnysoda, however, notice the WRAPS. The 860 was a great mod, but the stickers pushed me another 300 sled lengths up the hill! Save your money for Wes' set up

 

[BuffriderNP]

I've always woundered how the new sleds get the "setup" when the new year sleds havent even been on the snow yet. Guess work?

 

[gpr]

I think a few are looking over factors about the price of felkers kits. Felkers setup comes installed on the machine, so labor is added into the price. Also i believe it includes one of his custom made belts, not 100% sure on that one. But the belts are $140, so if you take your typically clutch kit, add in a new belt, and labor for installation his is right in line with anyone else. Also when you go threw felkers you know that one of the best in the business is going threw your clutch and it will be setup correctly and all parts are good to go.

 

[skibreeze]

I think a few are looking over factors about the price of felkers kits. Felkers setup comes installed on the machine, so labor is added into the price. Also i believe it includes one of his custom made belts, not 100% sure on that one. But the belts are $140, so if you take your typically clutch kit, add in a new belt, and labor for installation his is right in line with anyone else. Also when you go threw felkers you know that one of the best in the business is going threw your clutch and it will be setup correctly and all parts are good to go.

From the very beginning, that's all most of us wanted to know. Exactly what was included in the setup. (Not exactly what helix's and what not) Just what was included. Sad part is we still don't know exactly included.

 

[trinitypowder]

What's in the kit is Lynns time/labor, his expertise/knowledge, and the usual clutch parts. Lynn is NOT going to tell you what ramps, pins, etc are in it, 'cause if he did, his magics out! I didn't think he was up to $650, but maybe so. My '06 was $400 when Lynn did it. That sled came from Extreme(it was an unclaimed X model). My buddy from New Mexico brought three of his REV's up here last year, after trying the local dealer, to have Lynn do the clutches. He couldn't be happier! Lynn is a pretty good wrench. The dudes' got skills

 

[G_dub]

All I know is I had $25.30 in material for the graphics for Whitey and I charged him over $300 for it. Nobody complains about me making money. (to my face anyway - but thats cause I'm such a big guy I'd love to find a home builder to build me a home for the cost of material only. Its really ok, I'll go on record and say I have no prob with anybody making money. There will still be people to complain that Rooster Built charges too much and others that say I don't charge enough for the value they received. Its all relative - You determine the value for yourself and buy accordingly and happy shopping. Just beware, if everybody has a problem with dealers (and any business owner for that matter) making money, that business will not be able to survive and that could suck bad for our sport to lose dealers like Felkers. Buy a sled from Felkers and I'm pretty sure it comes with the set-up. Or buy a used Felker sled so the original owner can buy a new one with the new set-up because they will likely be repeat customers after riding one and dealing with them - that reminds me = For Sale, 2003 Rev, Stock motor, Stock pipe, Felker set-up, Braap Wraps wrap, 100mph plus with 2 1/2" paddles riding double with the wife on the back. And yes it still goes up hills. Make an offer... opening bid is $650

I'll Trade ya a slightly used RT1000 162 for your sled! No wrap on it to make some HP. Need's some clutch help But hey I like to tinker and work on my junk myself will it run with a Felker set up sled Well maybe if the track wasn't swiss cheesed but Lynn is good to talk a lot of knowledge should take a tape recorder with me when i'm in there so I can remember what all he told me. Now if someone around this state would set a POO up like Felker does DOO's that would be nice. Oh by the way Wes you wanna trade for the Dragon too?

G

 

[Rprecision]

Dosent that include one of his special gates belts as well ?

 

[Boondock]

Dosent that include one of his special gates belts as well ?

No one knows for sure......
Just a guess at this point.

 

[gpr]

No one knows for sure......
Just a guess at this point.

umm, if you are that concerned with what is generally included like ramps, belt, springs etc... why don't you call and ask? I'm sure they will tell you the general idea of what they do. they won't give the exact ramp #'s or spring but will probably tell you one is included. Just an idea..... I even bet they will tell you the price of the kit, as i don't think it is $700.

 

[MtnDoo]

Boondock,

The setup is not about a parts list. You can buy the same parts anywhere - there is no magic formula, or list of specs; just experience picking the right stuff for the application and building it properly so it works.

The thing folks like about Lynn and what he does is that he takes the time to do the R&D, and understand how the sled is used. Most shops simply follow BRP's manuals at best. Xtreme kind of developed kits too, and packaged it as their "RMX" kits. Lynn's version is a bit less packaged and more personalized to the sled & rider. Max Maxedon at Tri-City Poo in Utah is another one.. You're basically buying labor - the parts are not a big cost or profit item. If you were in the flat-lands where you ride the same elevation all of the time, a "kit" from XYZ company would probably do fine, but in the mountains there are different variables. (i.e. Cottonwood vs Wolf Creek)

I just bought another set of EXiT shocks from ZBroz - same deal. Shocks cost X$, and include valving, springs, etc.. If you're not happy with their 1st pass, they'll work on them until its right. Are they the cheapest? No. Most good mod shops take this approach - primarily because there is so slim margins in parts re-sales.

If you like for your sled to perform, he's got options.
If whatever he charges doesn't fit the budget - there are other options elsewhere.

Best of luck all,

MD.

Rprecision - the belts are $700.00 each.

 

[trinitypowder]

Dosent that include one of his special gates belts as well ?

I grenaded the first two "special belts" from Lynn/Gates. I took them back to Lynn and I got two new Gates for my troubles, free of charge. Not bad, eh? Most guys don't know how much and how hard Lynn rides. He's good for once a week(or more) and he doesn't p*ssy foot around. If he sees me out, he hops on my sled and gives 'er a spin. He either says, "yep shes good" or "come see tomorrow". He is one of the last dealers that truly loves riding and WRENCHING!! Most dealers have " Lil Jimmy" from MMI reading a book and fixing your sled the way some bean counter, starbucks drinking, tie wearing turd, in "Corporate World" says to. Lynn is not in "Corporate World"................. He's in the "real world" of the backcountry with the rest of us