Fighting the front ski

[h2orider]

I'm on a KTM 520.
The front ski feels likes it's being buried. On trails it's like fighting a bull. It's wearing me out. Side hilling is even a fight it wants to grab every little rut. Very frustrating.
Any suggestions on suspension or fork adjustments to make it lighter on the front end?
Help!

 

[DieselTwitch]

What did you set the trail at when you installed the kit? Also if you have ice build up on the bottom it will act the same.

 

[h2orider]

Did not set the trail.
I did have some snow buildup a few times, but used some wd40 and that did the trick.

 

[DieselTwitch]

I forgot to ask what kit you have. If you have a Mountain horse then you set the tail when you drilled the holes on the spindle.

 

[mnsnowhawk]

Yep. What year kit and what ski setup will help us with your setup. Give us more details on you current setup.

 

[portgrinder]

Sorta went thru the same thing myself the first few rides. what i figured is its very much like riding baja sand really fast if you've ever done that.

get your weight back a bit and just forget about the ruts. the more you micro-manage where your ski is the worse it gets.

adjusting your rear skid so it will rock back more will take some weight off your ski too

 

[DieselTwitch]

Sorta went thru the same thing myself the first few rides. what i figured is its very much like riding baja sand really fast if you've ever done that.

get your weight back a bit and just forget about the ruts. the more you micro-manage where your ski is the worse it gets.

adjusting your rear skid so it will rock back more will take some weight off your ski too

Great answer! I found that on the trail the faster you go the better!

In the deep stuff lean back like he said. I've also thought about installing rear pegs on the track tunnel when I really wan to get that front end up, just an idea.

 

[1dn5up]

take the ski off and look at the carbides. mine was acting strange last ride after hitting a rock and the center one was bent up and into the ski. had to use a hammer to get it out then straighten it to get the right curve

 

[h2orider]

I have a mountain horse LT.
i get the rut thing, similar to a dirt bike, but the ski is simply burying itself with what seems to be so much downward pressure that it's fight for every foot, particular on a descending trail. Seems fine I deep powder.
I believe I drilled the holes for the ski so that the ski had some upward angle.
I rode my friends bike for a few minutes and his was so light up front, I was amazed.
I wondered why it seemed so easy for him while I was hanging on and fighting.

 

[DieselTwitch]

Take a photo of where your front shoe mounts to the forks, I'm guessing your ski is to far forward. You need a certen amount of rake for the ski to work right

 

[Hawkster]

This is very interesting , I was wondering how you guys and gals have been dealing with the new ski . It seemed to us that this ski at times would take over the front end but it also has to do it to compensate for the push the bike set up does . It's quite an improvement over the gen II , she runs it on her 503 and it totally rocks , turning radius is killer and like a few have said it can be driven one handed with virtually no feed back in some conditions . I also thought for your set up that a more tamed down version of the T/S ski would be the next model . To each their own .

 

[h2orider]

Here are a couple of pictures

 

[DieselTwitch]

Yeah your ski is way to far forward.

 

[h2orider]

Another picture

 

[DieselTwitch]

That may have been in haste, Take a picture just like this one.

 

[h2orider]

 

[DieselTwitch]

We need to see the distance from the back of the clamp to the back of the shoe. For a good balance trial to deep snow control should be ~ 1/4 to 1/8"

 

[h2orider]

View attachment 224711

 

[h2orider]

By the way this is last years ski, not the new one for this year.

 

[DieselTwitch]

Omg! Yeah your ski is WAY to farward! You have to "trail" it's called. On yours the center of pressure on the ski is almost forward of the axis of steer. Make yours look more like mine and your problems will be solved