There are different kits that will appeal to different riding conditions for sure, The lite weight Yeti is designed more for the powder rider and some other kits which wheelie easily will not work best in deep powder. Ski lift kills powder climbing performance , For groups sitting at a hill for hours doing tricks find the lite poppy front end will be a better choice , For deep powder climbing the Yeti cant be beat ,Last years Yeti had a very soft track and in 2023 they stiffened it up considerably and work better yet . Track design and stiffness clearly help determine where these kits will shine, however weight is always a factor when floating on a compressible surface. Mtn Top looks good and is more as the poppy type kit, The yeti cost a bit more however you get all Titanium bolts ,shafts , belt drive, carbon tunnel all which clearly are tech advancements. I cant wait to put the two kits side by side on the powder hill. I agree its expensive however a head of lettuce just cost me $699 and it wont get me up any mountain"
Mtn. Top Snowbikes
- Thread starter teal_210
- Start date
We are off lettuce.
Mtn Top bolts right on CMX spindle.. its a little loose but so is a TS ski when I put it on. The CMX rubber can be used with the Mtn Top ski that helps take some of the slop out.
I cut a cheap tree wedge to use as a shim to take out some of the slack.
I haven't ridden on it yet. I may give it a test run this week.
Great! Looking forward to the report. I'm not against buying a CMX spindle, to replace my carbon fiber Yeti spindle, if the ski is worth it. The CMX spindles are slick looking. Not sure of the weight compared to the carbon spindle. I'll dig around for weight specs.
Oh, and to clarify, where I feel the current yeti ski has handling deficiency is on crusty snow. You mentioned ice. When I think ice, I think icy trails. I haven't had any issues with my 2020 Yeti ski on that. Just lean it over, ride hard, and trust it. But it is on crusty snow (Read: Spring thaw and freeze cycles) where the ski hooks over and over. The only way to ride that is do quick little carves back and forth, which works in the open areas, but you can't do that sidehilling on crust so it's yank, yank, yank. And so it is that crusty snow condition I'm looking to cure...though not willing to give up too much powder performance. So to clarify, when you said the late model CMX ski is no better "on late season ice", were you talking about crusty snow or about icy trails? Curious because the last edition of CMX skis have straight edges which was supposed to cure the issue in crusty snow. Thanks.
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The CMX ski is almost unrideable in the spring crust, it's twitchy and grabby. On ice trails it's not fun either.
I got a bad case of tennis elbow last spring that I believe was brought on by the CMX ski. That was when I swapped to the TS ski.
On top of that I burning through a skeg in less than a season.
This year I have a studboy welded to the skeg. I've got 1 ride on this and it's much better on the ice in the parking lot and doesn't seem to have any significant impact in the powder.
Thanks for that detail. I guess I'll wait for reports on Mtn Top ski on trail, powder and spring crust before I buy since I'll need to replace spindle as well. I might take the chance if it was an easier swap and worked on the Yeti spindle.
An aftermarket skeg can make a huge difference. Back three kits ago (the last time I ran Timbersled kit which was a 2014 kit), the stock skeg was a death trap. It would grab on rocks/dirt/grass so hard it would instantly stop you and throw you over the bars. Grinding down the leading edge of that stock metal was the first thing I did to it. But the real charm was when I replaced stock with a "Original Gold Standard Triple Point Skeg". That was the best money I ever spend on a ski. Jumping ahead to my next two kits (CMX and then Yeti), I have to say the Yeti ski is light years ahead of that 2014 Timbersled ski and I'm sure the modern Timbersled skis have also evolved to be much better. Will be very interested to hear if the Mtn Top ski is another incremental improvement or simply trades improved performance in one condition for less performance in another condition. Not interested in having to change out the ski as the season/conditions change, so I'll go with the one ski that works in all conditions. Time/reports will tell if the Mtn Top is it.
That's awesome idea!
So you can buy a studboy for whatever bike/sled and cut it off to fit th length you need? Then Grind the OEM rails down flat and weld it on?
I basically like the Yeti ski, except for when you get a rock stuck in the skeg. All you can do is brace for impact because you are going down. I've had 3 pretty good trail wrecks over the years on the Yeti ski.
M5
M5
You can weld any thing you have laying around to the stock keel but it's best to grind all the excess runner off the stock base before you weld. I have had good luck with random single carbide skegs from sleds. But the triple carbide are just slightly better if you have money to burn.
Good luck trying to find one ski that's perfect year round... Won't happen in my lifetime. Many guys seem ok with 10k price tag on kits and the PIA of swapping back in summer so just buy 2 skis and look at snotel before you go ride and swap the ski quick in the morning. It's not much harder than fussing with a wheel kit.
Can you fit one to a 2000 YZ 400F? Currently running a camso 129DTS. Used a snowtechMX sprocket shaft to make custom bushings on my lathe to fit the camso to the steel frame YZ. Running C3 bars and a custom carb heat coolant hose loop and heated bars with a grainger coolant manifold set up. Looking forward to my first ride for the 22/23 season!
I'm pretty sure they won't have a fit kit specific to that bike, but fitting it up should be pretty simple. You'll be able to buy a generic fit kit, which you cut down to fit between the frame and engine cases. Then adjust the adjustable arms on the Mtn. Top frame to align the chain. Set the strut length and you're done. The spindle should mount up just fine with no modifications.
MTN Top has no fit kits at all. Its all adjustable mounts . Call Allen he can tell you if it will work.
There is a fit kit, it's much more simple than what where used to, but there are still fitment parts. 2 bushings at the swing arm and 2 at the upper shock mount.
I'm curious what's the plan of putting a $10k kit on a yz400? Sorry, I can't help thinking it's heavy and slow. Almost any other bike with any other kit would probably be better and cheaper in the end. I don't want to hurt feelings if it's got some personal appeal to you. I'm on a vintage ktm 360 because it's 60hp and it smokes a lot. Some old bikes do work well but still hard to justify bolting 10 grand to it. If it were me I'd keep the yz camso as a backup bike and get something else to mount the new kit on. It's so nice having a spare ready to go.
J
JimBridger
Well-known member
I'll just leave this here.... lightweight kits doing lightweight things.
So how did you do that? Details please.
J
JimBridger
Well-known member
Meeting up with this crew tomorrow. I'll get the deets.
J
JimBridger
Well-known member
Ok guys. The bogey wheel axle is not loc-tited from the factory. This was a brand new 0 hr kit. This individual rode down 2 miles of trail and as soon as he jumped off the trail and got on it, the axle came partially out and turned sideways. This derailed the track and bent the skid and tunnel.
If you have a mnt top, go loc-tite everything immediately, especially the rear axle. I understand the spindle already has a recall as well.
If you have a mnt top, go loc-tite everything immediately, especially the rear axle. I understand the spindle already has a recall as well.
