Not super impressed with Pro-RMK

[mountainhorse]

Originally Posted by snowmobiler
its a good thing poo copied doo.should be a good sled

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...photos/nee.jpg

I think the top sled in the pic is a 163" XP... the bottom a 155" RMK... I dont think the proportions are correct.

I have personally been on both 2011 sleds for some serious seat time... they are not even remotely similar in the way they feel or handle... two different sleds for sure.

Jorli... I see what you are getting at... It is funny though that there are many accomplished riders like Rasmussen, Burandt, Adams and many other riders that think just the oposite about the steering and find the Ski Doo/Nytros to not feel "right".

The Tapio Bros are hard core hillclimbers and elite level mountain riders... their focus is still on RMSHA events and that is what they train for... Others have done the over the engine steering mods on different sleds like Williamson etc... The IQ-RACERS have over the engine steering too.

After riding with Burandt and seeing just what he can do with his Cats and now the PRO-RMK's... I still boil it down to rider preference rather than one design is better than the other.

I have seen equally amazing drops/jumps/boondocking/climbing on Cats/Polaris/Ski-Doo from many elite level riders who can have thier choice of "weapon" on the mountain and have access to some of the best fab shops out there.

RMSHA and Snowcross are two very specialized sports with very specialized needs.

Since all the RACE sleds from Polaris/Cat/Yamaha/Ski-Doo have over the engine steering...the type of steering position that also affects rider position on the sled...is the way to go for a snowcross machine and how they ride.

When a snowcross racer rides different terrain... they naturally want to ride what they are used to. Snowcrossers and especially snowcrossers turned RMSHA climbers seem to like the over the engine steering.

I'm sure that there will be mods from these same people to the pro chassis setup when they want to tailor them to thier specialize form of riding style.

I really don't think it is a matter of "mountain riders don't know what they are missing" kind of scenario. The PRO-RMK started with a blank sheet of paper and had some of the best

IMO...The Cat Steering and the now similar Polaris PRO-chassis steering excell in the most of the terrain encountered in the mountain riding environment.

 

[pura vida]

I think the top sled in the pic is a 163" XP... the bottom a 155" RMK... I dont think the proportions are correct.

well the sticker does say 154 but that doesn't necessarily mean anything.

 

[mountainhorse]

I stand corrected...though I still cant read the track length... I'm getting old!!

Anyway... Rode the 2011 Pro-RMK and 2011 Summit X back to back same day... two very different sleds... the Pro is also a bit more narrow. The summit is more rider fwd and a bit more top heavy IMO... which ONLY relates to rider preference.

Is one sled better than the other... depends on who is riding it and what they are used to.

 

[Snodawg]

I stand corrected...though I still cant read the track length... I'm getting old!!

Anyway... Rode the 2011 Pro-RMK and 2011 Summit X back to back same day... two very different sleds... the Pro is also a bit more narrow. The summit is more rider fwd and a bit more top heavy IMO... which ONLY relates to rider preference.

Is one sled better than the other... depends on who is riding it and what they are used to.

Well Said!!!

 

[Jorli]

I think the top sled in the pic is a 163" XP... the bottom a 155" RMK... I dont think the proportions are correct.

I have personally been on both 2011 sleds for some serious seat time... they are not even remotely similar in the way they feel or handle... two different sleds for sure.

Jorli... I see what you are getting at... It is funny though that there are many accomplished riders like Rasmussen, Burandt, Adams and many other riders that think just the oposite about the steering and find the Ski Doo/Nytros to not feel "right".

The Tapio Bros are hard core hillclimbers and elite level mountain riders... their focus is still on RMSHA events and that is what they train for... Others have done the over the engine steering mods on different sleds like Williamson etc... The IQ-RACERS have over the engine steering too.

After riding with Burandt and seeing just what he can do with his Cats and now the PRO-RMK's... I still boil it down to rider preference rather than one design is better than the other.

I have seen equally amazing drops/jumps/boondocking/climbing on Cats/Polaris/Ski-Doo from many elite level riders who can have thier choice of "weapon" on the mountain and have access to some of the best fab shops out there.

RMSHA and Snowcross are two very specialized sports with very specialized needs.

Since all the RACE sleds from Polaris/Cat/Yamaha/Ski-Doo have over the engine steering...the type of steering position that also affects rider position on the sled...is the way to go for a snowcross machine and how they ride.

When a snowcross racer rides different terrain... they naturally want to ride what they are used to. Snowcrossers and especially snowcrossers turned RMSHA climbers seem to like the over the engine steering.

I'm sure that there will be mods from these same people to the pro chassis setup when they want to tailor them to thier specialize form of riding style.

I really don't think it is a matter of "mountain riders don't know what they are missing" kind of scenario. The PRO-RMK started with a blank sheet of paper and had some of the best

IMO...The Cat Steering and the now similar Polaris PRO-chassis steering excell in the most of the terrain encountered in the mountain riding environment.

Yeah, for sure, you are completely correct. I actually had this discussion with Chris Burandt, we just differ in opinion-I know I'm treading on thin ice by differing with the "man", but we have different terrain than what he rides in Colorado and I still enjoy jumping and more of our riding is centered around going downhill. Most of the guys around here that are riding Cats and Polaris have tailored their riding to be more technical, I'm not ready to give up what I love about sledding, I'd like to find a solution that works for me with the Pro, seeing as I'm almost 99% sold on it. The other 1%, change the steering!

 

[mountainhorse]

Jorli..I haven't spent anytime on a Pro, just checked out the pics on the website with curiosity


I'd like to find a solution that works for me with the Pro, seeing as I'm almost 99% sold on it. The other 1%, change the steering!

Try it and then make up your mind...The steering is actually something that Polaris put a lot of time into the design on with the PRO-RMK's

The rush thing can be done.... The PRO-Chassis SB Assault has the Rush steering parts on it...There are no part numbers out yet for the SB... From what I've heard at this point... the front tubes and rear upright/stirrup tubes of the "pyramid" are different than the Pro RMK/Assault-RMK's... The rear upright (#6) is part of the upper cast piece. The steering post itself is different as well... the RUSH is a pivot style post...

All that said, the RUSH does not have anywhere near the same rear-canted post angle as the XP.

The Rush steering will not move you to a more rider forward position which is what all of the snowcross machines have in common with the XP...The XP is more rider fwd than the PRO which is cumbersome to many....
I guess it is hard for you to unlearn your body-habits on the race sleds...IMO, you should try though... And it wont happen in a day or two of riding, I'm confident in that.

Whatever you do...enjoy your ride and report back to us when you try out the new Pro-Chassis.

 

[steveo10]

3 of us spent the day on a new Pro-RMK 155. Its a very stable sled, too much so. It wants to stay planted like the Ski-doo XP. Did not feel near as playful as our 09 Dragons. Felt much heavier, in the front end, and was much more difficult to turn just using your feet. The Rep stated it felt that way because the chassis was so much stiffer. Yes it was better on the trails and bumps, will also be a great hillclimber, but they copied the XP way too much, Ski- Doo fans should love it. We stopped our spring order, going to keep our 09 and buy a left over 2010. Hopefully they will make future models more nimble again. All 3 of us felt it was way to stiff, and not near as flickable as the current IQ. The motor felt a little stronger in the mid, but not like you see in the videos. My 09 with a pipe and head mod felt a lot snappier. Just my 2 cents worth.

Pro rmk is a great machine for sure, they did some homework. rides super smooth but didnt have the power thought one would (pre production model???)

gonna take a couple of years of the RMK to tweak to get some repect as the xp.

 

[Jorli]

Try it and then make up your mind...The steering is actually something that Polaris put a lot of time into the design on with the PRO-RMK's

The rush thing can be done.... The PRO-Chassis SB Assault has the Rush steering parts on it...There are no part numbers out yet for the SB... From what I've heard at this point... the front tubes and rear upright/stirrup tubes of the "pyramid" are different than the Pro RMK/Assault-RMK's... The rear upright (#6) is part of the upper cast piece. The steering post itself is different as well... the RUSH is a pivot style post...

All that said, the RUSH does not have anywhere near the same rear-canted post angle as the XP.

The Rush steering will not move you to a more rider forward position which is what all of the snowcross machines have in common with the XP...The XP is more rider fwd than the PRO which is cumbersome to many....
I guess it is hard for you to unlearn your body-habits on the race sleds...IMO, you should try though... And it wont happen in a day or two of riding, I'm confident in that.

Whatever you do...enjoy your ride and report back to us when you try out the new Pro-Chassis.

Thanks, I checked the part fiches and part numbers, Its just so hard to say until you get in there and see the physicals. I'm not worried about whether the handlebar position is a couple inches behind the XP, its more of a question of the rear cant of the steering post that I believe will affect the steering of the sled, as you mentioned. Anyways hopefully the machines will arrive soon in the dealerships and I can check them out and see what is up.

Thanks for the input Mountainhorse and I was actually looking at a large mural painting of your picture ID in Sachi Sushi in Whistler last night. I thought I'd seen that somewhere before. Cheers!-J

 

[mountainhorse]

Jorli,

The part numbers are not out for the Switchbacks yet....What part numbers from the currently available fiche are you using?

The RUSH tank and the RMK/Switchback fuel tank are different as are the steering hoop (rear upright).

The Rush hoop will not fit the RMK Tanks from what I'm told. You'll have to buy the SB parts to make it work on the RMK IMO.

Whatever you get... enjoy it!!

 

[Scott]

I stand corrected...though I still cant read the track length... I'm getting old!!

Anyway... Rode the 2011 Pro-RMK and 2011 Summit X back to back same day... two very different sleds... the Pro is also a bit more narrow. The summit is more rider fwd and a bit more top heavy IMO... which ONLY relates to rider preference.

Is one sled better than the other... depends on who is riding it and what they are used to.

Exactly.

 

[mountainhorse]

its a good thing poo copied doo.should be a good sled

I thought this was a good photo in this months print magazine...

Shows just how narrow the cab of a Pro RMK is, compared to an XP....

One of the big strong suits that I noticed while riding the PRO-RMK is how tenaciously the sled clings to a steep sidehill because there is no bodywork dragging in the snow.

 

[1Mike900]

I for one being an old CAT rider would go with the Pro Ride! If you would want it to climb better look at the track approach angles. The Ski D has a shallower aproach angle from the top as the Poo is steeper in this section. I wonder if this is the reason the SkiD is heavier feeling up front? Further away mounting points and further space before track hits ground? For flat out looks the Poo wins hands down "Mean" If you take your thumb and wipe out the front windshields of ea., you will see that the SkiD looks like an old REV body style kinda rounded. Poo is setting a new std. and Cat has to get with the program as their chassis is getting archaic!

MIke