All I can think is different year, different set-up? I know he thought the 24 was different than previous years.
Ski-Doo vs Polaris: Handling differences?
- Thread starter Rob.G
- Start date
Try again now.
Nice work.
I addressed the twitchy throttle effect by switching to Dynamo Joes clutching. The clutch engagement is smoother and at a slower engine speed. His kit is very nice when picking your way through the trees which requires a lot of on/off throttle control. On trail or in open meadows stock was OK.
Cinno
Joe has done a SOLID job in creating clutch kits for all of the Doos from 2008 forward.
www.ibackshift.com
Ski-Doo 850 Clutch Kits - Shop Clutch Kits
A complete ski-doo clutch kit designed to drastically improve acceleration, back-shift while improving top MPH.
www.ibackshift.com
He’s been the GOAT on skidoo clutching for a lot longer than that.Joe has done a SOLID job in creating clutch kits for all of the Doos from 2008 forward.
Ski-Doo 850 Clutch Kits - Shop Clutch Kits
A complete ski-doo clutch kit designed to drastically improve acceleration, back-shift while improving top MPH.
View attachment 424370
Late 90’s.
I have a brand new kit for my 24 Turbo down in the garage waiting to be installed for this season.
the high engagement on summits is lame. once you go with an ibackshift clutch kit, you'll put it in subsequent sleds and they go in my sleds before they touch the snow-no need to ride it first then order the kit. as for twitchy throttle, never noticed it.
There's alot of really nice m7s out there for sale, M8s too.
You should get one of those for a grand and see if it handles the way you remember.
Stepping stones
Plus a guy can't have too many sleds
You should get one of those for a grand and see if it handles the way you remember.
Stepping stones
Plus a guy can't have too many sleds
I wouldn't go as far as calling it lame. I notices the twitch right away as I recently switched from an Arctic Cat 800 Alpha which is rather sluggish at engagement. My long term Skidoo buddies don't even consider the "twitch" as a thing as they never drive any other sled manufacturers. The Skidoo P-drive is amazing with its low inertia and clickers, as is the low end torque of the 850. At sea level the engagement rpm is lower and the twitch a lot less noticeable but as you go up in altitude things get out of hand. I think the Skidoo engineers gave up on high altitude clutch tuning and simply settled for a calibration that minimizes the change in components from sea level to high elevation to reduce costs. Joey is masterful clutch tuner and strives for perfection. He doesn't talk much about his mysterious "popeye arms" in his kit. Maybe that his secret but what do I know, it just enjoy driving it!
Cinno
lame may not be the best word but maybe “why” is. first time ever on a mtn sled was a ‘20 Freeride and the high engagement had me puzzled but I figured the reason would be apparent as I gained experience. did some research so I installed an iBackshift kit. the improvement in everything from engagement to performance was not insignificant so I wondered why the factory setup was so far off the mark. i know it’s all about cost and appealing to the broadest base but I feel doo can do better.
Those two issues right there account for quite a bit of whats going on.
What is the redeeming part of all of this is just how "Easy" it is to TUNE these sleds to be EXACTLY what we want them to be though..
true and clutch kits are cheap and not too difficult to install.
All things considered, it has to be a freaking BEAR to design a general sled for this market segment.
So many of us each want something just slightly different!
And That’s why different brands exist. (Except Yamaha, they are leaving the chat)
Sad to see them go.
While heavy, they actually built a pretty decent sled back in the day.
Just replying to my own post to put a finer point on the "twitch". I believe the reason some detect a twitch and others don't is that it may in fact be related to how aggressive the sled shifts as a function of the clicker position and pin weight. There is very detailed explanation of the effects of clicker position in the Skidoo Racing Manual Section 8 Subsection 5.
Quote " In a racing context, the ramp cam adjustment can be used to fine tune engine acceleration...In position 1 and 2, the engine will reach its peak every quickly with some overshoot. This means that the drive clutch will apply less pressure on the belt in its transition between engagement and peak rpm. This could be desirable in fluffy snow conditions that offer little traction" " Position 3 is a good all around position." " In position 4 and 5 the clutch will clamp the belt early after engagement, slowing down the climb in rpm. This can be beneficial in wet snow where a lot of traction is available.
On my 2019 summit 850 175" the factory calibration above 8000 ft recommends position 4 or 5 with the lowest pin weight available. This calibration also raises the engagement from 3300 rpm at sea level to 4100 rpm at ~8K. So IMO the stock factory calibration forces you to a higher clicker position to get rated max shift rpm because there is no lighter weight pin available. With this calibration the belt clamps early at the higher engine engagement rpm which leads to the dreaded "twitch".
Joeys setup lowers the engagement down to about ~2900 rpm at 8K elevation and allows to to run any clicker you want by having an extremely wide assortment of weights using steel at low elevation and titanium at high elevation, a selection good to over 14K. I have always run at clicker 3 but I'm going to experiment in '24 given this new knowledge.
Cinno
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Op your 850 Matryx Khaos is one of the lightest handling machines on the snow. Maybe this is largely dependent on experience, anatomy, and riding style, but I was on a Boost and hadn’t ridden a NA sled in a while so decided to try my wife’s 850 Matryx Pro RMK 165. The thing felt so light, “flickable”, and fast handling that I sold the Boost as soon as I got back from that trip….lol. I just felt SO connected on that NA Matryx…
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