Yeti front ski mount set up pure garbage?

[coryf89]

first ride ever on my yeti kit, I busted the front ski right off. came out of a tiny water crossing riding on my damn fork legs. what a nightmare that was. also ruined my lower fork tubes in the process...

so I ordered a new center blade... apparently an item they sell LOTS of. obvious design flaw. $125 blade later and 2 new $200 clamps and its good as new (which still isnt that tough IMO)

second ride out, first ride on the new center blade.... its broken already!!!! im a beginner rider and rode trail for an hour, and powder for an hour. I looked at it while in the garage and I can see its cracking already. all the timbersled skis ive seen look literally bombproof. WTF?!?!? the parts I broke were nearly $600, not to mention technically needing 2 new lower fork tubes, thats a $1000+ bill right there. not impressed with this at all, neither was the large group I was riding with... sure didnt put out a good name for yeti or snowbikes in general having mine crumble apart like this first ride, AND second ride pretty much.


its the carbon fiber pieces.. mainly that center blade... mainly that hole where the axle goes through. why is it so thin and chintzy?? ive emailed yeti about this... but if its anything like last time, I wont get a reply back for 3 weeks.

when sitting in the snow, bike stopped... I can turn the bars and watch all 3 carbon fiber pieces flex in the ski assembly. its scary. never been a fan of that stuff.

at this point, I am having these yeti center blades custom made from aluminum, AND made beefier around the axle... none of this 1/4" worth of material around the axles circumference BS anymore. its going to be significantly stronger than the weak stock carbon fiber blades. I think ill leave the side blades until they give me problems, then those are getting made from aluminum also. and yes my axle is tight.

I am having 3 of these center blades made for a 13 ktm 450 (YPSP1815D5), if anyone else is interested or having problems. WAY stronger than yetis carbon fibre, AND cheaper... its a tad heavier though :rollseyes:

page 24: https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...e/1512524328533/YETI+BOM+Drawings+MY+2017.pdf

 

[Ben 500RR-S]

That blows chow. It sucks that you have to resort to making your own parts in order to fix or repair something that you have already paid for but just breaks when used normally.

 

[byeatts]

first ride ever on my yeti kit, I busted the front ski right off. came out of a tiny water crossing riding on my damn fork legs. what a nightmare that was. also ruined my lower fork tubes in the process...

so I ordered a new center blade... apparently an item they sell LOTS of. obvious design flaw. $125 blade later and 2 new $200 clamps and its good as new (which still isnt that tough IMO)

second ride out, first ride on the new center blade.... its broken already!!!! im a beginner rider and rode trail for an hour, and powder for an hour. I looked at it while in the garage and I can see its cracking already. all the timbersled skis ive seen look literally bombproof. WTF?!?!? the parts I broke were nearly $600, not to mention technically needing 2 new lower fork tubes, thats a $1000+ bill right there. not impressed with this at all, neither was the large group I was riding with... sure didnt put out a good name for yeti or snowbikes in general having mine crumble apart like this first ride, AND second ride pretty much.


its the carbon fiber pieces.. mainly that center blade... mainly that hole where the axle goes through. why is it so thin and chintzy?? ive emailed yeti about this... but if its anything like last time, I wont get a reply back for 3 weeks.

when sitting in the snow, bike stopped... I can turn the bars and watch all 3 carbon fiber pieces flex in the ski assembly. its scary. never been a fan of that stuff.

at this point, I am having these yeti center blades custom made from aluminum, AND made beefier around the axle... none of this 1/4" worth of material around the axles circumference BS anymore. its going to be significantly stronger than the weak stock carbon fiber blades. I think ill leave the side blades until they give me problems, then those are getting made from aluminum also. and yes my axle is tight.

I am having 3 of these center blades made, for $60 CAD a piece for a 13 ktm 450 (YPSP1815D5), if anyone else is interested or having problems. WAY stronger than yetis carbon fibre, AND cheaper... its a tad heavier though :rollseyes:

page 24: https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...e/1512524328533/YETI+BOM+Drawings+MY+2017.pdf


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First of all do your axle specters absolutely fit tight into the center blade hole ? there are different center blade hole sizes and different axle spacers which need to be used, if the wrong spacer is used the spindle will fail, over all the Yeti spindles in general are the strongest of any.it is impossible to destroy 1/4 inch carbon in the manner you describe if it put together with the right parts and talent. something IS a miss on the install.

 

[chumbilly1]

Yea, I havnt seen that before. gnarly for sure. I feel the yeti spindle is bomber. You 2018 ski survived that? If so im surprised!

 

[Hawkster]

Holy crap man , that's some serious abuse .

Your must be one of those guys that can wreck an anvil with a rubber hammer

You just took a thorough bred kit and flogged it like a old mule .

These kits are introducing a whole new line of junk to the market and it's not the kits , it's what's left of the bikes . I wouldn't give you a cent for a current model bike after one season on the snow .

That's what I take from those photos , not bagging on you man , you obviously ride hard .

It's a kit , it can not do what the bike was designed to do in it's natural form .

 

[Misha Subo]

IMO using carbon fire in the form of a sheet with its interrupted grain flowing right through the axle hole is a poor choice of material. Carbon fibre has its merits when used as a layup, vacuum bagged into a core/cavity form. It looks as though the Yeti kit simply uses a purchased pre-formed sheet of carbon which is then water-jet cut to shape?

This is perfect application for aluminium sheet, CNC cut to shape, with careful consideration given to stress optimization. But here's the scoop (and this is a fact) - companies want to dazzle consumers (who usually do not know what they are looking at) with eye candy. And in today's day and age, carbon fibre gives guys an erection.

We need to all educate ourselves more, to not give into this lame material marketing. I would say using carbon, for strength, low mass and stiffness, in the rear frame can be beneficial but comes at an obvious cost...fine for those who want to pay for the bling with only minor benefits. On the spindle however - should not be as a profile sheet, rather only as a carefully laid up, optimized shape - which would increase cost even more to the point where you'd pay $1K more for the kit.

Your aluminium replacement will be better than the original.

 

[Niseko]

Dam.. by the look of the the aluminum spacers and clamps it looks like its been ridden though rocks not snow.

I like that the carbon flexes... better then forks!.

We break skis before carbon spindle.
Skis will be upgraded on warranty I hear.

Carbon breaks before metal... I like that too.. cheaper...

 

[coryf89]

IMO using carbon fire in the form of a sheet with its interrupted grain flowing right through the axle hole is a poor choice of material. Carbon fibre has its merits when used as a layup, vacuum bagged into a core/cavity form. It looks as though the Yeti kit simply uses a purchased pre-formed sheet of carbon which is then water-jet cut to shape?

This is perfect application for aluminium sheet, CNC cut to shape, with careful consideration given to stress optimization. But here's the scoop (and this is a fact) - companies want to dazzle consumers (who usually do not know what they are looking at) with eye candy. And in today's day and age, carbon fibre gives guys an erection.

We need to all educate ourselves more, to not give into this lame material marketing. I would say using carbon, for strength, low mass and stiffness, in the rear frame can be beneficial but comes at an obvious cost...fine for those who want to pay for the bling with only minor benefits. On the spindle however - should not be as a profile sheet, rather only as a carefully laid up, optimized shape - which would increase cost even more to the point where you'd pay $1K more for the kit.

Your aluminium replacement will be better than the original.

this is 100% correct!!!! I couldnt agree more. never have liked carbon fibre... guys use it in the dirtbike world for skidplates on rocks and stuff...yeah right.

heres some pics of the piece I had made up. it works awesome. 2 hard rides on it so far.

not sure why those spacers look so beat up. im a beginner and havnt done anything too crazy or special yet. yes the axle is tight and lined up nicely.

 

[Misha Subo]

Just say NO to carbon!

Way to go on your astute, independent observations about the carbon (bling) fibre factor. I still have faith in the male side of the human race when I see people fabing up their own replacements to the lame attempts by manufacturers at the use of carbon fibre. Carbon has its place but not in that application.

 

[El Gringo]

While there is no doubt that the piece you have made will be stronger than the carbon piece that it replaces, I think the thing you are not considering is that the next time you hit something you will possibly destroy both fork legs instead of kinking one. It's like the A arms of a sled, if you make them too strong, they survive an impact, but you destroy your bulkhead instead, much more expensive and difficult to fix. I know that it was a big bill to repair the damage done by the first impact, but now that force will be transferred elsewhere. Jamie and Kevin are pretty smart guys, perhaps they made that piece with impact energy absorption in mind? Just my 2 cents.

 

[portgrinder]

Haha this is hilarious. Did you put it together with vise grips?

Sorry bud. Zero sympathy from me. My guess is you're leaving part of the story out. I've been riding a yeti kit since the 14/15 season, and my front spindle is still mint. Probably have 200hrs on it. Literally have not touched it.

 

[chumbilly1]

Haha this is hilarious. Did you put it together with vise grips?

Sorry bud. Zero sympathy from me. My guess is you're leaving part of the story out. I've been riding a yeti kit since the 14/15 season, and my front spindle is still mint. Probably have 200hrs on it. Literally have not touched it.

Im guessing loose fork clamps and wrong axle spacers.

 

[coryf89]

Haha this is hilarious. Did you put it together with vise grips?

Sorry bud. Zero sympathy from me. My guess is you're leaving part of the story out. I've been riding a yeti kit since the 14/15 season, and my front spindle is still mint. Probably have 200hrs on it. Literally have not touched it.

leaving out part of the story like what? I have no reason to lie about this and im not here for sympathy. I hit minor things, small rocks, snow walls that came to dead stops, maybe even the odd tree well. who doesnt? it was nothing crazy. im a beginner on a $35,000 machine. I babied it for the most part. the ski still crumbled. and you know what? I asked the previous owner/builder if he ever broke the ski and he said yup, lots.

then I googled it, came across the yeti site, and you know what? even THEY said its a common to break item, and they sell them for about $100 a piece. seems like they sell 50+ a year of those center, and outer blades!!! (I just keep breaking my center).

then I came here and seen right away that guys are breaking 2018 skis right on the first page of the snowbike forum. so am I the one lying? or are you basically the only yeti user out there who hasnt broken the chitty yeti ski??? seriously, my second ride ever was soo lame, and I still cracked that brand new piece, everything went together perfectly. I race and build dirtbikes all summer. this is easy. even with the new piece, in the snow, with the skag firmly planted, I gave the bars a small jerk and could see the CF pieces flexing... not cool. my buddy noticed too. he wasnt impressed.


it could very well be built with the fork tubes in mind. maybe the extra leverage on the tips of the forks like that hurts? maybe they never thought of it? even if they added more meat around the axle, and still kept it carbon fiber material it would still work, but they made it so damn thin. I guess well report back and see how it works.

the timber sled guys arent breaking fork legs off are they? their spindle (is that what its called?) is pure steel and bombproof. they must be breaking the bottom part/ski if anything.

 

[needpowder]

Unfortunately, yes. The new timbersled spindles are not fairing well. The old ones were bomber, but the new ones are much weaker. I have also seen plenty of dented fork tubes with the timbersled system. Often people have no idea until they take it apart and then see it.
Don’t see too many broken timbersled skis though.

 

[summitboy]

If your always breaking the center blade on a newer kit you have either something put together wrong or you keep smashing it. The force it takes to break the thicker center plate is great. My money is put together wrong. I smashed the front end so hard one time i flew out the front door like a rag doll. I thought the entire front end was toast. There was barely a scratch on the unit. I have never broken any blade on the front. The TS front slindle was a pile. It bent on a regular basis. To say the Yeti piece is inferior is not correct.

 

[M5-]

Unless they engineered that piece as being sacrificial and designed it to break, which I don't know if they did or didn't, a better material would be a carbon/Kevlar hybrid. Carbon works in compression but has very little strength in tension. Kevlar works in tension which is what makes the hybrid weaves so bomber for this type of part.



M5

 

[byeatts]

first ride ever on my yeti kit, I busted the front ski right off. came out of a tiny water crossing riding on my damn fork legs. what a nightmare that was. also ruined my lower fork tubes in the process...

so I ordered a new center blade... apparently an item they sell LOTS of. obvious design flaw. $125 blade later and 2 new $200 clamps and its good as new (which still isnt that tough IMO)

second ride out, first ride on the new center blade.... its broken already!!!! im a beginner rider and rode trail for an hour, and powder for an hour. I looked at it while in the garage and I can see its cracking already. all the timbersled skis ive seen look literally bombproof. WTF?!?!? the parts I broke were nearly $600, not to mention technically needing 2 new lower fork tubes, thats a $1000+ bill right there. not impressed with this at all, neither was the large group I was riding with... sure didnt put out a good name for yeti or snowbikes in general having mine crumble apart like this first ride, AND second ride pretty much.


its the carbon fiber pieces.. mainly that center blade... mainly that hole where the axle goes through. why is it so thin and chintzy?? ive emailed yeti about this... but if its anything like last time, I wont get a reply back for 3 weeks.

when sitting in the snow, bike stopped... I can turn the bars and watch all 3 carbon fiber pieces flex in the ski assembly. its scary. never been a fan of that stuff.

at this point, I am having these yeti center blades custom made from aluminum, AND made beefier around the axle... none of this 1/4" worth of material around the axles circumference BS anymore. its going to be significantly stronger than the weak stock carbon fiber blades. I think ill leave the side blades until they give me problems, then those are getting made from aluminum also. and yes my axle is tight.

I am having 3 of these center blades made for a 13 ktm 450 (YPSP1815D5), if anyone else is interested or having problems. WAY stronger than yetis carbon fibre, AND cheaper... its a tad heavier though :rollseyes:

page 24: https://static1.squarespace.com/sta...e/1512524328533/YETI+BOM+Drawings+MY+2017.pdf

Cory how about you provide the spindle part number for center blade and the part number for spacers, I will bet you have installed the wrong spacer for the blade, What happened to yours is exactly what will occur with the wrong parts put on, Yeti carbon is not the problem and are the strongest spindles of any brand, with the wrong spacers all the load is on the fork clamp and will break immediately, There are many variations on spacers and blades, where did you get it from, ?did you get the correct corresponding parts?, Real easy to go to a forum and diminish quality but other factors need explained by you? The spacers in your photo are used and not new, I am certain you have a hodge pog of wrong parts installed

 

[Misha Subo]

Unless they engineered that piece as being sacrificial and designed it to break, which I don't know if they did or didn't, a better material would be a carbon/Kevlar hybrid. Carbon works in compression but has very little strength in tension. Kevlar works in tension which is what makes the hybrid weaves so bomber for this type of part.
M5

Doubt C3 would have gone with using carbon if it was meant to be a sacrificial member in the design - that should be apparent in its shape, with a cut-out or notch intended as a stress riser?

The Yeti design, of profile-cut carbon sheet, should act like a spring for lateral forces, which should offer good absorption of impact and lateral shock (while turning or banking) but not for direct frontal hits or impacts on the edge of the carbon where it is fastened through the mounting bushings - seems that's where it broke? IMO, with carbon, the energy absorption of hitting objects head on will have to be totally transmitted to the fork damping, whereas aluminium will at least bend and let you get out of there as opposed to shattering your spindle all together.

Let us know how the aluminium replacement spindle works by plunging off a deep chasm and having your fiends inspect the results - don't forget to give them your Snow West forum password before the test.

 

[coryf89]

Cory how about you provide the spindle part number for center blade and the part number for spacers, I will bet you have installed the wrong spacer for the blade, What happened to yours is exactly what will occur with the wrong parts put on, Yeti carbon is not the problem and are the strongest spindles of any brand, with the wrong spacers all the load is on the fork clamp and will break immediately, There are many variations on spacers and blades, where did you get it from, ?did you get the correct corresponding parts?, Real easy to go to a forum and diminish quality but other factors need explained by you? The spacers in your photo are used and not new, I am certain you have a hodge pog of wrong parts installed

how is it the wrong spacer? the guys that built the bike were professionals. this stuff is simple. its a basic front axle. no one screws that up. come on. this is no frankenbike built by some hackjob. whats going on with this ski I have no idea. I would LOVE to know. yes I did use my old spacers with the new center blade.

my first ride, I hit a decent, buried rock at noon. rode all day. few hours later did a minor water crossing... came out on just my fork legs. nothing harsh or crazy at all. not cool. second ride was nothing harsh. came back to it already being cracked. not impressed.

yeti carbon is a problem. id bet those are one of their top sellers as far as broken parts go:

SPINDLE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: What happens if I crash and break a carbon fibre blade? How much is that to replace?
A: In two winter seasons of riding, we have sold less than a handful of carbon blades. The blades will flex a long way and return back to shape in the event of a crash. If they are flexed past their limit they will break, this is a serious event, such as hitting a culvert head on, or even a large rock head on. We have seen typically one blade break, but breaking all 3 could happen.
Each blade is $100 CAD funds or $75 USD.
Q: Will it dent my lower fork legs if I crash my bike?
A: We have had very few cases of the lower fork legs denting reported back to us. It can happen on extreme crashes. We have also witnessed in a large crash the carbon blade(s) will break saving the fork tube(s).


I can get all the part numbers tomorrow. all the replacement parts are directly from yeti, from a dealer/the guys that built the bikes. all the broken parts are directly from yeti. both the fork lug mounts also broke. one bolt broke, the other pulled the threads out.

 

[chumbilly1]

All we r saying is this is the premier spindle in the industry, and it performs well for many. Surprising to see this failure. If the OD of spacer is sloppy in the hole of center blade it would cause a weak point. If everything is right you have got your spindle luck out of the way. This is not a common issue at all. And its not your ski!, thats an 18 issue bro.