exciter rear skid and track in a ovation

sandmaster

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kinda like the title says
looking at a very nice little ovation for my son
heard there a little squirrly with the track being so short
have a nice skid out of a exciter sx with a nice track too
was woundering if anyone has put one in a ovation ?
if so any tips or pitfalls ?
pretty mechanical here and not really a issue of moding things but why reivent the wheel if someone has already done it , right ? leads tips or pics ? thanks
 

If the skid will fit inside the tunnel then sure why wouldnt it? You would definitely need to extend the tunnel though. Do you have the exciter yet or just the skid and track?
 
I think I read somewhere about the pitch of the track being different. I was looking cause I also have an ovation with that 108 track. I was leaning more towards a 121 from the phazer vintage.
 
Guess i should ve been more clear, yes i know it will fit , i have the exciter skid of a exciter sx as well as the track from same sled . was just woundering iof anyone has did this mod and was looking for any insite. looks like a fairly easy project and the overall outcome would be huge for this sled ! the stock track is a joke , i rode a buddies and the thing just doesnt get any bit. and whats available for a new track in its size isnt any better, so a longer better lug track with a better suspention just seems to make since. My son is to big for the 120's but not to the size of a full size sled yet so i was thinking this would be perfect for him and when hes done in a couple yrs it would be great for my daughter.
 
It will fit. The problem you will run into besides the obvious (mounting the skid in the right location) is the Ovation drivers will not work with the 121 track out of the Exciter. The Ovation is a 3.25 pitch track and the Exciter is a 2.52 pitch. The Ovaion drive axle, chaincase and secondary clutch are light duty and not much is interchangabe with them to make this work easily. The SIMPLE, BOLT IN solution is to use the secondary clutch, jackshaft, chancase and drive axle out of a Phazer or Phazer II. This entire assembly will bolt into your Ovation chassie, work with the 121 - 2.52 pitch track and work with the stock Ovation primary clutch without alignment issues. The Ovation and early Phazer chassies are VERY similiar.

This is not a hard swap.

Good Luck,
Phil (opsled)
 
I guess I need to keep my eyes open for some parts. I think I'll have better luck going this route than finding a 108" track for cheap in decent shape
 
Another option is to use a 116" X 2.52 pitch track out of an early Phazer with the Phazer drive system. The 116" track may allow you to just "move back" the original Ovation skid to compensate for the 8" longer track and will still probably work without tunnel extentions/mods. Or just use a 116 skid from a Phazer. The 116" tracks are a little tough to find in comparison to a 121 but they were used on many more models than the 108" X 3.25 and are still available new. They can be found on 76-81 Exciters, all SS440's and the first generation Phazer. The one thing that I think about the 121 track is that it may be a little bit of an overkill for the needs of the chassie and the 340 engine. It should ride real nice though.

Now if you want to make a sleeper trail sled that should be a ton of fun to ride. The Phazer engine is also an "almost" bolt in. The pipe will even fit. Wiring and airbox mods are the worst of it. A 70HP Ovation trail sled would be easy to get with a few minor mods to the Phazer engine under it's hood.
(Hope this info doesn't upset your brain. :wink: :wink: )


Good Luck,
Phil (opsled)
 
dnale my track is good , think i sent you a few pm's in reguards to other parts you were looking for too never heard back ? still need ? as the track i have is good , im just looking for longer travel suspeion and have something thats a little differnt too!
For the parts i have gathered
track 121 1" paddle
long travel 121 skid from a touring venture(with all measurements)
gearbox with reverse from same sled (venture) as its a direct bolt in as mentioned above and it has reverse too ! comparing the two sleds the hoods are so similar i can cut the slot for the reverse and it will look factory.
jack shaft assembly and secondary clutch
will fab a tunnel extention ,should be easy as air cooled sled wont be any issues with coolers
just need to find the drive axle out of a late phazer, as i need 7" drivers on the correct length shaft with 2.52 pitch and its just a bolt in at that time !!
should be a fun sled for my son !! will post some pics when finished
thanks for everyones input
 
That's great! I replied via pm's a couple times. I'm not sure why you didn't get them. I think I have the throttle/kill switch covered. I'm not really worried about my hi/low switch right now.

When I was looking for a replacement motor for the ovation (the one in it was seized and is now in my garage wrapped in a tarp), I was looking at both phazer motors and 340 motors. I found the 340 motor first. I would have dropped 480 in there had I found one. Mine is just going to be an ice fishing sled (and maybe around the yard.) So you still have a decent 108 track?
 
I'm looking at extending one of our Ovations. Figured of would be a fun project and the kids are wanting to help. I was originally thinking of going to a 121 setup but in researching things, I see that the Enticer long track was a 136. Obviously horsepower isn't an issue. Assuming proper gearing. A couple of questions:

1. If I go 136, what years of skid would be best? I know Phazers, Vmax, and others offered a 136.
2. I was looking at using Phazer parts from the secondary through drive shaft. What kind of gearing am I looking at? ie, ET long track?

We ride together as a family generally and speed isn't an issue. The sled we are looking to modify is ridden by a 12 yr old. We figured that 121 or 136 offers more choices in tracks. The 108 that's on the sled now is pretty worn...
 
136" Ovation.

79ET340EC said:
I'm looking at extending one of our Ovations.
Figured of would be a fun project and the kids are wanting to help.
I was originally thinking of going to a 121 setup but in researching things,
I see that the Enticer long track was a 136.
Obviously horsepower isn't an issue.
Assuming proper gearing.
A couple of questions:

We ride together as a family generally and speed isn't an issue.
The sled we are looking to modify is ridden by a 12 yr old.
We figured that 121 or 136 offers more choices in tracks.
I have an Ovation 136" for my three daughters to play around with.

Prior to this season, I changed the track from the
stock 136"x15"x0,45" to an 136"x15"x1,0"
from an Yamaha Venture 700 ( 2002 )

Working great. ;)!

:2strokes:
 
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Cool! Boy, do I have questions for you!

1: did you do the change to the 136?
2: what gearing is in there?
3: can you post pics?

Thanks for your help!!
 
will post pics later but a 121 phazer skid track and drivers will bolt in i did it a few years ago for one i raced with a phazer motor in it

nutz
 
Nutz - Did you use the Ovation drive shaft with Phazer drivers or change the whole drive shaft? Also which chain case did you use? From Lasse's post above, I didn't realize that Yamaha actually made a 136" Ovation for Europe. Learn something new every day!
 
79ET340EC said:
Cool! Boy, do I have questions for you!

1: did you do the change to the 136?
2: what gearing is in there?
3: can you post pics?

Thanks for your help!!
1. No, The Ovation / CS-340 was sold both with 109" and 136" track here in SWEDEN.
2. 12/22
3. What do you want pictures of ?


Top Speeds:
On road: 90 Km/h ---> 55 mph
On hard packed trail: 80 Km/h ---> 50 mph
On loose trail: 73 Km/h ---> 45 mph


Track: 136x15x1"
Track pitch: 2,52"
Track drive: 7-Teeth

:2strokes:
 
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Lasse - Really any pics you have of the sled and specifically the rear suspension. The 136 was not available in the states from the factory (I don't believe anyway). It sounds like Yamaha used the same gearing in both the short and long track versions. I may look to gear differently if I go 136.

Thank you for all of the information and help!!
 
79ET340EC said:
Nutz - Did you use the Ovation drive shaft with Phazer drivers or change the whole drive shaft? Also which chain case did you use? From Lasse's post above, I didn't realize that Yamaha actually made a 136" Ovation for Europe. Learn something new every day!


He changed the entire secondary/final drive. Pulled all the Ovation stuff out. Put all the Phazer stuff in. It's a direct bolt it. The Phazer secondary/drive is much stronger and there are many more options to tune. Phazer engine is a bolt in too. Makes for a real fun sleeper sled!!

opsled
 
cphazermutt031.jpg
cphazermutt033-1.jpg
cphazermutt045.jpg
nbmutt045.jpg
here are some pics of the machine

IMG_0084.jpg
cphazermutt025.jpg
cphazermutt027.jpg
 
WOW! That's pretty cool looking. Thanks for the pics. How hard was it to strip & polish the tunnel? The first stage of our project will be to go over mechanically whats there, painting, and we'd like to polish the tunnel. Longtracking may wait to after that depending on cash flow... :)
 


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