Another Cobra track review........

journeyman

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Aug 11, 2003
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Prior Lake,Mn.
Well I finally got to put some miles on this weekend with the newly installed Cobra track on my stock Viper. I came off a Predator 1.25 that I ran for 5000 miles. I went to Price County Wisconsin and the trails were fantastic.....90% of them were freshly groomed and we had them almost exclusively to ourselves. First off this track hooks up on hardpack like nothing I have ever ridden before. Barring ice conditions, I absolutely could not get this thing to even spin. It just hooks and goes. My biggest issue right now is getting it to turn better in the corners. I have been running the 2004 Viper saddeless skis (shimmed) with 6" Woody's Trailblazers for the last couple years. They worked just fine with the old track and pretty much cornered like a slot car. Not anymore. My limiters are let out a bit and I think I will need to pull them back in again. I also had to run the transfer rods to minimum transfer. Then it became bareable.......otherwise it was quite a workout. I used to have a set of C&A pros with 8" carbide and now I wished I would have kept them around. I did take it off trail just a little and other than the skis sinking in....the track flat out works great in those conditions too.....much more so than the Predator did in the deep stuff. One thing I always forget to do is to spray my tunnel with some no stick spray like PAM. I always get a lot of sno/ice build up in the tunnel and this weekend was no different. With the taller track it really started rubbing and grinding by the end today's ride. I did not notice any hyfax sticking issues and I have the model that is not clipped every window.

Now here's the real kicker. Last year I had a stuck PTO power valve which was robbing my top end. I had them all cleaned this fall. The problem is I have a feeling the PV's are not opening all the way at the moment. From a dead stop this things hooks and accelerates hard right up to 98-100 mph and then hits a wall. The best top speed I saw on the Chippewa Flowage was 101 mph. In all other past instances I would have at least seen 110 mph. I drag raced my buddies SRX 600 and I would smoke him by 8-10 lengths alll the way to 100 mph.........then stall and watch him gradually make that up and go by. He was seeing 107 mph. My sled in the past would always act like it grabbed another gear in the 90's and hit another mode and climb nicely into the 107-113 mph range. I think the PV's need adjustment. My clutches are working fine. There is no way that track slowed me down by 10 mph. Yes the lug height is a hair taller but less than 1/8" taller...but it weighs 3 lbs less than what I had. The motor had fresh rings put in this fall too.

So in a nut shell the track works great. I will deal with the PV's and probably have to do something in the ski department.
 
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Great report! I'm glad to hear someone is riding .... Price County and the flowage in one day? Sounds like a big ride.
 
xsivhp said:
Great report! I'm glad to hear someone is riding .... Price County and the flowage in one day? Sounds like a big ride.

I went up Friday and came back today. My buddy with theSRX 600 owns a cabin on Winter Lake.
 
Well I was wrong. It's not the PVs. I found a bushing on the secondary clutch sheave that fits sloppy way out on the end causing it to rock back on forth near top end.
 
journeyman said:
I did not notice any hyfax sticking issues and I have the model that is not clipped every window.

I found it interesting that you brought this point up because I did notice my hyfax sticking with my cobra track. My track is fully clipped and I also installed new hyfax. I think my track is a little tight however.

I have C&A Pro with 6" carbides and I corner great. I've never touched my limitor strap, but I do have my transfer rods closed up pretty good right now.
 
jholden said:
I found it interesting that you brought this point up because I did notice my hyfax sticking with my cobra track. My track is fully clipped and I also installed new hyfax. I think my track is a little tight however.

I have C&A Pro with 6" carbides and I corner great. I've never touched my limitor strap, but I do have my transfer rods closed up pretty good right now.

All of the new Cobra tracks are fully clipped from what I understand. It also adds 3 lbs. to the track. I am not sure if they had issues with them or not that they went that way. Snow conditions were good so I did not have any issues. I got my track this past fall from Richmotorsports , he had an unused last years leftover model. Like I mentioned on the skis....I had a set about 4 years ago that I picked up brand new in blue with 8" carbides for $175. A friend with a performance shop had gotten a few sets for cheap and I bought one set. They worked really good in the UP with my 1.25 track, but not so good around here with the lower snow conditions. I had a lot of track spin and they steered hard in marginal conditions. I should have kept them for going up north and could have always popped them off around here if the conditions were not as good. Now I think I might try and find a set.
 


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