first ride of the yamalaris

S

smokingcrater

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So after the stock suspension on my '95 vmax finally died (shock was 100% dead), I decided it was time to finally get off my butt and swap in the xtra 10 suspension I bought used last year for $60.

I managed to swap it by drilling ONE hole in the tunnel on each side. For the front, I used some 3"x9" 1/8th inch thick steel and bolted it to two conviently open holes, and then drilled a 3rd hole as the actual axle hole. This also allowed me to get 100% perfect alignment, I did one side, and then swapped mounting plates using the same holes as a template.

For the rear, I was able to re-use one of the rear holes that the stock suspension used. Again, same 3x9 steel reinforcement plates, with two bolts into 2 of the stock suspension mounting holes, and the 3rd hole for the axle bolt.

(if you look really close on the pic, you can see the 4 stainless steel bolts used to hold the reinforcement plate, and if you squint some, you can see the black bolts holding the suspension itself.)

Anyway, long story short, I should have done this swap earlier! The ride is VERY, VERY good. I need to work on the weight transfer some though, it doesn't take much throttle to lift the skis a foot in the air! It is officially a yamalaris now, I'm running polaris suspension and a polaris p85 clutch.

:letitsnow
 

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I have a Polaris Pro/X skid in mine and I am moving my transfer blocks way forward to try and keep the front end planted also :) really good traction and weight transfer though!
 
Nice!!!
Do you have a measurement for the front holes from the top of the tunnel? Im going to do the same thing this week. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
i'm going to do some riding tomorrow actually, i'll take some more pics with some measurements.
 
So if you look at the sled, there are already 2 existing unused bolt holes up front. I have a reinforcement plate behind those that also served as a template. If you draw a straight line forward from those two holes, my front mounting hole is 1 3/4 inches forward and up from that. If I had to do it again though, I'd probably go 1 1/2 inches or even 1 1/4 on the 'up' portion of that measurement. This is the wife's machine, so she likes less ski pressure, makes it easier to turn since its not exactly a light machine to start with.

For the back, I did something similar. Used metal stock as a mounting plate, but in the back I was able to re-use one of the stock holes. The stock suspension has 3 mounting bolts, 2 low, one on top. I used the furthest forward one of those for the suspension itself, with the other two just as reinforcement bolts. (you can see that on my first pic above, two shiny bolts in the rear, and one dark one which is where the suspension is actually mounted)

As far as bolts, I re-used all the polaris bolts. They were plenty long so I didn't feel there was any need. The one thing to watch out for is that the polaris skid is narrower than the yamaha tunnel. In back it isn't much of a big deal, a couple washers were enough. Up front, I tripled my mounting plate to get enough thickness. I wouldn't trust washers on the front mount, as it would probably be a sizable stack. If you have access to metal stock that is 1/2 thick, that would work. In my case I just picked up some of the 4x36 stuff at menards/tsc/runnings, and tripled it up. Make one piece first, and use that as a template to make 5 more. (this also will guarantee your sides are perfectly aligned.)


hmm, what else... The stock suspension has a top idler axle. You can chuck that in the trash once you have the x10 in, it isn't needed and is just extra weight. Also, it makes it SO much easier to work with the skids if you take out the rear axle entirely. Do this both to help get the stock skid out, as well as get the polaris skid in.


the red outline is roughly the size of the backing plates. If you make it too long, you will have to notch it out for the rivet up front. (I had to on my first one. I cut the rest of them a little bit shorter so I wouldn't have to do that.)


as far as suspension setup, I currently have all the limiter straps as long as possible, the springs in the middle position, the front transfer blocks set to minimum, and the rear transfer blocks set to max. Without those rear transfer blocks set, it was impossible to keep the front end on the ground, I was actually worried about flipping it!
 

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Pretty cool. I'm surprised more people haven't done this.

I'm picking up an Xtra 10 skid this week. I have an Exciter II though so I don't know how I'm gonna figure it out.
 
Just one more piece of useful info for anyone else doing it, this is what I based the horizontal dimensions on.
 

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FWIW - I can't see from the pic but if you find you still can't get the skies on the ground look to see if the rear scissor stops have been relocated further back. This was a common "upgrade" to increase transfer. I didn't do it on my XCR because lifting the skies wasn't a goal of mine but I saw many an xtra-10 "upgraded".
 
So what exact year and model Polaris did this rear skid come from? If I was to go to the sled salvage store, I would need that info. I assume that this is the most direct bolt in skid available?


Thanks,
Zack
 
Zack1978 said:
So what exact year and model Polaris did this rear skid come from? If I was to go to the sled salvage store, I would need that info. I assume that this is the most direct bolt in skid available?


Thanks,
Zack
Click to expand...

I don't think it makes much of a difference, as long as it is the x10 skid. Polaris used it on pretty much ever 121 sled from mid 90's to maybe early 2000's, although not 100% sure on that timeframe.
 
Zack1978 said:
So what exact year and model Polaris did this rear skid come from? If I was to go to the sled salvage store, I would need that info. I assume that this is the most direct bolt in skid available?
Thanks,
Zack
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what kind of sled you have. You could update your profile.

There are slight differences between some X-Tra 10's.For example some had the Fox Position Sensitive damper. I'm not sure if they're better or not but I do know they have to be rebuilt frequently. I'm sure others can elaborate.

If you have an older sled then there are many skids that would be a huge improvement. Pretty much any skid will bolt up, I don't believe there is anything inherently unique about the X-Tra 10 as far as mounting.

Check the steel arms for cracks, shocks for leaks, and track tension adjusters on the used X-Tra 10's.
 
©RxSX said:
I'm not sure what kind of sled you have. You could update your profile.

There are slight differences between some X-Tra 10's.For example some had the Fox Position Sensitive damper. I'm not sure if they're better or not but I do know they have to be rebuilt frequently. I'm sure others can elaborate.

If you have an older sled then there are many skids that would be a huge improvement. Pretty much any skid will bolt up, I don't believe there is anything inherently unique about the X-Tra 10 as far as mounting.

Check the steel arms for cracks, shocks for leaks, and track tension adjusters on the used X-Tra 10's.
Click to expand...

This would be used on a 1994 Yamaha VMAX 600.

Zack
 
it's not really going to matter. none of them are going to bolt right in. You're going to have to drill holes, put in re-enforcement plates etc. Whatever you get you need to get good measurements from the sled it came from. center of drive shaft to center of first hole. top of tunnel down to first hole. center of first hole to second hole. top of tunnel down to second hole.
 
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