Aftermarket skis

Grimmy

Grimmy

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Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
64
Location
N. Muskegon, Michigan
I'm wondering what ski conversions have been made out there to the Viper. I have stock skis on it now but have been wanting to change them. I've been looking at the Simmons Flex Ski and SLP Ski as well. Wondering if anyone has experience with either of them or anything else. Thanks
 

I have the Simmons and they are great around corners for sure.Only thing is that the carbides are exposed up front and not tucked down and I hit a few things that caught the carbides and ripped a lot of them off.There is a mod to help in this situation.I am now getting a set of Kimpex Arrow dual runner skis..lot of good words about them to.
I put the Simmons on my SX600R and it helps in the turns for sure.
Also with the arrows I ordered shaper bars with 60* carbides..should be a great set up now...
 
i didn't want to spend a ton of money for aftermarket skis. i went over to the 4 stroke side and picked up a set of 07 apex mountain skis for like 90 bucks. they boilted right up, just needed longer bolts and more spacers. work absolutly perfect, not the absolute best on the trails, but off they are incredible.
 
am checking up on the Kimpex Arrow dual runner skis you spoke of. I like the idea of the mountain skis as well; though I do a lot of trail running so they may not be the best solution.

My typical ride starts me on trails that have been eaten out and form many whoops ranging from 6 inches to 18 inches. I'll get to groomed trails (rail-trail) and even some groomed in the woods. I also enjoy boondocking so when the occasional waist deep drift that's 20 feet long is in the middle of the trail (on the edge of the nice blowing field) such as last weekend, I would like the skis to lift the front a little more. Yeah, I know, as always, I want the best of both worlds; riding rails on the trails and floatin the boat on the fluff. As much I like those trikeels of slp, I think they would kill my back and neck on the long rides. I enjoyed the notion the Simmons Flex Skis gave of adding suspension of sorts with their flexibility, but am concerned with the front carbides grabbing anything. rahhhh

Once again I'm leaning toward the flex. After reviewing the flex ski I see they have come out with the gen 3 skis. I like the dual carbide set up but when going through all the info I'm left with more questions of course. They have dual carbides on them....one set shorter than the other for turning bite but when ordering carbides they only have ya ordering one pair. It may be common sense but e-gads man, I have to ask it, you've got to purchase two sets of carbides, of different sizes when replacing these ones? In the pics of the ski top sides I couldn't see any studs/nuts from the bars; that's my defense for such a question. :-)
 
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you need two sets, the insides carbides on those skis do all the work, in a turn, the outside is not touching on ice or even on hard pack. Its all inside, this is why they turn hard at slow speeds, your arms are lifting the sled up when you turn. Do some serches on the four stroke side, I have pictures and explanations of what is going on with these skis, they float good, track good but have some other side effects I just didn't like, they are 1/2in wider than an arrow or stock ski, the extra float isn't from the width as much as the shape of the underneath of the ski packing snow under it rather than pushing into it as center keel skis do.
be careful crossing rail roads with thos simmons, I have ruined one trailing arm and have sold a guy a complete lh side on a vector because of them. they dont like rail roads.
 
I so despise railroads. Got caught in a cross track once and it stopped me instantly. Replaced my right trailing arm because of it; thankfully I was only going a whole 5-10mph at the time.

So you're recommending the 4-stroke skis. Would you say the mountain version of the sleds would be the skis to look at? Any in particular that would best fit my applications?

What's the point of the skis having an outside carbide if it doesn't touch anywhere? Carbides don't really matter a whole lot in powder. Rahhh

So where can I get these pics you speak of?

Truckkid42 mentioned the same thing, going to the mountain skis; he said they weren't the best on trail; what other model of ski would be better on trail and why would they be "not-so-good" on trail?
 
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I love my simmons on my viper. no darting and handle very well. float nice in the powder as wel, and I guess I have been lucky as I have not had any of the issues spoken of above.
 
I've never caught my simmons skis on anything and the only negative I can think of is the steering effort at slow speeds, but I adjusted to it quickly.
 
Grimmy said:
My typical ride starts me on trails that have been eaten out and form many whoops ranging from 6 inches to 18 inches. I'll get to groomed trails (rail-trail) and even some groomed in the woods. I also enjoy boondocking so when the occasional waist deep drift that's 20 feet long is in the middle of the trail (on the edge of the nice blowing field) such as last weekend, I would like the skis to lift the front a little more. Yeah, I know, as always, I want the best of both worlds; riding rails on the trails and floatin the boat on the fluff.
Click to expand...

I like the slydogs I put on this year for all these scenarios, Good on the trails, I don't remember having any darting on the trails, excellent floatation in the deep stuff. I have 1500 km on these skis and am very happy with them
 
When I was talking about the outside cabides not doing anything, I was talking about the simmons.
The reason simmons react badly to rail crossings, worse than any others is the short carbide, combined with not being shielded in front. The short carbide puts the front of the carbide only a few inches in front of the ski pivot. Most other skis have long carbides which put the front of the carbide several inches in front of the pivot. When your carbide hits off something, the further it is away from the pivot, the less weight from the sled is pushing down on it (leverage) this allows the ski to pop over it easier.
sorry, I am bored to night.
 
I ran C&A skis one season and they turned on a dime and reduced darting to zero. I did notice I had more traction issues with them on though.

I currently am running SLP powder pros which I like alot. I have a cobra track and 6" carbides and this combo really works well........but I do need new carbides right now. They are getting a bit worn and it's not cornering like it did to begin with.
 
I picked up a set of SLYDOGS' Race skis, and I can't say enough about them. Called them direct and they recommended the Race over the Trail as they are thicker and more durable. No darting. They are 6" wide, and I got them w/ 7.5 Shaper Bars, and they are a vast improvement over the OEM skis. Plus they come in kewl colors. My $.02.
 
Have 5 sets of SLPs,,,,, no better trail or off trail ski IMO,,,,,, no dart and more flotation.........
 
I have a set of the Curve Ski's. So far they are awsome they handle on the rail in the tight stuff and float good in the fluff. Only have 200 mi on them but so far so good. Got the leading edge for them too and there is no darting what so ever so far.
 
i've got close to 10,000 miles on a set of simmons on my viper. 6 inch bergstroms triples on the inside and 2 inch singles on the outside. they peformed flawlessly for me. way better than the stock ski's. seriously thinking about a pair for my renegade also as i'm not all that thrilled with the stock pilot ski's.
 
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