[sysanalyst--off]

My first ride on a sled was over this past weekend. Arrived in Posen Michigan at 8PM, by 9PM had the home all fired up (water, heat, hot water), pulled the cord a few times to prime up the carbs on the ZR 440 Sno-Pro, turned on the ignition, and she fired up on the next pull! Warmed it up for 10 minutes (is this okay?), and then drove around the yard a few times to learn some no-brainier stuff. I then took it out to the nearest road; I opened the throttle to 1/2 and the front ski's lifted off the ground! Man I was doing 80 MPH in about 10 seconds. I then learned that the brakes really work well. With my newly found confidence, I set out on a 20 mile round trip over to my river property in the next county (Alpena). About 5 minutes down the road, my trip came to a screeching halt! A loud bang, and the sled just about threw me over the handlebars as I decelerated from 50 MPH to 0 in about 2 seconds. bang your head

I assumed it was a chain problem... Upon closer inspection, I learned that the left hand spring slide/axle bolt had broken and the spring slide let lose, wrapped up in the track, and stopped me in my tracks... Darn... this was just getting fun.

Pulled up the rental van, took the sled home, and for the next few hours, studied the problem. I then removed the two bolts attaching the rear skid to the tunnel, used a drill and allen wrench to "easy out" the broken bolt portion from the axle, repositioned the spring (while usable, was bent badly), and using a spare chain tensioner bolt and a handful of rusty washers, replaced the spring slide. Then reattached the skid to the tunnel, and tensioned the springs. Since it was 5AM, decided to get some sleep for the next morning.

Woke at 9AM to snow, and lots of it :super_happy: Fired/warmed up the sled, and drove off very carefully to the local gas station. No problems. Drove to my other property, no problems. :super_happy: Drove all over the area to the tune of 200 miles without any further issues, other than strange handling, as I adjusted the springs for the lowest possible tension until I could procure replacement parts. Rockerdude

I want to thank all of the fine people here on ArctiChat for their fine adivce and help for this newbie here. Not worthy: I really like snowmobiling and will continue this fine sport for a long time to come.

Now a couple of questions;

1) Any good advice on a replacement spring? I was going to purchase a stock AC replacement along with the rest of the hardware including the axle shaft.

2) Since the hole in the rail where the broken bolt was extracted is now oblong (egged out), should I use an adjacent hole for the new parts/assembly?

3) The ride was a bit "twitchy" at 60+ MPH even on a nice flat surface. Any advice on this? (recharge shocks, adjust springs, anything else)?

After a 23 hour mini-vacation, alas, I had to leave back to Detroit to visit an ailing relative in the hospital. It was a fun and rewarding 23 hours I must say and I owe it to my pals here on Arctic Chat online. Not worthy: I want to thank all of the fine people here on ArctiChat for their fine advice and help for this newbie here. I really like snowmobiling and will continue this fine sport for a long time to come.

My next trip is already scheduled for Feb 9th through the 12th... man this is good stuff. :super_happy: :beer_cheers:

Again, thanks to all of you. Not worthy:

 

[ZRBIGA]

Welcome to the drug! Wife thinks I need to go to SA (Snowmobilers Anonymous). Hope things go a little smoother on your next trip up. One thing to keep in mind: if you ride em, you wrench-em. Always the little things that drive you nuts. These machines will take you places and do things you never imagined possible but the harder you push em the more they wear. Keep up on your basic maintenance and that snopro will be a blast for a long time to come. BTW how were the trails up in that area? In Laws have a place on Hubbard Lake and everytime we think about going up to ride the snow is not there.

 

[sysanalyst--off]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (ZRBIGA @ Jan 31 2007, 03:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

...BTW how were the trails up in that area? In Laws have a place on Hubbard Lake and everytime we think about going up to ride the snow is not there.[/b]

The snow on trail 992 (Alpena to Millersburg) was awesome! Easy 70MPH+ from Posen (M-65) to Alpena (US-23). Snow was about 12-16 inches in the fields, and the trails were beautifully groomed. In the wee hours of Sunday AM, I took my sled (probably illegally) down the center of M-65 which was coated with better than 12 inches of snow! This was before I learned how to take back roads (Leer Rd) over to Posen. Turns out it is now legal to snowmobile around the city of Alpena based upon recent county legislation. Now going from Posen to Millersburg, the trail is very bumpy; lots of snow, but bumpy. Hit a few bumps at 50 MPH on the Sno-Pro and caught a bit of air - was fun! Brother took his ZRT600 at 25MPH over the bumps (chicken). I drove up to, but not down trail 4 which is adjacent to my Alpena property. That trail was only covered with about 4-6 inches of snow. ridable, but not as good as 992 going north. Bottom line; Alpena 992 and north are your best bets. Turns out, the lake on which my home resides, was not thick enough to ride over (Sunken Lake in Posen). :angry_mad: But my Alpena property was perfect for riding! It was my first ride, and it was great!

 

[94ZR580]

I'd say get OEM replacement parts. I also say that the slide block shouold go back in the same location, which may mean repairing that egged out hole. The twitching you were experiencing may be the result of improper ski alignment. The skis should have a little bit of toe out to prevent darting. There are other threads going on on that subject right now.

 

[sysanalyst--off]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (94ZR580 @ Feb 1 2007, 02:45 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I'd say get OEM replacement parts. I also say that the slide block shouold go back in the same location, which may mean repairing that egged out hole. The twitching you were experiencing may be the result of improper ski alignment. The skis should have a little bit of toe out to prevent darting. There are other threads going on on that subject right now.[/b]

Will do. Thanks for the great advice, several others have recommended the same.

 

[snwmbln226]

another reason why it might be twitching is because u might be darting, which is when you try to have your ski's go one way but the runners on the skis get into someone else's runner tracks and when that happens your runners will follow the path of the previous runners...

it's good to know that the wonderful sport of snowmobileing is still growing, but my 2 cents are when u go riding take it easy for a while, because even thought you have rode more then 200 miles you still got alot to learn about snowmobileing, i've been snowmobileing 13 years now (started when i was 5 years old and im not 18) and i still got alot to learn myself, and like zrbiga said these machines can surprise the heck out of ya with what they can do, but the harder u push your sled the more wrenching you will end up doing, specially as the sled get's older and gets more miles on it, just make sure you know what ur doing specially when it comes to rideing cause even though you got a 440 you can still get hurt pretty bad on it... my2cents ...

NOW GET OUT THERE AND RIP THOSE TRAILS UP LOL

:ridepride:


Snwmbln226