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I’ve done a Rage and now an Rx1. I use a 6 point 3/8s drive socket and no problem on either. But ensure a high quality socket and that it’s on all the way and perfectly square. Use enough extension to get as straight a shot to the universal as possible. If it’s not wanting to turn a little heat around the area around the bolt might help. Just avoid heat on the bolt and exhaust. Do not reuse any bolt that’s even questionable. Also a thin cost of anti-seize putting them back together. I also used new manifold gaskets with a thin layer of RTV for exhaust. An old hot rod trick that may not be needed but makes me feel all warm. Thanks, I strive for the best I can do. The goal is stock/new at a minimum, then better if I see room for improvement. My advantage is that the sleds I work on are mostly 20 years old. I hit the websites and see what the common problems are and what folks have done to fix or upgrade those issues are. Then I do them. I like to think they end up being better than new. Thanks again.

That is about the correct range for the clutch engagement. Lower shows sign of a worn primary clutch spring and will cause the sled to be boggy off of idle. Those 2 stroke engines need a little RPM to build power. I also have quite a bit of experience with the VMAX sleds. It should also be around just under 4000 rpm. 2500 is even low for 4 stroke sleds that make more low end torque. Bottom line: 3500-4000 is normal for most 2 stroke sleds. Especially older sleds. Thanks, Ed

@@nlp_sled_head1375 Yeah, I had the black '94 vmax600 ST out yesterday with stock clutch and it's engagement with standard shims is at like 3-3500. I did take the clutch apart on the XLT, but there were no issues. Gave it a clean and put it back together. Stock gold spring in it with weights marked 10 / M5 . It only has 2700 original miles on it, so I don't suspect anything wrong with it. It just doesn't seem to like to be 1/8 - 1/4 throttle. Once this season is over, I will be doing the carbs in the XLT and whatever other maintenance items it needs (like gear oil etc.). I may change out the roller and weight bushings at that time. It almost feels like there is a high vibration of sorts when in that 4-5k rpm range.

@@TheDivergentDrummer Check compression for balance between cylinders. If good. Change plugs, Clean the carbs, and have them checked for synchronization. Also look for other things that might cause imbalance in the engine. Plug wires, coils, plug wire caps, fuel filters, even exhaust valves and intake reeds if equippped... things like that. These little things are why I essentially rebuild all of my used sleds and go over all of them completely during the offseason. BTW, I always try to simply clean the carbs before completely rebuilding them. Maybe 1 out of 4 times it works. But most of the time they need a full, complete cleaning and rebuilding before they actually run correctly. And I almost always replace the jets. Old jets can and will change size from friction or even fuel varnish. But always verify the size of of the new jets. I have received incorrect jets in kits before. On higher performance sleds there is less room for error. I often find OEM type jets and order them. They aren't expensive. Thanks, Ed

@NLP_Sled_Head thanks for the tips Ed. I only say rebuild because I know that is what he will want. Just did it on his '89 Yamaha 40HP outboard over the summer. And he always insists on OEM parts. Know where I can find a good factory radio for a 93 town car with cd changer control ? Becuae it may cost me 200 bux for the Ford part, but it's that over a new pioneer deck. Manufacturers parts only.

Thanks, I actually did even more work to it after I ended the videos. But minor adjustment type things. I have found that there are plenty of HOWTO type videos on youtube. But not many actually discussing the problems and just cutting thru the BS. So I did the work and described what what, why and how. That and I'm simply to involved with what I'm doing to be hassled with the camera work. Thanks again,

I just resynced them the other day. Similar sled? I’ll make a video later today.

It’s all about weight for all sleds. But also about throttle response and the angles at which the engine can run at high RPM without damage. 4 strokes weight comes from more moving parts and complication. Two strokes can actually run upside down or any angle without time limitation. In mountain sledding these are very important. Over time both engines have been getting better. Two strokes are able to match 4 stroke fuel economy. They are getting smoother and burn much less oil. 4 strokes are making more power but are still a bit heavier, but improved. It’s nice to have options.

I have 4 sleds currently (94 vmax 600 ST, '95 VMAX 600 DX(Estart), 1993 Formula Grand Touring 583 (Estart) and 1997 Touring E(yup Estart) , and only 1 does not have Estart. That said, pulling over ANY of the Estart sleds when it's cold is tough. the Vmax 600 ST is the only manual start one, and it starts first pull most of the time. Even cold.

Thanks! It's low dollar, but when fixed up it's very cost effective and reliable. I think I'm gonna keep it.

I haven't done a top end on one of these yet. But looking quickly it looks pretty easy.

No single place. it took a few weeks of research to for me to feel comfortable enough that I could find everything. Don't want to dump a bunch of money into something only to find an "unobtainium" part prevents completion. I found that there were no actual new direct replacement rear ends. It would look like it until I got into part numbers. Ebay showed used ones full of mud for $500-600! Homey don't play dat! I've done many automotive rear ends. This appears to be cheaper and easier to simply rebuild it. All of the parts to do that are in the mail. The new axle showed up today. It's gonna take about 10 days for everything to show up. One of the spacers, I think the pinion spacer had to be ordered from Amsterdam at the cost of about 45 dollars with shipping. That was the hardest part to find. Most were on ebay and seals and things like that were found on Amazon. And of course there are so many parts back there combined with the way I had to cut everything out I may find I'm still missing something during reassembly. I did discover that for some reason there is a shortage of parts for the Timberwolf rear ends. And the costs are considerably higher than even other Yamaha ATVs of that time. I'm figuring that the rear ends have been a problem in the Timberwolfs and that many of the repair parts have been depleted over the years and no more are being made. I hope that helps. When I get into putting it together I'll get a bit more detailed. My videos are more like I do the work and then describe what I did and how I solved any problems I had. I really don't have the patience to do step by step videos. When I watch others videos I don't feel that watching them actually turning the wrench teaches me much. I'm looking for tips and things that aren't in manuals, because I almost always use the manuals. Thanks! Ed

I'm not sure but there were towns every 15-20 minutes apart. And you ride right thru them in places. I'm sure lodging wouldn't be an issue. Also be aware that this trail continues north from Reed City up into the trails of the northern LP. It also goes a bit further west. And one last note, these old rail trails aren't two trackers they are very well improve for hiking, cycling and other similar uses. Most of it is even paved. So as long as there is good snow and some occasional grooming the trails are very fun to ride! Never felt a whoop or a surprise bump. No darting. Just smooth, fast and well mannered. I'm also becoming a "saddle bag" type rider. I like longer trips that are more a challenge. My sled is a 2019 GT-L 600R. I hoped my wife would ride more with me. But that hasn't worked out. She's not good in the cold and likes shorter trips with purpose. Like to a restaurant in a neighboring city! :-) I'm great in the cold and can be out in it almost all day. I like going to new places. Exploring. So all of the two-up gear has been taken off. It's much more of a Renegade 137 now. I like the way it rides better without all of the stuff. I live mostly out of a back pack and a tank bag. Push comes to shove I have the big Linq trunk that snaps back on. Thanks,

@@nlp_sled_head1375I' grew up in Nh. and have been all thru New England trails systems, also eastern part of Canada and yellowstone . I've always herd trails in Michigan are awesome and I see why thanks to your video's . I'm looking at a 3erd. sled possible this year I have a 2011 apex xtx. and a 2019 tcat I am looking at 600R or 650 for wife and son depends who can go on a week long ride. Nice sled you have there I hope to get out that way some day here , If so i'll send you a message see if your up for a loop.

Totally dependent on the type of riding I'm doing. Slow, 18ish. In the Pere Marquette video I'm doing 50-75 mph, lots of stop and go shooting back up to speed. It got 17.3 mph. I wasn't trying to save any fuel on that trip! That trip was almost 200 miles. I used about half a quart of oil.

@@nlp_sled_head1375 ''Thanks'' great video's keep them coming next year.

Not very fast. She rips to 50 in no time. Actually decently quick. But she’s out of breath by 55ish.

My buddy had 1 50/60mph tops

1997. If you check out the rest of the channel, I have a series of videos documenting rebuilding the sled after buying it from a field!

@@nlp_sled_head1375 we got the same exact sled does yours have trouble when you turn it off after a ride it doesn’t wanna start up again for like 20-30 minutes

@@jesseknutson5746 The sled can sit outside in sub-zero temps and reliably start on the second pull with full choke and no primer. Warm, a single pull. But if it’s in between hot and cold it floods easily. In this situation I’ll give it a pull or two with no choke or primer. If she doesn’t start I go to the first choke setting and it usually fired right up. More than two pulls and no start with the choke on she’s flooded. Choke off and hold the throttle wide open and in 5 or 6 pulls she should clear and start to fire. I never have to use the primer. Has it had a good carb cleaning lately? New set of plugs? I’ve been running the same plugs since I’ve owned it and all season so far. A compression check might be helpful. 120 psi is a good number. Hope that helps.

@@jesseknutson5746 Used to have an MXZ 800 (I know they're a bit different lol, but it would never start warm unless you crack the throttle a bit when you are pulling it over. Crack the throttle starts first pull when warm every time. No throttle won't ever start when warm. Just be sure to get off the gas once it starts or you'll be going for a ride lol

I can only tell you how I did it. It also depends on where you want it to be. I actually installed two of them. Because I'm an electronics nerd and builder I had a couple different ones in my junk box. This only works for non-electric start Ski-Doos. In otherwords, an AC only sled. For 12 VDC near the console under the handlebars it's a bit easier. Under the hood on the right side there was a unused 2 pin accessory connector. One solid yellow and a yellow with a black strip. These are the two lines for AC that run around the sled. I used a full wave bridge rectifier for each power point added. One was probably enough but two kept me from having to run wires for the DC all over the sled. Afterall, they already did that for AC. Full wave bridge rectifiers have four posts. Two AC, a negative and a positive. For the AC connections it doesn't matter which of the AC wires you connect to the AC posts on the rectifier. After that the normal DC rules for polarity on the other side. I used a 20 amp unit at this location. I did put 10 amp fuse on the positive post directly on the positive post. I'll never pull that much and it's likely the sled wouldn't like it either. Maybe 5 amps is a better choice. There was a place nearby that I could drill a hole and mount the rectifier to some metal. I even used some heatsink compound between the rectifier and the metal section of the main hoop. But if you fuse the positive for 5 amps with a 20 amp rectifier there shouldn't be any reason you should need a heatsink. But it's always a great idea. The one on the dash near the gauges was a bit different. My sled had another unused connector at the gauges. Guess what? A yellow and yellow/black wire were present there as well. Verified it with a voltmeter. About 11.8 VAC at idle. Same goes for the other circuit. Out of the rectifier it should be around 14.4 VDC or so. Measured between the positive and negative posts. I haven't run any true 12 VDC devices from either of them yet. Just a dual USB cigarette lighter plug that is regulated to 5 volts. And the other one on the console is running handle bar grip heaters and a seat heater. So they are not voltage critical. If you really want to run something that would normally run in a car cigarette lighter, check the voltage all thru the RPM range with a meter first. Engine speed changes the frequency of the AC. More RPM = more frequency. This might make the rectified voltage creep up a bit. Just make sure it's still within your devices specifications. This DC is also not filtered. So things like radios and similar may hear some hum. The proper capacitor across the positive and negative of the rectifier would clear this up. Let me know if you have this issue and I can recommend a capacitor. Used to be a stocked Radio Shack part... :-( Same thing on this side but no mounting to a heatsink. There was nothing but fiberglass to connected it to. But again, I'm fused at 5 amps and this is a 40 amp rectifier. I used some terminal connectors to plug the AC posts of the rectifier into the connector. Everything on both setups are soldered and heatshinked to keep water out. Use proper gauge wire. I used 14 gauge because I have a lot of it. It will more than handle anything even past the fuses I used. I hope that helps!