Can't seem to adjust to Ski-Doo counter-steering...

[maxwell]

Bret Rasmussen moves his post FORWARD. the post is still at damn near a 45 degree angle. moving it an inch forward does not change the way the snowmobile steers at all. the riser block plate is still angled so you still get bars that dip like they should. All he is doing is moving the rider forward a hair which is fine and personal preference. puts the weight more over the engine which makes sense. it works for him for very technical riding but it doesn't work for every single person which is why skidoo has the post where it is. The rider is already wayy closer over the engine than the axys chassis he is just pushing it a little bit more. he is NOT running a vertical post. The sled would handle identical to a regular G4 but the rider would be forward slightly more.

if polaris switched to the same concept you would be 5" closer to the bulk mass of the sled and you would have a decent mountain chassis. why do you think there is so much room in an axys engine bay? its stretched out in a big way. poor engineering. Move post over engine, move panels/chaincase/footwells 5" forward and boom you have a mountain sled.

its why everyone has a hard time adjusting to a skidoo they arent used to being that close to the engine. it means you need to adust your body position completely on the snowmobile.

 

[maxwell]

Here, in 1999 skidoo managed to figure out a way to get proper steering with similar geometry to the axys by going under the engine to a linkage with an angled post.

so there is hope for yall! 10 years later it might happen for you yet

 

[cdnredneck_t3]

You have a hard time seeing past your own bias Maxwell. Rassmusen says as close to vertical as possible. And yes the forward locate does not make it true vertical but it allows the bars to act more like vertical steering and gives some room for the Rider to move further forward. Rider weight needing to be that far forward is only required on a Doo by the way.

You say that the other sleds need to move the Rider forward but their weight distribution is totally different. Doo has done lots to improve it but they are staying with what they built. The axys has its skis much further forward and had since the pro in 11. They don't want to wash out nearly as bad and there is no need to move the Rider that far forward. My XP was horrible for washing out, like you said you could not get far enough forward but the pro did not have that problem. After the Pro came out it took Doo 6 years to modify the XP enough that it would handle comparably.

Different schools of thought. The OP asked why the Doo feels foreign to him. You and I do not agree but we both explained why. It is so different from Cat and Poo and needs to be rode in such a manner that someone from the Cat or Poo chassis has no instinct or muscle memory to ride it properly.

 

[cdnredneck_t3]

Here, in 1999 skidoo managed to figure out a way to get proper steering with similar geometry to the axys by going under the engine to a linkage with an angled post.

so there is hope for yall! 10 years later it might happen for you yet

View attachment 215003

I hope you don't think that being as brand loyal as you are is a good thing? I remember when I had my Rev then XP I wondered how could anyone ride a cat or Poo. Don't they understand how stupid they are. Then I bought a pro and was like "fu¢&, Doo has been lying to me". They make a decent machine if you tweak the G4 a bit. But I just can't get behind the company's mentality any more.

 

[skegpro]

I have owned Polaris, skidoo and now a cat.

I find I can adapt and ride each of them fine.

I think the steering issue I had with the Skidoo xm were more so a function of to much ski lift due to the archaic rear skid.

Once I put in the nextech rear it got much better.

I do like how the doo steering swings out of your way, just feels natural.

But the downside to that is you have to keep your steering inline for this to work right, which makes the bars to close to your body. Ended up going with a shorter riser than I normally would to get the bars outta my kitchen.

Now I like short bars lol.

I haven't owned a G4 but from the time I have spent on them I feel the center of gravity is pretty high, and the t motion just magnifies this. And the rear suspension still sucks.

 

[drew562]

Im the same way with anything other than skidoo. Had a couple of M series, and jumped on a friends pro for a bit and absolutely hated them. Guessing a guy would get used to it if I spent enough time on one.

Curious to hear from someone who has spent enough time to adjust to each chassis to give their opinion. Drew....you have owned all 3 now havent you?

yes. Xms. G4. Nytros. Pro. Axys. I can ride any sled good. But to make my own sick lines and have it be “fun” takes a few days aleast. I like to fly through the trees racing myself. Also you will get tired faster cause your doing all the work instead of the sled. When I switch sleds for the first bit I have some close calls. Lol. To truly test ride a sled different than your own you need to ride it 3-4 days imo. That’s long enough to make your own sled feel weird.
The alpha felt very natural the first day but I’m still not stupid confident on it yet. Last weekend I rode crazy hard the last day so it’s coming to me. I’m coming from a g4 and its a big difference. Give it time and any sled will feel Normal. No sense crashing from going to hard to fast.

 

[popoman 500]

I’ve ridden Polaris my whole life and jumped to a g4 from my 11pro have been riding the soo for two years and now that I’ve been on it for a while it’s comfortable. I’ve tried riding an axys and it just feels stiff compared to the doo. May I also add I can’t ride my doo with the sway bar connected