To boost or not to boost

I'm wrestling with a dilemma.....I want a sidekick on my axys something bad. And I'm not sure asking in the turbo section of snowest is gonna help my bank account much.

I purchased a new 2016 axys 163 snowcheck last year and I love the thing. IMO it's about the most fun you can have with your pants on...but I've never owned a turbo sled and I can only imagine how much fun 200 hp in this chassis could be. Here are my thoughts:

Pros of the sidekick:
1) Power, as much fun as this sled is stock I can't imagine what it will be at 200 hp
2) The sidekick is supposedly a pull and go kit requiring only pump gas. Huge Plus
3) Much cheaper than turbos have been in the past


Cons:
1) Warranty. Say goodbye to that 4 year warranty that I used as an excuse to snowcheck last spring. I've thought about leaving it stock another year or even two, and letting polaris put a new motor in it (I like the fun flipper and am assuming it'll need one in the future) under warranty, then throwing boost at it.
2) I am likely to have somewhere between 1000 and 1200 miles by the end of the season, would I need to freshen the top end? Possibly a durability kit from bikeman?
3) Cost. I just spent 13 grand on a sled, i'm getting married in september, and I don't have 4 grand that I can just drop on a turbo ATM.
4) Incurred future cost. This is really a big one. Top ends aren't too bad to replace and I do my own wrenching. Putting a top end in a two stroke isn't too bad to do. I'm assuming with the axys you wouldn't even have to pull the motor out of the chassis. But how often are you expected to freshen the top end with a turbo? What about the crank? How do these things take the boost? How about belts? Am I going to need a new belt every 200 miles? At $200 a piece from polaris that really gets spendy. What about the rest of the sled? What am I looking at for maintenance costs? Replace weight bushings in the clutch every 500 miles is pretty cheap insurance, what else?

Getting this much invested in a sled, I plan to keep it around for a long while. I'm willing to do the maintenance to keep it up but I would expect it to repay me with several thousand miles before I finally get rid of it. Is this reasonable with the right maintenance? What's the life expectancy of the bottom end?

Thanks for any and all productive input.

JJ_0909 said:

Riding is fun either way.

That said, I don't ever want to own a sled without a turbo again. Its so fun.

If you keep boost in check (sidekick, silber @ 5-7) etc, you likely won't be wrenching all that much. Top end every 1500 miles. Maybe a broken clutch spring here or there.

One thing to keep in mind is oil usage. Silber's kit goes through a lot more oil than the BD kit (at elevation). Time will tell if this matters in the long run but I'd wager it does.

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What're you using for pistons? Are the fix kits even worth it with the new HO? I haven't heard much on failures at this point but the bore and stroke on the new motor is (I believe) the same as the pro motors, so tighter tolerances or not, the mechanical issues of too short of piston would still be an issue, correct?

AKFULLTHROTTLE said:

Since I went boost on my 13 the only question I ask my self each year is how much boost! Once you go boost you will not go back.

Now days it is no different than stock, simply pull and go everyday. We pulled a 12 pound boosted 12 apart this winter with somewhere in the 2500 mile range and it still looked new.

The new HO Axys engine now has the Vforce 3r reeds which thus far are loving boost

Warranty? Well I know I will get some flack on it but it takes a few hours to be back to stock. The BD kit you will have a hole in your tunnel. The Silber kit you will have to just send your ecu back to be reflashed to stock.

Pull and go with no gauges and no issues!

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Is the excess oil in the silber kit going to the motor, or is it through the turbo or what?

I've definitely thought about both the silber kit and the sidekick. I don't like the idea of drilling the tunnel for a tunnel dump simply because there is then no going back. But at the same time I think the tunnel dump is important to keep the exhaust out of the snow on right hand turns. Not that I would want to go back I just like the option to if I change my mind. On the silber kit I don't like the fact that there is no airbox and thus no volume between the compressor wheel and the motor and also the fact that I have to send my ECU off to have it reflashed rather than just a plug and play box that can be installed at the same time as the kit (no down time).

fastrack0 said:

This should really answer ur question....
If you don't have the money don't spend it. I make sure I never borrow money for toys...

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I completely agree. I make good money and I can "afford" it. My issue is where to spend it. Is it justified to spend 4k on a turbo or should I put that on my house mortgage? I know the right answer, I just don't want it to be the right answer :face-icon-small-hap Therefore I'm here to ease my own worthless mind LOL

AKFULLTHROTTLE said:

Turbo Oil is deadheaded at the Turbo, the tuning turns up the oil to meet the needs plus increases it for the engine for higher elevations.

The exhaust on my Axys has yet to bog in any conditions. My Pro did here and there when you were tunneled out stuck and your were WOT and shaking the sled to get her unstuck. BD with also bog when you wheelie stab into the deep.

Yes sucks to send ECU out but overnight it is quick and the ECU will adjust for all your boost levels and elevation changes.

The Silber kit has an external wastegate so if you want more boost just simply change the spring and the ecu adjusts for the rest.

Do some math on the air tube to figure out air volume. I know the Silber kits I use work awesome and the BD kit we just sold from lat year had the same tubes.

Sorry, this was not meant at a what Turbo to buy because there is plenty of those threads, I was just simply trying to answer your questions.

To boost or not to boost? My answer: If you can afford it and your riding style or conditions warrant it, then yes!

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Thanks for the input. Honestly I feel like it's probably 6 in one and a half dozen in the other. My deciding factor was really mostly the having to send the ecu in. I read horror stories back in december about guys sending off their ecu's and not getting them back in a timely manner.

M8Chris said:

I've absolutely loved my BD axys I don' think I can ever go back to a non turbo sled. That being said though if you don't have the money for the turbo and your getting married in September I would wait until next year or once you can afford it.

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turboless terry said:

Get married, skip honeymoon, and turbo your sled or turbo sled, get married, and tell her not enough fun tickets left and delay honeymoon.

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Well, the snow here is getting to be set up spring snow, although we are getting some fresh stuff this week. So there wouldn't be much point to getting it on until next year anyway. I gotta take care of the old lady so it'll be budgeting for the wedding and honeymoon and see what's left over for a turbo. She wants upgraded from her pro next year too so that needs to be in the budget! If the side jobs keep rolling in like they have been, it may be on before the first snow next year:eyebrows:

FatDogX said:

Your missing a key point in a married life........."Happy wife.....Happy life"!! If the wife is happy, this usually translates to more trips out west!!! LOL

This is a great thread, as I have looked into this year after year and ponder the same question. I don't live out west, so when we go west I want pull and go sled, so we "all" can have a good time. I hate being that guy that ends up with problems and slows everyone else down. I realize with these new kits, this truly is becoming less and less of an issue but there is still more to go wrong. I know once a guy would make the jump to boost, I would probably love it but another thing would be that I would probably be the only one in our group under boost.

Another thing that comes to mind is that I usually trade sleds every two years and once and a while I'll keep one for three but that's it. So add in the extra expenses of adding boost and your really throwing some $$$$ at this sport!!!

Anyways, like I said great thread and keep the info coming!!!

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You're exactly right on keeping the wife happy! Fortunately she likes sledding too and told me to "either buy the stupid thing or quit talking about it!" The attached picture is her a couple weekends ago

I was going to start doing as you said and trading in every couple of years. Upgrade her then upgrade me and would be buying a new sled every two years. But at this point with the amount of miles that I already have on my sled, I don't know that I could swallow what I could get out of it. Looking at the turbo sled market, guys aren't getting EVERYTHING out of them that they have in them but they are getting a good portion of it. I figure it's probably gonna be cheaper in the long run to boost it and keep up on the maintenance and trade it in on a 2022 or something. I mean, it would still be fun to be on a boosted '11 pro I think

M8Chris said:

In my group I'm the only one who has boost but I think now it's only a matter of time before the rest of them add boost. All your buddies will try your sled and be hooked instantly. I usually trade my sleds in every two years and like you I've had a couple for 3 but with boost why would you need to? New graphics and a few lighter lbs aren't gonna be enough for me to justify wanting a new sled just to have a new one now that I have boost. I'll probably end up keeping this sled for 4 years or maybe until they bring out something completely new! You won't need or want to get a new sled every two years.

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I rode my first boosted sled last weekend (1100t with a 240 kit) and am completely hooked. It didn't handle very good but the power made my axys look like a tricycle


One question I posed that hasn't been touched on yet is what pistons are you guys running? Are you running a fix kit? Would I be wise to do a top end before boost since I have (probably 1000-1200 miles by the end of the year) already?

AKFULLTHROTTLE said:

Stock engines! I have tried RKTek drop in pistons but really stock piston do great. I have not used any fix it kit on my boosted sleds.

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Great. So a rebuild interval of 1500 miles with a set of pistons? That isn't bad at all. How long are cylinders lasting? when do the start to "oval out" and need replaced?

I'm asking a lot of questions but this is what happens when you have time to think about things too much

AKFULLTHROTTLE said:

Also the ECU horror that you speak of was not really the ECU taking to long as the other parts were not ready yet and he was trying to ship it all together.

I have done a few ECU flashes now with about 3-4 days from Alaska.

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I see. All other things equal though, that would still be a turn off from choosing silber.

I've also heard the silber kits are super loud. WHat are the sound differences between the two? At the ripe old age of 26, I've already out grown the desire to be the guy with the loudest sled on the hill.

I'm just reading through this thread: http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409309

and see that MTNTK is also mentioned. It does seem like there is more that comes with the MTNTK kit for the same money. You get a U cooler to help with cooling and also a bully dog tuner that you can download new maps to via email.

I don't see many people running the MTNTK kit on an axys. Is there a reason why that I'm missing?

Is it just assumed that all the kits come with clutching to match?