New user - 02 600 RMK

Hello all, just figured since I'm new I'd introduce myself. I'm Montana-born and raised: I went to college in Billings, spent ten years in the Navy flying airplanes, then moved back last year and currently work in the Air Force reserve. I got into snowmobiling about ten years ago when a friend gave me an old 440 fan Indy, but most of my experience is from my tour in NW Washington riding Mt Baker when I could. My riding has been pretty limited other than those three years and last winter, so I definitely consider myself a novice.

Washington is where I bought my current sled. It's a 600 RMK 136, now at 3700 miles, which I've been gradually upgrading. Nothing major so far; Boyesen reeds, Holtzmann ATACC, and a Cobra windshield are the most significant additions. Most significant downgrade was an SLP can; too little power/weight difference to be worth riding with earplugs, I went back to OEM. Has a new primary (long story) and rebuilt secondary clutch, to which I plan to add adjustable weights. Even with the clutch work, new springs and weights matching the service manual recommended setup, it over-revs (around 8400 peak). I'm leaning towards SLP Magnum Force weights and more tuning to fix that. Other upgrades coming include a 144 track from an '03 800 that I picked up recently (the original skid and track I plan to use for a project, another Indy trail I have), some Powder Pro skis, and a full set of Ryde FX clicker shocks I’ve been able to scrounge.

Obviously, I really like the sled. The 600 has been dead-reliable, it's never broken on me - despite some newbie attempts to break it - and the power is plenty for my riding ability. My goal is to maximize the deep snow and mountain ability without running out of power or making it difficult to handle in the backwoods and trails, so I'm hoping the 144 is the sweet spot for that. Basically, I'm looking to turn it into a tricked-out all-rounder. I may end up buying a newer sled when my abilities out-grow this one and/or I have money to burn, but I can't imagine parting with it.

Anyway, I’m sure that's plenty about me. I've got no burning "how do I" questions at the moment, but I'm happy to hear any "you might wanna" suggestions on my sled!

Thanks for the response. I've done some jetting on it last season, and with the ATACC I should be able to leave the base at 4000' (where I live) and be covered as high up as I'm likely to get. I think some adjustable weights, and possibly a spring change, will get the clutching dialed in.

With regard to porting the track, is there a good DIY writeup on that? I've got a good drill motor and several sizes of hole saws - guessing I have all the tools I'd need, but I don't want to screw it up or overdo it. That said, it's an original track (4700 miles, but no tears or lugs missing), there's a decent chance I'll be upgrading it down the road, so it doesn't have to last forever...

I'm not, at the moment, looking for anything all-out, just to trick out what I've got. You're right that a 144 isn't going to make it a big powder sled, but by the time I part out the rest of the sled the pieces are coming from, that part will be practically free. I plan to keep this sled as a general purpose sled with some mountain ability; when I need something more, I'll probably be looking more towards a Pro-RMK or similar. I'll cross that bridge when I get there.

Thanks for the info, FlyingDutchman, clears up a lot! I think I'll do the two-hole port job as shown, but try to space it out so I can add a third if I think it'll help. Only other question I can think of is how best to set up the track to be drilled. I've read of people doing it with the track on the sled, but since it'll be off, I'd think it would be a lot easier to set up a couple 2x4s on some saw horses (plus no worries about hitting something on the skid).

I'm looking forward to getting the swap done, but right now I'm waiting for my "new" shocks to get here. In the meantime, we've had enough snow this past week to do a little riding up in the hills; she's running great!

Yeah, I hear what you're saying about floatation. I've never had to cross any significant amount of water, so that shouldn't be a problem at least. After more reading, I'm thinking I'll do two holes on the back side (relative to track movement) of each center lug. As I understand it, that still expels plenty of snow with minimal loss in floatation. The idea of doing more to reduce track weight appeals to me, but apparently it takes a ton of porting to make an appreciable difference, and then you risk track failure and lose a lot of floatation.

Anyway, I got my rebuilt shocks back, so I'll be going to work on the transplant soon. Gotta get that done, never know when the next big snow is coming!

Well, after a great finish to last year, I've now got no good snow nearby, so I'm prepping the track to swap in. My timing seems to be fortunate on that: the speedo just died, and with 4000 miles it's probably due for bearings. I got the 800 torn down, so all the pieces are out. In addition to the track and skid, I'm going to swap the lower gear and chain, so go from 19/39 gearing to 19/41. Not a huge gear-down, but it's free at this point.

I decided to port the track and open the closed windows, but nothing crazy. I'm mainly looking to improve snow elimination with as little effect on floatation as possible. Seems it takes a ton of porting to really cut track weight anyway (in addition to the labor), so I'm just going to do two rows, alternating sides so each port falls just behind a lug. One other thing I'm considering is removing some drive lugs. I'm wondering if the non-clipped outer lugs do anything at all, and if I'd cause problems if I, say, remove half the inner ones by alternating back and forth between the two rows. I've got a multi-tool that I think would take them off quite easily, but I want to make sure this isn't a bad idea without anti-ratchet drivers.

Where I go from here, I'm still not sure. It just depends on how quickly I get comfortable riding in more challenging conditions and how soon before the sled is the main thing holding me back. It may give me everything I need for several more seasons, or I might decide I need a lot more sooner rather than later – in which case I'd probably be looking for a Pro-RMK or such unless I win the lottery. The sled is definitely worth keeping, especially with the add-ons I've got – not to mention my friends are too cheap to get sleds of their own...

Got it, thanks. I know I've read somewhere about people removing some of the drive lugs, maybe that was with anti-ratchet drivers? Also, does that include the non-driven lugs on the outside? Seems the ones that aren't clipped don't do anything.

Well, done porting and cutting windows. I modified a hole saw as recommended by FlyingDutchman, and that worked really well. I just used moderate pressure and let the heat do the rest – made for nice even cuts and the melted rubber seemed to seal off the cords. Really, the holes for the ports were pretty easy – probably a couple hours work start to finish on those. Using a couple 2-bys and sawhorses as pictured held it in place really well. I used a utility knife on the windows, and that was a lot more work. Even with a sharp new blade it takes a lot of effort. I guess I could have hole-sawed them; at least this way my options are wide open if I decide to upgrade the drivers (probably not worth it though?).

As for my porting pattern, I set it up so each port falls immediately behind a lug. That's based on the theory that as the track moves through the snow, it creates sort of a vacuum behind it. If true, I should lose little, if any, floatation (maybe even on water). If not true, worst case is I'll shopping for a new track next season. For now I just need to get it in and back on the snow! As for weight loss, the pieces I cut out came to 1.36lbs. My impression from what I'd read was that porting for weight reduction is a questionable proposition. Based on this, I'd think no way are you going to shed lots of weight without killing floatation, plus there's the question of how far you can go before you make the track too weak. Then again, I think about these things too much – tends to happen when the good snow is hours away!