First time Alpha help

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

Hello all,

Been a member here for years. Have done a lot of reading but believe this is my first post. Recently subscribed to magazine, also.

I've mostly ridden trails in the past but have a trip planned to Wyoming in a few weeks with 11 guys. Have a Mylar tent, paracord, emergency sleeping bag, blanket, shovel, folding saw, ferrous rod, knife, metal water bottle, and snacks I'm planning to bring. This will be my first true mountain trip (rode in Yellowstone once with a guide when I was 12).

I have a few questions about setting up my sled. It's an Alpha with 154" track. Coming from a ZR, this sled is a different animal. Have a few break in miles and love the sled already. So far I've added a cat skid plate, jaws trail can, and skinz front bumper. I'm worried that if I buy the large Cat tunnel bag I will end up bending the tunnel; going to try to put everything in seat/backpack this trip since I don't have time to install tunnel braces. Ski stance came set in middle position. From those of you with some miles on your Alpha, what position do you run yours in? Did a search on that and lots of results came back for ski (didn't find an answer on stance, tho). Have found & read shock pressure threads. Do you set shock pressures outside or at 65 degrees? At what mileage should I change chaincase oil? Heard we will be riding 8-10k feet. Do I need to change clutch weights?

Thanx for ANY input,
wanablaze

Matte Murder · Feb 3, 2019

Highly recommend you put on some kind of tunnel stiffener or bumper. I had the AC Pro Mountain bumper installed before I picked up my sled on the advice of my dealer. He told me ALL the 18 sleds he sold had bent/tweaked tunnels at the end of the season. Tunnels can get bent just from rolling them over or jerking on the bumper getting it unstuck.
My set up so far(275lbs ready to ride with 15-20lbs more on the tunnel lol)
Ski shocks 60-75Lbs. Last ride was 75, liked it but maybe a little too stiff. Feeling is 70Lbs is going to be my go to.
FTS 35-65lbs. I am at 60lbs right now and I feel like i am close too.
RTS 130-150lbs. 130 last ride, feel like 135 is going to be IT.

Seems like:
More pressure in ski shocks; makes the sled more stable, sled turns better, sled is easier to ride on the hard trails, adds ride height.
More pressure in FTS; less steering effort, trenches a little more, sled is tippier in a good way if that is what is needed, sled doesn’t turn as well on trails, rides harsher on the whoops.
More pressure in RTS; sled takes big hits better, nose stays down better without going to lock out position 3, sled trenches more,
Don’t be afraid to try dif pressures. It takes some riding time to get you sled set up. If you work it hard the first day it’ll be better for the rest of your trip so it’ll be worth it. Try and do adjustments one at a time. Keep the shock knobs on 2 for the most part when changing pressures. If you fined pressures you like ring all the knobs from 1-3 to see how it changes the handling.
I know thats a lot. Have fun with it and good luck!

sno*jet · Feb 3, 2019

change chain case oil at 150 miles, then again at 1000.
id definatly have a tunnel bag of some sort for all that. I have the same tunnel as you and mine came with a med. sized bag on the '17mountaincat and never had any issues.

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

Thanks for all the input so far, guys! Any thoughts on ski stance, what temp to adjust shocks at, and clutching?

summ8rmk · Feb 3, 2019

Had this bag on my 18 and 19 packed with over 10lbs of crap. No tunnel problems.
Towed a polaris over 10mi. At 25-30mph on a whooped out trail, no tunnel tweaks.
I have the bag mounted as far back as possible so i can put a gas can in front if needed.

summ8rmk · Feb 3, 2019

Skis centered.
Adjust the shocks on the hill.
Don't be afraid to make changes every 15min till u get a setting u like.

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

summ8rmk said:
Had this bag on my 18 and 19 packed with over 10lbs of crap. No tunnel problems.
Towed a polaris over 10mi. At 25-30mph on a whooped out trail, no tunnel tweaks.
I have the bag mounted as far back as possible so i can put a gas can in front if needed.

That's awesome! Is this the medium or large bag? I have a mountain addiction gas can set up I'd like to add, too (eventually). I'm guessing I won't have enough room to run the large bag with the gas cans (I have the short track). Adjusting shocks on hill makes sense. Only asked because I swore I read in service manual that they were supposed to be set at 65 degrees. Clearly pressures will drop in colder temperatures.

Guess the only other thing I need to figure out is if I should change clutching.

summ8rmk · Feb 3, 2019

Psi will drop with lower temps however, remember that cycling the shocks will create heat, just like tires on ur truck, when u start driving the temps rise and so does the psi.....

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

Didn't think of that!

Matte Murder · Feb 3, 2019

Don’t over think the pressure thing. I fiddle with my shocks a LOT. I set them in my trailer at home and they are exactly where I set them when I check them on the hill. when I make changes on the hill they seem to stay the same pressure too. Make sure the shock is full extended and there’s no weight on them when you are setting pressures. I pull the sled on it’s side and pull on the ski and the track to make sure the shocks are fully extended. Then pull it over on the other side and set that ski.

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

summ8rmk said:
Psi will drop with lower temps however, remember that cycling the shocks will create heat, just like tires on ur truck, when u start driving the temps rise and so does the psi.....

Matte Murder said:
Don’t over think the pressure thing. I fiddle with my shocks a LOT. I set them in my trailer at home and they are exactly where I set them when I check them on the hill. when I make changes on the hill they seem to stay the same pressure too. Make sure the shock is full extended and there’s no weight on them when you are setting pressures. I pull the sled on it’s side and pull on the ski and the track to make sure the shocks are fully extended. Then pull it over on the other side and set that ski.

Would not have known to extend shocks if you hadn't said so...

From what I've read here sounds like stock clutching is reasonable at 10k feet but secondary helix causes some binding. Unless someone can tell me differently, I may leave it alone.

Also read a few times elsewhere that the trail sleds with the 800 ctec tend to over-review once broken in. Would hate to change to lighter weights and then be over-reving at the end of the week.

summ8rmk · Feb 3, 2019

Ya, no weight on shocks is very important!

I don't think i gained any RPM on my last 2 Ctec2's..
If u have 100miles on ur sled, that's probably what ur gonna get.

As for shock pressure, psi change with temps and elevation is only a couple lbs. really not noticable.

wanablaze · Feb 3, 2019

Maybe it's just the 2019 ZRs that have clutching out to lunch. Was just reading a thread on Hardcore about it.

Debating whether I should take cat recommended weights for high elevation with me...

summ8rmk · Feb 3, 2019

What elevation is ur sled clutched for?

The ctec has a wide power band.
I think 7,800-8,200 is pretty close in hp and tq.

If u have the weights, take them. Only a few minutes to change..

skiutahcabin · Feb 15, 2019

no gas can

first, I don't think you need to add a gas can, these tanks hold a lot, riding hard WOT 6hrs of deep and still have gas left- why carry weight you don't need to

The 19 tunnel is significantly better- I have rolled mine down steep face terrain many many times with the medium bag full and it's still true, same setup as wanablaze

turboless terry · Feb 17, 2019

The alpha needs extra gas on deep days.

summ8rmk · Feb 18, 2019

turboless terry said:
The alpha needs extra gas on deep days.

What MPG r u getting on Deep days?
My worst is 4.9mpg but I could see less if u have no trail in or out.

The Polaris' i ride with use as much fuel as i do.

turboless terry · Feb 18, 2019

I'm guessing it was worse. Maybe 5 miles of groomed road. The rest was untouched. I was a little hard on it. I held it wide open for few miles breaking trail for the group. Never let out of it. That thing is so fun. My buddy on the axys couldn't keep up and he is an awesome rider. He said there was no way he could go that fast and that the alpha must really handle. I let him ride it and he loved it. He told one of the other guys that it was awesome but I have to find Terry and get my sled back because I can't see. Hated all the snow that hits you in the face. My only saving grace, on the gas, was visibility was bad the whole trip. If it was clear I would have been out in half a day and had to go back and fill up.

Big10inch · Feb 18, 2019

I do not see where your clutch weights were addressed. Use what Cat recommends for the altitude you will be riding. I think they come stock set for 6-9000. If you are riding 10-12,000, switch to those weights or you are going to leave some power/rpm on the table that you will want to have on the deep snow.

With all the gear you listed I though this was a winter camping trip LOL. That is a lot of gear, most of which you should never need. I would only pack that much on my sled if I was riding alone into an unknown area. Hopefully you are riding with someone who knows where they are going and you wont have to worry about winter camping...

I have not seen nor heard of the Cat tunnels bending. I run the same bag pictured above with my gear and a scoop shovel over the top of that. If you are jumping a lot maybe you need braces but if that is the case I would be more worried about the monorail since it wasn't intended for that kind of riding.

Good Luck, Have FUN!

wanablaze · Feb 23, 2019

Well, I'm back. After riding it for a week I have not bent the tunnel or monorail. I did, however, bend something in the front end. Handlebars have to be held just a little to the right to go straight. Jumped it a little, rode whopped trails at speed (60mph plus), hit my fair share of rocks and stumps under snow while climbing thru forests.

Ended up fitting everything I listed above and more in the medium sized Arctic Cat tunnel bag. Still wouldn't be able to fit gas cans without removing small bag behind seat (so I didn't install the cans). When filling up at lunch I would take about 3.5 gallons of fuel where the three Polaris 800s all used 4.5 to 5.0 gallons.

Brought lighter clutch weights but didn't install them. Sled pulled hard even over 10,000 feet (saw 8150-8250 on trail at elevation). Was the only sled that could carry skis up hill on command. Also got the high mark on a tree filled hill (over 11,000 feet per altimeter). Everyone that rode it had nothing bad to say about it. Never stumbled and factory clutching felt great.

Thanks for everyone that gave input. And to whoever I upset by making this post, sorry (got a "dislike" notification lol).

First time Alpha help

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