I got the opportunity to spend a few hours yesterday in Hatcher's Pass jumping back and forth from the new '15 Viper M-TX SE with dealer installed MPI turbo kit and my '13 Pro RMK.
My RMK is fairly well set up with Carl's cut skis, float 3's and a Skinz ARC system. I have spent a lot of time getting it dialed in for me, and I prefer tight technical riding and shorter steep climbs. I've been on a pro since it came out and had a turbo on my '11 for the last two seasons. I have spend a few rides on '12 cats, and put some seat time on the '13 as well. I was not very impressed with either, the latter being a improvement.
I got on the sled and took it kind of easy for the first few second as I was expecting the same experience as I had on the cats. I started with just carving around in some fluffy snow (about 10-16" on a good base) to get a feel for how it handled and how bad the diving was that I experienced on the pro-climbs. I figured with it being heavier it would be more pronounced...I was WAY off. After just a few seconds with no time spent on set up I was very comfortable on the sled and felt it was very predictable. I started taking some runs at a small hill to see how it did side-hilling and in a downhill turn. Again I was blown away, so I pushed it a bit harder. It did everything that I would consider doing on my pro, and with relative ease.
I did lose a sidehill line to the downhill side of the hill that I thought I shouldn't have, so I switched back to my pro to try and mirror everything I had just done. I found in the same situations (slow steep sidehills) the pro was in fact easier to maneuver. It didn't take any more or less effort to initiate a sidehill, but it was definitely easier to hold the line slowly on my pro. when I got to the point where I lost the one line...I washed out on my pro and ended up rolling the sled to get it unstuck. Apparently there was a hard patch just under the surface and I couldn't blame the viper for my lack of talent.
I got back on the Viper and did some bigger, steep climbs. Coming from a turbo pro to a pro and then to the viper I realized how much I missed power, and how noticeable torque is in deep snow. It felt similar to the pull my previous turbo pro had at about 8 psi at sealevel. On climbs where I was giving it all the pro had and was progressively slowing down towards the top the viper just kept pulling. This shouldn't be a surprise to those of you with time on a turbo 4 stroke, but coming from the 2 stroke I was pleasantly surprised.
I found a little bowl at the top of the climb and did some downhill carving. I found I had to commit a little more to whip it around, but not much, and a certain amount may have been mental commitment (loaner pre-production demo sled
). It again didn't have the dive that I've experienced on the pro-climbs in the past (not sure if that's yamaha specific or if cat has since fixed it as well) and was an absolute blast laying it over and having the power to just shoot right back up as fast as it did. Once I decided to head back down the hill I did notice on little bumps while heading down steep hard-pack it liked to nose down a bit. I quickly learned that just a little throttle as you hit the bump solved this, but it caught me off guard at first.
The rest of the day continued in the same fashion switching back and forth for a few good hours and comparing them in all types of situations.
All in all I was very happy with the new Viper and can honestly say I like it AS MUCH as my pro. The pro more so in the tight, slow, technical riding, and the viper in everything else. It was still noticeably heavier, but that was expected jumping from the lightest sled on the market (515 RTR) to the historic heavyweight champion that is now down to 614 RTR. The surprising part is I would have guessed probably a 50 lbs weight difference, not 100, and the power more than made up for the weight. I think that with some lightweight goodies (ie hood, battery, exhaust, front end) it would be on top of the mountain segment.
It is a much more capable sled than its predecessor and a contender in the steep and deep. If you are looking at a new sled for 2015 DO NOT discount Yamaha, and If you get the option, take one for a ride before you snowcheck something else. You will be suprised.
I need to thank Drew at Anchorage Yamaha for the opportunity to go on a real demo ride to put the sled through its paces and get an accurate feel for it in the conditions that we actually ride in. This is something above and beyond that I haven't gotten to experience at any other dealer.
...also it was only running 5-6 psi of boost, so LOTS of room for more.
My RMK is fairly well set up with Carl's cut skis, float 3's and a Skinz ARC system. I have spent a lot of time getting it dialed in for me, and I prefer tight technical riding and shorter steep climbs. I've been on a pro since it came out and had a turbo on my '11 for the last two seasons. I have spend a few rides on '12 cats, and put some seat time on the '13 as well. I was not very impressed with either, the latter being a improvement.
I got on the sled and took it kind of easy for the first few second as I was expecting the same experience as I had on the cats. I started with just carving around in some fluffy snow (about 10-16" on a good base) to get a feel for how it handled and how bad the diving was that I experienced on the pro-climbs. I figured with it being heavier it would be more pronounced...I was WAY off. After just a few seconds with no time spent on set up I was very comfortable on the sled and felt it was very predictable. I started taking some runs at a small hill to see how it did side-hilling and in a downhill turn. Again I was blown away, so I pushed it a bit harder. It did everything that I would consider doing on my pro, and with relative ease.
I did lose a sidehill line to the downhill side of the hill that I thought I shouldn't have, so I switched back to my pro to try and mirror everything I had just done. I found in the same situations (slow steep sidehills) the pro was in fact easier to maneuver. It didn't take any more or less effort to initiate a sidehill, but it was definitely easier to hold the line slowly on my pro. when I got to the point where I lost the one line...I washed out on my pro and ended up rolling the sled to get it unstuck. Apparently there was a hard patch just under the surface and I couldn't blame the viper for my lack of talent.
I got back on the Viper and did some bigger, steep climbs. Coming from a turbo pro to a pro and then to the viper I realized how much I missed power, and how noticeable torque is in deep snow. It felt similar to the pull my previous turbo pro had at about 8 psi at sealevel. On climbs where I was giving it all the pro had and was progressively slowing down towards the top the viper just kept pulling. This shouldn't be a surprise to those of you with time on a turbo 4 stroke, but coming from the 2 stroke I was pleasantly surprised.
I found a little bowl at the top of the climb and did some downhill carving. I found I had to commit a little more to whip it around, but not much, and a certain amount may have been mental commitment (loaner pre-production demo sled
). It again didn't have the dive that I've experienced on the pro-climbs in the past (not sure if that's yamaha specific or if cat has since fixed it as well) and was an absolute blast laying it over and having the power to just shoot right back up as fast as it did. Once I decided to head back down the hill I did notice on little bumps while heading down steep hard-pack it liked to nose down a bit. I quickly learned that just a little throttle as you hit the bump solved this, but it caught me off guard at first. The rest of the day continued in the same fashion switching back and forth for a few good hours and comparing them in all types of situations.
All in all I was very happy with the new Viper and can honestly say I like it AS MUCH as my pro. The pro more so in the tight, slow, technical riding, and the viper in everything else. It was still noticeably heavier, but that was expected jumping from the lightest sled on the market (515 RTR) to the historic heavyweight champion that is now down to 614 RTR. The surprising part is I would have guessed probably a 50 lbs weight difference, not 100, and the power more than made up for the weight. I think that with some lightweight goodies (ie hood, battery, exhaust, front end) it would be on top of the mountain segment.
It is a much more capable sled than its predecessor and a contender in the steep and deep. If you are looking at a new sled for 2015 DO NOT discount Yamaha, and If you get the option, take one for a ride before you snowcheck something else. You will be suprised.
I need to thank Drew at Anchorage Yamaha for the opportunity to go on a real demo ride to put the sled through its paces and get an accurate feel for it in the conditions that we actually ride in. This is something above and beyond that I haven't gotten to experience at any other dealer.
...also it was only running 5-6 psi of boost, so LOTS of room for more.
