120 Miles on XP. The good and bad

[Skidooer]

Well after 3 days riding 154X this is what I found.

Takes 50 or so miles for ECM to let sled run better. Engine after this first 50or so miles has TONS of power.

Top speed is 95mph.

Clutches run way hot in all conditions. I think it needs lower gears. Didn't want to hold RPM's in deep snow and heavy loads up hard pulls. RPM's great on trail. My weight ready to ride is 235 and I push the sled hard on steep pulls. May be better with more break in but still a mountian sled does not need to be geared to go 95mph. No belt issues.

Hand warmers quit working.

Leg room nice. How ever miss being able to "lock" feet in toe holds in rough trails. Due to forward toe holds, must now stand on running boards. At 50 in big moguls it gets a little scary.

Guages are very nice!

 

[RGM]

Seem like a few guys have had heater issues. I am a big guy too and think gearing down might be the way to go. Does anyone know what gear ratios are available?

 

[Skidooer]

I think I am going to go to 19/45. If still not happy then will move to a lower degree helix.

 

[wweverett]

Finally got to ride mine yesterday. This machine is awesome, I only went 40 miles but it was all in powder and I had my 45 pound son with me the whole way, except when we would come to an open field that we could play in. Clutches never leaked grease, they did get hot but not as hot as the m1000 I rode with.

Bottom line is that this sled gets on top and handles like a dream. My last sled was a modded M7 and I thought it was the best handling sled there was till yesterday.

 

[07dragonguy]

Rode with 3 rev xp's this weekend and two of the three's hand warmers quit working with less than 100 miles on them. Overall they seemed pleased, I didn't ride one.

 

[MT_mtn_climber]

First ride on my 163...

Only got 26 miles on Saturday but fairly happy with everything so far, definately handles different than a rev, the bars are too far forward from the factory. The chasis seems to like input a litte farther back, especially with pushing on the boards.
Hand warmers worked but I didn't run them until on the way back and that was only because I had heard of the issues....more to come on that.
Clutches got pretty warm but not hot and the clutching seems very close. pulled correct R's until 9100 feet, then I bumped from clicker 1 to clicker 3. Clicker 3 pulled 8100-8200 in a couple feet of powder and the track speed was about 47, I'm guessing this will get better as I the sled really started to wake up on the ride back... Hoping there is more off trail riding next time so I can look at the clutching in more varied conditions. No oil from the clutches that I could see and the belt still looked good. I'm going to clean the clutches and belt tonight and give a better inspection.
163 handles suprisingly well on the trails, didn't feel like there was that much track back there, jumps nicely too.
There was some vibration but not to the point of hands going numb like others have posted... feels like its in the drivetrain to me, not the motor. Not that big of deal to me as long as it doesn't cause issues in the future.
Chasis doesn't seem to collect as much snow as the Rev chasis did, way less ice and snow buildup on the XP compared to the Rev I rode with. Boards also don't collect much snow and traction is great.
Another big storm is supposed to lay down a good amount and off trail shouldn't be a problem in a lot of areas. I'll try to report again when we get more snow.

 

[Summitseeker]

Seem like a few guys have had heater issues. I am a big guy too and think gearing down might be the way to go. Does anyone know what gear ratios are available?

Ray, I found this on another thread.

19/45 at 8100 rpm and .83 overdrive is 89.2 mph with 102 link chain (74.0 mph at 1 to 1)

21/45 at 8100 rpm and .83 overdrive is 98.6 mph with 102 link chain (81.8 mph at 1 to 1)

23/45 at 8100 rpm and .83 overdrive is 108.0 mph with 104 link chain (89.6 mph at 1 to 1)

21/49 at 8100 rpm and .83 overdrive is 90.5 mph with 104 link chain (75.1 mph at 1 to 1)

 

[AkHockey10]

How does it ride compared to the REV?