Skinz Protective Gear Under the Tunnel Exhaust, Yamaha Nytro

[christopher]

In order to get the cover plate into the correct position, there are a series of bolts that are left over from the old seat mount that have to be removed.

Center Rivet has to be drilled out from under the tunnel, and always spun on me, so I used vice grips to hold it.

There are FOUR of these pairs that have to be removed.

 

[christopher]

On my 2010 Nytro 162 SE, one of these pairs was a bear. The connecting plate went under the mount for the Oil Cooler. Only way to get this out was to either drill all the rivets for the oil cooler and drop it, or to cut the plate in half and slide it out.

 

[christopher]

I inserted a couple screw drivers to pull the plate away from the tunnel and took a grinder and sliced through the plate to release it.

Once it was sliced in half, and the center rivet drilled it, it slid under the oil cooler and out the back with no further trouble.

 

[christopher]

Next I positioned the rear of the cover and center punched a hole for the drill bit.

Set a rivet.

And began drilling all the remaining holes all the way around the plate.

And set the Clecos in place as I drilled each hole to ensure the plate didn't budge while drilling

 

[christopher]

With all the rivets in place.

 

[christopher]

While I expect the Under The Tunnel Conversion to work just fine, when all was said and done, this plate is NOT a perfect fit on my 2010 Nytro 162 SE.

Its CLOSE, but NOT perfect.

When the plate is first laid on the exhaust there is a natural position that it wants to be in based on the hight of the plate at the ridge line, and the rubber gromet on the exhaust mount. While you can slide it forward and backward, the plate really only fits in one spot. On my sled, I WANTED the plate to go forward a good inch so that the rear end of the plate would sit forward of the rear tunnel section so the back of the plate would lie flush with the tunnel.

As it is, there is a very clear gap all the way around the plate. And, as you can see from the photos, the plate is just a bit too wide, so that it ends up resting on top of two different rivets in the rear.

Now, for all I know this is intentional so that the underside of the plate doesn't fill up with mud or debris?? Honestly I don't know, but there is an 8th of an inch gap all the way around this thing.

When I was finished installing it, I was concerned enough about this that I went back and DRILLED OUT ALL THE RIVETS and removed the plate, and looked to see if there was any way to reposition the main exhaust hanger bolt so I could fix this gap. But the width of the plate stops me no matter how far forward or aft I moved it. the plate is just a little too wide at the tail end, and the rise at the ridge is just a little too low to let me move the plate forward.

I will be talking to Skinz about this and asking for their comments this week.

 

[christopher]

With my tunnel now polished and the Air-Frame boards installed, I am finally ready to rivet this beast into place.!

 

[christopher]

Positioned the bumper into place. There is "SOME" room to slide it forward or backward, but give or take about 3/8ths of a inch, it HAS to be where it ends up or the pre-existing whole that were left from the OEM bumper bolts will not line up with the metal of the new bumper. So positioning it was really a matter of trying to center all of the holes.

Here you can see THREE of the pre-existing OEM bumper mounting holes that have to be re-used to mount the new bumper.

Unfortunately you have to drill from the inside of the tunnel out, which means your pushing the bumper off the tunnel, so I had my son grab it and hold it in place in addition to the spring clamps.

 

[christopher]

This kinda surprised me. Considering how sweet this bumper is, it didn't come with a short bolt and a nice caped nut. I think tomorrow I am going to go hunting for some shorter bolts with a decorative caped nut to replace the ones that came from Skinz.

 

[christopher]

This is the finished product MINUS the rivets.
I had ordered another bag of Rivets from OFT Racing as I do NOT like the rivets that Skinz supplies. The OEM Yamaha Rivets from OFT Racing are VASTLY superior in quality!

 

[christopher]

Will get the new replacement tailight and Tunnel rack installed next.

 

[christopher]

That is the Skinz replacement light!
http://www.skinzprotectivegear.com/snowmobileproductlr/ledlights.html

I wanted to get rid of the huge light the Nytro came with so I would have more room on the tunnel for a tunnel Rack and Bag.

 

[christopher]

Gotta go buy a little multi-meter today.
The colors of the wires don't match up and I don't have a clue which is hot, Ground and Neutral.

 

[christopher]

The moment of truth just arrived.
After MONTHS of working on my sled we got the suspension back in place tonight and I was able to fire up the engine.

I AM IN LOVE!

The sound of this new exhaust is MUSIC TO MY EARS!

I am giving the Skinz Super-Q muffler a TWO THUMBS UP.

I LOVE THE SOUND IT MAKES!!!

 

[christopher]

Had a couple rivets that had to be installed on the bumper before I was finished with it.

Got the new Tail Light installed.

 

[christopher]

Mounting bracket comes with BLACK RIVETS

The light mounts to the bracket and the wires pass through.

 

[christopher]

FINISHED PRODUCT.

 

[christopher]

FIRST RIDE REVIEW.

Took the sled out yesterday for the first ride, but I failed to take any pictures, and some images ARE important on this.

#1.
The sound of this new exhaust was music to my ears.
I just loved it.
And those that were out riding with us had similar feelings.
It has a nice deep throaty sound, much more like a 4 stroke engine should sound!!

The only concern that I had going into this was heat.
I was worried that the heat from the muffler might pass through the protective plate and burn the powdercoating or the under the seat bag.

I am happy to report NEITHER HAPPENED!
The heat shielding that Skinz installed under the cover plate worked perfectly.
There is NO sigh of any excess heat buildup on the powdercoating at all!

But there were some interesting side effects.

#2.
Most of the underside of the tunnel was SNOW FREE.
And this is something I will get some photos of on my next ride.
The extra heat that is being retained by placing the exhaust in the tunnel is working to melt all the snow, or at least most of it from the tip of the exhaust forward to the engine.

#3.
There was some real steam coming out from under the seat!
While not significant, it was noticeable.
The heat from the exhaust WAS keeping the snow off my tunnel as you can see from the right side of this image. But as you look to the left you can see snow on the sides of the under seat bag showing that the temps were NOT high enough to melt the show on the sides of the protective cover plate.

As noted earlier in this article, my plate does NOT have a tight seal around the bottom, and this is where the stream was coming through from.

You might wonder WHY I even mention this?
Because I sat my goggles down on the seat and they got fogged from the steam! Minor thing, but it made me laugh at myself at the time.

#4.
This is NOT YET CONFIRMED!
But it appears that the exhaust muffler MIGHT be melting a significant amount of snow and generating liquid water that is collecting on my upper track support wheels and causing them to ice up.

I installed a set of OFT Billet Aluminum Wheels, and throughout the day they seemed be covered in ice.
Right now I am not certain WHY the ice was forming, or WHERE the water was coming from that formed it. But I am thinking it the Exhaust MIGHT be a contributor.
On my next ride I will pay close attention to this and see if I can figure out whats happening.