Beautiful view of the mountains

@thatalaskaguy

5 ай бұрын

Definitely! Our best riding conditions are late February, March & April. Otherwise it’s dark and the short days and lack of direct sunlight aren’t great for visibility.

@BigTimTravels

5 ай бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy do u live in Florida?

My uncle has owned one of these for 25 years and has never cleaned the carbs. Just puts seafoam in it a few times per season. Ultra reliable.

@thatalaskaguy

2 жыл бұрын

I use Seafoam all the time and it works really well. A couple years ago one of my dirt bikes was running crappy when I got it out of storage. I put Seafoam in it and then just rode it around and it cleaned out the carb so it ran perfect. Super easy, I was impressed.

A belt replacement/adjustment video would be 👌

I turned 1600km on my 2020 machine today, started using it on Jan 10 of this year. Only thing I have to report, I blew a plug the second time I used it, was my fault for not letting it warm up enough. I replaced with the fancy NGK Iridium tipped plugs. I didn’t pay attention and used the removable terminal type. Bad idea. The Spark Plug boot wore out within a few hundred kilometres and I had to change them both out. I went back to the original BR9ES solid end ones. No problems, did 265km today. Otherwise it’s been great, operation is as expected. I do primarily trail riding, and a lot of the older fellas get a kick out of hearing a fan-cooled sled coming up the trail, which is part of the reason I bought it, the simplicity....

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

Good to hear you’re not have any problems with the sled. I don’t expect that you will. I’ve also had issues with those screw on type terminals and only buy the solid terminal type.

What r the skis ur running? Looking to get something similar if u could leave a link I’d really appreciate it! Thanks luv the vids from Canada 🇨🇦

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

They are the stock skis with Yamaha 11” wide ski skins. I’ve got a couple of other videos with more info on them, they took like 2 months to come in due to covid. www.shopyamaha.com/product/details/ski-skins I ordered mine though my dealer, they offer a 9” wide model as well.

Useful stuff! To what negative temperatures does it start? I have the bigger one and -20 is a no go

@thatalaskaguy

2 жыл бұрын

I don’t get the super cold temperatures like the interior Alaska. The coldest I’ve started mine was maybe -3°F. That’s cold for my location but not particularly cold for a lot of places.

@FargoNDRoland

2 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy -28 here in Fargo now

@thatalaskaguy

2 жыл бұрын

@@FargoNDRoland ugh! That’d be awful, I don’t like it when things get that cold. I’m located next to Prince William Sound so the ocean keeps us much warmer than interior Alaska or even Anchorage. I’m finding out this winter how important it is for us to get heavy wet snow and even rain during the winter. We’ve had cold temps for us, little snow compared to normal and lots of wind. It’s been an abnormal winter for us. We have no base and most areas, even up in the mountains are wind scoured making riding not much fun.

What are your thoughts about the transmission? Do you use low gear a lot?

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

It was balky and didn’t shift very well when I first got it. I then adjusted the linkage to be a little tighter and it shifts way better now. I rarely get a false neutral anymore and when I do is generally always my fault from not shifting it smoothly or far enough. Low gear is definitely a requirement, I use mine all the time. It’s really nice on tight trails or when creeping over brush. It’s way more useful than just for towing.

You convinced me to sell my Polaris and get one of these. Any advice on buying one?

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

If you are in South Central Alaska I’d say go to Performance Yamaha in Wasilla as they’ve been really nice to deal with over the years. But if not I guess try and find a leftover model as my understanding is they’ve been the same since ‘17. I was fortunate when I bought mine as he had too many and I got money off so I was happy. I just read in a forum where some guy was looking at new sleds in New York and used snowmobile trader.com or some site like that. It listed a ton of new sleds at dealers for sale. It seemed pretty handy. I’m just about to hit 1000 miles on mine. I just used it tow home one of our other machines that broke down. Wow, it was nice not to have to struggle with that exercise. The VK had no trouble at all flat towing the broken machine back home. Before my Trail Indy would have been working really hard to do the same thing and would have likely sunk the track a couple times during the exercise.

@20_below

3 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy Thanks a lot for the helpful reply. I'm on the Kenai and it looks like every dealer in the state is out. Lucky for me because I have bad luck with new machines. I'll watch carefully for a used one. Thanks again!

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

@@20_below right on, glad I could help 😀

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

@@20_below here’s one in Valdez, I’ve seen it riding around. anchorage.craigslist.org/snw/d/valdez-2019-yamaha-vk540/7293247976.html

Did you consider the Ski Doo Tundra ace 600 at all?

@bullwinkled790

3 жыл бұрын

I had one - great machine, no pull start, lots of electronics, bunch of plastic panels to get to motor.

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

No, not the Tundra but I did consider a Skandic widetrack until I learned they dropped the fan cooled motor. I kind of had a weird criteria that morphed and changed through my process. I initially had my eye set on the Blast LT as I wanted something small and light. Then I got the price and thought WTF!? Then I decided I just wanted a more capable version of the 30 year old Trail Indy I was using and wanted to stay fan cooled. I started looking into wide tracks and researching them and watched a bazillion Russian VK videos and was pretty impressed. Plus I had one buddy that had a Polaris widetrack and another buddy with a fan cooled Bearcat and they both liked their sleds. The VK had a really good reputation, was under $9000 last spring, and would be the biggest, heaviest, most purposed build work sled I ever owned. Since buying it I’ve been really impressed and the ski skins turned it into more of what I wanted. I didn’t look hard at the ski-doos because I didn’t want fuel injection or a lot of the electronic gimmicks they come with now. Plus I didn’t want a 4 stroke, nothing really against them, I’ve owned Yamaha 4-strokes in the past but never liked electric start only and having to rely on a battery to get it started. So far I’ve had no regrets gettin the VK. What amazes me is the VK videos are the most popular ones for my channel so I kind of just keep making more as that what people seem to like.😄

@MJCART-be9nb

3 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy Yes, the VK540 is a simple and straight forward machine to work on, when it requires it! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

r u running straight gas with the oil injection system? I hear from factory it is mixing 70:1. If that t is true kinda scares me. I picked up a 2021 vk 540 up and am considering adding oil to the gas. I figure, 2 ounces oil into 5 gallon of gas, into the 70:1 injection mix gives me about 60:1 overall. comments?

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

Yes, just straight gas, 87 octane. I’ve never added oil to my gas. The owner’s manual stipulates 50:1 pre-mixing for cold temperatures below -13°F but that is colder than what we typically get in my location. I’ve been running Yamalube 2S oil since I bought it. The machine burns through around a gallon in 500 miles. I’d pre-mix if I was riding in cold temps. I was assuming I’d end up having to reject richer as I figured it was really leaned out for emissions but so far I’ve not needed to. It’s just been pull and go, just how I like it! 😄

@bullwinkled790

3 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy if a guy is not certain what the injection system is mixing, how do we know how to mix 50:1? Are they saying mix 50:1 into the tank and do not worry about injection? we regularly run colder than -13F. And if temp goes up to 10 above and ya still have 3/4 tank 50:1 I guess ya just go with it.

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

@@bullwinkled790 Ahhhh, I see now. I’m not sure what the injection system is mixing the gas/oil at because it’ll vary depending upon throttle setting. The more cable is pulled the more oil the pump puts out. I’m guessing because they’ve got the sled leaned out for emissions and better fuel mileage is why they are recommending pre-mixing the gas in the fuel tank at 50:1 for below -13°F. We just don’t see that kind of cold here along the coast but if I was like you and rode in those temps or colder I’d pre-mix every time until you knew you wouldn’t encounter those cold temps. I’d likely even rejet richer just to be safe. I’ve not looked for a VK jetting chart but it’d be interesting to see what it says. In your cold temps I’d be sure to run a good 2-stroke oil as well.

@edwardfinn4141

3 жыл бұрын

I always add /mix oil to the gas tank, at 100:1 , in addition to the injection oil .

@bullwinkled790

3 жыл бұрын

@@edwardfinn4141 just bought one with 87 miles on it with a5 year warranty. Am running 2oz of Amsoil synthetic to 5gal fuel in addition to the injection system and see how that does for me.

weight is a killer. a small 2000lb winch tucks nicely on the front with a plate between the frame pipes. used mine a few times

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

That’s an interesting idea and I’d never thought about that before. I’m visualizing that the cable would be routed though the nose vent on the cowling?

@sheldonwright2613

3 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy separate hole punched so the line out runs cleanly under the exhaust.

Perfect fro my 14 year old

@thatalaskaguy

5 ай бұрын

Maybe? It depends on your terrain and how they ride it. I find the VK to be surprisingly top heavy. It’s pretty easy to roll. I’ve never rolled mine but have come really close a number of times.

Do you notice if your clutches get hot ?

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

I’ve not noticed anything out of the ordinary but honestly, I’ve not checked. The sled runs and performs just fine so I’ve not had reason to look. It uses the same 8DN belt that was on my Vector and Nytro which both made over twice the horsepower of the VK so I don’t foresee having any belt issues. The 8DN is a really tough belt. I wish my Polaris belts were as cheap as the 8DN.

What skis did you put on it?

@thatalaskaguy

2 жыл бұрын

They are the Yamaha 12 inch wide ski skins. They have been amazing and the machine should’ve come with them stock. The sled is very tippy without them.

@billylabonte4761

2 жыл бұрын

Ok great. I bought two 2017 VK540V. One is really and I mean REALLY stiff to steer. My kids can’t do it. I feel like I’m going to break something twisting the handle bars. The other one is quite easy.

@thatalaskaguy

2 жыл бұрын

@@billylabonte4761 There is definitely something wrong if it steers that hard. Here are a few things to check: 1. Make sure the belly pan isn’t bashed in and rubbing on the steering linkage. 2. Check to make sure there isn’t a tool, branch or something else down in the tub binding up the linkage. 3. Make sure all, the pivots are lubed and greased. The previous owner make have gotten a bunch of grime on the steering components while trailering. 4. Is it hard to steer inside a heated shop? You could have ice in some of the linkage parts if the sled is outside in below freezing conditions. 5. Worst case make sure there isn’t anything bent. Look for impact damage. I doubt it is anything serious and the VK is easy to work on.

Alaska -Russia👍👍

Itsa light snowmobile

Привет с Урала

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

Hello from South Central Alaska

A belt replacement/adjustment video would be 👌

@thatalaskaguy

3 жыл бұрын

I’ll have to look it up myself. Hopefully it isn’t like the 30 year old Polaris driven clutch that required removal, disassembly, removing a shim and reassembly. I also need to look up to see how high the belt is to be riding in the driven. I don’t know off the top of my head. It’s currently low compared to a Polaris but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong or out of adjustment.

@taforth

3 жыл бұрын

@@thatalaskaguy ok - thanks. I have about the same mileage on mine now, and I’ve heard my belt squeal (only a little bit) when going through deep snow...I know from my own work experience, that rubber belts stretch and wear the most at the beginning of their life, as it’s a non-linear relationship between useable and stretch.