Love my new venture. The only disappointment is the track howl. 400 miles on & seems to be getting louder. I wear earplugs & the ears are still ringing after a long ride. I don't notice it much going less than 30 or over60. It's definately louder than my old XLT in the 40-60 mph range. I was hoping to put one of cats "quiet tracks" on it but they don't make one in 144x15. Would softer bogies help? I'm ready to try anything. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

If you are running studs the noise might be from the back of the studs running over the plastic wheels.

The studs add some noise when the wheels run over them so I took out the studs in the line of the wheels. There is still a LOT of track noise at 40 to 60 mph but it is a little more tollerable at other speeds without the added vibration of wheels rolling over studs,plus my wheels aren't warping as I've read about others.I'm hoping Yamaha will come through for us and find a fix for this annoying noise problem.The sled is great in all other aspects. When people ask me if they should consider one I tell them about all the things I like about it and the track noise I don't like.When others ride it the only negative feedback is "man,that track roar is nasty!"Other guys on the site have tried rubber wheels but say it doesn't help.I try to ride right and catch as much soft snow as I can and that helps. Good luck and think Yami will help us out!

I hate the track noise also and hope they come up with a fix. the other thing
I hate about my venture is when you let off throttle it's like you hit the brake
is this normal? for all the articals that said this sled is queit :wut60:

The sudden slow down is due to the engine breaking you get with the four stroke and the clutching you need to make it work. Also, make sure your track is not too tight so that your hyfax get hot and make the track stick. My sled took one hyfax melt down and a clip scraping to get the hyfax broke in.Once you get used to the steady throttle you need to keep moving you'll probably like the braking that you can use for corners.

Yamaha told the techs at the last meeting there is know fix for the noise, just deal with it! I know some of the guys on TY have ran the Skidoo or Polaris wheels on there's to eliminate the noise and hyfax wear problems, these wheels are 1/4" or 3/16" bigger and help hold the track down just enough to stop the noise and decrease the rolling resistance. Everyone who's done this has said it made a huge improvement! Also the black wide YAMAHA graphite slides are MUCH MUCH better tha the normal plastic and a lot cheaper than the "hyperfax" , they only cost 40.00 and last 5 times as long!
Another trick is to drill 3/8" holes 1/4" deep in the hyfax every 1-1/2" all the way down the hyfax. What this does is allow snow to pack into these holes and turn to ice, then when your riding on hard pack or ice the hyfax starts to get hot the snow/ice in the holes melts creating lubricant........walla! I personally drill a 3/8" hole a 1/4" deep (or a bit more), then two 1/4" holes "side by side" about an inch and a half down the hyfax then another 3/8" hole , alternateing back and forth. I've done this with regular cheapo hyfax and riden miles & miles at a time on hard pack with NO wear issue's. This was a long track that had NO outer idler wheels, when sold I had 700 miles on these hyfax and they still looked like new! Also if the track has closed windows every third or isn't clipped all the way around you can have it clipped and cut the windows out, this will make a huge difference alone! IT WORKS! Good Luck

just took my brand new 07 out for its first spin

now i here the noise that you guys are talking about :banghead:

i guess they didn't fix it for 07

part of the problem is that the sled is so quiet everywhere else that it really shows up

will live with it so far, but

may have to get the bigger polaris wheels to help out that noise :div20:

OK, Here's an update on the track howl,
After extensive experimenting, I finally settled on a cure that took care of almost all of the deafening track howl: Polaris wheels (the older, smaller ones), 116 woody's signature flat topped 1.325" studs, placed in line w/ 4 inner wheels, w/ thin 1" washers placed under the heads to cause them to be raised approx. 1 mm above flush inside the track. I placed the studs in two rows, between every bar.
What I did was mimic Cat's patented " Quiet Track" by using studs to stiffen the inter-lug area and support the wheels, smoothing out the vibration & reducing the "rumblestrip" effect.
Cat's track uses molded in wedges for the same purpose.

Summary of experiments:

DEAFENINGLY LOUD- Stock plastic wheels, especially at speeds of 40-60mph. Earplugs don't help
because the frequency is too low & the sound basically travels right through the skull.

QUIETER- Replace all 6 wheels w/ rubber polaris wheels. Many have done this w/ good results.

QUIETER YET- Add studs as mentioned above. Note: without the added washers, the studs
will probably make the noise worse since they will countersink slightly, causing the wheels
to dive even deeper between the lugs.

QUIETEST- Remove all 6 wheels. I did this for approx. 300 miles & enjoyed the silence. Of course I
had to stay in the powder for the slides.

Also, I didn't see the need for tunnel protectors w/ this stud pattern since the exhaust pipe actually protrudes down about an inch, thus acting as a tunnel protector. I can't see how there could ever be any contact, barring a total track sepatation. I have several hundred miles on & so far so good.

Hope this helps save some hearing!

Just get an aftermarket performance muffler. You wont hear the track howl at all. BRAAAAAAAP!!!