Press Release –

Yamaha came out a big winner in the Northeast Grass Drag Series (NEGDS) season-ending race weekend on October 22-23.

The action was limited to Saturday due to rainy weather on Sunday, but there was plenty of time for three Yamaha snowmobile pilots to post wins and claim class championships at the Gilford, NH event.

Greg Omasta finished on the podium in both Stock 500 and Stock 600 races, but more importantly the strong finishes secured him 2005 NEGDS championships in both classes – the Stock 500 title on his Vector and the Stock 600 title aboard his new Apex.

Making the day even better, Simon Bolduc from Quebec took the Stock 600 race win on another Apex, while Francis Byron earned an Improved Stock 600 series title aboard his SRX with Omasta second.

The purpose-built grass drag facility, operated by the Belknap Snowmobilers for many years, is right alongside the Laconia Municipal Airport and it just about took a runway to rein in Frank Jarocki, who won the Heavy Mod 1000 class on Saturday aboard his RX-1 Turbo.

He did it in impressive style too – setting the fastest trap speed that NEGDS has ever recorded in its 13 years of operation – some 120 mph at the end of the 500-foot track.

The 2006 Ski-Doo MX-Z 550X Fan will come stock, out of the box, with a host of trick, 440 limited build parts aimed at making the already potent race ready and race legal leaf blower more durable under competition use.

Here’s the goody list:
– Steel braided brake hose
– Internal/external drive sprockets
– Gun drilled jackshaft
– Heavy duty chain tensioner and a one inch
– Full block Camoplast Predator meat to deliver commanding holeshots

Arctic Cat’s unusual floating front arm on the 2005 Sno-Pro racer turned what was otherwise a very poor cornering sled into a very capable railer. Cat’s 128 x 13.5 wide track has had a reputation for being resistant to turning because of its extra length. This length generates excessive side grip, undermining the skis’ ability to lever the sled in turns.

Last season the the Cat crew introduced a radical yet simple piece of engineering allowing the front arm’s upper mounting pivots (inside the tunnel – just behind the drive sprockets) to “float” back and forth more than an inch. When this innovation was unveiled as a handling enhancer, its unique benefits were not fully explained to the press or even to racers.

To make the floating front arm work, the rear arm drop link had to be converted to a fully coupled (rear-to-front) unit using conventional coupling blocks like AC’s trail sleds use. The difference is in how early the coupling moment hits on the Sno-Pro set-up versus the trail sleds.

Here’s what happens. When you squeeze the loud handle on a conventional snow bullet, the sled is driven forward by the tracks rotational forces coming through the front arm and into the tunnel near the footrests. The sled is not driven forward by the rear arm. It’s drop link design compensates for the geometric arc of the front arm to maintain consistent track tension.

All snowmobiles, when turned by the front skis, are pivoting precisely at the front arm of the skidframe. In the case of AC’s longer 128 inch track, there’s a ton of sled that has to be pried around behind the driver.

With AC’s floating front arm, the track and skid actually drive forward in the chassis until the rear coupler blocks lock up at the rear arm before the floating front arm hits its forward limit. This causes the Sno-Pro to “think” it’s pivoting at the rear arm were the power is now entering the chassis (when the coupler blocks contact the drop link). This occurs a considerable distance back from the front arm and provides more leverage to swing the rear of the sled around in tight turns.

This may take more than just one read to understand but as far as we’re concerned, it’s engineering genius.

(Originally published in Supertrax – Volume 17, Number 1)

Press Release –

Polaris announced it has forged a development partnership with leading clutch system manufacturer Erlandson Performance Inc. (EPI-Baxter, MN). Erlandson, a household name in the industry whose clutches are known for unparalleled quality, superior performance and durability, has been developing performance clutch kits for a quarter century.

“In our eyes, EPI is the clear leader in performance clutches and these kits prove that,” said Ryan Lindell, Pure Polaris Accessories Developer. “The performance enhancements these kits provide our sleds completely exceeded our expectations and we think our customers will feel the same.”

Designed for 2006 Polaris snowmobiles, the new Polaris / EPI kits are engineered to provide aggressive acceleration on the low end, resulting in dramatically enhanced performance on the top end – either on or off the trail.

“All of us at EPI are thrilled to be working with a company like Polaris,” said Glenn & Diane Erlandson, owner of EPI. “In the end, the real winners are Polaris riders because the kit takes an already great performing sled and makes it even better.”

Set for release in October, 2005, the performance clutch kits carry a retail price of $279.99 US / $374.99 CN and will be available for a variety of models including the 2006 600 HO Fusion & Switch back™, 700 Fusion and 900 Fusion & Switchback™. Part Numbers are found below. 2006 FS Classic, FST Classic & Switchback kits will be available at a later date.

#2875866 – 2006 600 HO Fusion & Switchback™
#2875867 – 2006 700 Fusion
#2875868 – 2005 & 2006 900 Fusion & Switchback™

For more information and to order, see your local Polaris dealer.

Parts Unlimited is proud to announce a sponsorship agreement with SCS. Parts Unlimited will act as presenting sponsor for SCS’s unique freestyle sled and moto events across the nation. SCS has always done their part to showcase power sports and fight for riders’ rights; therefore, it was only logical that Parts Unlimited would get involved and once again prove that they live up to their motto of “We Support the Sport®.”

“We are happy to be involved with SCS. We enjoy the power sport business, freestyle motocross, freestyle snowmobile and supporting the sport, so SCS is a natural fit for us. We are looking forward to working with SCS during the coming year,” said Jeff Fox, President/CEO of Parts Unlimited.

“All of us at SCS are excited to have Parts Unlimited as a partner in our events. Parts Unlimited is, in fact, a great fit and we look forward to an exciting year! We have a great team of riders that are fired up and ready to make history yet again! With a great schedule of events lined up for the 05/06 seasons, you can be sure to see another great year for the history books! SCS has some great companies supporting our efforts and we are glad to have Parts Unlimited join our team,” said Steve Miller, Founder of SCS.

For more information on the event schedule for SCS and the riders, check out www.scsracing.com. SCS’s new site will launch November 1, 2005.