OEM Plastic Ski - Potential Wear Patterns

OEM Plastic Ski Potential Wear Patterns

The steel ski will deflect better on impact when sharp objects are under the snow.

Arctic Cat Ski
Woody's 8" Carbide
1998-1999 - Used 550 Miles in Northern Wisconsin in 8"-10" of powder with, of course, little or no floatation.

Note the wear on the ski on each side of the wear rod... despite the fact that all carbide is still there.

Polaris Plastic Ski
Caught while loading on trailer

2005 Polaris IQ Ski

Note the excessive wear on the keel between the wear rod pockets.

wear ski

Click here for a closeup of another IQ ski

Ski-doo Flex Ski
Found debris on the trail

Ski-doo Precision Ski - New
New ski and rod

Ski-doo Precision Ski - Used
Used ski with new rod (1600 miles). To see how much plastic has worn away, compare the silhouette of this used ski to the silhouette of the new ski (photo above).

Ski-doo Precision Ski and Carbide - New

Ski-doo Precision Ski - Used with the Same New Carbide

Using the black line as a reference point, you can see how much plastic has worn away.

Used 1600 miles in 2002 in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

Click on image for larger view

Ski-doo Pilot Ski - Used

Click on image for larger view

Used Pilot SL ski wear pattern

This ski, with 2,222 miles, was ridden in both the 2009 & 2010 seasons in the UP of MI.

k 27 Combo

Not only was there heavy wear on the center of the keel, but excessive wear on the insides of the host bars. Note the insides are worn more than the bottom.

Outside view - note the amount of wear on each rod. Click for enlarged image

Inside view - note the significant increase of wear. Click for enlarged image

This wear pattern was inevitable! Just like dual runner rods, and the 2005 Polaris IQ skis, debris gets funneled through the channel, blasting away at all three surfaces.

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Note how the rear of the rubber stop has collapsed, on the bottom, above the shim. The two larger pockets in the rear have no positive effect, only negative. (less mass = less support) You might think they reduce weight but the whole stop weighs only .2300 lb. Only the narrow center pocket serves a purpose, because it centers the shim.

To avoid the excessive wear of the Pilot SL skis use a single rod, on the inside, with a Ski Saver that completely covers both wear rod pockets.

Keep in mind dual runner rods/skis get their results because they have different profiles. The list below demonstrates how similar the profiles actually are.

Dual Runner Gaps between carbide:
Accu-Trac – 1 1/8"
Dooly – 7/8"
Duece Bars – 7/16" - The main reason for its function is the host bar is 15/16” wide.
Pilot SL – 15/16"
Polaris IQ ski – 1-1/8"
Slim Jim – 1-1/16"
Double-Down – 1-1/4"

The Precision ski gap is (4-1/2") and Simmons ski gap is (5-3/16") and yet they followed each other even with an 11/16" difference.

With all these similar products, it shouldn’t be long to reach the point of critical mass where darting will become widespread for them.

Yamaha Plastic Ski

Yamaha Plastic Ski 1998 - 1999
Sudden stop! You think?

click for enlargement

Yamaha 2001 New Ski Design

Photos compare a new and used ski showing the wear pattern. Note how much more profile of the rod is now exposed on the used (bottom) ski.

click for enlargement

Yamaha Q18

Note the lack of wear on the front 11" of the ski.

The lack of wear on the front of the keel demonstrates its lack of function. So removing the useless part would not add to the skis function.

Dollar per mile, Bergstrom Skegs are the best value on the market...Period!

Sand Slurry test
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