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X4's must have sponsons!

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Matt Braley

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So I lake tested my 96 SPX this weekend and it ran great. However I could not believe how terrible these things handle when stock. Now the VTS is out and I set it just above level because it's supposed to be the sweet spot. The ski was hopping constantly until I moved up the seat to compensate(needs extended trim tabs). But the steering was crazy! You have to lean back and outside like the old 3-wheeler atc's but that's not the worst of it. It takes a massive amount of force just move the bars. You can sway the bars back and forth a good bit with almost no result and then it takes 40 lbs of push to start to turn. I didn't even take it up the creek. My X4's ride stable across a choppy lake and turn easily with one hand. It's been a while since I rode a stocker, so I've been reminded to say that if you don't have sponsons and extended trim tabs..........get em coming soon.
 
yea i have my 96 spx and i havent been on any other ski but i have to say its hard to turn the handel bars.
what are sponsons..never heard of that word
i ride mine with the trim all the way down. i feel better that way and its less bumpy
 
See that's horrible! Yer pushing your nose down, bet you get splashed a lot. Sponsons can be found used in the $100 range or about $279 new. Old names to look for are Beach House, Trackers, and odyssey. Today you can get the Worx brand. They are the stabilizers on either side of the rear hull.
 
i'm confused.
your saying the ski is hard(er) to ride by a significant amount w/o aftermarket sponsons ?
and the same goes for extended trim tabs ?

sorry, maybe there was something else wrong with this stocker ski you speak of but i've never found those issues you describe, certainly not dramatic issues.

and i've ridden several x4's with various hull mods as well as engine mods.

sponsons might help you take a bouy tighter w/o a spinout, but IMO a stock sponson doesn't make turning hard at all, the nozzle does all the work. and as far as porpoising, I thought my xp porpoised a ton when I first bought and started riding it, 100 hours later, it doesn't porpoise much at all now, i've learned to adjust my sitting position, speed and angle to the waves and the rest of the unavoidable "bounce" is absorbed by my knees.
Granted riding a gtx 4 stroke it cuts thru the waves much better but it should !
 
Yes, I'm saying that you would have to push the bars a long way using a lot of force without the sponsons to make a turn. Yes it can be helped by adjusting your riding position constantly but I'm spoiled. I can hold the little dog in the left hand and run up a tight creek easily steering with the right. The extended tabs smooth it out and stabilize it no matter where you are sitting. Use your riding skills to run faster in narrower and shallower spaces, not just overcoming the handling short falls of the craft.


Spim this is my humble opinion. I think you and Justforfun are the coolest cats getting the most modded X4 riding done around south Fl from what I can tell.
 
IMO this is why I love vts. you want to turn hard trim down, jump, more speed trim up. Fantastic.

I don't have anything near that kind of drastic riding you are talking about.
 
Yeh, my non working VTS's is my own shortfall and not the craft's fault. I am getting into the manual(Hydrolic) trim and it just seems to help me jump out of the hole faster. once I'm up the sponsons do the turning effortlessly.
 
Yes, I'm saying that you would have to push the bars a long way using a lot of force without the sponsons to make a turn. Yes it can be helped by adjusting your riding position constantly but I'm spoiled. I can hold the little dog in the left hand and run up a tight creek easily steering with the right. The extended tabs smooth it out and stabilize it no matter where you are sitting. Use your riding skills to run faster in narrower and shallower spaces, not just overcoming the handling short falls of the craft.


Spim this is my humble opinion. I think you and Justforfun are the coolest cats getting the most modded X4 riding done around south Fl from what I can tell.

:) sorry i wasn't "dissing" sponsons, just thought that its a steering problem, not a sponson problem. I like AM sponsons, but they don't solve steering problems.

just my humble opinion as well but i've ridden with stock and am sponsons, and as long as the steering is right, or reasonably so that I didn't notice issues with stock sponsons, actually in many degrees I prefer the stockers in two situations especially, slow carving turns and spinouts (as opposed to a 360).
i found that with river riding slow carving that the stockers flowed very well, had good release on a turn to hit the str8's. with beach house installed from the carves right up to hitting surf as a rec rider it is very much more a "white knuckle" ride since the sponsons are so responsive, mid/high throttle turns had a real bite to them .
IE: learning curve to am sponsons and to me a learning curve includes many instances of landing upside down in the water after you ski makes a perfect 180, but you only completed 125 :) good times when it happens in 4 foot seas, so much fun to reboard lol (actually it is fun when it works lol)
anyway
when your zigzaggin around crab trap markers (poor mans bouys) I want the beach house all day long.

what I meant to say when I said maybe there is something wrong its because
if u have to pull that hard on turns, its not because you have sponsons, its because the steering needs fixed.
you standard rec rider would be better served with stock and maybe move up to am after some time.

your rec/+ rider would be better served with AM. but their ride won't suffer terribly because of stock.

your rec/hard rider needs AM, he's already juiced up the motor so nothing else was left :)

and actually there are a lot of x4 junkies around here, some really sweet ski's and a lot of cute little 717's puttering along :)
 
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I have a bone stock 96 SPX and a 96 Xp with a jet dynamics grate, beach house sponsons, and beach house trim tabs. They for sure feel like two different machines. I love them both, but after riding the XP I feel like I am out of control on the SPX, but the SPX is more fun to do spins and such. It just really depends on your riding style and what you look for in a ski. Me personally I like the on rails hold on tight or get whooped by the ski feel the XP gives me. I haven't let it get me done yet but I know my days are numbered :)
 
I think Skewba is on to what I encountered this weekend. I am used to that "lock in" ride. I ride nearly everyday but when I got on that SPX(stock) I'm thinking "Is this what Matty and Powerslave putting up with?" Now that's in handling only, I do have love for the 717. Spim, there not that "little". My 90 is up to 52mph with a 717. But that's no big deal, I heard some dude won the 800 class race season with a 717 beating all the 787's(must be some tuner). I have crab trap markers out here and I do use them as cones and I am a poor man so all that ckecks out. The steering cable on this SPX is fine but I think I will set the trim in a lower spot before I sell it to somebody.
 
...You can sway the bars back and forth a good bit with almost no result and then it takes 40 lbs of push to start to turn...

This has nothing to do with the sponsons. Check your steering bushings and/or replace the steering cable.

Chester
 
The bushings and cable are good. I could have turned without that much play or force if I would have trimmed down or leaned out or both. My point is that a properly set up X4 does not porpoise easily and turns wonderfully. Doing spins or anything like does not interest me. I don't like to feel the hull ever slide out and it seems dangerous to me that so many do. I can sit and lean however and know that the upcoming turn is in the bag. I have 3 X4's with 3 different brand sponsons and all of them start turning with the slightest movement of the bars. Of coarse they have 3 different brands of tabs also(Ultrac, Novi, and R&D). I'm not sure exactly whats doing what but I can sure recommend the combination of sponsons and extended trim tabs.
 
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