Posts by neostar

    Be careful with what exhaust you choose if you have a top and a tall wind screen

    The only exhaust I am eyeing is the carbon twin exhaust that exits behind and very low by the rear rear. "Thermal R&D Ceramic Coated Dual Rear Exit Touring Exhaust System". It has rave reviews so far.  I don't plan on getting a roof, the wing is just too damn pretty for me to spoil it with a roof (pun intended). So far I am content with the stock wind screen.


    Good info, I will be considering the tire you have. I am not a fan of low profile wheels/tires so more sidewall is always better in my book. I have already been at a meetup (15 slingers). Saw some interesting mods but mostly bling vs performance. One thing I already know I will be getting down the road is relocating the exhaust to the back. I could tell it really does make a difference from the demo I got. I also want to get the SLR seats vs my SL down the road as well.


    I have already got most of my mods done and I am very satisfied so far. Going to get the new exhaust and wheels/tires next year and I will be all set. I will mull over replacing the seats later on.

    Am I the only one who thinks you are wearing the clutch out exponentially? If the rpms are increasing from idle at a much faster rate and you are still moving/engaging the clutch at the same speed as usual doesn't that mean a lot more wear on the clutch for little gain in acceleration??


    Sounds foolish to me unless you are happy to replace clutches a lot.

    Wet the belt down and see if the noise disappears.


    Looks to me like your belt is riding hard to the outside of the pulley.


    Belt alignment?

    Belt looks fine to me but I might try wetting the belt to see if that changes the noise.


    **Update**

    Well I am glad you mentioned wetting the belt. I decided to take a look at it before going to sleep tonight. Before wetting the belt I decided to move the SS ever so slightly in the garage and since it's super quiet right now I noticed that I could hear the noise almost instantly after just moving a few millimeters. That convinced me it wasn't bearing related because the noise was to fine for that.


    Next I applied a little pressure on the belt with my finger and I could hear a faint noise of the rubber belt rubbing against the metal teeth of the gearing. I verified the belt alignment was fairly centered with maybe a little bias towards the right (looking forwards) so I knew it wasn't the belt rubbing against the edge of the gearing rail.


    Finally I added some water to the belt (in the middle so as to avoid wetting the axle or any bearings near it) and after a full rotation or two, the noise was gone.


    This makes more sense now since I first noticed the noise after doing a thorough washing of the upper back fender on top of the wheel (I did not directly spray the belt or wheel housing while washing to avoid washing away lubricants).


    So my guess now is that it's not bearings at all but simply the rubber material of the belt rubbing against the metal of the axle and making what would basically called a continuous squeak.


    Great tips from all and thank you!

    Send that video to your dealer/service department in an email....they might just send you a tow truck...

    hehe I doubt they will do that but I do plan on emailing them tomorrow to see what they say. Having listened to the back carefully @5-10 mph along my residential street it is very hard to hear unless you have the engine off. I realize this can only get worse but I feel confident this is a lubrication issue with the bearings and not a bearing failure.


    The more I listen to it the more it sounds like an actual bearing bead loose in the cavity rolling along as the wheel moves. Crazy right?


    It's not like I have been doing a lot of hard driving. It's been the opposite really, lots of gentle rides with my dogs. An occasional rabbit start every few days for sure :)


    Here is a video from the old days, sounds a lot like yours and this was bearing failure

    It was common in the early days for bearings to go bad due(allegedly) to the Axle nut loosening up and also the tension being too high.

    Check your nuts and make sure they haven't moved

    Thanks for that video. Although thankfully it doesn't sound as bad as your video, I was hearing almost the exact sound from the lesser sound in the background. So it looks like it's a bearing issue... wonderful. You would think Polaris would have figured this out by now (2019).

    After washing, most of the time your brake rotors will rust causing the brake pads to rub up against the rust making a clicking sound similar to your sound. May want to drive it a short distance to clean the rotors, then recheck. Just a thought.


    :SUNSETSS:

    unfortunately I have already done at least 20 miles since first noticing it so I don't think this is the issue.

    It is a little different than usual bearing sound but it could be it, how's the tension on your belt ?

    Tension is fine. I did a thorough visual check of the belt path and had a neighbor look and listen. We both agreed that the sound was coming from the wheel area and not the belt housing area. Initially I thought it was some plastic piece rubbing against the belt threadings. Thankfully that is not the case.


    My concern is if it's wheel bearing related could it be due to poor factory lubrication application? Could I be seeing premature bearing failure down the road. I plan on sending the video to the dealership to see what they think tomorrow.

    This sound started happening recently after I had finished washing my slinger. I only noticed it because I rolled my slinger out of the garage without the engine on most of the time (to avoid fuming up the garage). I suspect it's lube related but for the life of me I can't figure out what it could be. I suspect wheel bearing friction.


    It reminds me of the spinning of a bicycle wheel with gearing.


    Any guesses from the gearheads here as to what it might be? I would prefer not to drive 90 miles to the dealership to have them try to troubleshoot it if it turns out to be just a quirk.


    This is a 2019 SL model with 1700 miles.


    Welcome to the party neostar - It is a fun ride for us as well.


    We looked at the SS because we were not able to put down the miles on the motorcycle like we used to. We LOVE to tour. The SS got our attention because we could stay in the wind and have a ride that makes us want to get out like the bike. The attention you get in this thing was very unexpected for us. Comes with age I guess but the SS has never been about $$ or flash for us - it keeps these "kids" on the road and out of the house! We feel blessed to be able to still do it.

    Yeah, I have to admit, I knew this slinger would grab some attention and comments but the amount was higher than I expected. The absolute best attention I have gotten so far that can't be beat and was not from a human but a dog.


    I am cruising (without my dogs) down a residential street heading to a friend's house as I am slowing down to make a turn I see this dog next to his owner near the corner just chilling out. Once he sees and hears me he switches to a pouncing stance as if he just laid eyes on a metallic beast and is ready to defend his owner with his life. I haven't laughed so hard....truly the best compliment you can get from man's best friend.

    I know this... we were on PCH in Malibu bumper to bumper by the Ocean Club AKA the belly of the beast on Sunday. Surrounded by crazy high end cars and we got everything and more of what we SS’ers always get; waves, thumbs up, and many a rolled down window asking all the usual questions.


    We didn’t expect this kind of reaction when we bought - we just thought it was cool and would be fun. But this “cheep” ride gets more attention than vehicles 10 times its price. But that is just a bonus- this contraption is everything and more of what we got it for- FUN! 21k miles in a little over a year. What an unexpected pleasure this has become.

    I know exactly what you mean. Before buying the slinger and my new LEAF E-plus I could have easily bought a new Model S or high-end corvette but I just can't in good conscience do this. I love getting the most bang for my buck when it comes to my purchases (big and small). It's all about being anal when it comes to efficiency of resources in all things for me.


    To me the slingshot is flat out the most bang for the buck when it comes to fun and looks. I drive it twice daily to get my dogs to the park (godsend because the white fur of my terrier was polluting the crap out my brand new Nissan's black interior. I have owned the SS just over 3 weeks and have almost 2k miles on it. Just this morning I thought I was going to take the dogs to the park (3 miles away) and return home but I just wanted to keep driving it. This is nuts, I never had such a strong desire (after 2k miles) to drive with the other vehicles in my life (I have owned a Trans-am ram-air WS6, YZF 600 and 2004 Celica back in the day).


    Typically after the honeymoon wears off I minimize the drive time to conserve the wear on my vehicles. Something tells me I won't be doing this with the SS. The bonus is because of reasonable price, once I pay it off next year I will be able to minimize the insurance and have no guilt letting it sit in my garage and collect dust because I know I won't be pouring hundreds of dollars down the drain in insurance and property tax as I continue to own the toy. I would not have this luxury with a model S or new Corvette. Yeah sure they would be my main everyday car but still expensive for daily use and of course depreciating dramatically as I ;put the miles on.


    With the SS, it's the perfect toy to use and use knowing full well you will get your money's worth in the end. I really hope I can compliment it with an electric Vanderhall or <gasp> trade it in for an electric slinger in a few years.

    I love my slingshots but I will be the first to admit that you can't compare them to one of these bad boys.

    Total different machine and not even remotely for the same market that the slingshot is designed, also just so you know this has been out for way longer than the slingshot, the xbow came out in 2008.

    It truly is a weekend track car.

    The atom I get as a dedicated track car but the xbow really does look like a rich man's slingshot to me with one extra wheel. The video showcases it as a street driver. I know those are Australian dollars but the price is way too high to me for a 0 to 60 in 4 secs car considering it's so bare boned. No windshield, no roof, no power steering etc etc.


    The Vanderhall edison (another open air vehicle) which is predicted to have the same 4 second spec won't be more than $40k and will have more creature comfort and one less wheel than the xbow. The current vanderhalls have 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds times. Sure the xbow handles better for racing with 4 wheels but at that price you are better off going with a real race car. I just converted the list price to US and it's over $100k. Come on, at that price you are better off getting an old Tesla Roadster, used bac mono or any high-end traditional performance car (porche, BMW etc etc).


    I don't know I guess because I am of the mindset of never paying a premium for a corvette (all I see is a status symbol) or experiencing the race track lifestyle (never appealed to me) so I will never see the intrinsic $100k+ value of this KTM xbow.


    I must correct myself in thinking this brand will die out thanks to the affordable and fun vanderhalls and slingshots. Clearly this brand is aimed for the race track crowd who look down at the slingers and vandies as poor man toys. :P I am proud to be a poor man (fully retired for over 5 years).

    lol......the price......lol....look at that price!! Something tells me this development effort went by the wayside a few years ago.


    Add another carcass to the pile....tanon invader, t-rex....and now this. Polaris and Vanderhall are burying the high-end 3-wheel niche market that could of, should of. Something tells me that the grim reaper is eyeing the can-am 3 wheelers. Well at least the high-end $30k trim variants.

    Yeah I was thinking about that recall and the fact that the owner states engine power loss prior to the fire, really does point to the fuel line.


    With that said, does anyone who really knows engines and exhausts ever have a concern with an extended exhaust running down the centerline?

    I ask this because the vehicle was clearly not designed for that setup. I am nervous about the plastic catching fire down the centerline with a hot exhaust (now that we can see how fast the damn thing can burn up, it's a scary thought).


    I am seriously considering getting the dual exhaust kit from slingmods and having it professionally installed down the road. I really want that noise behind me. I just sat in a SS today that had a modded exhaust out the back and it sounded much quieter in the passenger seat vs. stock.


    Has any long time SS owner bothered with carrying an extinguisher just in case?

    Thankfully this is the only account of a polaris catching fire that I have heard of or seen so I am confident that this is very rare.


    Watching the video I can't help but wonder what would cause this. Reading the comments carefully the poster made it clear he had did not have a custom exhaust extension and from what he typed it looked like the engine was overheating/losing power prior to catching fire.


    So what happened? Faulty fuel line? Engine oil leak/low oil? Faulty radiator pump? Too many electrical mods etc....


    Also for those gearheads out there do you think there is any danger of running an exhaust pipe down the center to the rear? I assume the temps will not be that hot to start a fire on the underside once you leave the muffler.


    There is no clear answer from the OP after 3 years so I assume NDA with polaris or maybe he settled with insurance, walks away and ends the story there. :/


    Have to admit getting to 80 is pretty easy to do. All the more reason I am surprised to find out the stock aero limit is around 115.

    these things have the aerodynamics of a 12" commercial concrete block.


    They literally catch air on every surface. And to make things worse they generate low pressure areas in the cockpit and behind them.


    At 133mph I had to add about 5 psi to get to 143.45 mph in the 1/2 mile. A real conservative estimate would be 10hp per psi. So I had to add 50 hp to get another 10mph..... I belive I was at 20.8 psi when I hit 143.

    How ironic that my first guess was 115mph as a top end. I assumed for stability reasons not aero. Still I am happy to quote 135ish when asked since that is possible with a souped-up engine. As for me, I don't care that it isn't super-fast since I will not bother to go above 80 for both legal and comfort reasons.