This summer I started riding stand ups, first with a 300sx I rebuilt last winter and later in the summer I picked up a minty 93 RN. While the RN is a all around better ski, the little 300sx really keeps me entertained. I saw a post where WFO mentioned it was easy to shorten the pole 1" so i figured i'd give it a try - as I was taking the pole off to tighten up the bushings anyway.
no pics of removing the pole - the short and sweet of that project is to remove the friction pin that hold the pole 'bolt' (it's not a bolt, just a section of tube) in, remove the philips screws and lower cover, take the controls off and the pole should be free.
once the pole is off you can remove the steering plate, drill out the rivits that hold the plastic upper cover to the aluminum pole and lasty drill out the majority of the plastic spot welds that hold the two two halves of the upper cover together. the lower section of the cover is glued together continously so i left that as is. you can then stretch the top apart enough remove the pole from the cover. mine did crack a little bit at the bottom, but given the nature of my ski that's OK - plus to me it is a reasonable price to pay for the gains.
here is the basic pole anatomy:
now that the pole is bare it is easy to see how it's shortened. simply drill new holes for the steering plate pivot that are further forward on the top section of the pole. I believe WFO mentioned he took 1" out, but i was able to squeeze 2.5"
The 10mm bolts have threaded inserts that just slide into the aluminum stock - no tapping or welding required!
Here is the result with the cover fit back on, obviously some serious timing is required.
no pics of removing the pole - the short and sweet of that project is to remove the friction pin that hold the pole 'bolt' (it's not a bolt, just a section of tube) in, remove the philips screws and lower cover, take the controls off and the pole should be free.
once the pole is off you can remove the steering plate, drill out the rivits that hold the plastic upper cover to the aluminum pole and lasty drill out the majority of the plastic spot welds that hold the two two halves of the upper cover together. the lower section of the cover is glued together continously so i left that as is. you can then stretch the top apart enough remove the pole from the cover. mine did crack a little bit at the bottom, but given the nature of my ski that's OK - plus to me it is a reasonable price to pay for the gains.
here is the basic pole anatomy:
now that the pole is bare it is easy to see how it's shortened. simply drill new holes for the steering plate pivot that are further forward on the top section of the pole. I believe WFO mentioned he took 1" out, but i was able to squeeze 2.5"
The 10mm bolts have threaded inserts that just slide into the aluminum stock - no tapping or welding required!
Here is the result with the cover fit back on, obviously some serious timing is required.
