Question on ride plate design vs pole length

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wheelman1976

Location
michigan
I ride a stock 98 superjet at this moment and was out on lake michigan in 5-7 foot surf this weekend. I've found riding with the stock handle pole is a pain as it's too long at times when I'm bouncing up and down in the surf. I weigh 205-210 and I am wondering if putting an extended ride plate on would push my nose down yet still keep me hooking up? I find it's a downward spiral when you get leaned back and the ski's nose goes high and you're trying to push the nose down with that long handle pole yet gravity is pulling you backwards.

I'm just thinking a $200 ride plate is a quicker fix vs a whole new shorter handle pole set up. This winter I'm looking at more bolt on mods so would like to save money for those vs the handle pole swap at this point.

Would that extended ride plate help my fat butt in the surf to get the nose down and then in turn help me get the hook up into the intake?
 
S

SRQski

Location
Sarasota, FL
I'm by far not a pro seasoned surf rider but have a few q's for some details on what you are trying to accomplish.
What type of riding are you commonly trying to do? Cruising, speed, wave jumping, freestyle, etc?

What stance do you ride?

Are you riding actual surf (shore breaking waves) or riding in swells?

An extended plate will help put the nose down, I noticed a substantial difference going from stock to a JD extended plate. Not so great for jumping, railing a turn is a different story.
Better hookup = aftermarket grate

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W

wheelman1976

Location
michigan
SRQski said:
I'm by far not a pro seasoned surf rider but have a few q's for some details on what you are trying to accomplish.
What type of riding are you commonly trying to do? Cruising, speed, wave jumping, freestyle, etc?

What stance do you ride?

Are you riding actual surf (shore breaking waves) or riding in swells?

An extended plate will help put the nose down, I noticed a substantial difference going from stock to a JD extended plate. Not so great for jumping, railing a turn is a different story.
Better hookup = aftermarket grate

Sent from my LG-H700 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I do have an after market grate on the ski. I do primarily jumps on swells further out from shore. For my stance I usually ride right foot back and my left up front.

My issue is when landing a lot of times going in tail first, I’ll get the initial hook up only to shoot back out more vertical than propel myself forward, keeping the intake hooked up. I’m just thinking that getting the nose down in any way would help. Maybe I’m not right and the only solution is to shorten the pole?


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Lumberjack

Lumberjack

Location
Saskatchewan
Chop it! My SJ has minus 2 steering and I could easily loose another 5" ontop of it. Once you ride am am ski with a shorter pole you'll know why. Going from my fs2 with full length rrp tubes to my superjet with stock pole is BRUTAL im chopping the stock pole asap.

You can even chop it and stand on it in your shop to test and keep on chopping til it's comfortable


Remember even if you cut right at the bracket you're loosing a few inches into the bracket already so even if you don't section any pole out you still automatically loose a few inches into the bracket.
 
W

wheelman1976

Location
michigan
Lumberjack said:
Chop it! My SJ has minus 2 steering and I could easily loose another 5" ontop of it. Once you ride am am ski with a shorter pole you'll know why. Going from my fs2 with full length rrp tubes to my superjet with stock pole is BRUTAL im chopping the stock pole asap.

You can even chop it and stand on it in your shop to test and keep on chopping til it's comfortable.
Click to expand...

So I looked at the write up on those site and didn’t notice one thing. Do you have to do any adjustment (cutting) of the wires or cables that snake down it? I am pretty sure I can do this myself if I am just cutting the post, don’t want to mess with anything else of what goes thru it other than disconnect/reconnect.


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Lumberjack

Lumberjack

Location
Saskatchewan
You can remove the pole or just be very careful when cutting. I'm doing mine in the off season so I plan to remove my pole and take my time. The cable juat pushed down onto the hull. Shouldn't require any adjustments
 
Vumad

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
A longer ride plate isn't going to change your leverage on the nose or make your tray feel bigger. You can try a longer ride plate but I doubt your going to see the results you want. Actually you will find watching videos and talking to people that most people ride nose high in the surf compared to other riding.



Shortening the pole is quick and easy. Just make your cut. drill out the rivets. Cut a line into the piece inside of the pole base and rip it out. Put marine tex on the pole and rivet it back together. Let dry for the amount of time on the marine tex box (24-48 hours iirc). It's a quick and easy job.

You do not have to do anything to the wires and cables for -3. Just push the extra into the hull. Not sure how far you can go but I went -3 with no issues.



Carefully cut off the end flush at the pole bracket. You don't have to remove the pole or the wires if you can cut responsibly. Measure the amount of fiberglass in the base of the pole, the thickness of the cut and subtract that from the length you want to shorten the pole (I believe it's about 1-1/4, so to shorten 3" you actually take off 1-3/4" after the cut). Or since it is not an exact science on pole length you can just do it in one cut just remember to factor the amount inside the base (approx. (1.25") don't just cut 3 inches from the base or you will be more than 3 inches shorter.


One thing you need to consider before you cut is if you are happy with your steering. I have a Jetlabs OVP and it moves my bars about 3" forward from stock. This means my -3 pole is effectively -6 from stock. While a shorter pole would make my ski more aggressive in the surf, I would not want to do the other kinds of riding any shorter. Cutting it more is not a big deal and you can always take off more (but remember you have to take off a minimum of approx. 1.25" every cut because of what is inside the pole base isn't coming back out).
 
Vumad

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
Danimel said:
Can any of you advice of how much i should cut from my RN for bouys racing.
Im about 175cm high
Click to expand...

You are a bit shorter than I am. I went -3 and that was a good start. You can always shorten it more. Also know any changes will be -1.5 inches since that is how much is inside the pole. You can't do -3 and then do another -0.5 for a total of -3.5. Well, you could if you didn't glue it but be gentle, I tried to test ride a sub with only rivets and it went very poorly.

Remember your steering system is a factor. I am currently running an OVP steering with straight bars. This makes my hands about -7 from stock despite the pole itself only being -3. For strictly bouys, I was happier with my -1 UMI steering with straight bars which put my hands -4 or -5 from stock. I can still get around the track well with the ovp -7 hand position but it is soooo much harder on my back. The fatigue on the track is so much higher. Edit: all of that was inches.

So, remember that your negative distance is a factor of your pole length and your steering system. If you intend to buy a steering system that is shorter than what you have currently, be sure to factor that change into how much shorter you want your pole. A shorter steering system is a fast and NON-permanent way to experiment with forward riding positions. Obviously they will also change your bar sweep. All these factors are personal preference you have to experiment with.
 
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