Was pointed out to me some inherit problems with a sled I purchased as a starter sled for my fiancé s son, so I thought I would start a post seeing what sled people have owned that were their least or most favorite, which for some may not necessarily be the newest or the oldest they have owned. For me... My least was my first, which also got me into small engine repair as I had to fix it for hours to ride it for minutes 1972 bolens 440 sprint with a JLO engine in it, was young, bought it with own money and I wouldn't even begin to know where to start with issues, oddest thing was had a solid rubber track for bogies but had 2 metal slide rail assemblies that rode against the rubber and lubrication was an issue so kept a bottle of dish soap to provide lube between rails and track. My favorite so far.....1992 skidoo mach 1, had performance rotary valve, clutch kit, fast fat boy pipe, always liked how they looked, handled and rode. I picked one up just to have it a few years back that is in excellent condition and engine built by russ lemke, doesn't get out much and no one else touches it, just have it to have it, still my fav.
favoirte and worst sled you owned
- Thread starter euphoric1
- Start date
T
Tracker
Guest
worst 1985 VMAX....best 1999 ZL 600 EFI and a 2004 700 EFI fighter pilot.....9,000 and 22,000 respectively....the ZL hit a concrete wall at 80mph otherwise it woulda reached the 5 digit mileage as well....I named it "ZLZEBUB" so I could ride the devils back in and outta he!! safely at eagle river races....never made it or the podium....dam...check out the flames that crackled in light
sweeperguy
Active member
My favorite sled is my 97 Indy 500.
Quick as fire outta the hole. Love riding low to the ground, unlike today's up /forward rider position. Still have it, daughter rides it now, as I do also several times a year. 81 Phazer is second favorite sled. UGLY as H. but that sled would float on fresh snow. Got me into off trail riding.
My worst sled was Polaris 95 600 triple. FAST sled when it ran right. But always struggled with it running good. Always able to keep it rideable, but not always at peak performance.
Quick as fire outta the hole. Love riding low to the ground, unlike today's up /forward rider position. Still have it, daughter rides it now, as I do also several times a year. 81 Phazer is second favorite sled. UGLY as H. but that sled would float on fresh snow. Got me into off trail riding.
My worst sled was Polaris 95 600 triple. FAST sled when it ran right. But always struggled with it running good. Always able to keep it rideable, but not always at peak performance.
skidoodoug
Member
Worst sled for reliability was my 83 VMax...slowest (but great trail sled) 98 XLT Classic 600...best reliability has to be the 01 MXZ 700. Wife rides it now with over 14000 miles untouched except new track.
Funnest sled was my 76 Exciter 440. Ran that thing into the ground.
Funnest sled was my 76 Exciter 440. Ran that thing into the ground.
Worst Sled but Most Fun
Worst Snowmobile? Probably my first, a 69 Arctic Cat Panther. Big and Slow for it's time but Gosh Dang It, it was a SNOWMOBILE! Powered by a 19 horse JLO with a 18" Cleated Track that would whip saw whenever you went across ice. The headlight would burn out about once a week, the gas tank leaked and she had a top speed of 35 mph on a good day. The neighbors had a 12/3 Ski Doo and they were stuck constantly, the Cat was much better in deep snow.
Dad had to start the thing as I wasn't strong enough at the time to pull start that 297cc monster under the hood. Dad bought it as a Christmas present for the family for the price of $795. They delivered it to the house on Christmas Eve no less and they included a free case of Snobil oil in one quart cans.
Funny, I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I can remember many of the details of our first and worst snowmobile 50 years ago this month.
Gary
Worst Snowmobile? Probably my first, a 69 Arctic Cat Panther. Big and Slow for it's time but Gosh Dang It, it was a SNOWMOBILE! Powered by a 19 horse JLO with a 18" Cleated Track that would whip saw whenever you went across ice. The headlight would burn out about once a week, the gas tank leaked and she had a top speed of 35 mph on a good day. The neighbors had a 12/3 Ski Doo and they were stuck constantly, the Cat was much better in deep snow.
Dad had to start the thing as I wasn't strong enough at the time to pull start that 297cc monster under the hood. Dad bought it as a Christmas present for the family for the price of $795. They delivered it to the house on Christmas Eve no less and they included a free case of Snobil oil in one quart cans.
Funny, I can't remember what I had for lunch yesterday but I can remember many of the details of our first and worst snowmobile 50 years ago this month.
Gary
skiroule
Well-known member
What a great subject:
Guess I’d have to say that the worst was the 67 Skee-Horse – External drive chain, heavy for its day, and all of 16 hp. Luckily it didn’t need much for brakes (unless you were going downhill). If I had raced Gary’s Panther in a ¼ mile race people would have lost interest by the time we reached the finish line. But like Gary said, heck we were riding. Piled the whole family on and we were off.
Best by far was the 2004 Summit 600. A little short on power for the mountains but an awesome riding sled for the Midwest. Couple that with the fact that I spent literally nothing on repairs over the eight years I owned it. As far as I know, snoluver1 still has it.
Guess I’d have to say that the worst was the 67 Skee-Horse – External drive chain, heavy for its day, and all of 16 hp. Luckily it didn’t need much for brakes (unless you were going downhill). If I had raced Gary’s Panther in a ¼ mile race people would have lost interest by the time we reached the finish line. But like Gary said, heck we were riding. Piled the whole family on and we were off.
Best by far was the 2004 Summit 600. A little short on power for the mountains but an awesome riding sled for the Midwest. Couple that with the fact that I spent literally nothing on repairs over the eight years I owned it. As far as I know, snoluver1 still has it.
G
G
Guest
Best - 2001 ZR 800 LE. Bought new. Back then it did everything well. Fast, bulletproof and light after getting off a Thundercat. Sold it in 2006. It is still running. As far as worst probably the '97 Storm. Junk from the day it was new.
mezz
Well-known member
I can't really call my first sled the "worst" sled, but, out of all that I have owned over the years, the worst was my first, a 1973 Suzuki XL440. Needless to say, it was heavy, but, it was all mine and I had a blast and I put thousands of miles on that thing. My absolute favorite aside from my 2000 ZL600 was my 2006 Crossfire 600. I made it the way I liked it, put on a 144 x2" track, parabolic skis, 09 adjustable steering post with mountain bars & sticky grips, frog skins, etc.... for me, it was the cats meow. As far as I know, it's still purring today owned by skottikings nephew. I honestly miss it.-Mezz
Worst by far was a "75" Deere JDX8, Wow,just trying to keep that thing "right side up"!!! I've had so many favorites, hard to pick just one. 79 TXL, 84 Indy 400 race sled, 98 MXZ, 07 600SDI Rene??? But my wife's Rene 900 ACE just continues to surprise me with satisfaction. By far not the fastest, but many, many mile of total enjoyment on that thing for me. The absolute perfect long, high mile trip sled. Much of it is the quietness no matter the speed, 20+ mpg, any grade gas, I'm getting old.
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Worst 1971 Poloran metallic green in color man was it an ugly sled. My dad still talks about it stating that when I got home from school I would jump on it and ride then bring it back home with something wrong with it. He says I would ride it for a day and he would work on it for the next 2 days. He used to take it up north riding in the mid 1970s and his buddies finally told him he couldnt go up with them until he got a different sled because he spent most of the time working on it. Probably the funniest older sled was a 1978 Ski-Doo Citation SS that sled would go anywhere and was easy to throw around. Riding in the timber and no one could keep up with that sled because it was so agile.
After that the 1982 John Deere Liquidfier 440 that sled would darn near fly it was so quick
After that the 1982 John Deere Liquidfier 440 that sled would darn near fly it was so quick
What a great subject:
As far as I know, snoluver1 still has it.
Yup still got it! My kid is trying his best to break it, but it just keeps going!
I'll second the 04 Revs as my personal favorite. I could ride the ever living crap out of that thing! I think they had the perfect ergonomics figured out in 04. Everything they did to "refine" it, only made it worse.
As far as my least favorite, I'd have to go with my 74 or 75( never was really sure what year it was?) Scorpion Sting. It had a 400 Cyuna in it, which ran awesome.(when it ran) Problem was every time I rode through fresh snow, the fan would suck snow into the magnito housing, and short out the points. That sled made me take a cold walk of shame more times then I care to remember!
Worst sled in terms of a complete pain in the rear, 95 zr580, would run amazing for 500 miles and like clock work BOOM new top end needed did that for 1500 miles. Sold it to a member believe same thing happened. Favorite sled 2010 sno pro 600 100% race sled with a trail can. Premix was a nightmare but it never let me down. Now fully trail converted and a fantastic ditch banger.
MOD
MOD
I realize that this answer is quite open ended, but at the end of the day, it boils down to this.
The worst sled I ever had is the one that just broke, while my buddies and I are riding. The best is which ever one I am riding on and having a blast with my buddies.
The honest truth.
-John
The worst sled I ever had is the one that just broke, while my buddies and I are riding. The best is which ever one I am riding on and having a blast with my buddies.
The honest truth.
-John
Lots of favorites, not sure on year but when I was young my dad had a ski Doo Olympic 340 and was first sled I learned to ride on about 6 years old and could prime it a couple times and it would fire up every time, could fit me and at least 2 more buddy's on it the seat was like a couch, so many good memories of the no worries days of a kid, best riding sled I've had is the 15 Axys Switchback 800 with 1.325 cobra and dual runners man that thing was on rails, worst sled was an 08 IQ700 was on the 3rd crank with 5400 miles.