New Riders to the sport???

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Attak man

New member
Like a lot of you...I go to the local dealerships and check out the new machines, every fall...it's always fun to window shop....I had my middle daughter with me...she loves to snowmobile, and keeps asking me to buy another sled...that she can drive...unfortunately...in typical 14 yr old girl fashion...I am not allowed to buy something "ugly" or "old".....and what I found was...there is nothing from ANY brand...that I would put a "new to snowmobiling" driver on....the machines are way too big for a 5' 3", 85 LBS girl....I would never put her on a 600 cc sled...I also feel the 550 fanners are too big for her as well. Being a Yamaha/Cat guy at heart...I looked at the F series fanner...(which is a huge chassis for her to throw around)...and I looked at the phazer...way too stiff suspension, no wind protection, and from my own experience...even though they lack top end...they pull rather hard down low...too hard for an 85 lb newbie....so I looked at an ace 600 ski-doo....it is the closest to what I would like to see her on...but they are very expensive for a once in awhile, newbie type sled.

Window shopping for a second machine was rather disappointing...IMO there really isn't anything for newbies to the sport, or families...I think the BIG 4 all get an F in this category....this is what will kill our sport...if we aren't finding new ways to introduce teens/and women to our sport...it will die out...we can't keep putting our kids, and wives on old junk, and expect them to like the sport...Look at the average age of snowmobilers vs ATV riders....it's getting older and older, and not growing...snowmobile registrations in the upper midwest are slowly declining on average (the last 10 years)...atv registraions are growing (for a number of reason).

Let's hope they start making machines to address the lower end of the market...I realize they reason they stopped making these "low end machines" was that they didn't sell well....maybe it's because they were outdated, cheap looking, and didn't have many features on them to attract buyers??

There.....that is my pre season rant.....lol
 
W

whitedust

Well-known member
Put her on a used Phazer with a gigantic windshield Chad or Kip should be able to hook you up reasonable used price. Actually not too bad a ride with tall windscreen ....I helped break in a few for a rental biz in 3 lakes & was impressed.... thought it would be POS but was aok. Rental biz sold everyone at end of season peeps liked them mostly newbies. Ace perfect but nothing cheap about new or used Ace.
 
M

momoney2123

New member
Attak man said:
Like a lot of you...I go to the local dealerships and check out the new machines, every fall...it's always fun to window shop....I had my middle daughter with me...she loves to snowmobile, and keeps asking me to buy another sled...that she can drive...unfortunately...in typical 14 yr old girl fashion...I am not allowed to buy something "ugly" or "old".....and what I found was...there is nothing from ANY brand...that I would put a "new to snowmobiling" driver on....the machines are way too big for a 5' 3", 85 LBS girl....I would never put her on a 600 cc sled...I also feel the 550 fanners are too big for her as well. Being a Yamaha/Cat guy at heart...I looked at the F series fanner...(which is a huge chassis for her to throw around)...and I looked at the phazer...way too stiff suspension, no wind protection, and from my own experience...even though they lack top end...they pull rather hard down low...too hard for an 85 lb newbie....so I looked at an ace 600 ski-doo....it is the closest to what I would like to see her on...but they are very expensive for a once in awhile, newbie type sled.

Window shopping for a second machine was rather disappointing...IMO there really isn't anything for newbies to the sport, or families...I think the BIG 4 all get an F in this category....this is what will kill our sport...if we aren't finding new ways to introduce teens/and women to our sport...it will die out...we can't keep putting our kids, and wives on old junk, and expect them to like the sport...Look at the average age of snowmobilers vs ATV riders....it's getting older and older, and not growing...snowmobile registrations in the upper midwest are slowly declining on average (the last 10 years)...atv registraions are growing (for a number of reason).

Let's hope they start making machines to address the lower end of the market...I realize they reason they stopped making these "low end machines" was that they didn't sell well....maybe it's because they were outdated, cheap looking, and didn't have many features on them to attract buyers??

There.....that is my pre season rant.....lol
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whats ur price range?Everything nowadays cost money. Indy and sport models geared this way. 900 ACE with the new learning key feature allows you to de-tune the sled to go as slow as you would like, but new be around 10gs. You could probably find a 2012 600 ace for 5500-6000. If your looking for a new sled to be under 6k, good luck. Those days are long gone.
 
6

600_RMK_144

Active member
I understand where you are coming from. They used to make 340's, 440's. Lots of them out there still, but in a few yrs those will all be in the graveyard. We will be forced to start them out on a 550 as their first ride? That's a lot of HP for a "newbie" I can imagine they would have it wrapped around a tree in no time.
 
M

momoney2123

New member
600_RMK_144 said:
I understand where you are coming from. They used to make 340's, 440's. Lots of them out there still, but in a few yrs those will all be in the graveyard. We will be forced to start them out on a 550 as their first ride? That's a lot of HP for a "newbie" I can imagine they would have it wrapped around a tree in no time.
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thats why doo created the "learning key". Simple plug in tether and u can make the sled go as slow as you would like. Rental fleets are loving it. 600 ace comparable to 440 fan at full power as well. Think it has 50-60 hp. Top speed 65-70mph. Perfect for a beginner.
 
snowdance

snowdance

Member
Wasn't there an off brand snowmobile (Not one of the major four) that was geared towards beginners? I thought Wildlife refuge cabins had something to do with it or maybe video was just shot at their place promoting the brand. Cant think of the brand name and have no clue if they are around anymore. Anybody remember this?
 
S

snobuilder

Well-known member
Even the 340's can get up to breakneck speeds.
The best governor is the leader of the group til she gets some miles under her helmet....

sounds like your daughter runs your house.
Get a nice looking older light weight sled for her to learn on and if that isn't good enough....guess what ....she ain't ridin.


When my youngest was 12 she had the fun of breaking in an engine rebuild for me on a '99 XCF 440...50 miles on a small lake near home.

That would still be a nice beginner sled today.



and a minor minor crash or off trail stuck can be a good thing....not that you WANT that, but....should be a lesson learned.
 
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A

Attak man

New member
snobuilder said:
Even the 340's can get up to breakneck speeds.
The best governor is the leader of the group til she gets some miles under her helmet....

sounds like your daughter runs your house.
Get a nice looking older light weight sled for her to learn on and if that isn't good enough....guess what ....she ain't ridin.


When my youngest was 12 she had the fun of breaking in an engine rebuild for me on a '99 XCF 440...50 miles on a small lake near home.

That would still be a nice beginner sled today.



and a minor minor crash or off trail stuck can be a good thing....not that you WANT that, but....should be a lesson learned.
Click to expand...

Really??? My daughter runs my house?? Not at all...I don't blame her...I wouldn't ride an OLD POS...would you?? I get what she's saying...and yeah...she's a teen, and very girly....She doesn't want to ride old junk, like some of her friends do (broken down alot last winter)...quite frankly I know how that goes...buy an old sled...it breaks down...and it's "dad...the POS is broke again...come get us"....I am not up for that...plus as you guys know...I HATE wrenching.

And the doo ace is nice, but way too expensive....I'm NOT spending that kind of money on a 2nd sled.

Like I said..I think the market is bad for first timers....Yeah I saw those premiers...but don't know anybody selling them around here.
 
W

whitedust

Well-known member
Yes ...if you could find an old Indy lite Deluxe 340 it would be perfect but talking mid 90s sled.That is what I had my kids on + a Bravo but going to be hard to find a cherry vintage like that. Still think Phazer best for her & good bang for buck & you have a good history with Kip & Chad or Yamaha dealer in Thawk.
 
Iowa Rider

Iowa Rider

Member
polarisrider1 said:
My best memories of sledding was on POS sleds.
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Exactly, Polarisrider ! That's what makes us appreciate the ones we had to save for, and wait till we could afford them.
Lots of good used sleds around if you look.
Also I didn't let my kids lead the pack or go alone till they learned the ropes, one way or the other !
 
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MZEMS2

New member
Don't short yourself. There are still a lot of good used sleds out there. The Indy lites and Indy trails, the Doo's 380 S chassis', and Formulas, etc....It takes some searching, but they're out there. Prior rentals are always an option
 
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