Peer Pressure and Your Sled Choice

[G]

I am located 65 miles from the Pol factory and 70 from the AC factory. I have been riding Yammies since '03. When I was in my 20's everything around here was AC and Pol. I had my share of each. Always the big horses. Thundercats,Rxl's,ZRT's, the dreaded Storms etc. Me and my buddies destroyed a lot of equipment back then. Wide open in ungroomed ditches with limited suspensions tends to be expensive no matter what you ride. As I have aged it is no longer strictly any one brand anymore. There are lots of Doos around here now. There were none 25 years ago. I have one of the few Yammies but I catch very little crap over it. Most folks around here know me and understand my choice. Every new sled has its good and bad points. It comes down to what is important to a person. If I were young again I would probably run out and buy a new AC. Thinking back the brand loyalty ran a lot deeper when I was young.

 

[skiroule]

Finally! Grub weighs in. Knowing where you live and what you ride, you'll certainly never be accused of bowing to peer pressure.

Boy do some of these comments hit home. I like the one about not even being willing to test ride a "friends" machine if it is another brand. I've known guys that won't even sit on another brand. Not sure what motivates some people. Maybe it's insecurity (psychology wasn't my strong suit) or maybe they're just afraid that someone will take a picture.

The comments about clothing and trinkets are pretty funny. I'm still wearing my Polaris jacket - too good to not use. Got a similar comment to swampcat's one day. On one ride, one of our group that was obviously of Scandinavian descent says to me " I takeit da jacket didn't come wit ta maaachine". Priceless.

MsBear, you'll have your day. The machine will do the talking. On more than one occasion, performance has silenced some of those critical of my ride - the silence is bliss and Gary, be careful of what ask for. You may someday find yourself in the riding company of a large fellow riding a machine with a Halloween color scheme.

John, one word - Facebook

 

[lenny]

Been lucky to not get pressure but see it a lot. I'll buy whatever I believe is to be good and right now I would buy any one of the big four.

 

[bearrassler]

In our area Cat was the sled to have in the 70's, then Polaris came on strong in the 80's and 90's. The last 10 years Ski Doo has been strong even though the Cat factory is only 50 miles away and the Polaris plant is 120 miles away. There is always peer pressure to ride the popular brand but I think it is stronger with the younger riders. When you get older you don't care what others think near as much. I was a Polaris dealer from 1989 thru 2001 and had a neighbor that worked as a sales manager at Arctic Cat at that time. We rode together quite a bit and some of my customers at the time couldn't believe that I would ride with the enemy. I thought it was funny as I will ride with any brand, it has never made any difference to me. The last couple of years I have been on a few rides with 3 friends and it has been one of each brand.

 

[polarisrider1]

Got my first sled for Christmas in 1972. A Polaris Colt 175 (brand new). Rode Poo until 1980 when I got a brand new 1981 Scorpion Sting 440 at the going out of business sale to Artic Cat (yes Cat bought Scorpion) Went back to Poo until 1985 When I bought a Yamaha SRV, rode that until 1987 went back to Poo until 2006 getting a new sled each yr from Poo(long run, avg. 4 Poos at all times in stable). Then bought a Skidoo Renegade for 2006 (they had it going on and fusion was not for me). Back to Poo in 2008 and just got a new 2012 RMK Pro with no signs of going back. I do have Skidoo gear in XL that I should list. (but never know?).

 

[mjkaliszak]

I think some of the problems are that a person will talk up "their" brand for so long, they think their identity is tied into that brand and if they jump ship, then something was wrong with them all those years they rode their "brand'.

As for the question at hand, I have not had much pressure, not enough friends.

My favorite brand is PolArcDooAha




-John

How about " YamPooCaDoo "...... Or " PooCaDoYa "
I think I need snow.

 

[Skylar]

Never any peer pressure, but a lot of good natured crap giving when I went from Cat to Yammy in 2001. After my Cat dealer closed up, I realized I was dealer loyal not kitty loyal. LOL.

Loyal to the sport, not the brand!

John, if you need some harrassment, let me know! I am pretty good at it.

 

[mride460]

No peer pressure in our riding group. A few good natured weight jokes thrown the yammy riders way but thats about it. We have about a dozen that ride all 4 brands.
I rode cats until a dealer issue with a burn down. Rode Doo's from 05 through this spring when I sold my 07' 500ss with 13000 miles. Ive got 3 smaller fan cats that the kids ride and am currently looking for a set of new ski-doos. Having a hard time dumping $25000.00 on 2 new sleds, but cant find what I really want used.
I did, however find a great deal on an 800 crossfire so I might be a cat guy again at least for this winter!! Either way I will be sporting my ski-doo gear because its way to good not to use...