F
fusion
Guest
After riding both sleds for a full season I finally have some opinions on the two. At first I thought the Rush was a hands down winner, but the Vector is very surprising overall. Now again it's tough to compare fairly because this season has been so abnormal in terms of conditions, but I still developed some opinions. As an aside, people will be talking about this winter for years to come in terms of snow depth and conditions in northern WI. Truly an amazing year for conditions, and they still are great in most areas.
The Rush is so nimble and handles so great even with stock carbides. Also you can make adjustments to conditions with one or two clicks either way on all the shocks, and the changes are noticeable immediately. I love that about it. I expect this sled will get even better with triple points on it, but we'll find that out next year. The motor is great, it sips oil, I first added oil at about 450 miles, but it does drink the fuel. Motor has sufficient power but is a bit peaky, still no overall complaints about power. Rear end hooks up great even without studs. It hooks up well enough I have no intentions of ever adding studs. I don't remember sliding around any corners this year, but again, icy corners were never an issue in Vilas county this year.
Now yesterday I jumped on the Vector back to back for a long run, after being on the Rush 1st. The first thing you notice is how low the Vector feels compared to the Rush. But you get used to the rider position quickly. The front end plants real well with the 6" triple points and all that weight over the skis. The rear end does break lose from time to time, but that doesn't bother me at all. I just compensate for that with corner entry and throttle position. But the thing that REALLY stands out about that Yamaha is the motor. That 4 stroke motor is a total blast from corner to corner. The power band is perfect for that and I almost think I prefer it to the Rush. Didn't think I would say that earlier in the year. And the suspension is surprisingly good in all but the very rough trails, which we haven't seen much of this year. There will always be a place in my garage for a sled like this. Two vastly different machines, but both very good at what they do.
It got me to thinking this weekend, if only the Viper did not have that "certain" chassis I could picture myself riding one of those things. I'm looking for Kip to sell me on the durability and reliability and of course QUALITY of the chassis on the Viper next year. My brother rode both sleds extensively and he thinks he'd be just fine with the 4-stroke even with the weight difference. He's seriously considering a Viper next year. I didn't think I'd be saying this a few months ago, but in anything but very rough trails, the Vector and Rush are very close to equal machines, with a slight edge in ride and adjust-ability to the Rush. I had a blast on both of these sleds this past weekend, and wouldn't want to trade either of them for anything else, with the possible exception of Vector for Viper, but I need to be sold. I'd like to hear other opinions from riders that have been on both of these sleds, and the Viper, for something more than just a 30-40 minute test ride.
The Rush is so nimble and handles so great even with stock carbides. Also you can make adjustments to conditions with one or two clicks either way on all the shocks, and the changes are noticeable immediately. I love that about it. I expect this sled will get even better with triple points on it, but we'll find that out next year. The motor is great, it sips oil, I first added oil at about 450 miles, but it does drink the fuel. Motor has sufficient power but is a bit peaky, still no overall complaints about power. Rear end hooks up great even without studs. It hooks up well enough I have no intentions of ever adding studs. I don't remember sliding around any corners this year, but again, icy corners were never an issue in Vilas county this year.
Now yesterday I jumped on the Vector back to back for a long run, after being on the Rush 1st. The first thing you notice is how low the Vector feels compared to the Rush. But you get used to the rider position quickly. The front end plants real well with the 6" triple points and all that weight over the skis. The rear end does break lose from time to time, but that doesn't bother me at all. I just compensate for that with corner entry and throttle position. But the thing that REALLY stands out about that Yamaha is the motor. That 4 stroke motor is a total blast from corner to corner. The power band is perfect for that and I almost think I prefer it to the Rush. Didn't think I would say that earlier in the year. And the suspension is surprisingly good in all but the very rough trails, which we haven't seen much of this year. There will always be a place in my garage for a sled like this. Two vastly different machines, but both very good at what they do.
It got me to thinking this weekend, if only the Viper did not have that "certain" chassis I could picture myself riding one of those things. I'm looking for Kip to sell me on the durability and reliability and of course QUALITY of the chassis on the Viper next year. My brother rode both sleds extensively and he thinks he'd be just fine with the 4-stroke even with the weight difference. He's seriously considering a Viper next year. I didn't think I'd be saying this a few months ago, but in anything but very rough trails, the Vector and Rush are very close to equal machines, with a slight edge in ride and adjust-ability to the Rush. I had a blast on both of these sleds this past weekend, and wouldn't want to trade either of them for anything else, with the possible exception of Vector for Viper, but I need to be sold. I'd like to hear other opinions from riders that have been on both of these sleds, and the Viper, for something more than just a 30-40 minute test ride.
