To further get you itching for snow...

[tpunx99GSX]

Originally Posted by adidasdudegst

Same here, but still, I can't wait for the snow to fall! The eclipse will go into the project/storage stage, and the F7 will come out to play

How do you like the F7? Is it pretty light and loose? I was looking at one of those or i really like the polaris dragon 700 prolly an 07 model.

[TalonFiero]

I'm bored and itching for snow, trying to kill boredom so I'll blab about sleds I have ridden.

I ride my brothers F7 quite a bit I don't like it as much in the corners on the trails compared to an polaris IQ front end or skidoo rev. Rev and rev xp sleds handle real well, yammi's are probably my least favorite to ride aggressively other than straight line (lake racing).

My brother's f7 is a sno pro so maybe handling isn't it's forte, what it does real well is jump drifts and ditch bang like no other. He does have the narrower track that came on them for a few years so he sometimes buries himself in the deep stuff easily, but he always has me around to pull him out so I'm the sucker. ;-) The other thing worth mentioning is he has put that sled through hell, even banged it up once real good when he found a hidden treasure/cable box once yet his sled is still going strong. Its held together real nice for him. Biggest single improvement on his F7 was ditching the dual carbides and going with single 8" bars. His sled has a pipe, intake, offset timing key and upgraded driven clutch (bitch to get the belt on now!) and clutching.

I am pretty fortunate I get to try out and spend the day riding many different sleds. Wife has a rich uncle and my brother's father-in-law was part of the Polaris Racing team.

Sleds I have logged decent amount of miles on:

Polaris:
Just about any wedge indy based sled - 500, 600 twin and triple,650 rxl, 680 ultra,700 twin, 750 storm (Mike Neal's old sled!)
2001 800xcsp
2002 800xcsp
2003 700 pro-x
2004 800 switchback
2007 700 IQ

All the edges are easy to maintain and have good power, great trail sleds with pretty decent handling suspension. Durable sleds and real cheap to buy secondhand right now. I'd like to say I can ditch bang with the xc based edges but truthfully they are better suited to lakes and trails. Ditch banging is best on the pro-x/x2 based edges. Sleds are older so they are not rider forward and have lower wide seats, not a great sled to ride in a standing position for very long.

Switchback was a nice longer track based edge sled, more comfortable for those 300mile day runs. Longer track with 1.75" paddle was nice riding up in the UP.

Arctic Cat:
2006 F7 SnowPro - Loves ditch banging, rider position feels way up in the air compared to Revs and IQ based sleds, sled feels narrow and tippy in corners when riding aggresively, 700 is snappy and pulls hard. Fast on hard pack and across lake, fluffy stuff it tends to trench easier with the narrowier track. Sled loves to fly and seems real durable.

SkiDoo:
2006 Rev 600ho - Nice and light and handles awesome, good throttle response/snappy, little slower after 60mph compared to 700/800 sleds
2007 Rev Blizzard 800 - Carbed monster, handles awesome, nice power but not as powerful as 800RR, just a great sled to ride
2008 800RR Renegade RevXP - Sweet sweet power, handles great, longer track soaks up the bumps, real rider forward practically standing while riding nice, very little wind protection wear extra gear on long trips. Hasn;t been real reliable, 3 recalls and a blown up clutch in first 1000 miles.

Yamaha:
2006 Rage - real torquey off the line, hard engagement/terrible stock clutching, annoying exhaust note, handles pretty average, nothing to like other than 4 stroke dependability
2006 Apex - FAST, feels like a heavy car, feel real low and heavy and would not want to ditch bang, a lot of fun on lakes and rivers went well over 110mph once


Lastly, not a review but I really want to ride a Rush 600 and eventually the Rush 800.

[tpunx99GSX]

So which would you say would be your favorite, or more so, if you had to pick one that would be your personal sled, which would you choose? (i also would love to test drive the Rush sleds, they look like a blast to ride)

we currently have about 15 sleds at my parents. Mostly older sleds but ill try and list them.
My parents:
02 polaris 550 super sport
01 polaris XCF
01 Polaris indy Lite
?? SkiDoo blizzard (i think MX or something)
?? Arctic Cat Jag. (older one, no suspension whatsoever but never gets stuck on the trails)

Uncles Sleds:
2x Arctic Cat Super Jags
1x old yamaha
1x old spitfire (possibly john deere)

Other Uncles Sled:
2 newer Polaris'

I know i am missing some. Most of our sleds are used on the trails on our property (150 acres of forest/swamp land on Long Lake in Big Fork, MN) we usually take several trips on the Swampsiders trails and the Taconite Trail.

[TalonFiero]

Nicest stock sled I have ridden is one of the Rev XPs, 2008 800r MX Z Renegade. Wicked sled but on 10 degree or below days I think I would get too cold riding in my current gear as there isn't much wind protection.

http://img.alibaba.com/photo/1045768...Snowmobile.jpg

My favorite mod sled is a 2001 Edge XCSP with 170hp 800 that looked completely stock but killed everything across the lake and ran on pump gas.

If I were to buy a sled, I guess I'd look for a used Rev or if I could swing it a Rev XP based skidoo for the next couple years and then the plan is to pick up a used Rush 800.

The Polaris 700 dragon looks good too! But I also have a soft spot for the 04 polaris 800 Pro-XR.

Taconite is some good riding but can be rocky when the snow is light. I like the Vermillion area. Voyagers is my favorite MN riding but nothing beats the UP except out maybe mountain riding. We lake/river hopped all the way from Crane Lake down to Embarrass and back one day, had fun in Tower and got lost on the way back 320mile round trip.

[slowbubblecar]

I got my 2000 XCSP 700 started a few weeks ago. Didn't do anything to it since I quit riding it so I was suprised it started only after a few pulls. I like my sled quite a bit and they are fairly affordable. I haven't been on many sleds before though.

I am not quite sure if I am ready for snow yet though. I finally got time to get my 4 wheelers running last weekend.

[A//// Guy]

I cant wait for some snow! I bought a 01 Yamaha SRX 700 last January and its all apart right now.

Things Im doing:

Powder coated all the grills and front springs white.
Repainting all front suspension components- factory silver.
Repainting all exhaust back to black.
Newer skis.
Carbs are cleaned already.
Smoke the windshield.

Should look like brand new and better after thats all done. haha

So far the sled is awesome, I would love to do the new M6 rear suspension off a newer Viper, but maybe next year when I put a new track in. It has 200+ studs in it now, and a couple are ripped out, but it will be fine this year. Also has an aftermarket silencer for moar power, sounds mean.

Before this sled I had a 97 SX600 that was jetted and pipped, that thing was light and a blast, very quick. We had a 94 Vmax 600 before that and that thing didnt even compare in power.

My dad currently has 06 Apex GT and its as fast as my SRX 700, both hit about 115 on a snowy lake last year. They didnt have the ice runs plowed so I never got a real speed run in. Still, stomach to the back fast. haha

[TalonFiero]

Peter, are any of the stud tear outs on the outside?

Stud patterns are 96, 144, 192, and 244 usually. I have a 244 1.25" predator track that I removed all the outside studs which dropped it to 192. Would love to try the newer cobra track but I don;t think they will hold up well on MN trails.


Where does everyone go riding? I mainly hit up Crosslak/Outing/Grand Rapids area from our cabin. Voyagers National Park is simply awesome and I think best riding in this state, cheap too! And I have been out to the UP a few times and it is always the best and pretty cheap to lodge there too.

[slowbubblecar]

I don't know of many places. I can ride it off the front yard of my brothers house up north. I primarily ride it through dirches and a few big corn fields (after they are all packed down)

[adidasdudegst]

Originally Posted by tpunx99GSX

How do you like the F7? Is it pretty light and loose? I was looking at one of those or i really like the polaris dragon 700 prolly an 07 model.

Arctic Cat:
2005 F7 SnoPro - Loves ditch banging, rider position feels way up in the air compared to Revs and IQ based sleds, sled feels narrow and tippy in corners when riding aggresively, 700 is snappy and pulls hard. Fast on hard pack and across lake, fluffy stuff it tends to trench easier with the narrowier track. Sled loves to fly and seems real durable.

That's right on the money. Although, my track is studded, and In the fluffy stuff I've ridden in, I have not had a problem with getting it buried at all. Just give er some gas, and she pulls right through. And, it does feel a little too tippy in corners, so I think I'm gonna get a 4th wheel kit they make for it, as they didn't place any in the back of the track, so it flexes when u hit the corners. I love the SnoPro, being it's lightweight, and absolutley soars through the air, very fast for the mods I have done, and it sounds beastly! And so far, have had no problems with it.

I can't really comment on many other sleds, other then a polaris switchback, and my pop's 99' Thundercat 1000 Triple, Which hauls ass! Clutch kicks in at 3,500, and ur off like a rocketship. It's a heavy bastard, but has an excellent ride, and is a great lake sled.

[TalonFiero]

Originally Posted by adidasdudegst

Arctic Cat:
2005 F7 SnoPro - Loves ditch banging, rider position feels way up in the air compared to Revs and IQ based sleds, sled feels narrow and tippy in corners when riding aggresively, 700 is snappy and pulls hard. Fast on hard pack and across lake, fluffy stuff it tends to trench easier with the narrowier track. Sled loves to fly and seems real durable.

That's right on the money. Although, my track is studded, and In the fluffy stuff I've ridden in, I have not had a problem with getting it buried at all. Just give er some gas, and she pulls right through. And, it does feel a little too tippy in corners, so I think I'm gonna get a 4th wheel kit they make for it, as they didn't place any in the back of the track, so it flexes when u hit the corners. I love the SnoPro, being it's lightweight, and absolutley soars through the air, very fast for the mods I have done, and it sounds beastly! And so far, have had no problems with it.

I can't really comment on many other sleds, other then a polaris switchback, and my pop's 99' Thundercat 1000 Triple, Which hauls ass! Clutch kicks in at 3,500, and ur off like a rocketship. It's a heavy bastard, but has an excellent ride, and is a great lake sled.

Thundercats and Storms, the old muscle sled war! Goodtimes

Yeah my brothers is studded to with the awesome 1.375" sno pro track (great track for other sleds BTW in the 15"x121" version!). My brother also tends to get stuck a lot on other sleds come to think of it so I am sure the rider plays into that too.

He had a problem with the speedo that stopped reading early on and there was a recall for it but other than that (super minor issue in my book) the sled has been reliable. Been real impressed with its durability. Oh he landed a jump badly once, on the back idler wheels and one side eventually shot off the sled. Not a huge deal and not a fault of the sled. Like I said my brother puts it through its paces, there was also this incident with him finding an aluminum boat under the snow once... and then later that weekend he came up the back side of a 7foot tall snowbank jumping into a completely plowed parking lot onto flat pavement. He also rolled it the first weekend he owned it and only damage was a 4" crack in hood, went out and bought a new hood and stored the new hood at my place for a bit. I wouldn't give him the new hood until last year because I was so sure he would just break it right away if we put it on.

[tpunx99GSX]

Originally Posted by TalonFiero

Where does everyone go riding? I mainly hit up Crosslak/Outing/Grand Rapids area from our cabin. Voyagers National Park is simply awesome and I think best riding in this state, cheap too! And I have been out to the UP a few times and it is always the best and pretty cheap to lodge there too.

We mainly ride the Swampsiders trails and the Taconite and a couple nice trails we built on our property and the state land across from us. Ill let you know when we get around to planning the taconite run this year. (All depends on snow) and maybe we can get a bunch of guys up to do a DSMStyle Taconite Run. I was planning to start at the swampsiders clubhouse as a meet up spot, then running to lake vermillion (possibly even ely for lunch) then riding back and stopping at Scenic Pines Resturant or Antler lodge for dinner and drinks.
here is the trail guide. On the second page is the taconite trail. http://files.dnr.state.mn.us/maps/st...d_taconite.pdf

[A//// Guy]

I have 192 studs now that I think about it, 4 in each row and a couple of the studs pulled out of the outside mostly. I just cut the loose rubber out, and had no problems last season. Id like a track with a little taller paddle, next time.

We had out sleds at the cabin up in Hayward, and we would mainly hit those trails and lakes in the area. We sold the cabin this last spring, and my dad and I are looking at places to ride. May try the Lutsen area or around the north shore. I want to go to Michigan maybe this year too.

[goodhart]

Snowing a little bit here in St. Cloud as we speak!!

I'm kind of excited to ride my buddy's RX1 this winter before he tosses a turbo on it.