My new snowmobile

[TraceZ]

I spent 10 hours on my new snowmobile this past weekend. OMG, is that thing fast. It's a 1998 Polaris XC600 with a few modifications including a bottle and a clutch kit. I drag raced my brother in law on his PSI-piped 1999 Polaris 600 and it wasn't even a contest. I pulled away from him like he wasn't moving. The previous owner of my sled raced it so I'm thinking it's got to be ported and maybe even bored over. The pipe looks stock, but it sure doesn't sound stock, so I'm guessing maybe the baffles were removed from it. The track is fully picked. I'll have to give the previous owner a phone call and ask him why it is so snotty.

The throttle feels pretty normal until it hits the sweet spot, then the clutch kit kicks in, the RPMs jump up and you better be holding on for dear life. My adrenaline was pumping all weekend. If you are going 30 and you pinch it the sled will be going 40 before you even get the throttle down hard, then in a matter of a few seconds you are hitting 80+. It's insane. Stock it is rated at 100hp. I'm guessing it is closer to 120 because it pulls like a rocket.

[JeffM]

Holy crap - over a hundo HP.. nice

That thing looks awesome.. I'd love to try one

[TraceZ]

Jeff -

If you ever get a chance to go riding, do it. Until I rode a sled the first time 2 winters ago I hated the winter. Now I love it.

Just think of the HP to weight ratio.

Camaro : 3700 Lbs loaded with driver, 300 hp
around 12 pounds per horsepower

Sled: 650 lbs loaded with driver, 120 hp
around 5 and a half pounds per horsepower!

The best part... no speed limit!! during daytime hours there is no speed limit on snowmobile trails. it's 55 at night. You can nail it down a strait, hit 100 mph, jump on the brake and swing through a corner just to nail the throttle again. The adrenaline rush is amazing. You can ride the trail for a few hours, stop at a place to eat, gas up and ride back home.

[blackthunder50]

You are so lucky to have tons of snow! Out here in eastern PA we've got maybe .5" so far this winter! Hopefully now that the weather is changing and winter is actually here will get something to hit soon. Im so anxious to ride. But heres my '79 el tigre, keep in mind this thing has the 85 hp engine in it, not bad for an old sled. My boss was telling me because of its weight and ski setup it out performs his REV 600 in circle tracks. The straightaways are a different story lol.

[IMG][/IMG]

[raroZ28]

looks fun.. it's weird how i can get on a crotch rocket but those snow mobiles scare the crap out of me. I just always pictured them being hard to control, lots of sliding, etc... Me and my buddies did joke about getting snowmobiles this year after we put the bikes up. I guess I'll have to ride one, I hear they're a blast.

Are they easy to control?

[blackthunder50]

The new ones are absolutely incredible, my boss's bombadier rev 600 will go from 0-100-0 just like a performance car. I couldnt believe the braking power. He also has the 1.5" carbide tips on the tracks. Handling the thing is like riding a quad but better. Like I said the new ones are incredible.

As far as the old ones. Well...they lack front suspension, the rear shock usually bottoms out on the smallest imaginable bump and they cant go in as deep snw as the new ones. They still haul ass though, you definetly have to put more body control into the old ones when your really kickin'em.

[Blevyou know]

holy crap Im getting one. That sounds so damn fun. Wow. Off to ebay to start lookin.

[Gary94Formula]

They are fun when you have time to ride. I have had a few of them. I have a 2002 MXZ 500Fan now that is great for riding around. Since it's a fan it only has 65hp, but it will lift the ski's at will and it's super light. The only thing is that it won't do more than 65MPH..

I'm selling it as the last 2 winters I haven't had time to ride. It just sits and that's just a waste. When my daughter graduates in 2009, I'll get another..

[TraceZ]

My sled is very easy to control. The track is 9/10 inch paddles and has well over 100 carbide picks in it. The skis have carbide rails in them. It has a 10 inch suspension under it with fox shocks in front and rideFX shocks in back. It stops really well with a hydraulic assisted disc brake that is actually liquid cooled by the sled's cooling system. The cooling system has a large heat exchanger directly over the track in the tunnel so as you drive it gets snow kicked up onto it. It is 2 stroke with oil injection. You do not have to mix the gas and oil. It has a oil reservior and a coolant reservior under the hood.

Suspension on snowmobiles is adjustable. You can adjust the limiter straps/blocks on the rear suspension to change the amount of ski pressure you have in front. More ski pressure equals better cornering but not as much traction off the line. You can also adjust how stiff it rides by changing the spring settings. The shocks are also adjustable.

It's not an expensive sport to get into. My sled is in pretty much mint condition, 1200 miles and I got it for $1200. I got a deal on the gear too, the guy gave me the leather pants, leather Jacket and helmet for $100 more. He said he paid over $800 for them. They match the sled perfectly!

I always think it looks funny when we pull into a gas station. To see cars behind a bunch of snowmobiles.

[wolfdogs]

i hate snow.

snow is cold.


i hate it.


did yall know that snowmobiles is what started the jet ski craze? a guy rode one across a lake once......modified of course.

[TraceZ]

i hate snow.

snow is cold.


i hate it.

I knew someone would say that! I hate the cold as well and my first worry about snowmobiling was that I would get cold. Well guess what? You dont get cold at all. The sled has heated handgrips and a heated throttle lever. You can adjust the temperature of your hands. I wear light leather gloves and my hands stay toasty warm. The stirrups you put your feet into are heated with engine heat. Your feet stay toasty warm as well. I wore a pair of hiking boots and never had a problem. Your head stays warm because you wear a headsock and helmet. I ride with the helmet vents open and the windshield cracked open a little bit. As far as the rest of you, you stay nice and warm with heavy snowpants and a heavy jacket. I wore long underwear, jeans, two pairs of socks and a long sleeve shirt under my gear.

[ConElite]

The way the weather is going, Buying a snowmobile is looking like a good idea here in So. Cal. ha ha ha. But No seriously, I hope to try this one day, The only bad thing is there is not to many places for that over here. There are places for ATV's everywhere but not anything to do with snow. Shoot I have never seen it snow before, I've been TO the snow but never while its snowing. oh well. I guess on the bright side its beach weather 90% of the year here.

[FroSSty]

Sweet Trace...The fastest sled I have ever ridden was a 98 Yamaha. It too was decked out for racing. My friends upgraded there sleds so it basically sat in there trailer for a year and a half. I was the first person to ride it after that. My buddy wanted to clean it out so he told me to hold it full throttle as much as possible. At first I could tell it wasn't giving it all it had. AFter a few minutes we had it cleaned out about 90% but he said he could tell it didn;t run like it used too. Lemme tell you this thing was fast! It would easily rip you off the back if you weren't paying attention. It had an awesome suspension that would take any abuse and any jump I could throw at it.

I left that night after riding it and I guess the next day he flogged it some more. He ended up taking it to a local drag ice strip and got third in his class. BTW, It was nowhere near being set up for the drags.

Only problem was it didn't have a working speedo. I think he didn't want to know how fast he was actually going.

[TraceZ]

Sweet Trace...The fastest sled I have ever ridden was a 98 Yamaha. It too was decked out for racing. My friends upgraded there sleds so it basically sat in there trailer for a year and a half. I was the first person to ride it after that. My buddy wanted to clean it out so he told me to hold it full throttle as much as possible. At first I could tell it wasn't giving it all it had. AFter a few minutes we had it cleaned out about 90% but he said he could tell it didn;t run like it used too. Lemme tell you this thing was fast! It would easily rip you off the back if you weren't paying attention. It had an awesome suspension that would take any abuse and any jump I could throw at it.

I left that night after riding it and I guess the next day he flogged it some more. He ended up taking it to a local drag ice strip and got third in his class. BTW, It was nowhere near being set up for the drags.

Only problem was it didn't have a working speedo. I think he didn't want to know how fast he was actually going.

You could of had it running even better if you would of taken off the carbs and cleaned them. Cleaning them is pretty simple, too. Just take it apart, shoot Gumout and compressed air through all the passages and reassemble.

[Joe 1320]

That would be a cool weekend toy. Of course in Florida it wouldn't do much good.