Good Bye

[ryama]

Well after 7 years of owning a Sidewinder I'm moving on. I bought my sled new in the fall of 2017 and never had a issue ever. I followed the advise given freely here and had nothing but happy trails. I'm getting older and the weight of the sled is just a bit much for me. I bought a VR1 because the sled is so easy to drive . I'm going to miss this site . Good Bye

Ron

 

[number1kyster]

Congratulations on the new sled. I would imagine there will be more goodbyes with Yamaha exiting the business.

I switched to a Lynx this season. I like just about everything better on the sled, but I do miss the power and speed of my tuned Sidewinder.

 

[74Nitro]

I plan on riding a winder for a while yet and will wait to see what comes out as far as turbo four strokes.
With all due respect, there's zero chance I ever go back to a two stroke.
In addition, on the only ride out with one of my buds on his vr1, the primary snapped in half. So I had to double him home.
Not that I haven't had some issues with drivetrain reliability also....

 

[74Nitro]

I plan on riding a winder for a while yet and will wait to see what comes out as far as turbo four strokes.
With all due respect, there's zero chance I ever go back to a two stroke.
In addition, on the only ride out with one of my buds on his vr1, the primary snapped in half. So I had to double him home.
Not that I haven't had some issues with drivetrain reliability also....

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be on a Doo, but if that 240HP 999 ends up in a sled, I guess the old saying is 'never say never'.
I hope Cat comes out with something good for a turbo four stroke, but someone I know thinks they are working with weber on an 1100 twin. That would really suck I think so I hope it's not true.

 

[74Nitro]

Well after 7 years of owning a Sidewinder I'm moving on. I bought my sled new in the fall of 2017 and never had a issue ever. I followed the advise given freely here and had nothing but happy trails. I'm getting older and the weight of the sled is just a bit much for me. I bought a VR1 because the sled is so easy to drive . I'm going to miss this site . Good Bye

Ron

You don't have to be stranger just because you're switching brands.

 

[KnappAttack]

Well after 7 years of owning a Sidewinder I'm moving on. I bought my sled new in the fall of 2017 and never had a issue ever. I followed the advise given freely here and had nothing but happy trails. I'm getting older and the weight of the sled is just a bit much for me. I bought a VR1 because the sled is so easy to drive . I'm going to miss this site . Good Bye

Ron

Have fun with the new Poo Ron, I hope it treats you well. I would have added EPS to your Winder or gone to a new Winder with EPS but thats just me.

Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I'd be on a Doo, but if that 240HP 999 ends up in a sled, I guess the old saying is 'never say never'.
I hope Cat comes out with something good for a turbo four stroke, but someone I know thinks they are working with weber on an 1100 twin. That would really suck I think so I hope it's not true.

Doo has some major work to doo if I was ever to get back on one. The 900turbo certainly is not as reliable as the old 1200's reading about on DooTalk. They have a bunch of common issues and seemingly are getting worse as the years go by, and not better. I know I'm really not a fan of their front end and handling at all.

The 900 is defiantly not up to the task of boosting like the 998 is, and worlds away from the 1200 at taking boost. They would have to fix the rear suspension from being wheelie happy too. Doos just don't handle like the Cat or Polaris, and adding power to the Doo makes things worse from that aspect. I hate point and shoot sleds that cant keep the skis down no matter what you do to correct them. I loved my NA 1200's back in the day, they were fast, light and fun for a NA machine, but adding a turbo to them made them tougher to ride quickly like I can with the Cat chassis. They were fast in a straight line, but the added power made handling worse.

The Doos also are in severe need of EPS because they are very hard to steer when you try to get them to rail a corner. With the Doo it was always a huge compromise between ski-lift, handling and ride. You could never get everything you wanted from them. Something always suffers, where I feel the Winders we ride are just so great in every area. The Winders with the good shocks just really work well in all areas and are easy to setup for personal preference and get all the qualities you want, unlike the Doos.

I'd like to see Doo get this stuff sorted out, but by that time they will be $50-60K and I'll be in a nursing home by then....

 

[74Nitro]

Have fun with the new Poo Ron, I hope it treats you well. I would have added EPS to your Winder or gone to a new Winder with EPS but thats just me.




Doo has some major work to doo if I was ever to get back on one. The 900turbo certainly is not as reliable as the old 1200's reading about on DooTalk. They have a bunch of common issues and seemingly are getting worse as the years go by, and not better. I know I'm really not a fan of their front end and handling at all.

The 900 is defiantly not up to the task of boosting like the 998 is, and worlds away from the 1200 at taking boost. They would have to fix the rear suspension from being wheelie happy too. Doos just don't handle like the Cat or Polaris, and adding power to the Doo makes things worse from that aspect. I hate point and shoot sleds that cant keep the skis down no matter what you do to correct them. I loved my NA 1200's back in the day, they were fast, light and fun for a NA machine, but adding a turbo to them made them tougher to ride quickly like I can with the Cat chassis. They were fast in a straight line, but the added power made handling worse.

The Doos also are in severe need of EPS because they are very hard to steer when you try to get them to rail a corner. With the Doo it was always a huge compromise between ski-lift, handling and ride. You could never get everything you wanted from them. Something always suffers, where I feel the Winders we ride are just so great in every area. The Winders with the good shocks just really work well in all areas and are easy to setup for personal preference and get all the qualities you want, unlike the Doos.

I'd like to see Doo get this stuff sorted out, but by that time they will be $50-60K and I'll be in a nursing home by then....

Thanks for the comments Mike. I'm quite satisfied with my winder, and will be even more so when I'm on one with power steering.
I'm years away from having to decide what my next ride will be after a winder, unless one of the manufacturers surprises me. But there still seems to be an addiction to two strokes which I personally don't understand.
Never has there been a powerplant in the snowmobile world that delivers like the turbo 998(especially tuned).

 

[Simplespeed]

So long Ron…. I looked at all the models from all four and they all had good points and some bad points but from my research I could not let myself lose the opportunity to buy another winder. In my humble opinion for the price I paid I could not find better value , better motor, and or five years of warranty … Lets just say Yamaha/ Cat earned the business…

 

[Skiduty]

Well after 7 years of owning a Sidewinder I'm moving on. I bought my sled new in the fall of 2017 and never had a issue ever. I followed the advise given freely here and had nothing but happy trails. I'm getting older and the weight of the sled is just a bit much for me. I bought a VR1 because the sled is so easy to drive . I'm going to miss this site . Good Bye

Ron

Take care, I just got here. You could probably still post here, just let on like you still own your Yamaha. Good luck with the new snowmobile