WinderFab
TY 4 Stroke God
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2009
- Messages
- 1,865
- Age
- 47
- Location
- Woodbridge, ON
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 2020 Sidewinder Ltx GT
Rockerdan the Polaris 850’s are a great sled to consider in your next 2 stroke purchase but unless they addressed some issues they do have there fair share of issues.
I was also considering one but what I experienced in the last 2 years on northern trips I’ll stick with my sidewinder for now.
—Got stuck in dubreuilville Ontario a few extra days as brand new 850 blew a jack shaft bearing so we found one that was close and hacked it on and made it back to the trucks.
—A month later after sled was completely overhauled under warranty bearing went again in Quebec, all the balls in bearing were in the belly pan, my buddy was pissed and we were only a few hundred km’s from truck so he decided to run it back and luckily we made it to the trucks, jack shaft inner race was just spinning on the outer race, no ball bearing were left in the bearing..
—Big trip around Gaspe another 850 lost a piston on the last day, rod came through the block.
— 4 day trip in Hearst Ontario chain case went.
— Brake calliper doesn’t seem to be reliable as they are always replacing them.
Even though my buddies ride hard and they snow check new every year between the 2 of them they have caused us enough mishaps on the trails but at the end of it all we always have a blast riding together on our great northern trails..
They are a great handling sled but believe me the grass isn’t always greener on the other side lol..
I was also considering one but what I experienced in the last 2 years on northern trips I’ll stick with my sidewinder for now.
—Got stuck in dubreuilville Ontario a few extra days as brand new 850 blew a jack shaft bearing so we found one that was close and hacked it on and made it back to the trucks.
—A month later after sled was completely overhauled under warranty bearing went again in Quebec, all the balls in bearing were in the belly pan, my buddy was pissed and we were only a few hundred km’s from truck so he decided to run it back and luckily we made it to the trucks, jack shaft inner race was just spinning on the outer race, no ball bearing were left in the bearing..
—Big trip around Gaspe another 850 lost a piston on the last day, rod came through the block.
— 4 day trip in Hearst Ontario chain case went.
— Brake calliper doesn’t seem to be reliable as they are always replacing them.
Even though my buddies ride hard and they snow check new every year between the 2 of them they have caused us enough mishaps on the trails but at the end of it all we always have a blast riding together on our great northern trails..
They are a great handling sled but believe me the grass isn’t always greener on the other side lol..
THEPASMAN
Expert
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2019
- Messages
- 448
- Age
- 57
- Location
- The Pas Manitoba
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 2017 Sidewinder LTX LE
I ride with a buddy that has three sleds for different situations. No matter what and where we are he always brings up that he should of had brought one of the other one because it’s the perfect sled for conditions/ trails we are on. Me and my other buddy,both on winders sit and grin cause we have sleds that do it all really really well. I run my ltx hard and I’m amazed that any given trail or conditions I could have driven it harder. It is by far the best sled I’ve ever owned. I’ve chased the clutching for a bit but I tuned it and keep pursuing perfect. Which can be a bumpy ride. I’ve done preventative mods as they come up on this site and have never missed a ride In almost 10,000 mile
It never gets old sitting by your self or beside another winder waiting for the rest of the group to catch up
It never gets old sitting by your self or beside another winder waiting for the rest of the group to catch up
STAIN
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Feb 29, 2004
- Messages
- 4,233
- Location
- Vermont
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2022 SIDEWINDER LTX GT
- LOCATION
- Vermont
For all the talk of these "great new gauge packages", I find them very hard to read at speed. They are no good to me if I cant read them at speed. Who cares if they look good when parked.
Give me RPM, MPH, Engine temp and fuel in an easy to read format and I am fine
Give me RPM, MPH, Engine temp and fuel in an easy to read format and I am fine
TPAY243
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2013
- Messages
- 834
- Age
- 57
- Location
- Northern Wis
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2020 Yamaha Sidewinder LTX SE
Right on STAIN that's the last thing I need on my sled when I'm out riding, all I need is something telling me your going the wrong way or showing me how far back my riding buddies are. I'm trying to get away from all that carp when I go for a ride. Everyone wonders why machines are so expensive it's because of all that crap. Oh Yamaha is so far behind in the tech department who cares surely not me. It's no different than the ones that but a $1000.00 cell phone every other month just to have all the latest and greatest crap. There is only 2 things you really need when you go out for a ride a gas gauge and trail map.
jonlafon1
Lifetime Member
- Joined
- Aug 18, 2014
- Messages
- 4,128
- Age
- 50
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2022 Sidewinder LTX_SE
2024 Catalyst RXC
2017 Sidewinder LTX-SE. 11750 miles (SOLD)
Give me temp, RPM and I will just keep my eyes looking forward when I ride besides the occasional Temp check!
Mototown
TY 4 Stroke Guru
After riding the Polaris 20 assault & the 21 VR1 . The only thing that's of any use on those sleds compared to the 21 Srx is the gps maps sys . When we are trips I'm leading I come to a tee you would know the direction to go , the gps with map would be great , mind you it's only useful when riding new trails that you haven't been on .
All the other features of the Polaris gauges not any more useful than the 21 srx with thumb adjustments on your left side .
Any of the 2 stroke motors have , vibration in the handle bars , the narrow peak power band , lack of power, have to buy oil , not as good fuel mileage as the sidewinder, these are just to many draw backs of me ever buying a 2 stroke again.
So as far as I see it everyone else is behind the current sidewinder other than the gps
All the other features of the Polaris gauges not any more useful than the 21 srx with thumb adjustments on your left side .
Any of the 2 stroke motors have , vibration in the handle bars , the narrow peak power band , lack of power, have to buy oil , not as good fuel mileage as the sidewinder, these are just to many draw backs of me ever buying a 2 stroke again.
So as far as I see it everyone else is behind the current sidewinder other than the gps
Tcat100
Expert
And they indicate their stock online before you order so you know!You would be better off ordering from Country Cat just look under 2018 ZR 9000 they usually have that kinda stuff in stock and you will have it in 2 or 3 day's
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Tcat100
Expert
Amen! All a want is someone to make all those numbers 2 or 3x the size!Give me temp, RPM and I will just keep my eyes looking forward when I ride besides the occasional Temp check!
DMCTurbo
VIP Member
- Joined
- Nov 12, 2005
- Messages
- 2,775
- Age
- 51
- Location
- Val Caron, Ontario
- Country
- Canada
- Snowmobile
- 2017 Sidewinder XTX LE 137
Well said.I ride with a buddy that has three sleds for different situations. No matter what and where we are he always brings up that he should of had brought one of the other one because it’s the perfect sled for conditions/ trails we are on. Me and my other buddy,both on winders sit and grin cause we have sleds that do it all really really well. I run my ltx hard and I’m amazed that any given trail or conditions I could have driven it harder. It is by far the best sled I’ve ever owned. I’ve chased the clutching for a bit but I tuned it and keep pursuing perfect. Which can be a bumpy ride. I’ve done preventative mods as they come up on this site and have never missed a ride In almost 10,000 mile
It never gets old sitting by your self or beside another winder waiting for the rest of the group to catch up
rtx moose
VIP Member
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2014
- Messages
- 1,141
- Age
- 52
- Location
- WATERTOWN,MN
- Country
- USA
- Snowmobile
- 2017 sidewinder LTX LE,2007 RTX,2000 SRX700
I will say the only people with issues with there sidewinder are on this site it seems,i know a handfull of owners without problems including myself!! people cant get caught up on this website looking at a handfull of problems from what seems to be the same people over and over again,common sense prevails..go out and ride!!!I would concur....
Bud had his 900t XRS last season, and I had my 850 XRS. Such a huge difference swapping back and forth. Biggest issue when swapping instantly is the iTC. It takes getting used to, and is very jerky in sport mode, but if you go down to standard mode, it feels sluggish, so you need to keep in sport mode to feel snappy, but if riding in any type of tight or rough trails, or god forbid need to stand up ride, the jerki-ness is impossible to modulate.
Next is weight....while its lighter then the Winder on paper, IMO it feels just as heavy, if not more then Winder in real life when swapping back and forth from the 850. XRS does have great shock package however. I found another huge thing when swapping alot that noone mentions. But if you really think about it when swapping, you will instantly notice the huge difference in how the steering feels as it goes through the arc. Reason is, BRP is dead seat on using their "post forward" mount position on their XRS(2 stroke) only! So the 900t steering post is rearward more at the top mount. This changes so much about the feel if you try to technical ride it standing up. Its much more meant to be rode sitting down, and touring IMO. This would be the first mod I would do, and its not easy as you need to hack up the steering post where it will hit/contact the frame.
So for me, I would not want to own a 900t if I only owned 1 sled, as my area is tight and can get rough, its not a fun sled at all around this type of trail system compared to any 2 smoker IMO. But for Qc wider open trails, it will be really nice IMO. I actually like the Winder for overall handling better when compared to the 900t, but they are similar overall. Front end works better on Winder for sure. Also the Winder throttle is normal, and perfect. The only reason I may consider the 900t, is that it would be a new project, and its dead nuts reliable. Winder/Cat 998s are a blast and make best power no doubt, but lets face it, we need to really keep up with all their issues to not get towed, and this would be a long term sled for me and mostly used for trips so Id like a reliable sled.
But the 2 smokers are so much more effortless to ride around my type of trail system.
2 sleds is exactly what I need.
Dan
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