I agree with you, smokeless1.
I can already see that the market is headed towards 4-strokes.
As far as my father switching to a 4-stroke, I doubt that will happen. In fact, the ONLY way he will ever go 4-stroke is if its a Polaris. Myself, I see Polaris holding onto their Cleanfire injection as long as possible.
He's got an '02 Polaris 600 XC that has only about 4,000 miles on it. Last winter I think he only rode about 700 miles. Most of the time I spent riding with my brother and his wife and occasionaly my mother. My father just stayed at home and watched TV. Youve gotta realize, he's in his late 50s and he's getting to the age where his body isnt able to handle the stress of snowmobiling like it used to. I can sort of see him losing interest in the sport. He doesnt care about the new sleds and even some of the old sleds he bought to restore are not completed and the ones that are just sort of sit around and collect dust.
I just dont see my father warming to the concept of a 4-stroke. I would not at all be surprised if this 600 XC is his last sled. He is a die-hard Polaris man and will not own anything else. However, he HATES the Fuson and if thats the direction that Polaris chooses to go, he wont be getting a new sled.
Then again, who knows. He said he would never give up the old Polaris wedge chassis untill he bough my mother an '02 Polaris 600 EDGE X. He rode that sled and was so blown away by the ride that his '98 600 XC was being traded in before the end of that winter.
Its hard to say. My father is a man who doesnt like change. However, if he sees something that is better that what he had in the past, he will move up to the new stuff.
Personally, I think that if he rode a Vector he'd love it. The only thing that would hold him back is the name "YAMAHA" on the seat. Even to this day he still has the impression of Yamahas that he got back in the mid 80s. He remembers the SRVs, Exciters and Vmax 4s that were 2nd rate compared to the Polaris sleds he owned. He has told me stories about beating modified SRVs with his Indy 400. He literally has no time for Yamaha, period. He doesnt understand why I like Yamaha but thankfully he is cool enough to let me walk my own path in life. He gave me a sort of hard time when I first got the Phazer 2 years ago, but he's cool about it now. Ever since he rode my Phazer last winter he really doesnt put down Yamaha like he used to.
I still really cant see him making the jump to a 4-stroke though...
Hebi
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