I have a 18' Yamaha sidewinder B-tx SE! I come from a 16' Skidoo Freeride 154"!
I ride northern / Western Maine and Canada.
Let me start by saying I love this machine but it's another animal... I believe I can do lots of back country like before, but I will admit it won't do the extreme stuff I could do on a Freeride. with that said I was looking for something that I could be just as happy on trail as off... I love ..... let's Put that another way.... I freakin can't even explain the feeling you get from this thing!
I've had to settle for the lower grade FOX Float 3's but they will suffice... I will say I have been workin on adjustments for 3 rides now but every ride gets better... if I had some gripes it would be I wish the front was adjustable from 36-40" I mean come on all this tech and we can't have 4" of adjustability..... I also wish I could have chosen a shock upgrade at discount but I had to deal with what I was dealt! Also the rear tunnel/tail could use better design!
Handling:
On trail, set to skinny on the skis and swaybar connected! With a lot of adjusting I've went from ultra harsh ride to acceptable ... the sled rips, its instant pull, and endless yank leave smiles for days... this engine greatly benefits from a longer track... it helps balance its weight and it really helps all that horsepower get hooked up... my sled may have lost some MPH's but let's be honest I bet most of us will never get tired of the "UN-GODLY" pull this thing has... I have been able to chase my buddies on 850 Mxz's and renegades and once you get suspension set-up properly you will be amazed at the trail manners... I believe this is the ultimate trail sled... I understand it may take more effort to ride fast in the twisty s but that's what makes it fun! And longer tracks ride great on trails... the 1.75" track I have is stout... it doesn't fold the lugs and it is very happy and "quiet" on the trail.... plus here are options for carbides if you want on this track... I have yet to need ice scratchers
Off trail... little less experience with this on this sled... I would classify myself as a farely good back country rider who routinely subjects a sled to large air and drops and can ride pretty technical... this sled is gonna be a handful for me.... I really wish I could feel it with a 36" front... anyway the sled has so much nearly instant trackspeed that I have been able to play in powder and not get Barried yet... I think this thing has so much track speed it will somewhat make up for weight... more or less the tight technical stuff is where I'm gonna clearly get off and stuck doing... I once had the sled wash out on thinner snow ... and to get sled from its side back onto skis was a workout!!!
The sleds tunnel and rear bumper are not so refined... my issue here is the tunnel is clearly made short, maybe just even with real axle... the problem is the bumper doesn't give much in the way of leverage... and the snowflap sticks out quite a bit... this makes it very hard to lift the rear of sled... im sure this is intentional as I have read about several tunnels being folded after a sled gets 12 O'clocked!
Another note is the sled doesn't reverse hardly at all in powder... I find it's mostly due to the skis and their habit of grabbing the heel into the snow!
All in all if you have questions fire away... I love the sled.... I was looking to go from one of the best backcountry sleds out there to a sled that can truly do It all... I wanna ride and smile... this thing truly allows more than I can handle of both
Good luck
Squeeze tight
