How about a positive " I love my Sidewinder thread".

[STAIN]

I love my 17 RTX. Best sled I have owned or ridden. I am actually having a hard time trying to improve it.....

 

[ryama]

Many happy free miles on mine. And my love for it is still the same as the day i picked her up.

 

[Sledroll]

I put 2400 miles of smiles on my 18 winder this past season. Sled was flawless all on the original belt. The suspension is outstanding handling any bump it encountered. I put curve skis on her with bergstrom triple points and she carved up the twisty's with ease and no darting. The only negative I can think of is the rider himself, you see this sled has so much power that if your not 100% focused 100% of the time curves do come up on you awfully fast. On more than one occasion I've had to say to myself "self, you need to focus." Is that really a negative?

I have the 49th edition same sled with tuners and Snowtrackers.
I know exactly what your talking about !
I call it sled dreaming , and it is very dangerous .
The ride is so smooth , and quiet , and effortless , and fast , and then the next thing you know , you are talking to your self.
Love the sled .

 

[RX1Jim]

I only got to put on 500 miles on my 18 Sidewinder LTX before work once again to over my life but I LOVE the sled. I have only owned and ridden Yamaha sleds since 1990 and every model had some issue(s) that were worked out by the Yamaha community. I found that before every ride my "worry bucket" would get overloaded by reading all the negative postings on TY but none of them happened (granted, I only rode 500 miles). The Sidewinder is an exceptional sled, we will just have to work together to overcome the issues. Travis H. and other members are already working on solutions. Since I run a high tech mechanical fabrication shop, in the"off season" I am working on a replacement, one piece, welded 6061 aluminum oil tank to eliminate relying on a bead of RTV silicone to contain the engine's life blood. The weak links in the suspension can be redesigned and made out of stainless steel for improved strength with a small weight gain. There are already so many quality aftermarket parts to take care of some of the issues and improve the sled such as the set of 4 rear wheels from JT ATV. I will agree with anyone who says we should not have to put more money into an already very expensive sled to cure issues which should have been handled by Yamaha but such is life with mass produced products. Let's spend the "off" season sharing ideas and designs to fix the problems so we can have a close to perfect season next year (weather permitting).

Jim

 

[Hammer70]

I’d sleep with her too lol!

I would have more fun riding her lol

 

[Hammer70]

I think my winder rocks,can’t wait to do all my upgrades next year.I put 3k on it this season and every time I ride it it makes me smile. Can’t wait for next season.

 

[Doc Harley]

Finally got around to pulling it out of the trailer to get it cleaned up. IDK.....I don't know about best this or that.
But the sled gets me thru the trails flawlessly. And love pinning the throttle to get that needed rush......

Life's good.

 

[Doowithblue]

Okay yes still love the winda lol

 

[MotorCityMike]

First season with my 2018 with a Hurricane tune. Only 600 miles this season, but overall I'm very happy with it. Boosted Yamaha!!

 

[VX1R]

Great thread DMCTurbo. As with most things posted on the internet you'll usually find a lot more negative vs positive so it's refreshing to see someone post about their positives with the SideWinder.

My wife and I both ride SW's after many seasons of logging on many miles on Apex's. I'm glad that we made the switch. Between the riding position and suspension performance I feel that we'll be adding many more years to our riding enjoyment with the SW's. These sleds just swallow up the trails regardless of the conditions and properly set up the steering is effortless. I can't wait to hit the trail again the day after clicking off 200-300 miles.

The fun factor when riding a SW is off the charts. Every time I fire up the sled and saddle up I know that I'm going to be maxing out the fun meter. I've never owned another sled that has me salivating like Homer Simpsom anxiously awaiting his next doughnut as I anxiously await my next ride.

The overall looks of the SW is second to none and is always attracts attention from other riders. I've never had a sled that so many other brand riders have approached me at pit stops asking questions about how I like the sled.

Yamaha has delivered to us an outstanding platform with the SW. With all of the aftermarket products available you can make your sled as mild or wild as you need to best suit your own needs.

The SW is the first sled that I've ever owned that hasn't had me even consider looking to switch to anything else out their. What's not to love about the motor package and the rest of the sled?

Thanks to the information available here on TY I was able to address any know issues before the sleds ever hit the snow. With about 2300 combined miles logged on both sleds this season we just looked forwards to the smiles and miles with no issues.

I'm going to enjoy the upcoming change of seasons and all of the related warm weather activities before the slow flies again next winter, but every day I'll be thinking about the awesome season I had on the SW.

 

[woodysattak]

Just picked up leftover 2017 winder and got the oppurtunity to ride it for 5 miles last sunday and it was awsome. I had a 1200 xr with alot of upgrades and up untill I rode the winder it was the best sled I have owned. The new winder was so smooth and fast sneaky fast it was awsome. I was out in the shop tonight and just sold the 1200 and was kind of sad because it was an awesome sled and had no trouble in 5400 miles. I love the winder just hope it is as trouble free as my doo was. Waiting for next winter.

 

[happytrails]

I cannot agree more with this post. I was able to get 1500 miles on mine this winter. Loved it so much, i would go and take an extra trip down a trial at the end of the day, when the group i ride with would call it a day. No complaints or issues all winter long.

 

[Big_Phil]

I love my Sidewinder. I was disappointed at first, because I was having clutch issues right off the bat, and Yamaha was zero help. I was ready to sell it the first week. If I hadn't already sold my Nytro just before the snow came down, I would have sold the winder 100%.

That being said, I am very happy with my sled. I put the RR parts in my skid, and this is the first season I didn't break a rear suspension on a sled. I usually break everything that can be broken, lol. 3000+kms of flawless running(after i fixed belt issues), most of the time on the 270 tune, 240 tune at a minimum, and 290 tune for a few race days. I did bend something on the sled, not sure what tho, most likely an a arm. Hit a tree root on a trail and the next day I noticed the ski was toed in about 2 inches, but you cant see anything that looks bent.

I don't think I would ever order a new sled from Yamaha tho. Its pretty shitty when you buy a 20grand sled, and some tool from Yamaha head office says to drive it easy, and there's nothing wrong with your clutches. . Good thing I have a heated garage and the know how to fix sleds, or I would have really be screwed.

 

[snowbeast]

I love my Sidewinder. I was disappointed at first, because I was having clutch issues right off the bat, and Yamaha was zero help. I was ready to sell it the first week. If I hadn't already sold my Nytro just before the snow came down, I would have sold the winder 100%.

That being said, I am very happy with my sled. I put the RR parts in my skid, and this is the first season I didn't break a rear suspension on a sled. I usually break everything that can be broken, lol. 3000+kms of flawless running(after i fixed belt issues), most of the time on the 270 tune, 240 tune at a minimum, and 290 tune for a few race days. I did bend something on the sled, not sure what tho, most likely an a arm. Hit a tree root on a trail and the next day I noticed the ski was toed in about 2 inches, but you cant see anything that looks bent.

I don't think I would ever order a new sled from Yamaha tho. Its pretty shitty when you buy a 20grand sled, and some tool from Yamaha head office says to drive it easy, and there's nothing wrong with your clutches. . Good thing I have a heated garage and the know how to fix sleds, or I would have really be screwed.

Well said bro,i heard the same BS from Yamaha top brass,ya ride it like my wifes 600 never,i ride it the way I want,and if stuff breaks,yup fix it myself.

 

[Wingwong]

I'm going to sleep with my new lady lol. When she comes in

Congrats Rob

You gonna love it!!!!