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My take on the sledding Industry

S

Silver

Expert
Joined
Apr 14, 2003
Messages
362
Location
Northern Michigan
If any of the snowmobile co. wants to gain market share someone needs to bulid a decent 2 stroke / 4 stroke that is affordable by the masses. Just has to be some thing fun and affordable dosen't have to be huge Hp's or the latest and greatest suspension.I just want to ride and enjoy myself. When I start looking at a hobby thats going to cost me around $6,000 a yr (added in gas,hotels,maintence costs ,sled payments etc) It just doesn't add up !!!!!!!!
 

i currently have a few hobbies, doesn't seem that any of them are not expensive - snowmobiling of course, I like to bass fish (tournaments) and that's way more money than snowmobiling, I like to golf - a good set of clubs for an enthusiast will set you back $500 at minimum throw in a good driver, putter and some fairway hybrids, and now your up to a thousand - green fees are $25-100 a round - least expensive hobbie i have is riding my mountain bike, and even there i dropped $700 on a bike -
 
$5k better look again can't buy a new phazer for that. 2011 price is $8k. Yes hobbys are exspensive I also golf,ride Mtn bike ,race dirt bikes.At least I can do those things for more then a few months.Winter here in Mi has gotten really short the last 10 yrs. Which sucks for sledding.
 
I hear ya.........If I lived somwhere that I could ride more it might be a different story. But I have to trailer a good 4-6 hours then motel/hotel it while eating out every meal.........I went ice fishing last weekend with my buds that bailed on sledding. We stayed at a buddies at Houghton lake for free and all threw in $20 for food and ate like kings all weekend........
 
does anyone know if the premiers are a chinese built unit, for the size and speed they look like they might make a nice youth sled. i believe it says they are 3/4 size.
 
they are built in walled lake, michigan if i remember and they do have chinese motors. when i talked to them at novi expo center they said they could not find a american made motor cheap enough to keep costs down.
 
Silver said:
$5k better look again can't buy a new phazer for that. 2011 price is $8k. Yes hobbys are exspensive I also golf,ride Mtn bike ,race dirt bikes.At least I can do those things for more then a few months.Winter here in Mi has gotten really short the last 10 yrs. Which sucks for sledding.
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sure you can, dealers price is usually quite a bit less than msrp. There are alot of new left overs in the 5000-6000$ range too. Look at recent history, most new cheap/little sleds have had a short run. Skidoo dumped the freestyle the phazer is really to only 440/500 class sled that sells worth a darn.
 
With the EPA regs coming very soon(2012) im pretty sure the only enter level sled left will be a Phazer(the others sled builders aren,t wasting money trying to clean up a two-stroke air cooled engine,putting EFI on it would be an engineering nightmare :o| )
 
To be very honest, I am not sure if i will EVER buy a brand new sled again. I have spent a ton of money over the years on brand new sleds and have always taken a bath on them. Even finding a dealer with left over models or even a good used unit can save you thousands. The first owner of any motorized product is going to take a bath when it comes to resale.

These prices are getting completely out of control and unless I see something I absolutely cant live without, I will not be buying anything new regardless of manufacturer.

Ive owned 10 brand new sleds since 94 and dont even want to think how much money ive lost.
 
You don't HAVE to buy a new sled.... You don't need a fancy toy hauler or a truck.
I am very happy with my 03 RX1, a crappy utility trailer and a car. Its not as nice as a new apex, but i can afford to it and i have just as much fun riding as the rest of you.

I'm up to 1000miles so far this year!
 
This thread is very important because sled prices are getting out of control!!!! The new 2011 Yamaha's show that and so do the Skidoo's. $15,000 for a sled??? I'm sure we will see sleds hit the $20,000 mark in the next 2 years. Pretty sad that it is becoming a sport that is getting out of reach for most families. It's becoming a single man's sport. Especially when you hear sled permits and registration prices going up and up every year.
 
LMI500 said:
This thread is very important because sled prices are getting out of control!!!! ...Pretty sad that it is becoming a sport that is getting out of reach for most families.
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Nos hit!

I'd be happy on that "$5000 Phazer" if it cost $5000 and if it were built as a Vector. i.e less aggressive for a typical sit-down rider and more planted to the ground. I do LOVE my 120's, but for most riding, the Phazer's powerband would be enough for 90% of my fun. Not to mention when I took my Dad out (77), the dude was going 10-20. So anyone new who isn't really athletic would be pretty happy with that Phazer if it were less RTX and more GT. Again, assuming it was truly AFFORDBLE!
 
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