Relax! Yamaha is not lying Down.

[stevewithOCD]

I'm the exception to this haha! I'm 24 and I want nothing to do with the rest of my generation because they are a bunch of whinny little babies.

I'll be 24 in a few months and I have a few friends my age that ride. Just bought a new viper, we are a limited breed. Most would rather go spend money on brunch and instagram photos than go rip sleds on the weekend. Can thank my parents for raising me right.

You 2 are a breath of fresh air! I may send a bottle of High End rum to your parents this Xmas.
Heading out your way is on my bucket list.
I was gonna hook up with guys like BEERMAN, KNAAP, CLUTCHMASTER, NOS, SHAGGY and maybe even MrSLED himself.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? They're old & cranky & talk a lot of smack. After i wear them down in a couple days, i'll come ride with you 2 young guns.

Don't worry!
I'll bring some 5-Hour Energy drinks...............................so YOU can keep up

 

[pdiddy]

I'm 24 in this photo making about $9/hr. Got '85 Indy 400, trailer, 4wd Blazer. Priorities!

 

[ClutchMaster]

You 2 are a breath of fresh air! I may send a bottle of High End rum to your parents this Xmas.
Heading out your way is on my bucket list.
I was gonna hook up with guys like BEERMAN, KNAAP, CLUTCHMASTER, NOS, SHAGGY and maybe even MrSLED himself.
BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? They're old & cranky & talk a lot of smack. After i wear them down in a couple days, i'll come ride with you 2 young guns.

Don't worry!
I'll bring some 5-Hour Energy drinks...............................so YOU can keep up

Yea a breath of fresh air after a long hot summer of listening to us old FARTS stink’in up the place talk’in about torque vs. horsepower and other various topics that well.....just plain stink!

Better keep those 5 hour energy’s for when Beerman leads on trail 13 behind Pats..... just sayin.

and we still talkin $hit,
EasyE

PS the trees are changing in the north woods!

 

[stevewithOCD]

WOW!
Steel trailers, 115'' tracks, no snow guard & most likely rusty quarters on that Chevy.
The good 'ole days............and cheap!

Maybe the sport has gotten expensive because we're spoiled old men.
I remember putting a bumper hitch on my '78 Honda Accord, wiring in a harness to the brake lights an hour before leaving & borrowing the neighbors' farm trailer. Not sure the trailer was even road legal. Had to stop every hour to put a quart of oil in, but it made it.

NOW i have a new Twin Turbo Ecoboost with SuperCrew cab, a brand new Nitro Hybrid trailer & an "old" $17,000 240hp sled.
SPOILED! Just freeeekin' SPOILED.....................that's what divorce will do to a man!

 

[74Nitro]

WOW!
Steel trailers, 115'' tracks, no snow guard & most likely rusty quarters on that Chevy.
The good 'ole days............and cheap!

Maybe the sport has gotten expensive because we're spoiled old men.
I remember putting a bumper hitch on my '78 Honda Accord, wiring in a harness to the brake lights an hour before leaving & borrowing the neighbors' farm trailer. Not sure the trailer was even road legal. Had to stop every hour to put a quart of oil in, but it made it.

NOW i have a new Twin Turbo Ecoboost with SuperCrew cab, a brand new Nitro Hybrid trailer & an "old" $17,000 240hp sled.
SPOILED! Just freeeekin' SPOILED.....................that's what divorce will do to a man!

Lots of Turbos - love it!

 

[Deeppow16]

I remember the first time I got to drive a full size sled(98 ski-doo formula 500). I think I was 8 years old or so. My neighbors had a little 120 that I got to drive around before that. I have always been hooked on sledding. Back in high school my buddies and I would go out riding almost every day after school. Now unforantaly all my riding buddies don't ride anymore. I can understand them thought because the sports not cheap and my buddies are into Harleys now which I am not. My son will be 1 next week and I'm super excited to get him into snowmobiling in the next few years. When I was at Haydays last weekend I was already looking for stuff to buy him(the wife kept telling me no, not yet haha). I just cant wait to have him as a riding buddy in the future. Its the reason I always reply to threads like this. I don't want any sled manufactures to go away so we can have amazing options in the future like we have now. It really doesn't matter what you ride, just get out and ride.

 

[Viper_Dean]

WOW!
Steel trailers, 115'' tracks, no snow guard & most likely rusty quarters on that Chevy.
The good 'ole days............and cheap!

Maybe the sport has gotten expensive because we're spoiled old men.
I remember putting a bumper hitch on my '78 Honda Accord, wiring in a harness to the brake lights an hour before leaving & borrowing the neighbors' farm trailer. Not sure the trailer was even road legal. Had to stop every hour to put a quart of oil in, but it made it.

NOW i have a new Twin Turbo Ecoboost with SuperCrew cab, a brand new Nitro Hybrid trailer & an "old" $17,000 240hp sled.
SPOILED! Just freeeekin' SPOILED.....................that's what divorce will do to a man!

I would also argue that this is what used to make the sport great, and maybe other things in life too. People made stuff work, and had fun with it. 75% of people I know, wouldn't know how to use a wrench if you threw it at them. For nostalgia, I have a '74 DT125 that I've been slowly fixing up this summer . Sorry to hijack, back to sleds.

 

[Deeppow16]

I would also argue that this is what used to make the sport great, and maybe other things in life too. People made stuff work, and had fun with it. 75% of people I know, wouldn't know how to use a wrench if you threw it at them. For nostalgia, I have a '74 DT125 that I've been slowly fixing up this summer . Sorry to hijack, back to sleds.

My first sled I had, I beat the crap out of it. I was always hitting stuff. I had bent trailing arms, bent tunnel, bent handlebars, cracked hood, cracked windshield, a track with almost zero lugs because they were all torn off. I would ride the sled hard every weekend and wrench on it during the week to get it going for the next weekend. I had a great time with that sled.

 

[ateick]

Well I'm an old(ish) guy that just got back into the sport the last few years and was not up to speed on the latest and greatest by any means. What stuck in my mind as an industry outsider from past experience and stories from buddies was that 2st=your going to get stranded one day/unreliable and 4st=heavy but maintenance free. Dipped my foot in the water a few years ago with a '01 MXZ and last year it burnt down a cylinder. That was it for me. I rebuilt it and passed it on to my young son (he is thrilled!). Then I went to the local Yamaha dealer for a little slice of reliable. Looking forward to racking the km's on this year and years to come without worry. I'm glad Yamaha is in the game and I hope they can continue the legacy. Choice is great because everyone is different in their wants and needs. They just don't seem to be great about sharing their short term/long term vision for the division which has got to be scaring some away .

FYI. My first sled (which I bought with my own money as a boy after waiting multiple xmas's for my parents to buy one for me with no luck) was a one lung 1970 Massey Ferg Ski Whiz. Wow what a sled to cut your teeth on. That thing only ran a 1/4 of the time I tried to use it but I learned a ton working on it. Maybe MF will get into the business again? Slap a turbo on it. lol!

 

[20/80]

Yep.. the good old days, you didn't even know it was the good old days it was just the culture back in the day having snowmobile hands(black), my first was a 1970 ski doo 300 one lunger and got used to wrenching or you just didn't ride, had many more sleds after that one but the one that really stuck out and was very reliable was my 79 Yamaha 340 Enticer, one of the best sleds of its time and ahead of its time also, so sorry I ever sold it, tried and got sucked into other brands after that and know and learned what wrenching and rebuilding engines are all about, stepped back into the Yamaha sleds and have never looked back, I guess that's why I frowned when Yamaha teamed up with Cat, I have owned Cats in the past and got towed out so many times that it almost turned me against snowmobiling almost as bad as Polaris, I hope Yamaha stays and comes out with their own chassis.

 

[SumpBuster]

Well the one major part that Doo changed supposedly for 4st reliability on the new 850. Pressure fed rod and crank failed on my buddy's 850 two years ago and after 20 years of new XRS Doos he switched to Poo last year. 500mi rear Velocity shock was blown 650 mi the crank or something went on that one. New engine and another month lost waiting for engine before they finally gave him a loaner. Because of this with guy I actually ride with towed and had to ride home in truck with yes I don't trust any new 2st. Doesn't matter why they fail. Not even going to talk about Doo belts and shitty oil use and Nytro range. Go buy a new 850. Not me.

The only 2 strokes I trust are my 1970's Pro McCulloch chain saws.
But I do have 5 of them. Just in case! LOL.

 

[SumpBuster]

Yep.. the good old days, you didn't even know it was the good old days it was just the culture back in the day having snowmobile hands(black), my first was a 1970 ski doo 300 one lunger and got used to wrenching or you just didn't ride, had many more sleds after that one but the one that really stuck out and was very reliable was my 79 Yamaha 340 Enticer, one of the best sleds of its time and ahead of its time also, so sorry I ever sold it, tried and got sucked into other brands after that and know and learned what wrenching and rebuilding engines are all about, stepped back into the Yamaha sleds and have never looked back, I guess that's why I frowned when Yamaha teamed up with Cat, I have owned Cats in the past and got towed out so many times that it almost turned me against snowmobiling almost as bad as Polaris, I hope Yamaha stays and comes out with their own chassis.

My 71 s300 skiroule had a 10:1 ratio. Work on it 10 hours, ride 1. The 73 rtx and 74 laser were maybe 4 to 1, a huge improvement! Best memory of the laser was when the clutch came off, hovered there for a second, then flew into the barn door. I had the hood off driving it around to see what the rattle was. Found it!!

 

[Pete_man26]

I have been riding sleds since I was about 3 or 4, sitting in front of my dad on his old Mach 1 617. At 8 years old he got me a 68 Olympic 338 that I would ride up and down the back lanes with my buds. My best bud got a 77 TNT around 11 and we would go out to the field and play around. The sled needed work and I didn't ride for 4 years or so until I got a 96 Formula SL. Kept that until I was about 18 then got a 01 MXZ 600, ran her up to 10000kms and dumped it for a 01 SXR with lows miles. After that I've been on Yamaha ever since. I sold that sled to buy my 01 SRX which I still have and ride. Added to the fleet since then is 07 attak, 97 Vmax 600XT and a 98 SRX700 I'm building as a improver. Last year for Christmas I bought my 3 year old son a Polaris 120 and it was the best thing I could have ever bought him. Everyday last winter he rode that thing, even when it was minus 30. I race in drags and he see's us picking up and setting the track and jumping on the running boards when we're testing, he does the exact same thing. We head bob each other to start, he does the same thing even asks us to race him. Needless to say he is into snowmobiles and racing as well. I definitely enjoy the time outside with him tinkering on our sleds even though he is only 4. I can't wait for the future when we can go out and ride together. the 600XT is waiting for him but I need a bravo first I think!

My daughter is 2 so next year I plan to bring her into the sport as well.

Every year we look forward to winter.

 

[ClutchMaster]

My 71 s300 skiroule had a 10:1 ratio. Work on it 10 hours, ride 1. The 73 rtx and 74 laser were maybe 4 to 1, a huge improvement! Best memory of the laser was when the clutch came off, hovered there for a second, then flew into the barn door. I had the hood off driving it around to see what the rattle was. Found it!!

Dam I had a 71’ skiroule with a Sachs 440!

The colder weather has got it heating up here on TY.

Keep them stories coming!

 

[Motorhead]

I remember the era of single lungers only on all brands. If you went riding with a group and stopped for a while, once the group decided to start up again it took a couple of us with a spark plug wrench and a lighter to get them all going again. Then came the twins and much better and easier starting.