Slide Kicks - worth the money???

[RTYsxv]

I ordered myself a set of Slide Kicks reverse-compatible ice scratchers last week and they showed up today.

http://www.slidekicks.net/order.html

Here is my honest reaction:
They better work well otherwise they are a total ripoff. I did not realize how simple and cheap these things really are until I had them in my hand. I paid $80.97 for 2 short pieces of pre-bent plastic coated cable, some crimp-on ends, and a dollar or two worth of hardware. The "replaceable tips" are nothing more than a 3/8" U-bolt cut in half with a bolt cutter! And they charge "only $9.95" for a replacement set of tips (and probably $8 for shipping)..you have got to be kidding me - that is outrageous.

Considering how much these things cost, I guess I'm just not at all impressed.

 

[Turk]

So if they work as advertised what are they worth then?
Why didn,t you think of these & beat em to the bunch if it,s so outrageous.

Give me a break!!!!

 

[RTYsxv]

Well pardon me for sharing my own reaction with the community..so that someone might know a little more about them if they are on the fence. I did a search for Slide Kicks on here and there wasn't much info, and there seems to be quite a few people who don't understand them very well. I'm not entirely sure I need these things, they are more of a precaution. If there were a few more reviews like this, I might have decided to try a year without and then buy a traditional set if I deemed it necessary, for the few times they would be used.

When they want $10 for a 3/8" U bolt cut in half then I think that's pretty steep, don't you? Some of us don't have a bunch of money to dump into sleds. I don't know of any other company that makes a reverse compatible ice scratcher, I think they need a little competition.

 

[Turk]

How about regular ice scratchers that have a $5 bolt & a $5 spring that lasts 1 ride & does not work in reverse.
Think about it man..there is a lot more to sidekicks then a u bolt cut in 1/2. How about the vinyl coating;the mounting kits & the cutting tool? Plus the unit wil last a lot longer & works in reverse for only $20 more. Did you check to see what else was out there in price comparison before you ranted?

 

[Crewchief47]

Yamaha now makes a reverse compatible scratcher (not available quite yet).

Also, Yellowknife has used both first and second generation kicks. If I recall correctly, he failed the first gen. The second gen apparently lasted much longer but I'm not sure if he's excited or just happy with them. May want to try one of his threads to see if he'll give you an opinion.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#662801

 

[tomMTX]

I had two sets of first gens, one my Nytro, other on my buddies Phazer MTX. Destroyed both sets. But, Slidekicks dudes stood behind their product and hooked us up with the second gen sets, even hand delieved them to me.

Second gen actually has the plastic intermixed with the cable. They seem a like a lot better product. Alas, I didn't put them to use last winter as it pretty much dumped the whole time after I installed them, so mainly they just sat on has my rails. One thing they are good at, and thats conjuring up good pow storms!

 

[dab102999]

Last ride of the year this spring was nothing but ice. Momma's blizzard kept getting hot so I new I needed to do something. I just bought an attak and with the higher geometry of these sleds I knew I needed something to get snow in there. A couple of buddies of mine have the traditional wire type ice scratchers, work great. Until one backed up on a road side and bent one rail and broke the other one not to mention wasted his scratchers. The other buddy (who is anal about putting them up) let his wife ride his sled and she forgot to put them up when she was backing up from the gas station and they bent and one went through the track like a sewing needle and bent 90 deg when it hit the slide. When she went to go foward it tried to come out and put about a 5 inch rip in his track. Not to mention wasted the wire scratchers. So I am trying two sets of these ice scratchers. If you can make something up that is a 1/2 cable and crimp it to where it aint gunna come loose go for it. But I think the couple extra bucks for these over the traditional ones is well worth it if it keeps me from added expenses. They seem to have a lot of down pressure so I would think they would work good. I will know more at the end of the season.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

I had two sets of first gens, one my Nytro, other on my buddies Phazer MTX. Destroyed both sets. But, Slidekicks dudes stood behind their product and hooked us up with the second gen sets, even hand delieved them to me.

Second gen actually has the plastic intermixed with the cable. They seem a like a lot better product. Alas, I didn't put them to use last winter as it pretty much dumped the whole time after I installed them, so mainly they just sat on has my rails. One thing they are good at, and thats conjuring up good pow storms!

These Slidekick scratchers go mounted unto the rails, so wouldn't there be an area at the front of the hyfax that is not getting any spray? I noticed the Yamaha ones mount on the front suspension, would that not be better?

 

[tryanATTAK]

Can't recall where I saw it but I saw a post a while back where somone had actually drilled some holes into their skis at a slight angle tilting back and towards the heat exchangers. This was supposed to catch snow and spray it up unto the the heat exchangers and rails. Seems like that might actually work, imagine if you will the snow spraying up like the Yamaha rooster tails of their old watercraft. would the holes pack shut I don't know maybe but if they did you could just run something through them to open them back up again. Only problem I see is when turning it would spray snow all over your legs.

 

[BombaPolaYama]

Can't recall where I saw it but I saw a post a while back where somone had actually drilled some holes into their skis at a slight angle tilting back and towards the heat exchangers. This was supposed to catch snow and spray it up unto the the heat exchangers and rails. Seems like that might actually work, imagine if you will the snow spraying up like the Yamaha rooster tails of their old watercraft. would the holes pack shut I don't know maybe but if they did you could just run something through them to open them back up again. Only problem I see is when turning it would spray snow all over your legs.

Might be good on snow but wouldn't work on ice, unless you had something there to scratch the ice to cause a spray.

 

[Yellowknife]

Yamaha now makes a reverse compatible scratcher (not available quite yet).

Also, Yellowknife has used both first and second generation kicks. If I recall correctly, he failed the first gen. The second gen apparently lasted much longer but I'm not sure if he's excited or just happy with them. May want to try one of his threads to see if he'll give you an opinion.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#662801

Yep, the first generation failed...the second generation passed last spring, but may have some durability issues over the longer term. I'm still testing, but one of them has a cracked casing, but it still appears to be doing its job. FYI I got both sets free of charge from my dealer (Force One) to test for them (not for Slide Kicks) but the bar style is far more durable, just don't back up! Easier said than done, trust me on that.

There was a company that made a reversing bar style scratcher, but I never found out who it was because I haven't seen them in a few years.

 

[Yellowknife]

I had two sets of first gens, one my Nytro, other on my buddies Phazer MTX. Destroyed both sets. But, Slidekicks dudes stood behind their product and hooked us up with the second gen sets, even hand delieved them to me.

Second gen actually has the plastic intermixed with the cable. They seem a like a lot better product. Alas, I didn't put them to use last winter as it pretty much dumped the whole time after I installed them, so mainly they just sat on has my rails. One thing they are good at, and thats conjuring up good pow storms!

These Slidekick scratchers go mounted unto the rails, so wouldn't there be an area at the front of the hyfax that is not getting any spray? I noticed the Yamaha ones mount on the front suspension, would that not be better?

I wondered about that too, but the way it works is you need snow thrown into your rotating track. The track's rotation actually throws the spray around all over the track clips and suspension. Your track clips then hit the sliders all covered in a film of snow spray. Its not the sliders that particularly need snow to hit them, as long as all the other components are getting the spray, they will carry the spray to the sliders.

 

[bottlerocket]

I just have a kick stand style mounted on the tunnel under my right foot. It has a loop sticking out so you can just push it down with your foot and it will kick up enough dust for multiple sleds. Spring loaded so it comes back up when you take your foot off of it. I dont remember who made it but it works good for what I use it for.

 

[snowrdr]

i have 2 sets of slidekicks sitting on the shelf collecting dust. tried em and didn' like em.

 

[Super Sled]

Yamaha now makes a reverse compatible scratcher (not available quite yet).

Also, Yellowknife has used both first and second generation kicks. If I recall correctly, he failed the first gen. The second gen apparently lasted much longer but I'm not sure if he's excited or just happy with them. May want to try one of his threads to see if he'll give you an opinion.

http://www.ty4stroke.com/viewtopic.php? ... ht=#662801

Yep, the first generation failed...the second generation passed last spring, but may have some durability issues over the longer term. I'm still testing, but one of them has a cracked casing, but it still appears to be doing its job. FYI I got both sets free of charge from my dealer (Force One) to test for them (not for Slide Kicks) but the bar style is far more durable, just don't back up! Easier said than done, trust me on that.

There was a company that made a reversing bar style scratcher, but I never found out who it was because I haven't seen them in a few years.

Hey YK, How's life up there?

I have Slidekicks on my Attak and I think they work fine. Not quite as good as rigid ones, but these work with reverse, so these are what you need!

Mike