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Thankful for my SW Story

Sevey

TY 4 Stroke God
Joined
Feb 15, 2011
Messages
1,742
Location
Collingwood, ON
Website
www.ty4stroke.com
Country
Canada
Snowmobile
2018 Sidewinder RTX
Was in northern Quebec last week at Lac Fallion wihich is 115km east of Seneterre. Ran into a group coming from Clova towing a new ‘23 900r. Jackshaft sheared right off, just behind the secondary. Break was so clean it was like someone cut it with a hacksaw. I didn’t realize BRP makes their shafts hollow!! Crazy,

We chatted briefly and they asked about my friend and mine’s SW. Both our odometers were passing 15,000km of riding - absent of any towing. They just shook their head - this is the second trip that has been shunted by a down Ski doo. They had a previous run and towed a broken 900 t 320km.

Makes you realize in those situations when you are on remote trails - there is no help and you are a long way from a road let alone a town. We road 2000km this trip (3 full days and 2 half days) and went as far north in the Quebec system - to Chibougamau. Close to 800km from our truck. SW brought us home.

I am not gloating with this groups problems but am thankful our jackshafts are solid. Lol

MS
 

I have a buddy with a 360 HP Motec turbo 1200 and he's broken a couple of jackshafts. One of which is an aftermarket jackshaft that wasn't ever supposed to break again. He's had continual issues with the bearing on the shaft tool. He's also blown the engine once too. I have another bud with a Motec 1200 Doo thats had no jackshaft issues but has also blown the engine 3 times. He has now bought a Mach, but even with 230 HP in it, is not happy about the power or the clutch and belt problems he been having trying to get it right. He's also really not happy that it steers so dang hard when trying to make it handle decent and has now gone to SnowTrackers to help with that.

Gosh I love my Winders now that we know about the simple fixes to make them bulletproof! I don't miss my Ski-Doos one single bit!
 
Most of them will always go back no matter what happens.. sad but it’s true..
 
Most of them will always go back no matter what happens.. sad but it’s true..

Its become part of the culture. A buddy has a 21 doo 850 with 13,000kms on it, he rides a lot obviously and he got lucky but now he is trying to kill it while its in warranty because if he doesn't get the motor replaced he can't sell it for what he expects. The thing continues to defy the odds and refuses to die and yet they plan every ride as if they will have to tow it now. No thanks.
 
I was up there last week too. We started in Val-d’Or - Parent - Roberval - Chibougamau- Matagami- Val-d’Or, 1,173 miles. We had 2 23 SRX’s and a black G5. There is nothing better than that northern loop. I had to limp my 17 into lac fallion last year with an empty chaincase. Chain stretched so much it was jumping the gear. 11,000 miles on the seal. My fault.
 
My Sidewinder is far from perfect. Sometimes it doesn’t start well when its warm, it is a pig on fuel compared to other sleds, and I’m quite confident it would have been on the wrong end of a tow strap by now if it wasn’t for this website.

It has been very reliable with a little extra maintenance every fall. Between my dad and I, we are at 25,000 miles between 3 different Sidewinders with no major issues. Not bad for a sled that has a terrible reputation for reliability on the internet.
 
I was up there last week too. We started in Val-d’Or - Parent - Roberval - Chibougamau- Matagami- Val-d’Or, 1,173 miles. We had 2 23 SRX’s and a black G5. There is nothing better than that northern loop. I had to limp my 17 into lac fallion last year with an empty chaincase. Chain stretched so much it was jumping the gear. 11,000 miles on the seal. My fault.
I agree 100%. Been to Parent and Val d’or, Chibougamau and Matagami are on my near future list.
 
I had been through the main towns in the past: Rouyn, Lasarre, Amos, Valdor - but never pushed it that far north to Chibougamau. Trails get better when you get away from the towns - less traffic.

Met a number of groups that were putting some serious km's on, and at times in their loops were far from their vehicles. Need to go back and do the full loop next year.
MS
 
I might know the guy with the broken drive shaft...lol
Great trails up that way
Was up there a couple of weeks ago. It was cold but some great riding.
We did 1200 miles in 5 days...Day 4 292 miles, Day 5 was just a little 100 mile run to the trucks
 
I might know the guy with the broken drive shaft...lol
Great trails up that way
Was up there a couple of weeks ago. It was cold but some great riding.
We did 1200 miles in 5 days...Day 4 292 miles, Day 5 was just a little 100 mile run to the trucks
It was a group 4 - two guys riding with their wives. Super nice people, and all 4 could ride. Never seen a duo tow a sled as fast as they did.
Just wished i could have helped. If i had my truck in Valdor I would have offered to shuttle the sled around at the end of the day.

The one gentleman ran a marina on the Rideau outside of Kingston.

Any of this add up?
MS
 
Was in northern Quebec last week at Lac Fallion wihich is 115km east of Seneterre. Ran into a group coming from Clova towing a new ‘23 900r. Jackshaft sheared right off, just behind the secondary. Break was so clean it was like someone cut it with a hacksaw. I didn’t realize BRP makes their shafts hollow!! Crazy,

We chatted briefly and they asked about my friend and mine’s SW. Both our odometers were passing 15,000km of riding - absent of any towing. They just shook their head - this is the second trip that has been shunted by a down Ski doo. They had a previous run and towed a broken 900 t 320km.

Makes you realize in those situations when you are on remote trails - there is no help and you are a long way from a road let alone a town. We road 2000km this trip (3 full days and 2 half days) and went as far north in the Quebec system - to Chibougamau. Close to 800km from our truck. SW brought us home.

I am not gloating with this groups problems but am thankful our jackshafts are solid. Lol

MS
Just went over 9,200 miles this past weekend. Other than the initial ( minor imo) issues initially with clutch alignment and BOP jackshaft fix its been great. So much for Yamacat reliability.
 
It was a group 4 - two guys riding with their wives. Super nice people, and all 4 could ride. Never seen a duo tow a sled as fast as they did.
Just wished i could have helped. If i had my truck in Valdor I would have offered to shuttle the sled around at the end of the day.

The one gentleman ran a marina on the Rideau outside of Kingston.

Any of this add up?
MS
Yes I know them...lol
I think the towed it to Amos
Small world
 
Yup. These sleds are great compared to what the competition offers. Skidoos seem to be ok engine wise, but I know seadoo sparks don’t seem to make it past 500 hours, so not sure how that will translate into snowmobiles, more or less hours. The third Polaris 850 that rides with us seized its engine last week, now that’s 3 I know personally that blew up between 5-6000kms.
 
My SW shut off after I hit a bump leaving Senneterre day 2 morning.
Of course it was damn cold out.
Pull all the panels and hood off and pulled out main relay and put it back in.
Started up again an no issues for the remaining 1000 miles
 


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