Worst sled purchase? What should you have bought instead?

[Metallicat]

What sled purchase do you regret the most and what do you wish you had purchased instead?

Since I have only purchased 3 new sleds over the past 20 years mine is easy.

1. 1995 ZR580. Horrible ride and would absolutely destroy clutches. Clutch weight bushings lasted 1200 miles max. I broke the clutch bolt after 500 miles. Broke a Comet 108 EXP clutch spider in half.

I should have sat the season out as it was a no snow El Nino year. But doing it over....I always liked the looks of the 1995 XLT Specials, and you could ride them on bumpy trails.

2. 1998 ZR600 EFI Limited. Concrete bench seat, horrible intake noise, and poor clutching and efi calibration from the factory. Would blow the stator every 3000 miles. The limiteds were not for me with the 440 racer suspension calibration.

I should have sat the season out as it was another no snow El Nino year. But....doing it over I would have gone with an SX7 and M10'd the rear, then gytr pipes later maybe.

How about yours?

 

[yamahas]

My first one, now I have this addiction called snowmobiling.

 

[sxr70001]

My first sled was a 97 Polaris XLT Special 600. I put a lot of time and money into it but the crank kept spinning out of phase. It had the Xtra-12 and it rode like a couch through the woods and the few times it ran well it was awesome. After 3 rebuilds in 2 season I cut my losses and bought my first Yamaha and never looked back.

 

[snobill]

A 2000 Indy 500 lasted one year blew the motor and got ride of it bought it from my brother as a favor and I lost on that one !

 

[darv]

The first sled I purchase was a ski-doo RV 250 race sled it was a peice if do do an took it back to dealer an purchased a yamaha SRX for racing an have not look back.

 

[dylanjen9]

1995 Polaris rxl 650 efi ran good at first then had to have it rebuilt twice then the efi started acting up and flooding all the time. Buddy was running a rx1 liked it so bought a vector than an apex

 

[SaskAttack]

Polaris Storm, should have just bought a short length of rope and a chair.

 

[4strokeluvr111]

98 Polaris XCR 600. This was my 10th Polaris and when I saw the white hood on the aggressive chassis, I just had to have it! Coming off of a string of XLT's I thought I knew the triple motor.

OMG! What a POS! Rode like a lumberwagon and wouldn't turn worth a crap. You needed to have Popeye arms to turn the thing. The motor....go 10 mph or 50+ mph and all was good. In between (at trail speeds) it was a herky jerky bucking bronco. Tried 3 different clutch kits in 700 miles and none of them worked. Only put on 1200 miles that year (hated to ride the thing) and traded it the following year.

 

[yamahinn03]

My dad bought a 70 somthin AC El Tigre 250, What POS That was, All they could afford at the time.. Was the thought that counyed I guess. He an mom had Yammies tho?

 

[Metallicat]

I did a search yesterday on " worst snowmobile ever" and some of the above mentioned Polaris models showed up quite a bit. Amazing what piles people have tried to put up with over the years.

 

[vetcorman05]

First sled was a 94 vmax 600 fast,fun but rides like a rock,upgraded to 05 vector. Do own 2 indy 500's fun to ride but have put a lot of tome and money into keeping them running,and one cat,95 jag deluxe the only sled I havnt had a bit of trouble with.

 

[FAMILYMAN]

80 galaxy polaris. Had a txl at that time and the galaxy was a tank

Owned the storm 93 750. It was fast and reliable, but it was a love hate relationship. Very finicky to start, but we had many words and she always came around to see it my way.



2014 viper, mpi
2009 Phazer 144"

 

[gofast]

telling my age here abit, but my first sled was a 22ss elan no boogie wheels it had sliders. i was way to excited to even worry about the comfort of the ride. loved that little sled.

 

[Mooseman]

2005 GTX 550 fan. Still have it but will be parting it out soon. It blew more engines than belts, the tunnel is cracked, the bolt holding the H-arm won't hold and ruined the skid rails and finally, it threw my wife off last year, giving her a concussion she is still dealing with today. It just has bad mojo and is now sentenced to death.

 

[boatload]

Biggest regret was a new 94 Vmax 600. Terrible handling, rough riding, worst ergonomics of any sled I've owned. My faith was renewed when I traded it in on a 97 XTC 600.