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Snowmobile opinion


canoeing north

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Ya those Cat's are garbage...my F6 had 6500 miles on it when i sold it...and it still had 135 PSI in both cylinders :lol: .

 

 

My Yammie has 8500 on it and its like new

 

Dr. I had a 500 venture...great little sled..I could take both kids fishing with it. The 3 of us would ride from McNabb st to Lonely Lake to fish cause it was a nice ride.

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i feel if you dont have a sled and want to ride along back then tough crap, hold on!! i wouldnt buy a 2up bahhhh ugly to! remember always let the girl drive the machine, they have natural handles! honk honk, squeezy squeezy!! :w00t:

 

 

Life is to short for the following:

 

To hunt with an ugly rifle.

To fish with a 2 piece rod.

To drive a 2 up sled.

To drink girly drinks.

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You can't compare 2 strokes to 4 there Dara ;) . Like saying "What??? Your chev 350 blew up after 350K?? My Cummins has 600K on it and it's still going strong..."

 

:lol:

 

Bed time...see ya's

 

 

same as comparing any cat to a yammie...cats are fast but you don't have to work on a yammie...pick your poison

 

yep..bed time..I'm hitting the trails tomorrow...hope it starts since it doesn't have a pull cord

Edited by Dara
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i got a canada goose jacket!

archie my chev had 450km when i sold it and still see it around town :P

and you know me, if i owned a 1pc rod, it would have a short life!

 

i say you buy whatever is particial for your appliction. if you do alot be a racer wanna be buy a race sled, if you do alot of steep and deep with some rough trails a mountain sled is the way to go. if you want to haul your gear into camp get a utility sled. if you wanna take the family out buy the 2up or yes the skidoos 3up or just buy each member a sled.

 

www.hardcoresledder.com is a great site for finding out info on sleds.

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Would like an opinion on which snowmobiles would be recommended for using in deep snow , non trail applications that you would find in northern Ontario or Quebec . If you were to snowmobile into an isolated area ,making your own trail and wanted to be able to get back out without too many problems , what would be a good sled in your opinion or experience ?

Thank you

 

 

Here in Alabana, the first question would be... "whut in the hell is that thing there Bubba"???

 

... we ain't never seed no thang whut runned offen an rubber band before!!!... is you sure that that thang is gonna git you somewhere???

 

... tattoo my cell phone # on the back of your hand in case you need help ep!

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I do a lot of offtrail riding. Been doing it for many years. I bought a trail pass only for 1 year, a long way back and didn't like it. To scary to ride the trails.

 

The newer machines are just too fancy and heavy....anyway....I don't have much experience with the recent machines but you did say that you were looking for a used snowmobile.

 

First thing....stay away from those so called mountain machines. They are made for mountains but not for deep snow....I used a Summit for a couple of days and hated it.

 

If you are not worried about speed, a Toundra is the best. Economical, light and goes anywhere. If it's for towing and 2 up riding, you will have to go with a Skandic Wide Track and a 2 stroke engine. Finding a used one is very difficult.

 

I have a 1988 Safari Long Track. It was built the only year that Bombardier did not build a Skandic. It does not have electric start, no reverse, no heated tunnel and a 503 stroke engine with only 1 carb. It's light. I'm old and I can still lift the front end off the ground. It has a huge windscreen and the only things heated are the grips.

 

It could have a wider stance and the widest skins I could find do help a lot but it will go between trees. The suspension does not have much travel but in deep snow....you don't need suspension. The biggest thing is the fact that it does not freeze up and will start no matter how cold it is. Ok, when it is cold, you have to pull twice. It has a primer but no choke. The track is 144 inches by 16 1/2 inches. You will have a hard time finding a used one. I have to admit that adding a person behind me does make things more difficult.

 

If you are really lucky, you may find a Nordic with a 24 inch track. They are also made by Bombardier but are rare. Also has a 503, 2 stroke engine. I've never been on one but I have heard that nothing can beat this machine in very deep soft snow.

 

The Yamaha VK are heavy and so is the Polaris and the Bearcat. The carbs on the Polaris machines always freeze up. You have to pour boiling water on them in order to start when it's very cold.

 

There are a few tricks when riding in deep soft snow and the most important one is to circle around and come back into your track before stopping your machine. Then, take it easy on the gas when leaving your spot.

 

I have a big solid bumper on my machine and I have added an electric winch to it. I used to use a manual winch. There is always a bucksaw, an axe, nails, wire, rope, a pair of snowshoes, a shovel, a one burner naphtha stove strapped or stowed on my machine.

 

I often go alone because no one wants to follow me....lol. I use the machine mostly for going to remote places for fishing.

Edited by Dabluz
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same as comparing any cat to a yammie...cats are fast but you don't have to work on a yammie...pick your poison

 

yep..bed time..I'm hitting the trails tomorrow...hope it starts since it doesn't have a pull cord

 

 

you know as well as me you gotta wrench on any sled and that includes yammies B)

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you know as well as me you gotta wrench on any sled and that includes yammies B)

 

True, and lack of said wrenching is what leaves people stranded on the trail or in the bush most times.

In the engine department 4 strokes need less work than 2 strokes do however.

I have one buddy who rides 2 stokes Cats (him and his wife have the same sled) and he ended up being stranded 40km from town because of a cracked exhaust pipe. :huh: Because of it the engine grenaded. :angry: Same thing happened to his wifes machine 2 weeks later. :(

He takes care of his machines and takes care about maintaining them.

 

Me, I dive under my Yammie every spring and do a full check up and maintenance regime because I don't want to get stuck miles from town alone in the middle of an arctic winter.

 

Ther are a lot of guys who just drive their sleds and don't think of maintenance and that's fine if your running on groomed trails in a popular area, but when your life depends on your sled you better look after it. B)

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True, and lack of said wrenching is what leaves people stranded on the trail or in the bush most times.

In the engine department 4 strokes need less work than 2 strokes do however.

I have one buddy who rides 2 stokes Cats (him and his wife have the same sled) and he ended up being stranded 40km from town because of a cracked exhaust pipe. :huh: Because of it the engine grenaded. :angry: Same thing happened to his wifes machine 2 weeks later. :(

He takes care of his machines and takes care about maintaining them.

 

Me, I dive under my Yammie every spring and do a full check up and maintenance regime because I don't want to get stuck miles from town alone in the middle of an arctic winter.

 

Ther are a lot of guys who just drive their sleds and don't think of maintenance and that's fine if your running on groomed trails in a popular area, but when your life depends on your sled you better look after it. B)

 

very much agreed!

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I bought my 88 Safari 503 Long Track for 500 dollars at an auction. I knew nothing about snowmobiles but I quickly had to learn. The machine did run when I bought it but that did not last long. The chaincase litterly blew up on me in -35 weather. (for those of you who are not familiar with celsius or farenheit, -40 C and -40 F are the same thing).

 

This is when I decided to take the snowmobile apart and this is where I found out that there were other things to repair....mostly on the suspension. I also decided to do it myself.

 

I did most of the work from photocopying the parts diagrams at the nearby Bombardier dealer and then I bought a Chilton's book at Canadian Tire.

 

I replaced a lot of bearings and instead of buying them from the snowmobile shop, I bought them at an industrial store that sells bearings. Saved quite a bit doing that.

 

It took a while and it was a good learning experience. New chaincase, new chain, new bearings on each end of the main shaft, new springs, some new roller wheels, new slides, very wide plastic skins on the skis, rod ends for the steering, suspension adjustements, track adjustements, new speedometer cable and adapter that goes on the end of the shaft, a bit of electrical work, etc etc. Wow....huge difference. No longer bottoming out when 2 up riding on trails. Eventually, I put on a new track and there was a huge difference in traction.

 

Now, I can go over the machine part by part, grease it good and if anything is about to break, I can spot it. The machine won't go over 80 km/h unless I'm going downhill on a trail but for off trail....you don't go 80 km/h.

 

I'm not much for cruising just for cruising's sake and I don't like to spend my time at the drinking posts....I use my machine for getting somewhere (cottage or fishing) and then going off trail with a bunch of friends and try to get stuck or to help someone collect wood. We are only able to make about 30 km in an afternoon but that's what I find to be the best fun. Riding at night is what I like the best.

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i like yamahas, and have been trying to find a yamaha venture 2 up. impossible!

 

my buddy has one, a 1991 yamaha venture 500 f/c. reliable so far never had any problems with it, even the bearings are original but are gettin replaced in the next few days. Im pretty sure he's leaning towards sellin it so if you want i'll keep you updated about it? unless of course your looking for a newer model.

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you know as well as me you gotta wrench on any sled and that includes yammies B)

 

 

There is a difference between wrenching and regular maintenance.

I grease mine a couple times a year. After a few rides I get under it and check things over.

I have changed all the wheel bearings over 4 years. They just go bad. If you check things over you generally don't get stuck on the trail...thats wrenching..fixing it after its busted.

Right now I gotta get it in to the shop cause I'm blowing belts. Another hunderd bucks shot today

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There is a difference between wrenching and regular maintenance.

 

 

You're right Dara, but regardless, I did the same things to my F6 at 6500 miles (changed idler wheel bearings and torsion bar bushing. When I sold it like I said, it had 135 psi on each side, tight motor mounts, new idler bearings, tight steering, clean exhaust vavles, tight chain etc etc.

 

:) The best sled out there is the one thats running...when they break they're all crap regardless of brand :lol: .

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You're right Dara, but regardless, I did the same things to my F6 at 6500 miles (changed idler wheel bearings and torsion bar bushing. When I sold it like I said, it had 135 psi on each side, tight motor mounts, new idler bearings, tight steering, clean exhaust vavles, tight chain etc etc.

 

:) The best sled out there is the one thats running...when they break they're all crap regardless of brand :lol: .

 

 

One of the girls I ride with has a 600 Sabrecat with 13,000 Miles on it. I can't pass her when she decides to get on it.

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One of the girls I ride with has a 600 Sabrecat with 13,000 Miles on it. I can't pass her when she decides to get on it.

 

 

13thou on a Cat....damn...that suprises even me :D .

 

I bet when you get on a lake that 4 banger just keeps climbing up the speedo with no end in site though ;) .

 

My buddies dad has an RX1...its like trying to drive a bath tub when you're in the twisties. But when you get on a lake...theres no top end to those 4 strokes, they just keep going faster, and faster, and faster.....

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