How has your sled treated you in the long haul?

[Scotty]

Just wanted to through it out there? My Firecat has been rock solid. 6925 km on it. The best sled I have ever owned. I'm probably on borrowed time at this point, i ride it hard, and am amazed at how long it has lasted. The only issue in 9 years was the pipe... it split at 500 k, bad weld. Cat never warranteed it? Had to replace it with the "Replacement Pipe" which was welded the proper way. I swaped out the original belt last year. Hi fax are original, Shocks are shot..... it still rips and it owes me nothing. Truely one awesome sled. My cost of opperating per km is nothing. pretty much..... so far.

Happy sledding!

 

[tmo1620]

3000+ km on my 11 m8 without a hiccup so far, ride it hard and put it away wet, add oil and premium and she just keeps on ticking

 

[ferniesnow]

My Doos have treated me well. I'm not into them for the long haul tho'. One or two seasons, with over 2000 and up to 5000 kms and then I let them go.

My thinking on the topic is that the Cats and the M7 in particular, along with the older iron and Yamaha's will be front and center on this thread for reliability......but what doo I know, eh!

 

[moyiesledhead]

My '05 M7 is far and away the best sled I've ever owned. Finally did a top end that it probably didn't need at 6500km and it's good to go again. My M1000 was a close second. Probably should have kept it. Thinking back....tied for second would have been my '86 Phazer. That thing was like the energizer bunny.....just kept going and going.

Bought a Nytro last year for reliability.....just paid $1200 to get a starter replaced. First time in 44 years of sledding I had to pay someone else to fix my sled! Sure is fun to ride though!

 

[ratatatat]

OK I'll bite. I'm still on a 98 670x Has a 159 on it and some custom skis, otherwise stock 17,000 km. 4000 on the motor. You get no respect in the parking lot. Most other sledders won't even talk to you. Seems to be all about the iron. Gets me where I want to go. This sled owes me nothing and has been great. Been waiting for something to come out that will measure up to the service I got out of the 670. Almost went for a M8 but glad I've waited and will likely go for an XM next season. Looking forward to some decent suspension.

 

[teeroy]

OK I'll bite. I'm still on a 98 670x Has a 159 on it and some custom skis, otherwise stock 17,000 km. 4000 on the motor. You get no respect in the parking lot. Most other sledders won't even talk to you. Seems to be all about the iron. Gets me where I want to go. This sled owes me nothing and has been great. Been waiting for something to come out that will measure up to the service I got out of the 670. Almost went for a M8 but glad I've waited and will likely go for an XM next season. Looking forward to some decent suspension.

you will be disappointed in your next sled, nothing short of a yammie 4 banger can compare to the old rotary valve rotax engine for durability and longevity. my '08 XP blew the top end at around 1000 miles, possibly my fault but whatever. kept the old motor because the bottom end was still good and planned to build a spare engine (how bad is that?) but never did. just sold the bottom end from it to tnt-salvage and he tore it down, center bearing on the crank was coming apart. at 1000 miles?? wtf....

 

[ratatatat]

you will be disappointed in your next sled, nothing short of a yammie 4 banger can compare to the old rotary valve rotax engine for durability and longevity. my '08 XP blew the top end at around 1000 miles, possibly my fault but whatever. kept the old motor because the bottom end was still good and planned to build a spare engine (how bad is that?) but never did. just sold the bottom end from it to tnt-salvage and he tore it down, center bearing on the crank was coming apart. at 1000 miles?? wtf....

Yup, I think it's appalling the lack of accountability from sled manufactures. Both brp and polaris have cost people a pile of cash. The eteck however I believe is a take off from an outboard motor with a good reliability record and the xm has sorted out the handling issues that I did not like on the xp. Obviously need to upgrade. It's one thing to make your sled last but I'm kinda at the outside end of the spectrum. The rotary valve rotax is still widely used in ultralight aircraft.

 

[kenvb]

on my 3 rd Indy 500. this one was babied by fellow Trailblazer Alex Mainweller,who sold it to Dean ,
who never used it much, has 6600 MILES on it, motors original, second set of plugs .

 

[teeroy]

Yup, I think it's appalling the lack of accountability from sled manufactures. Both brp and polaris have cost people a pile of cash. The eteck however I believe is a take off from an outboard motor with a good reliability record and the xm has sorted out the handling issues that I did not like on the xp. Obviously need to upgrade. It's one thing to make your sled last but I'm kinda at the outside end of the spectrum. The rotary valve rotax is still widely used in ultralight aircraft.

that's right, the rotary ultralight motors are detuned a bit compared to the sled purposed RV ones they used to use for longevity. in that form they are next to bulletproof. so far the etec engines have impressed me with their fuel economy and lack of bottom end failures exhibited by the 800R, I will be getting one next for sure. sucks to have a 3 yr old engine and worry about it leaving you stranded waaay out in the toolies. I think cat is about the only motor in a 2 smoker that has proven itself to be pretty relaible out of all the sleds since they stopped making RV engines for them.

 

[barleyfarmer]

Good except every 27 days I park it across the yard and don't look at it for a day or two!Then we get along fine!!LOL!!

 

[Luke The Drifter]

My M7 with approx. 3400kms on it has been great. Only did the top end once at around 2400kms and really it didn't need it but I rebuilt it anyways.

 

[treemongrol]

My most reliable sled by far was my 97 670 summit 25000kms on the crank did topend once, crank finally let go and ruined the case sled owed me nothing then my 2000 summit 700 had 6700k and had to put a topend in due to broken ring. Nephew had a 2000 700 summit that had 10199ks on it still running when we put in a topend into it.

 

[MTsled3]

My dad bought a 1990 500 indy sks back in 1995.. partial rebuild when he bought.. currently has approximately 13,000 miles (odometer broke at 11000).. runs fine still.. replaced fuel Pump this year and had a minor rear suspension issue last year we fixed easily. I learned to ride on that thing and my brother still rides it regularly. My current sled is an 03 rmk 800 with 3600 miles and my dad rides an 04 escape with 2800 miles. Never replaced anything on these sleds except belts and spark plugs since we got them they've been great sleds for us.

Except I spoiled myself today and rented a 2013 800 rmk and that thing was super fun until the handlebars broke on me

 

[Timber_12]

2009 M8 HCR turbo. Biggest POS I have owned yet to date. Every year I dump more and more money into the POS hoping that I'll get at least one ride out of my 5 for the year to be good and each time I'm dissapointed. I've sunk almost enough money into it to give up on sledding.

Bone stock sled blew the motor at 32 miles. It couldn't have done it near the start of the day because then I would have missed out on a 40 mile tow. How do I get towed out 40 miles? Because after towing it halfway back, we run into a mechanic from the dealership and I pulled on the POS for 2 hours till it fired up. ran like crap till it cleaned itself up so we go further in till it siezed itself again. Towed out after that.

Get it running and throw a turbo on it and since I've put another 15-20k into it since and had one, maybe 2 good quality rides of which one was spent doubling because my other sled stripped the drivers out on it. When you work so much that you only get out around 5 days a year it really sucks dick to have the POS not run. So I sent it to Mad motorosports to get worked on. Get it back and go for a ride around home when the POS dies again. Pull it over for 45 minutes, wiggle some wires and away we go. Had to turn back way early because I only got 30 miles to the tank of fuel. Go for a ride tonight around the house and it's a boggy POS. Check all the numbers and such and get frustrated and walk away. Even after dumping another 6k into it this year it's still not running as good as it once did.
Last cat I'll own (with the exception of my daughters kitty cat) for a long time.


Now my old 99 xc 700... another story. I rode that thing worse than if it was stolen and it was a champ. Just hard on fuel.
Girlfriends rmk 600.... bulletproof.
IQR.... was a blast till I stripped the drivers. It'll get fixed once I get this POS cat away from me.
John deere 440 liquidfire... Drove it like it was stole and then some! Great sled.

 

[mxz sledhead]

I have super good luck with my SKIDOO my Mxz 7500 k.m did the top end once recommended By BRP and now my Backcounrty over 2500 k.m run doing very well

 

[Vertical-Extreme]

My M8 turbo has been the best most reliable sled I have ever owned. Over 3000 miles on the chassis and never been on the wrong end of a rope or cost me a day of riding. Gas,oil, regular love and runs day in and day out. Kinda sad I'm selling her, but time for something new I guess.



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[neilsleder]

Depends what sled! My 08 800 Dragon well that a hole different story. My 09 Summit X Hill climb had 4100km of wide open throttle, I never treated that sled nice for one day! Other then regular maintenance I had no problems! My 07 m1000 that I bought brand new this year with 0km on it lasted 45miles and blew a piston. Got that fixed and then at around 500 this
So it's back to skidoo for me!

 

[Summiteer]

06 800 summit ran like a top for 6500 km, sold it 2 years ago and as far as I know Andoo is still riding it. Only thing I ever fixed was aux relay, right side hand warmer and a plug wire (that I broke). Original plugs and was on its 3rd belt(second was still good for a backup).

 

[Megrizzly]

99 sks with 8500 miles
440 fan with 6000 miles
550 fan with 6000 miles
sold-440 liquid with 8500 miles
FST with 4000 miles
D8 Switchback with 1200 miles

Everyone thinks that their sled is invincible, but after 4000 miles, the little things will go. Bearings, maybe even the chaincase. Between 5-6 and the motor will pop. Too bad hardly anyone holds onto a sled for more than 3500-4000.

 

[saskryan]

'07 Switchback 600 made 5200 miles and blew the top end off.
'08 Skidoo MXZ 800 4200 miles hasn't been touched. Thinking about doing a rebuild this summer.