Certinan years, brands to stay away from

[setterguy]

I am looking for a used sled, looking to spend about 2k. From what I've been seeing I'm probably looking at something from 95-99. Does anyone know of any specific problems that any of the major sleds had during that time that I should stay away from? I know close to nothing about snowmobiles, anything else I should ask or know before getting into one? I have a buddy that is pretty good with them and he will be coming with me but its always better to be armed with as much info as possible.

[SledNeck]

stay away from triples and you should be okay

[swedishpimple]

The years you mentioned bring one thing to mind. Seems like most Polaris machines from that time had bad needles and seats in the carbs. Like noted before, some of the triples...XLT's ZRT's have had reputations for blowing cranks. Has not happened to me yet....

[hanson]

For those years, I would be leaning towards a 500 or 600 liquid twin from any of the manufacturer's. Cat has the ZL & ZR series from those years which are good. Polaris has the XC series which were good as well.

[Meat-Run]

I second the triple comment. I used to own a 96 xcr polaris and it just left me stranded about a week ago. Brought to the salvage yard and it was a SEA of xcr's, xlt's. Even if the price is right with low miles they're a time bomb just waiting to happen. Sorry to eleborate this much but you want something that will get you years of reliability.

My body does believe that the 98 XCs are solid sleds in the 600 and 700 models. Good luck.

mr

[setterguy]

Thanks guys, exactly the kind of information I was looking for.

[CalderPointCabin]

i have had several skidoo twins from the mid 90's till now and had great luck with all of them.

stay away from the triples.

[311Hemi]

98-00 Polaris XC and Indy's would be worthwhile. As everyone mentioned stay with a twin. I had a 99' XC 600 and it was a good sled. A 500 or 600 would most likely fit the bill.

[cementhead21]

Since I own 3 XLT's and 2 of them have over 7000 miles with just simple mantaince being done ;;;you folks will have a hard time telling me to stay away from a triple ... In Fact.. If you want to Get More information about triples and their possible return.. Just read JAN 08 issue of American Snowmobiler Tech Notes ,, titled "Comeback" .... It it you may find why Triples were so popular..You May also learn something about twins that i didnt see noticed in the comment to your question.. I will agree.. blowing cranks is an issue.... But 9 times out of ten it was because of pipeing and improper set ups.... Older xlts were famous for blowing after you piped .

[SledNeck]

Let me rephrase and say HIGH PERFORMANCE triples.

[ArcticCat21]

If you are looking at a Cat, I would go 1997 or newer. The older ones, the suspension had a lot less travel. In 97 almost every thing got the upgrade to the long travel rear skid.

[PierBridge]

My beef with triples is not so much in reliability but in weight my XLT's "stock" were bullet proof from an engine stand point and on a straight aways there was nothing like the power and sound of a triple......but as far as trail riding they were a nightmare the higher center of gravity and weight made them a real drag nearly impossible to turn and by the end of long day on the trails you were just beat up and exhausted.

I almost always rode my XCR 440 "stock twin" when trail riding because of the lower center of gravity and lighter weight of the machine.

My next Sled will definitely be a 1998-2001 Polaris XC 600 or 700 Twin with American made liberty engine.

[swedishpimple]

Cementhead21 has a few good points. I think most would get more out of their machines if they follow the maintenance schedule in the owners manual. Fog the machine, grease what needs greasing, change the chaincase oil. Simple things that I know many of us skip from time to time.

[lawdog]

 Originally Posted By: ArcticCat21

If you are looking at a Cat, I would go 1997 or newer. The older ones, the suspension had a lot less travel. In 97 almost every thing got the upgrade to the long travel rear skid.

Beat me to it! '97 was the introduction of the extra travel tunnel and also when batteryless EFI came out (very limited then though). BOTH those items options are hard to beat!

[MNexpoler]

As far as staying away from triples, we have a 1997 and 1999 ski-doo formula 3. The 97 is a 600 and the 99 is a 700, both have about 5000 miles on them, both run great, we bought them used at haydays a couple of years ago with about 2,500 miles on them. The only thing we have had go out on them was the 97 stator went out, I guess thats some what a common problem on them. But these machines run great, start easy and the 700 get great gas mileage, something like 15-20mpg(depending on snow conditions) if you can believe that! They only down side to a triple is weight. But the engines run smooth, and nothing else gives us problems.

As for what kind of snowmobiles to stay away from, dont get a used sno-cross race sled, which would like a Ski-doo MXZX, Arctic Cat Sno-Pro, Polaris Pro X. There cheap but they seem to have alot of problems due to touchy engines that need to be tuned alot.

[cementhead21]

In the article that i refered to in my post the main point of it was the return of triples and why or why not ... some of the comments in it are ,, will place reasons against 1st... 4 strokes can be bought in 3 and 4 cylinder versions, the motor sets are just too heavy and bulky to be packaged in todays sleds,,with todays EPA requirements 2 cylinders are easier to work with ,,,(A STOCK TRIPLE COULD HIT 200HP AND STAY CLEAN UNDER EPA RULES. NOT WITH TRIPLE PIPES ,,, Can you say " KING OF THE LAKE " )lastly weight issues are the new battleground of the manufacturers... now some reasons why they may return (all copied from the article),,,, the larger twins get the rougher they run and the harder they are on clutches.Twins hit hard and are rough on the engine. every time a 500cc cylinder fires through a long 80mm stroke and rattles clutch components,and strains belts, you are taking life off parts.You can counterbalance the pistons with balancer shafts, but that doesnt dampen the torque reaction of each power stroke.more inertia through heavier fly wheels will dampen torque reaction but this means slower acceleration and increased weight.

Biggest reason that people liked triples they are easy to ,, "hot rod "

now it is in the opinion of the articles writer that Ski DOO thru the Evinrude E-TEC technology that they can produce a compact lightweight 1200cc triple,make 200 hp, be epa legal, get good mpg and put a new twist into the "KING OF THE LAKE " game

There is more information about triples in the article thatwould be worth mentioning but all i say is read it and find out for yourself

[sticknstring]

I'll 5th the XC 600. Still going strong. Didn't realize it was that popular of a sled. Great to hear it's a reliable one as well.

[MNexpoler]

Ski-doo's SDI is the way to go, forget 4-stokes.

[311Hemi]

The XC's were nice....but do not compare to today standards!! For the price range mentioned they would be a good sled to buy. They killed my back riding bumpy trails though.....but that was most sleds of that time.

MNexplorer.....I LOVE my 06' Gade 600SDI!!!

[skies_and_eyes]

anybody know anything about a 1998 Polaris Touring Sport? I bought one this winter for ice fishing and it only had 720 miles on it. Just wondering if these have any problems I should look out for, thanks.

[sticknstring]

Yeah whatever you do - don't ride a new machine. The old one you've been happy with will seem like a piece of junk. My brother just got a new IQ 600 and I made the mistake of taking it for a ride - my XC now seems like an antique. Suspensions have greatly improved in the past 10 years.

[CalderPointCabin]

if the triples 2 strokes were so great, why has all the OEM's gone to twins and got rid of all the 2 stroke triples?

[cementhead21]

 Originally Posted By: CalderPointCabin

if the triples 2 strokes were so great, why has all the OEM's gone to twins and got rid of all the 2 stroke triples?

Calder ,,, If you take the time to read the post i made on page 2 by me.. you will see in it that the new battle ground is in weight of sleds... ,,, Also as a matter of info ,,, besides the 3 triples i also own a 488 twin(with 1000 miles on whole sled) ,, great little sled,, but the motor does run rougher than any of the triples.. and it also pulls over harder than the triples warm or cold

[cementhead21]

 Originally Posted By: sticknstring

Yeah whatever you do - don't ride a new machine. The old one you've been happy with will seem like a piece of junk. My brother just got a new IQ 600 and I made the mistake of taking it for a ride - my XC now seems like an antique. Suspensions have greatly improved in the past 10 years.

BOY IS THAT THE TRUTH!!!!! And thats all i got to say about that

[PierBridge]

Enjoy your $7000 PLUS newer machines.... I'll take a $1700 98 XC with M-10 all day over that......especially in the summer with no payments. ... that way I don't have pray for snow every year.....can you say killer depreciation!!!