>just dropped nearly $26k on my first ever snowmobile
>tfw won't even see snow for like 2 months
>tfw may not get any snow at all
>paying more than an average car for a snow motorcycle
>buying a specialty vehicle only usable for four months of a year for 26k
>>625956
yeah it's a bit expensive but people seem to really like them. hope it's worth it but i've never been on one so we'll see what happens once the snow flies.
I may be a poorfag but I think beater snowmobiles are GOAT
>>625966
This. second from the left was my first sled and it was fun as fuck for $100
>>625968
i saw a lot of old beaters and thought it might be a good idea for a test run to see if i like it. after sitting on a few i found them very uncomfortable(knees in my face) and the lack of features such as reverse and electric start really turned me off.
also most older ones and even some only a few years old have long lists of work that has been done including engine rebuilds which seemed a bit scary. why would a 3-4 year old snowmobile with 3000km already have new pistons and rings? doesn't make any fucking sense
>>625943
>$26k
Hope that's not USD.
If it is, I hope you got a turbo kit and aftermarket skid/suspension installed for that price.
Couple guys already riding out here... Road ride, break-in miles, but still riding.
I'm going to give it another month or so, get a little more base to bury the rocks/stumps that like to take out A-arms.
>>625966
>beater snowmobiles
For the money, yeah, loads of fun.
But a modern chassis and motor is worth the money if you're into it.
Sleds have made huge leaps and bounds in terms of engine technology, reliability, suspension/handling in the past 10 years. Even in the past 5, the chassis in every brand has changed quite a bit for the better.
Then there's the snowbikes; if you get a chance to try one of those out, do it. Those are a ton of fun, and legit in the mountains. A good rider on a snowbike is a lot of fun to watch.
>my ride
>>626053
no it's Canadian. price was $16k plus i bought a 5 year package which includes extended warranty, off season storage, and all regular maintenance. also got a trailer then there was freight, licensing(both snowmobile and trailer) and tax. i also bought something like $1000 worth of gear since i don't own a helmet or any of the other shit i'll need
it's a 1056cc 4 stroke with a turbo and i believe something like 170hp. don't know shit about the suspension or any of that. the dealer was talking about that stuff but he might as well have been speaking Chinese
there's no snow at all here yet and it's actually still hovering around 10C so i think it'll be a bit but i'm hoping maybe by December. with my luck i'll blow all this money and get one of those rare no snow winters
>>626067
>with my luck i'll blow all this money and get one of those rare no snow winters
It's an El Niño year, so if you're in Southern Ontario that's probably what we'll get.
>>626070
Counting on that lake effect snow. If not I guess I'll have to head north for a weekend so I can use it at least once
>>626067
Nice, not too bad of a deal then. Cat?
Stock suspension's fine till you figure out what you really want out of it. It is one of the better upgrades you can do though; have it set up for the riding you do.
Good gear's worth the money. It can turn from a comfort thing to a safety/survival thing pretty quick. Jacket, pants, boots. And carry extra gloves...
I also recommend protective gear... knee guards and a vest/chest protector. Handlebars hurt. There's times i'm sure i'd have powdered a kneecap if it weren't for my knee guards. When I'm racing I wear armored shorts and elbow pads as well. >because pic related
If you're riding mountains, get avalanche gear and learn how to use it. Take an on-the-snow class; you'll learn WAY more in a day on the snow than you will from an all-classroom course.
And make sure the guys you're riding with have the gear and training too.
Know how to do the basic maintenance and carry the tools to do it... change belt.... on a 2-stroke, change spark plugs (and have extras)... basic engine stuff.
A snobunje is a great tool for getting unstuck'd. With a heavier sled, might get one of the ... don't remember the name, but it's longer and has a hook on either end, to hook to another snowmobile. I have the shorter hook-handle one and they're real nice.
>ride backcountry/mountains
>race 800 improved stock hill-x/drags, longtrack sno-x
>teach backcountry avalanche safety
>>626091
Yep cat. I did visit a ski-doo dealer but the salesman seemed like a prick and they are the only ski-doo dealer for like 200km so I started looking at other brands
Didn't get any protective gear aside from the helmet but I don't really plan to go fast anyway. Basically just got the coat, pants and gloves. Already have boots that are rated for -65c so I should be good there. Also no mountains around here but I was thinking one if those emergency gps things could be a good idea
I do have ATVs so should be able to figure out most maintenance pretty easy. It did come with an extra belt too but I'll have to look into spark plugs. Also have recovery straps and other emergency gear I carry on the ATV so I'll most likely just take that stuff with me
>>626100
Check over everything the first few miles. Good idea to do with any new sled anyways.
>buddy bought a new sled a few years back, dealer neglected to fill the chaincase with oil... 17 miles later, that seized up
>teaching a class last year, new 1000 turbo-cat like yours in the group, heading home a cam/valve seized up, towed it out
Both repaired under warranty, but still...
Some of my more painful wrecks came from low-speed oops'es.
>about 6 years ago
>memorial day (mid-late may) ride, shit snow
>clouds roll in, flat light
>3 of us bashing around near trees
>see a wind drift, loop around up the hill to jump off it
>except i'm about 10 feet too far towards the tree
>expect to drop about 5 feet
>ends up being about 20
>Smash my knee through the cowl, bending the aluminum panel underneath
>handlebars to the chest, bruise through my vest
>didn't walk right for about a month, destroyed the knee guard on that side, like split in two
And it's not just for your riding... some ricky-racer yahoo comes railing around a corner too quick, you'll want some protection there too. Also helps keep warm.
SPOT/PLB/InReach... yeah, considering what you just dropped on a sled/gear, they're cheap insurance. I carry a ResQLink PLB (yellow pouch, >pic related).
>>625943
I don't think you know how much snow machines are supposed to cost
>>625956
>4months of the year
>this faggot must live inside the equator
Last Frontier checking in you fucking pleb
>>626053
>doesn't even have a mountain bar
Enjoy your well beaten, well lit trails with their own convinience stores cupcake
>>626127
honestly, they're a crutch. Keep your hands on the bars, that's where you have control of the machine.
The lefty throttles are even more poser-tier. Also a good way to wreck a sled when the lefty hangs up and sticks the throttle open.
>>625943
>>625961
>>626067
>>626091
>>626100
>>626107
As someone who uses a snowmobile to do 50 mile trips to town 5-6 months a year as his only means of transportation: If you spent $26k you are a moron and got robbed, that body armor crap is only for idiots who ride unsafely and anyone who regularly does "low speed drops of 5 feet" deserves to die from sheer stupidity.
Let me guess, you are the same folks who brag about how you can hydroplane over 50 feet of open water with a snowmobile as well right? No doubt same guys who complain about how their buddy died in an accident when you were out together last winter.
>>626144
keep in mind that he's talking about canadian dollars, and that sales/import taxes are far higher than in the states. So it's about $18k US, still a lot but not terrible.
>>626142
>I never need to get sideways
>I have never seen wind drifts
>I am a Girl Scout
Hey having hot coco from mommy less then 6mins away is great anon. I'm not knocking it
>>626144
>Actual snow machinist detected
Keep it real anon
26 grand!? Nigga your crazy. Fellow Canadian here and you can get a very good snowmobile for way less than that.
>TFW you live in the South East USS.
Might get a snow of more than 12 inches once every couple of years.
>>626202
>USS
What the fuck phone?
USA
>>625956
>implying that it only snows for 4 months all around the world
I'm not OP, but where I live you need a good snowmobile to just get around. If I didn't have a snowmobile I would be almost completely stationary for half the year.
>>625943
Sleds are just fucking money pits, and most will inevitably blow up after one season, or less (unless you buy a 4 stroke). It doesn't matter the make. Yamaha, Bombardier, Polaris, Artic Cat...whatever they're all designed to blow. And to spend nearly 30 grand on a sled is ridiculous man, my buddy got a sick Yamaha SX viper for like $2000.00 that would probably leave your shitty Ski-Doo in the snow dust...lol
>>626241
i did buy 4 stroke but why is it the twos blow so often? like i said earlier i see so many online that are only a few years old with 3000km and have been rebuilt. i don't understand how an engine can go that fast
>>626184
>accusing Mule of being a girl scout poser
toppest of keks
A couple of my buddies are snowmobilers and last year, they were out riding (Michigan here) when they noticed another buddy had dropped behind somewhere back.
They waited 15mins or so then turned around to see what was up. Heading back down the trail they come across the buddy's snowmobile sitting up-right across the trail and him sitting on a log.
They ask what's up and he says he _thinks_ he crashed but can't really remember.
The face shield on his helmet is cracked in half but otherwise, there isn't a scratch on the snowmobile and the guy is walking around stretching and complaining about being kinda sore but otherwise, seems ok.
Just to be safe, they convince him to go to the emergency room, so they all hop on their sleds and head back to the motel and when they get there, the buddy who had crashed collapses in excruciating pain (he'd been in shock the whole time up till then).
They freak out and load him in their truck and take him to the emergency room, where after a few hours the doctor comes out and tell them their buddy has a broken arm, several broken ribs, a sprained shoulder, a mild concussion and a fucking _broken pelvis_!
They had to load him on a helicopter and fly him to a major hospital in Flint (they were sledding up near Tawas) where he spends the next two weeks getting titanium pins and screws bolted into his pelvis to put it back together, then a month of so in rehab.
He later remembered what happened and said he had been coming around a corner on the trail when the ass-end of his snowmobile hit a buried patch of ice and slid sideways, then suddenly "bit" into the trail, flipping into the air where the sled then smashed him up against a tree.
He's was hobbling around with a walker for a few months but is better now and still plans on heading out snowmobiling this winter.
>>625943
i southern canada, in some places its 2 months(of riding snow), i dont really understand why anyone buys them here.
>>626265
>sucking tripfaggot dick this hard
Toppest of keks
Anyone got any experience with Tracked ATVs?
Can you reach acceptable speeds or are the tracks just geared down too much to match snowmobiles?
>>626298
Define acceptable speeds
>>626304
Well how fast can you go with them on your typical affordable 500cc-ish machine?
I'd consider 30-40km/h perfectly acceptable.
>>626290
>calling a namefag tripfag
>>626318
roughly 30% slower. ATVs vary widely tho as do the tracks. almost all will still do at least 50-60km/h. tracks are hard as fuck to steer tho even with power steering
What a waste of money.
http://www.mortarinvestments.eu/products/armoured-vehicles-4/btr-60-8#currency=USD
Return it and get this.
>>626326
>being this new
Any dog owners here? Are there any recommended ways to secure a dog on these babies? I have two and I might be moving to the high arctic eventually, so I'm guessing I will probably need to invest in one of these eventually. Is it okay to just secure their dog harnesses to myself and drive slowly? I'm afraid of what might happen if I roll over - I don't want one of my dogs to get stuck under me and make it hard for him to breathe.
>>626708
Pull a sled behind
>>626820
I'm a retard for not realizing this. Thanks.
>>627125
in remote areas you'd want one anyway for emergency supplies and shit. as long as you're not hauling ass the dog would be fine. you shouldn't be going all that fast in remote areas anyway especially if you don't know what's under the snow. hitting hidden rocks or logs is a sure way to fuck up the snowmobile and most likely also yourself
you could also probably rig up something on the snowmobile. most have room behind the seat you can mount shit and you could probably buy something off the shelf or even make something yourself fairly easy
What does it feel like to ride? Do you have to wrestle with the back end a lot?
>>626241
To be fair Arctic cats are flawed because they run out of high quality parts by the end of the week and throw them into the cycle. Polaris you generally get a much less tugged sled than article cat but the parts are generally high quality and fairly new. If you pick any thing from ether of those companies older than 98 its more or less the same quality and design.
>>625943
Fucking idiot
>>628843
>What does it feel like to ride?
In deep pow, it's sort of like floating on a cloud. Sled disappears under the snow and you're hovering...
>Do you have to wrestle with the back end a lot?
Not really.... until you get stuck. Most of the time just shifting your weight forward/backward or left/right is enough to get things going where you want them to.
Hard to describe. The first few rides, you'll be fighting with the sled... once things start to "click" the sled starts to just go where you want it to.
Much like a motorcycle, sled/bike goes where the eyes go. Don't look at what you don't want to hit (target fixation), look where you want to go.
>>626067
you should have just come to alberta and gone to an auction. oil and gas industry is unloading tons of shit right now.
>>626708
step 1. remove engine
step 2. add harness
step 3. attach doge to harness
step 4. ????
step 5. Profit
>>629045
Basically if you don't forcefully lean one way or another your sled just augurs into the snow and will not turn or do a goddamn thing in deep snow. The experience of digging a heavy Viking out of a ditch is not one I want to repeat. Fuck those sleds.
>>629795
Before you write it off, try it on a machine that's built and set up for deep snow riding.
Having the right tool for the job makes the job a lot easier.
I've botched a few landings and miscalculated some hills, been stuck in some pretty shitty spots. There's techniques to getting sleds unstuck'd, day or two riding with someone who knows and can show you those techniques makes riding a lot more fun. Sometimes there's no other option but shoveling yourself out.
