Re: Snowmobile info
We've done some hill climbing, snowcross, ice-ovals and drags....then some weekends we just go ride for fun. I've owned many Yamahas from the mid 80's-up to the Vmax-4...THAT is when we went Cat. We quickly found the tripples to be troublesome in deep powder...too much extra weight up-front. Twin liquid is the only way to go.
If all you do is trail riding, pass on the mountain Cat series (M-series)...the 2.25" lugs and 141-162" tracks don't like hard-pack....hyfax never gets the lube from snow that it needs.
We've messed with most brands enough to tell what works for us and what doesn't. My buddy and I just bought an M-1000, 162", and haven't had anything touch it yet on high-mark....but not a good greenhorn sled.
I'm running an '07 M-8 and I've got a '98 powder special, 136" 600 EFI.
If the sled is set-up properly, clutch-wise, we change pistons out every 2500 mi. We ran almost 200 sleds through the shop last year-of ALL makes-and the biggest problems are piston skirts breaking....you will begine to see this from 4000-6000 miles if it has any use(high RPM) if it's been putted around, you'll see problems closer to 4000-4500.
A piston is much easier to change (and we change both regardless) than it is to have a cylinder re-done to be concentric., not to mention the plating.
I gotta say, I'm biased, but for an all-around sled, the ZR series (older sleds) or an M-7 141'-153" would be good choices...again, the M-series doesn't do as well on the trail, but the ZR would be a good sled in say a 600, and has the rip-saw track that works well in all conditions. The newer F-series are alright if you stay on the trail or avoid "deep" powder, but they have a 13.5" wide track and tend to be unstable-prefered if your into snowcross.
If a sled gets 2000+ mi. a year, you'll probably be OK for a few years buying a 4000mi sled, but if it's a '97-2002 and has the same milage, plan on pistons if they haven't been done.
