Old Habits Die Hard.
Dang, these sleds actually Smoke. While this might be old news for you, it was kind of a rude introduction for us. Remember, ALL we have ever ridden were 4 strokes, and i am here to tell ya, they don't smoke, not even a tiny bit. So when we fired up our 3 brand new 850s inside our new Mirage Extreme Sport Trailer, we were a little bit surprised by the fact that the trailer filled up with smoke in short order. The old habbit of letting the sleds warm up inside the trailer was NOT going to work going forward. Even with the trailer doors open, running all the sleds at the same time was not a good plan!
So we got each of them outside, let the trailer clear out and got properly suited up.
Changing subjects for just a moment, I can't tell you how much I LOVE this new trailer Mirage just built for us. I have a long review of it in another thread, but man, it is SO STINKING NICE to have a fully enclosed, heated trailer with a Killer Sound System in it.
I honestly can't imagine a better way to Start or End a day of riding..
Another detail worth noting.
This is the first year my younger son Christian will be riding with us full time. For the past 6 years he has been a high level Ballroom Dancer competing in national events and frequently placing in the top 3 positions. This year at age 17 he decided to power down on that sport to come and join us instead. So that 3rd 850 was purchased for him as his first full time sled. Up till now, he was pretty much relegated to the Phazer on those rare occasions when he came to ride with us. So for him, the transition from mostly Non-Rider, to riding with dad everytime he goes out, on a new 850, will be just as huge..
Geared up the three of us mounted our newly bought steads and charged off out of the parking lot, for all of perhaps 200ft and together, all 3 of us came to a dead stop.
WHAT A SURPRISE. The difference each of us experienced in just that first couple hundred feet was stunning.! I admit, I was really HOPING these sleds would be solid and would perform as advertised, but I was NOT expecting to be so pleasantly surprised within the first couple hundred feet of riding them. What caught our attention SO quickly was the THROTTLE RESPONSE. Even the best Turbo's have lag, and while I loved my Supercharged Nytro, it was SMOOTH on it's power delivery, more like it had an extra 4th cylinder, rather than 3 boosted ones. But the 850 was different. The power was damn near instantaneous and hit HARD. All 3 of us were instantly smiling and asking if it is was "Just Me" or did your sled feel super responsive to the throttle?
From the lot we had many miles of trail riding to get up into the high country where we hoped we would find good snow and have a chance to really play with the sleds and start racking up the required "Break In" miles.
Up the road we went in search of snow.
This season in South Eastern Idaho has gotten off to a VERY slow start as you can see from this photo. There was only 6-9 inches of very fresh snow covering everything Friday morning, with NO base at all.
But I can be honest, we really didn't care at this point. The three of us were having a BLAST racing down the trail on these new sleds. I remember stopping and looking out at several meadows we normally would go out into to SHRED, and telling myself "
I must not go off trail" there are Landmines everywhere! So on and on we rode. We burned through a half tank of gas riding over to West Yellowstone just trying to accrue some miles, filled up the tanks and then rode to the summit of Mt. Two Tops hoping to find deeper snow to play in, all the while "LEARNING" how these sleds behaved
Around 2:30 in the after noon we finally reached the top of the mountain and ventured out into the large rolling meadows of the summit and started really testing the sleds to see what they were capable of given our poor snow. They didn't fail to impress in the least bit. We spent the next hour or so tearing up all the untracked snow we could find while doing our very best to AVOID the rocks that were lurking just below that 12 inches of fresh wind blown powder covering them up. But even 12 inches was more than enough for these sleds to show their true colors.
I have NEVER had so much fun for so LITTLE PHYSICAL EFFORT. I think my son said that the sled reminded him of his dance partner, all he had to do was lead and the sled followed perfectly. The slightest gentle inputs and the sled responded effortlessly. While the boosted Yamaha's could dance the same dance, they required MUCH more determination and commitment from the rider to force them into the moves. The 850's on the other hand were ready & willing, no, they were
EAGER to dance on the snow. I remember thinking to myself that the sled was "Joyful", I know, its a crazy word to apply to a snowmobile, but it reminded me of my 6yr old daughter, who WANTED to play, or my two Huskies who's greatest happiness comes from going out and pulling me hard for a 10 mile outing. The sled was happy, and they made all of us smile all the while we were riding them.
About the missing Toe Bars..
I totally understand why so many other riders are commenting about the lack of "toe bars" to put your boots under while riding. I can also attest to the odd/loose feeling I had riding the sled without being able to firmly anchor my books in the toe well of the sled. its an ODD sensation to have your boot moving around in there so freely. Not at all certain I like the added freedom or not yet, need to get some more time in on the sled before I can pass judgement on that one. But its a strange sensation to have your foot moving around so freely when your expecting your toe to have something to lock up against.
The Running Boards.
One of the biggest differences between my Summit X and the 2 Summit SPs we bought were the RUNNING BOARDS. And this was no small difference. The Summit X has by far and away the better boards. I had no issues with them at all, while my sons were commenting about poor traction and slippage on their SP Boards. In the past I had removed the HORRIBLE boards from my Yamahas and replaced with with
Skinz Air Frame boards, which in my opinion were the MOST RIGID and HIGHEST TRACTION boards on the market. I see NO reason at all to make any changes on my Summit X, but I am willing to bet
we WILL be upgrading both of the SPs in very short order!
Engine Braking
OK, this is another one of those things that is STRIKINGLY different between the Doo and all of my Yami's.
On any of my Yamaha's the moment I let up on the throttle, the engine braking would kick in HARD and FAST. There was instant deceleration!
On the first mile or two of riding the new 850 I was SERIOUSLY worried that something was wrong with the sled. I would let go of the thumb paddle and the sled wouldn't stop. Not only wouldn't it come to a quick stop, it kept right on going at mostly the same speed, just coasting along as happy as could be. I actually had to USE THE BRAKE to slow down.
The engine itself would spool down much more slowly as it gradually came down to it's final slow idle after stopping the sled.
Maybe this is super common for all 2 strokes, but once again this was something entirely new for me and while we quickly got used to it over the course of the day, it caused a little concern early on as each of us compared notes to make sure the other sleds were doing exactly the same thing.
So whats this mean to me?
On the Yamahas the moment you let off on the throttle the nose would settle down or dive, on the Ski-Doo there was a much greater range of "Forgiveness" to be had with changing throttle position. This is most WELCOME indeed!!
