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Polaris started its consumer roll-out of the previously racer-only EDGE chassis sleds earlier this season with the EDGE 600 XC SP. Of course we were the first in line to get a day on the hot new consumer chassis. We took our day on the EDGE in the Northwoods region of Wisconsin, touring the trails near Eagle River and St. Germain.
It should be said right out the chute that the trails were concrete-hard and rather lacking in snow. In a perfect world, we'd take the EDGE out on a snow-heavy trail system that hadn't been groomed lately to fully test the lightweight sled and its unique suspension characteristics. But we were happy to get what we got.
The ride position on the EDGE is all new for the Indy. Gone is the mid to back of the seat sweet spot. The upholstry of the EDGE draws the rider up toward the fuel tank- a boon for the short guys and not too bad for the tall guys as well. The seat and tank integration zone is comfortable and should not prove to be the issue that other manufacturers face. With the close-up seat position, riders are always ready for aggressive cornering. Also, sitting at the pivot center of the sled makes the chatter bumps more or less a non-issue, like sitting on the wheel well of a school bus when you go over speed bumps- The kid in the back seat goes flying and you wonder what he's squealing about.
The handlebars are OK for trail riding, but could benefit from a set of end hooks for hard cornering and added leverage overall. They work great on the RMKs; they would work great on the EDGE sleds as well.
The suspensions hardly got a workout on the trails up in Eagle River when we were here. From the little bit that we got to press the bumps, this chassis seems like the real deal. It's light weight and the suspenison setup sucked up what we were able to throw at it. We hope to have a better opportunity to put the chassis through the paces a little later this winter.
As for the variable exhaust 600 twin, it held with the 800 XCR for the first 200 or so feet when some wise guy on an Arctic Cat wanted to run on the lake (absolutely dusted him). That's power to lightweight chassis talking there. When you shed that many part numbers on one sled, you're going to come up on the positive end of a drag race more often than not.
But fast and straight are not the only strengths of this '01 sled. The clutching was great, with a solid corner blast and good deceleration and backshift when necessary. The throttle pull was easy thanks to the flat slide carbs. The brake was two fingers light, and grabbed the drive axle with certainty.
Overall, our initial impression of the EDGE chassis for the trail rider has been positive. Polaris has shown us a 500 and 600 variable exhaust twin package in the EDGE at Canterbury. Here at Eagle River, we have also seen a 700 standard twin in an EDGE chassis for 2001. There are strong rumors floating around about the 700 and 800 twins getting the variable exhaust valves and EDGE chassis for the coming year, but we'll have to wait to see what comes out of Roseau. Regardless of the engine packages that appear on the market, we have every reason to believe that all XC SP sleds will be built on the EDGE chassis, while the straight XC sleds will sport the Gen II body work.