2002 skidoo legend se

The winter of '02 in most parts of snowmobile country turned out to be a disaster. For us riders and for the manufacturers the season was poor at best. From mid January to March, however, the trails and forest roads in my neck of the woods were quietly in excellent condition, affording me the ideal test area for high mileage riding.

My test subject last season was the venerable Ski-Doo Legend 800 SE. This machine was touted as THE one up trail touring sled. Obviously I couldn't wait to check this baby out. Our test unit was the SE 800 RER in Spring-only silver moon and blue two-tone graphics.

At first the graphics and chrome turned me completely off. But after a while the signature of the sled grew on me and I had no qualms about telling people that it was "with me."

The brawny 800cc Rotax was awesome. I enjoyed this snowmobile but something was missing. The motor is essentially the same powerplant that is very much at home in the MX Z X chassis. The Legend is built on the same chassis as the MX Z X. The awesome power is there, but the awesome mogul bashing suspension is not. The motor had me tricked into believing that I was riding a MX Z X instead of a world-class touring machine. My mistake.

The Legend SE 800 performed flawlessly for our 1000-mile test. The machine required no maintenance whatsoever except for tuning the suspensions for my style of riding. However, I did have a couple issues with the machine.

The first was an awful vibration in the right handlebar between 27 and 35 mph. The vibration was an arm killer and after about a mile my right arm would be totally numb forcing me off the trail to massage arm and hand to get the feeling back.

The second issue was the gas mileage. This machine would not let me ride past a gas station. In a thousand miles the Legend drank 87 gallons of gas. That's a lot, and it figures out to 11.49 miles per gallon. The oil consumption was more reasonable. For the thousand-mile test, the pump mixed 8.69 quarts of oil with the gas for an average of 115 miles per quart.

So, what do you get for nine grand, plus tax? From the top down here's the results of our test.

A full sized windshield that really works. A handlebar setup that places switches, levers, and buttons within easy reach of even the shortest fingers, and a brake that could stop a truck. Also the thumb throttle was smooth and easy to push. (When I could feel it)
The handlebar also had the new tilt steering option, which allows for a quick and easy adjustment to complement one's riding style.
The new 800cc series three twin motor was nothing short of awesome. It never complained. I could putt through the really rough stuff or through town then take it up to blur speed and she never missed a beat.

The front suspension was just plain incredible, once adjusted for my riding style. The new Precision skis worked very well, allowing me not only to carve but also slice and dice down the trail. Don't believe the hype about these skis eliminating all hunting or tracking. They don't and won't. I spent some time adjusting the front suspensions before I became a happy camper. If you should purchase a Legend with the Precision skis do yourself a very big favor and take the time to dial in the front suspensions. You will be rewarded for your efforts.

The SC-10 rear suspension worked well; here again I had to dub around a bit searching for the best compromise for my style of riding. The rear suspension has two different shocks. The front shock is a new variable rate model that is supposed to soak up mid-sized bumps. It proved to be all that it was bragged up to be and did very well in the medium rough stuff.

The rear shock was Bombardier Optimized Suspension System electronic rear shock or BOSS. It's supposed to electronically change damping with a flip of a switch on the dash. The rider has the option of choosing either the Sport or Comfort setting. It didn't work for me, as I could discern no difference between the two settings. The rear end was stiff and as far as I know still is.

All in all, my affair with the Legend SE 800 was a good one. It had its issues but don't they all.