2006 900 Dragon has been slain

[307 Snow*Moto]

Well it was a sad day January 4th, 2009. As many of you can relate, after months of spending time and money getting a sled ready for the season. Picking out the right parts, testing, adjusting etc. I had the 900 as light as I could get it without getting ridiculous. Full of fluids we had it right under 500. I rode it twice this season for a full day each time and the sled ran flawless, pulled hard, climbed like a goat and everything was perfect. Jan 4th, we headed up the mountain, the wife and I, mom and dad and 2 other couples. A mile and half up the trail we stopped at the bottom of a small hill that the guys always climb and test to make sure everything is going well. Blue skies, 10 degrees, 8 inches of fresh powder, Dragon was running like a champ. I bombed to the top of the hill and stopped to see where everyone was. I watched everyone head back down so I stood up and grabbed ahold of the rope to start her back up. And to my suprise when my hand hit the back of the rope it took off out from under me, rolling me off the back on my head. I quickly got up, gathering myself and wiping the snow out of my goggles to see my sled nine-0 heading straight down the hill, completely wide open. Skis off the ground the whole time, it mowed down a small sappling catching some air and alittle traction, still wide open and skis off the ground it hit a 4" cedar tree about 3 feet up the trunk and sheared it off like a lumber jack. The sled went airborn leaving a trail of debree and a cloud of snow. To my amazement still wide open and completely airborn it landed 6ft down the hill, hooked up caught some traction and keep on going, finally coming to its resting place when it caught an 8" cedar tree between the left A-Arms and the left side fender. Ripping the entire left side of and spinning the sled perpendicular to the hill, then rolling down the hill 6 times. When my wife saw the sled on its journey by itself she headed up the hill, she was the first to it and it was running fine, upside down but idling perfectly. She turned it off and I made my way down the hill some 250 yards to examine the damage. There is alot more to the rest of the story, but, it was insured. I settled the insurance claim, FOREMOST IS GREAT, I still have the sled (bought back on salvage), and have 5 to 6 thousand worth of aftermarket parts that are still perfect and only have 120 miles on them. Stay tuned I may be rebuilding or selling the sled, and or all the parts individually. Here is the sled after we towed it down the mountain and it now sits beside my garage. And one picture of her in perfect shape before the damage. A moment of silence for the original DRAGON, that has been slain. BOO HOO!!!

 

[turbodiesel5.9]

Sorry about your loss, that is sad. I must say however THIS is why I NEVER ride without my tether, I do however sometimes start the sled and then put it on. I can say without a doubt after looking at your pics I will not make that mistake again. You had that baby looking really good, it really is a shame. Again sorry about your loss.

 

[LUBA]

That sucks!

 

[307 Snow*Moto]

If there was a couple things that a number of the guys that I ride with, expecially because we all have polaris sleds, learned that day. It was have insurance on your sled, and go pay the 30 bucks for a fricking tether. My other sled now has one and we put one on my wifes and two other guys installed them the next day. I love how polaris already has a wiring plug set up for them behind the key but they dont come with them from the factory. Oh well hard lessons learned.

 

[Dogmeat]

I still don't understand what caused it to take off WOT right after you started it? Stuck throttle?

I usually have my tether on but a lot of times I start the sled first then put it on ...

That was a sick looking 900 too man, sorry to see that happen

 

[94fordguy]

that really sucks, I bought a tether this year after having a close call last year, went to pull the rope as I give it gas as I often do on my 02 and felt the throttle was stiff, was about a 1/4 second away from having it do the same thing as what happened to you. Then this year it did stick WOT as I started it, but managed to hang on to the sled and pull the tether by hand b4 I hit anything, tho I did stop about 5 ft from the tree line after getting up to about 50 mph in 4 seconds or less, that was scary.

Anyway, sorry to hear, those 06 Dragons are SWEET looking sleds, that just plain sucks

 

[boondocking fool]

Well it was a sad day January 4th, 2009. As many of you can relate, after months of spending time and money getting a sled ready for the season. Picking out the right parts, testing, adjusting etc. I had the 900 as light as I could get it without getting ridiculous. Full of fluids we had it right under 500. I rode it twice this season for a full day each time and the sled ran flawless, pulled hard, climbed like a goat and everything was perfect. Jan 4th, we headed up the mountain, the wife and I, mom and dad and 2 other couples. A mile and half up the trail we stopped at the bottom of a small hill that the guys always climb and test to make sure everything is going well. Blue skies, 10 degrees, 8 inches of fresh powder, Dragon was running like a champ. I bombed to the top of the hill and stopped to see where everyone was. I watched everyone head back down so I stood up and grabbed ahold of the rope to start her back up. And to my suprise when my hand hit the back of the rope it took off out from under me, rolling me off the back on my head. I quickly got up, gathering myself and wiping the snow out of my goggles to see my sled nine-0 heading straight down the hill, completely wide open. Skis off the ground the whole time, it mowed down a small sappling catching some air and alittle traction, still wide open and skis off the ground it hit a 4" cedar tree about 3 feet up the trunk and sheared it off like a lumber jack. The sled went airborn leaving a trail of debree and a cloud of snow. To my amazement still wide open and completely airborn it landed 6ft down the hill, hooked up caught some traction and keep on going, finally coming to its resting place when it caught an 8" cedar tree between the left A-Arms and the left side fender. Ripping the entire left side of and spinning the sled perpendicular to the hill, then rolling down the hill 6 times. When my wife saw the sled on its journey by itself she headed up the hill, she was the first to it and it was running fine, upside down but idling perfectly. She turned it off and I made my way down the hill some 250 yards to examine the damage. There is alot more to the rest of the story, but, it was insured. I settled the insurance claim, FOREMOST IS GREAT, I still have the sled (bought back on salvage), and have 5 to 6 thousand worth of aftermarket parts that are still perfect and only have 120 miles on them. Stay tuned I may be rebuilding or selling the sled, and or all the parts individually. Here is the sled after we towed it down the mountain and it now sits beside my garage. And one picture of her in perfect shape before the damage. A moment of silence for the original DRAGON, that has been slain. BOO HOO!!!

that really sucks . I have the same sled and its a keeper . let me know what you are going to sell

 

[treedog]

Wyo-Wyo-Why?????
I'm playing tapps for your sled in my brain........
Soooo Sorry!!!!
A moment of silence......





















......... Ok, now let us know on parts.....

JK,
-T

 

[bigfoot]

looks like you can fix her.

 

[307 Snow*Moto]

Stuck throttle. We went through it extensively to determine why, cant really figure out, just one of those unfortunate mechanical head scratchers. We all know that the sled wouldnt of started if the actual thumb throttl was stuck open. I had the pin in my left hand throttle so that wasnt it. If it was a carbed sled I would guess maybe the slides got stuck open because of ice or somthing but that is out. I dont know if throttle bodies can get stuck open? The throttle cable was an aftermarket gravity worx steel braided, and there was no tears or brakes in it. Just don't know. It is sad, but you should see what 15 thousand looks like hauling a** with no one on it, especially down hill with the skis off the ground. When I walked down the hill from where it started I walked in the track path and 99% of the way down there was no ski touch at all, kind of impressive.

 

[jdtech65]

surprisingly it looks like the plastic bumper somehow surivived.

 

[Ex-Member]

OUCH!!!

Just seeing the pics made me cry a little.

That is what tethers are for!!!

 

[mtbarr64]

I still don't understand what caused it to take off WOT right after you started it? Stuck throttle?

I usually have my tether on but a lot of times I start the sled first then put it on ...

That was a sick looking 900 too man, sorry to see that happen

Sorry to see another 06 900 die.

Had the same thing happen the start of this season. I attributed it to the new throttle extension used by the dealer sticking.

I was starting the sled for the first time of the year getting it ready to ride. Was sitting on the sled and it would not start. Sounded odd so I get off and open the hood and start cranking.

The throttle was stuck wide open and no way to hit the kill switch. It ran until it snagged it's right ski on a vine maple and then hit a stump. Luckily the only real damage was the right fender.

This is the one I asked about the sealant for in my post today.

So where do you get the tethers and how do they attach? The kill switch does not seem to have any way to put a tether on it.

 

[mtbarr64]

Stuck throttle. We went through it extensively to determine why, cant really figure out, just one of those unfortunate mechanical head scratchers. We all know that the sled wouldnt of started if the actual thumb throttl was stuck open. I had the pin in my left hand throttle so that wasnt it. If it was a carbed sled I would guess maybe the slides got stuck open because of ice or somthing but that is out. I dont know if throttle bodies can get stuck open? The throttle cable was an aftermarket gravity worx steel braided, and there was no tears or brakes in it. Just don't know. It is sad, but you should see what 15 thousand looks like hauling a** with no one on it, especially down hill with the skis off the ground. When I walked down the hill from where it started I walked in the track path and 99% of the way down there was no ski touch at all, kind of impressive.

There might be an issue with throttle sticking just showing up. I originally attributed mine to the throttle cable extension box.

 

[307 Snow*Moto]

Rear Skid

I have a 166 rear skid that I pulled out of it. I dont know how many of you 900 or 700 guys have the 159 or 166, so I am sure the audience to buy this skid might be limited but here is what it has, and here is a picture. I apologize I wont turn my own thread into a swapmeet thread but since y'all are looking at it here you go. I still need to go through the parts and make a list of whats for sale. I will post a new thread that links to a swapmeet listing when done.
Rear Skid - 166
-Custom Ice Age Lightweight 166 Black Anodized Rails - 8"
-(2) 8" Custom Black White and Red SlyDog "Really Cool" Rear Wheels
-(4) 5" Custom Black White and Red Slydog Really Cool Bogey Wheels
- Holz Rear Suspension
- Fox Floats
- New Black Hyfax
- Holz Ice Scratcher

 

[307 Snow*Moto]

Amazingly enough the stupid blastic bumper did survive, even the hood mounts are okay, but the hood did rip off and is now cracked. But the 4 hood tie downs helped.

The tethers can be bought at any Polaris dealership, most have in stock. Directly behind the key, in the same wireing harness as amatter of fact, there is a extra plug in. The tether plugs straight in to that. Then you drill a 1/2" hole above the key or where is convienent, stick the bottom half of the tether switch thru, screw the top half on, hold the bottom with an open end and tighten. Takes all of 5 minutes.

I do agree it is probably rebuildable. I love the sled so much because its unique. Even though it is a 900 it is still very eye catching and it ran amazing. I may turn it into my summer project and put it back together a piece at a time. There may be some unknown unforseeable damage but as of now without taking the engine out the bulkhead and tunnel are okay.

 

[skibreeze]

Sad to see all that work get trashed like that.

BTW, you might want to spell check your sig. line.

 

[nmmiles]

Your left side suspension is a lil mangled, your right side has a few dents, your steering seems to be out of alignment, your handlebars are a little lower now, and theres a lil space for snow ingestion in your front left plastic, but other than that, IT SHOULD ALL BUFF OUT!! Sorry about your sled, I hope everything in the end works out for ya. Dont lose faith in the 900's!!

 

[Nelson]

Sad to hear. I've owned 2 of those 06 900 Dragons, Best sleds I've owned and probably one of the best looking sleds Polaris has ever made.

 

[diamonddave]

Very sorry to see that. I have the same sled also. May be interested in your rear skid.

As for a possible throttle sticking...have you looked at your oiler cable from the throttle body to the oil pump? When I bought mine and got it home, I noticed the throttle felt just a tad wierd when I unloaded it, and that cable was shot!

Just an idea