Best year for the 700 RAW?

[PooSlinger]

First ride Yesterday went off without a hitch! The sled ran really strong and was very light and nimble compared to my 900. There is a bit of a reduction in power and flotation with the smaller 700 and the torque the smaller motor offers is obviously less, but there is just something about this sled that makes it an absolute hoot to ride! It makes nice power on the top end with no lag waiting for the motor to spool up, but that's where it likes to be run.... a little different from the extremely broad powerband and monster torque I am used to, but don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining....

Yesterdays ride turned out to be in deeper than usual conditions and I was still impressed with the performance of the sled in everything but 'straight-up' power... She's a great ride and I am VERY happy with my purchase....

Full ride report here..... http://www.snowestonline.com/forum/showthread.php?t=293002

I also was watching my RPMs and it was pulling about 8600 on the packed trail and around 8400 in a deep snow climb... track speed on the climbs was in the high 30s with a peak on the deep snow climb of 42 mph which I was VERY happy to see! No complaints there... As I said, snow conditions were pretty deep for what we normally have here so I think this was a GREAT test ride to see what she was made of and I am smiling ear to ear Thanks to everyone for all your input on these 700s, it certainly EXCEEDED my expectations!

Oh ya, Really liking the SLP pipe I threw on it from Richracer1... Thanks man

My God that snow is awesome. I can't convince the gf to move out there... Might have to just dump her and go myself. Enough of this damn Midwest weather.

 

[94fordguy]

Just felt like I would make another post in here now that I have put about 150 miles on the new 700....

I still really like the sled, very light and extremely maneuverable Ample power for most riding and I still feel impressed by the performance... Infact, if it did not say 700 on the hood I wouldn't believe it was just a little 7

About the only place I have any criticism towards the 700 is in the climbing department, but keeping in mind it's only a little 700 I can't be too hard on it. The shorter 155 tends to wheelie up the hill and I find myself trenching in a lot sooner than I am used to... this put me in a very bad spot a couple weeks back when I got trench locked and couldn't turn out in time... thankfully the 700 is light enough I was able to roll it over without it getting away and tumbling down the hill I also noticed that while the sled will ROCKET up a packed climb, once you hit the 3 ft of untouched, the lower torque number comes into play and your ascent slows rapidly.

Now while some of that may sound harsh, I am not disappointed with the performance, I am infact impressed with the capabilities keeping in mind that this is a significantly smaller motor. Of the times I have had to climb with it I find I am pulling a consistent 38 MPH track speed with spikes in the low 40s (better than I was hoping for) and the sled still has that light feel to it. I do miss the 166 for it's incredible flotation and resistance to 'washing out' as the 155 does move around a bit more, but all in all I am still VERY happy with this thing.

Getting off the climbing aspect of the sled, I LOVE this thing in the trees and meadows... absolutely a joy to ride with how light and nimble it is... It has surpassed all my expectations in that department and the 155 is really a lot of fun

Oh ya, in some wet snow we had about 3 weeks ago I had my drivers clog with ice and snow causing significant vibration till I cleared it... I've never experienced that b4 although I have heard of it on the newer sleds (never had a problem on the 900 or any other sleds).