Easiest top end to rebuild and lowest cost of ownership

[Clark42]

It's not the highest priority but I like to consider all factors when making a decision and that is certainly one of them.

Just throwing this out there, I have never rebuilt a motor in 10 years of riding and I ride 40-50 times a year. Just something to consider. Ease of work is important though

I think the top end duration stuff is overstated on forums and may create a perception that it is common practice. The nickel-and-diming of other miscellaneous $50-$300 parts though, that is real.

 

[Snow Duck]

I'm shopping for a used sled right now and considering all the options: polaris, ski doo, arctic cat, even yamaha. I'm putting together info before I make my final decision on what I'm looking for. I know my way around a wrench but haven't ever done a top end rebuild. I'm talking less about the actual process and more about what it taks the get to the engine and remove it as it seems like there are some much easier than others. Just to keep the discussion on track of the "modern" ( years reflect what I would consider into the modern age) 800 sleds? To add to it I've put what I believe the 2 cycle mix rates are (feel free to correct any of that). I also put them in order from what I observe on their cost of used purchase price 1st being the cheapest, 7th most expensive. Here's a few thoughts I had:


2008-2018 ski doo summit Pteck: I like carbs, easier to take apart and fix without a shop involved. I've looked at that and they seem like the easiest to rebuild a top end on maybe even in frame rebuild is possible? 50:1 oil mix 2000 miles before rebuild. 1st place for used prices

2008-2014 yamaha nytro: no top end rebuild, very reliable engine known to go 10-20,000 miles. no 2 cycle oil cheapest to fuel up. Heavy, hard to ride and hard to get out of jams. 2nd cheapest purchase price

2011-2015 polaris RMK: Least reliable and hardest to rebuild. Second lighest. 100:1 mix. 2000 miles average top end. 3rd cheapest used

2012-2014 arctic cat m8000: 3 years of modern chassis with still a suzuki engine. Most reliable 2 stroke. Heaviest 2 stroke, almost 4 stroke weight. Probably second easiest to rebuild? Throttle body injection 50:1 use on oil. 2015 and up no suzuki motor but still very reliable. 4000 miles before top end. 4th place used

2008 and up ski doo summit etec: Easier to rebuild than a polaris? 100:1 mix. 2000 miles same as polaris. 5th place for used prices

2016 polaris rmk axys: more reliable than earlier polaris still hard to rebuild. Lightest and arguablely the best performing. 100:1 mix, 6th place for used prices

2015-2023 viper, sidewinder: Same as nytro but most expensive on this list! Seems like dealership used to give these things away, now they are hard to find used.

i disagree with a Polaris being hard to rebuild i work on several of the Poos and have several under my belt that has 3000 plus miles on them after being built

As for Arctic cat that back azz motor and you have to remove all that pain bracing and prices are comparable to Poo parts..

Now many will disagree but the Doo is by far way more expensive on parts and way more in-depth removing items to work on the engine.

For Carb vs Injection is that they are more reliable and if stuck you can roll them over when stuck and not flood out..

YammahAHAHA are very reliable but heavy and work your azz off in the deep snow but fun!!

i have ridden all brands i was raised on a Doo and family converted to POO back in the 70's i got out of riding for 4 to 5 years bought a Summit 800 in 2003 that was blown up and built it had nothing but problems from that sled so i went back to Poo which i had old tooling to do clutch engine repairs and have since bought tooling to work on my poo's. my whole family is on Axys sleds now which i picked up blown up and built the engines way more cheaper than buying a used sled that runs and i know what has gone into the motor and the complete sled and like i said getting 2000 plus miles with great compression every year when servicing which i thank INDY SPECIALTY for the awesome top end kits and direction they give.

as always that's my feelings but over all at the end of the day i dont care what you ride ill be one of the first to help repair or tow someone out and im sure my friends on the Cats will love to tow me out you ride what you can afford!!

 

[TimG]

It’s mostly not really the engine that’s the issue.
It’s everything around the engine.
Chassis, bodywork, structure, drivetrain, suspension.
French Canadian engineering method I suppose.

As I understand it, the head engineer at Ski Doo had the unfortunate experience of coming home from a ZX sled intro to the distressing news that his wife was abandoning him in order to pursue a passionate love affair… with a mechanic. The angst of this experience subsequently drove him to an absolute loathing of all individuals associated with the outdoor power equipment service and repair trade. With his considerable influence, he plotted for years to foist his malignant, twisted hatred of mechanics on his underlings until it saturated the entire engineering department and become inextricably entwined with the very institutional fabric of Ski-Doo.

The sad result of this situation is that all of the designs that come out of Ski-Doo are specifically engineered to be as tedious and frustrating to work on as possible. This is a purposeful, systematic attempt to make all Ski-Doo mechanics’ lives as onerous and painful as they can be.

The engineers all get together each week, and with bone-chilling laughter, congratulate themselves for their own malevolence in making anyone working on a Ski-Doo decry the horror of their existence. Bonuses are awarded for new ideas that deepen the depravity in creating anguish and despair in the lives of mechanics.

For us who must work on them, tears and pain are the order of the day. Double, triple, quadruple the length of time it would take to perform a similar task on another snowmobile, or indeed any other Powersports related equipment! The agony of our toiling will relentlessly extend into infinity. O the indignity!

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

As I understand it, the head engineer at Ski Doo had the unfortunate experience of coming home from a ZX sled intro to the unfortunate news that his wife was abandoning him in order to pursue a passionate love affair… with a mechanic. The angst of this experience subsequently drove him to an absolute loathing of all individuals associated with the outdoor power equipment service and repair trade. With his considerable influence, he plotted for years to foist his malignant, twisted hatred of mechanics on his underlings until it saturated the entire engineering department and become inextricably entwined with the very institutional fabric of Ski-Doo.

The sad result of this situation is that all of the designs that come out of Ski-Doo are specifically engineered to be as tedious and frustrating to work on as possible. This is a purposeful, systematic attempt to make all Ski-Doo mechanics’ lives as onerous and painful as they can be.

The engineers all get together each week, and with bone-chilling laughter, congratulate themselves for their own malevolence in making anyone working on a Ski-Doo decry the horror of their existence. Bonuses are awarded for new ideas that deepen the depravity in creating anguish and despair in the lives of mechanics.

For us who must work on them, tears and pain are the order of the day. Double, triple, quadruple the length of time it would take to perform a similar task on another snowmobile, or indeed any other Powersports related equipment! The agony of our toiling will relentlessly extend into infinity. O the indignity!

Nailed it!

 

[christopher]

as always that's my feelings but over all at the end of the day i dont care what you ride ill be one of the first to help repair or tow someone out and im sure my friends on the Cats will love to tow me out you ride what you can afford!!

thats the bottom line right there.

 

[blindman]

always thought the laydown suziki was easy and dependable, easy to rebuild take out put back in. 2009 800

 

[BeartoothBaron]

As I understand it, the head engineer at Ski Doo had the unfortunate experience of coming home from a ZX sled intro to the distressing news that his wife was abandoning him in order to pursue a passionate love affair… with a mechanic. The angst of this experience subsequently drove him to an absolute loathing of all individuals associated with the outdoor power equipment service and repair trade. With his considerable influence, he plotted for years to foist his malignant, twisted hatred of mechanics on his underlings until it saturated the entire engineering department and become inextricably entwined with the very institutional fabric of Ski-Doo.

The sad result of this situation is that all of the designs that come out of Ski-Doo are specifically engineered to be as tedious and frustrating to work on as possible. This is a purposeful, systematic attempt to make all Ski-Doo mechanics’ lives as onerous and painful as they can be.

The engineers all get together each week, and with bone-chilling laughter, congratulate themselves for their own malevolence in making anyone working on a Ski-Doo decry the horror of their existence. Bonuses are awarded for new ideas that deepen the depravity in creating anguish and despair in the lives of mechanics.

For us who must work on them, tears and pain are the order of the day. Double, triple, quadruple the length of time it would take to perform a similar task on another snowmobile, or indeed any other Powersports related equipment! The agony of our toiling will relentlessly extend into infinity. O the indignity!

Haha, very well put! After wrenching on a wide assortment of vehicles, snowmobiles, and random power equipment, I've come to the conclusion that every engineer should be forced to work as a mechanic on whatever they design. I bet you'd see a big change: suddenly, things like burying a sensor under three layers of manifolds and wiring harnesses would disappear. Maybe they'd even go back to leaving a truck's whole engine under the hood where you can get at it, instead of stuffing half of it under the cowl. Anyway, I haven't ever worked on a Doo, and very little on a Cat, but I can say that Polaris - even if they can screw up an engine better than anyone - does at least make it simple to fix. I don't know if you can do anything to the likes of the CFI 800s to make them just keep going, but it's so simple to do a top end, you might as well just do it as preventative maintenance.

 

[Snow Duck]

Haha, very well put! After wrenching on a wide assortment of vehicles, snowmobiles, and random power equipment, I've come to the conclusion that every engineer should be forced to work as a mechanic on whatever they design. I bet you'd see a big change: suddenly, things like burying a sensor under three layers of manifolds and wiring harnesses would disappear. Maybe they'd even go back to leaving a truck's whole engine under the hood where you can get at it, instead of stuffing half of it under the cowl. Anyway, I haven't ever worked on a Doo, and very little on a Cat, but I can say that Polaris - even if they can screw up an engine better than anyone - does at least make it simple to fix. I don't know if you can do anything to the likes of the CFI 800s to make them just keep going, but it's so simple to do a top end, you might as well just do it as preventative maintenance.

I've come to the conclusion that every engineer should be forced to work as a mechanic on whatever they design. I bet you'd see a big change: suddenly


I have always said the Engineer caught the Mechanic in bed with his wife and thats how they have gotten back at us!!!!

 

[BeartoothBaron]

I bet half of them couldn't even fix the stuff they designed...