Help me pick the best 2000-ish chassis

[Matt_Van]

Hey all,

I've been obsessed with snowmobiling for awhile now. However, up until this point, I've never been able to swing enough cash to pick up a decent sled. After graduating college this fall, I think I can finally make my sled dream a reality!

Now for the big question. I need to pick a sled. I'm thinking my budget right now is about 2 grand to spend on a sled. From some looking around, it appears my choices in that range are as follows:
Arctic cat 1M
Ski Doo ZX
Yamaha Mountain Max
Polaris Edge

It seems I could swing pretty much any of these sleds with a bit of looking. But I have no idea which chassis is best from this era. If any of you were to buy one of these sleds, which one would you choose and why? I'm trying to determine which of these sleds will be the best sled to learn mountain riding on, along with which chassis will be easiest to mod in the future. Reliability is always a plus too, but I'm fairly handy with a wrench so I'm not too concerned there.

I know some people are probably going to say save more and buy a newer chassis, but I don't see that happening. I'd love a new Pro RMK or Summit, but I don't see that happening for at least 5 years. I'd rather have a sled now at a lower cost and be able to learn some skills than wait and have the best on the mountain.

I'm located in Michigan, and so we don't have mountains, but we do have powder in some areas.

Thanks for the help. Let's bring on a year 2000 shootout!

-Matt Van

 

[Matt_Van]

I should mention that although I live in Michigan, I'm not really interested in running trails all the time. I love the thought of hanging out in the steep and deep and want the best sled I can have within my price range. Future mods are definitely long-tracking the sled further and whatever else I need to do to make this sled a decent mountain rider.

Thanks again.

 

[89sandman]

if you want a mt. sled then i'd get the 1m...

 

[T-Bone]

I'd say 1m, although I may be a bit biased since I ride a 900 cat.

 

[Rattlin_Ram]

The 1m's that I rode always seemed heavy and and just not very nimble. IMHO the edge chassis at that time was hard to beat. But the cat did have the HP advantage with the 900.

 

[Jaynelson]

Edge with a 700 instead of the 800 would be my choice out of those years/sleds. Mostly personal preference.....they handled quite good for their time and didn't look/feel like as much of a land-barge as the others. They sold a bazillion Edge's so likely the easiest to find parts for.

 

[mysledblows]

They all have + and - A lot of it depends on your brand loyalty and how much you want to work around each models issues. I'm partial to the Yamaha's but that's what I know. Buddy has a 1m, but it's so far from stock now that I don't remember what it was like then. You really can't go wrong with any of them. I guess if it was me I'd find out what the peeps I was riding with had/were familiar with and go that direction as you'd have some support/knowledge from your group. In that era/$$ amount you can probably find something with some mods that has addressed many of each models issues. As an example - I have a 97 mtn max sitting in the trailer that I might be talked into selling if you wanted it bad enough It's been piped, ported, bunch of lite weight stuff swapped in, bars raised, seat swapped, different skid, touch longer track, etc...

 

[polaris dude]

Maybe its just be, but I think the mountain max was pretty solid. I also think that the edge was pretty solid too

 

[Mafesto]

I would also throw S2000 Summit in the mix

 

[AZ800]

I think the Polaris GenII and Edge chassis are great. Never owned a Edge chassis, but put alot of miles on a RMK800 GenII, '01 model and IMO there wasn't any place my M sleds can go that the GenII wouldn't go. Very easy to carve on and hold a sidehill.
Needed to raise the bars on it about 3" (6' tall).
WHile I had GREAT luck with my 800 they were known to wallow out the case and eat crank bearings. The 700's were probably the most bulletproof engine of that era next to the Yami's and throw some reeds, a head, and twin pipes in the 700 and it would pull.
I have 2 friends that had the GenII 700. One got about 10k mi out of it before the engine grenaded, 1 top end IIRC, and he took great care of his sled.
The other guy had a RMK700, with the mods above and it ripped, all the time, and this guy beat the livin tar out of that sled. Bent 2 tunnels on it, but the engine just kept going. No preventative maintenance, stored outside and generally abused it held up well.

Another major consideration, like vehicles, when you start talking older models, is miles and condition. IMO, you'd be better off picking a sled that wasn't your "favorite" chassis that was well maintained, stored inside, not all modded up versus getting your favorite sled that wsa not maintianed well and abused or too many mods.
In fact, mod parts are cheap for the older sleds. Tons of used parts for sale for the more popular models. You're better off starting with a stock machine that hasn't had the piss orde out of it and modding it yourself. The only way I'll buy a mod anything is if it's new enough that not much damage could have occured. FOr instance I would have said I'd never buy a used mod sled, but my current M1000 was already built up when I bought it, however the original owner was quite possibly the most anal retentive snowmobiler I've seen when it came to having everything "right" and he had the recepits from the well respected shop that did the work. That worked out good for me as I got the sled for the cost of a stock machine with the low miles on it and basically got all the crap I would ahve added to it for free.

 

[sdsnocop]

I agree that you need to look for mechanically the best sled for the price you can afford that fits your riding style instead of worrying about what brand they are. I am in the same boat you are in an can only afford the 5-10 year old $2000 or less sled. I bought my Mountain Cat because of the price, condition and low miles. I slowly added some mods as I was able to afford them. All 4 sleds you are looking at have it's positives and negatives. AC probably had the more advanced a-arm front suspension but has the weaker clutch. Skidoo has a bullet proof clutch and had an electronic reverse during that era but had some durability issues with their 700 and 800. I loved the sound and the smooth power of the Yamaha triple but that adds an extra cylinder to have to rebuild if things go wrong or to have to tune. Polaris had a electronic reverse in that era but seemed to have weaker trailing arms. Bottom line their is no perfect sled just find a sled that is perfect for you and have fun.

 

[Jay]

Have a look at the sleds for sale here on the forum. There are some real good deals going on most of the time. I've bought sleds myself from guys on here and have seen many others I wish I could have picked up but timing and distance have been to much to overcome. I'm polaris biased but like others have said a gen 2 or edge 700 are damn near bulletproof and with a few simple mods will give an 800 fits.

 

[HOOCH256]

Depending on your budget I would try for an M series and I have seen them for 3000-3500 all day, if you can't swing that I'd go with a king kat, I've seen them for 2000-2500 modded out. Problem with the other brands from those early 2000 years is they all run trailing arms and the cats are just the typical a arm suspension you see these days.
First sled I bought was a 2001 zx chassis 700 skidoo and hated it, it was garbage in my opinion! after I rode a bunch of other sleds I found the Cat chassis was by far superior sled, annnnnnnnnd those 900 king kats are still dominating hills!!! That motor is one bad mo fo.


Sent from my super duper sweet iPhone using Tapatalk when I should be doing something productive!

 

[cbc24]

I had a 99 rmk 700 136 and that thing was a blast! good machine too learn on, The 700's in any brand were generally good!

 

[wildcard28]

Hello of the sleds you have listed I would with out a doubt get the ZX!!!!

Nice sled and the lightest!! of the sleds on your list my buddy has a 99 zx summit 700 and its fast it very nimble and easy to thro around and is all stock. even with a 144 track and I`m impressed with it, again of any or the know as Set Down Sleds known on you list ZX all the way and has good pull and climbs awesome and handles great on the trail to, to me the polaris edge chassis is a neat sled my stepson just sold his vertical edge 800, I personally didn`t like how heavy it felt and had a way wide skistance for a mountain sled, but for the trail would would handle great but wasn`t for my type of riding, The 1M or cats around that chassis are Tanks hard to handle and heavy also, The Mountain max is a cool sled I liked that one when I got to ride one had a good ski stance and was fairly easy to maneuver, they have heated running boards and that was a cool option feet stayed warm but with the coolers under the center of the running boards would be harder to install Snow Eliminators or equivalent on it which is a Must and any of these sleds.

If you could swing a bit more I would go with the Rev or definetly the M7 awesome sled handle and side hill awesome and great power , If I was to change from my Rev it would be definetly an M7.

Just my 02.

Good Luck, Wildcard

 

[Ryan-41]

I would go with an Arctic Cat, if I was you, for that year it seemed like Cat had the best handling chassis. They seemed ahead of the times for mountain sleds, they had A-arms and EFI! I had a buddy that had one and it handled pretty good, almost like an M-series! To me, you couldn't go wrong buying a 1M!

In a close second would be the Ski-doo, I had a friend that had a 02 700 Summit back in the day and he loved it and they were a pretty reliable sled and they handle pretty good!

I would for sure chose a Mountain Max if you wanted a sled for the sled, to me there is still something special about the sound of Mountain Max! This sled would be the most reliable out of the choices you have, but unless you buy one with a 151 or bigger, you are going to need to put at least a 151 on to keep up with the Cat and the Doo and not be trenching all the time!

Hope this helps,

RYan

 

[shmuckaluck]

Hey guys,
You can pick up a 800 ski doo zx sled for cheap and they have great power and are more nimble than those boats that others have suggested ( edge, 1M ) those sled are big and heavy but great on the trail I'll give them that. I seen a 2001 800 summit high mark at the show in good shape for 1,500.00. it's a good mountain sled. And don't listen to anyone who tells you to buy one of those old Yamaha's, you will be disappointed.

 

[Goinboardin]

I really like my Edge, but have nothing bad to say about the ZX chassis either. Buddy has a ZX 700 (2001?) with a 144 and gets around very well. He basically neglects that sled but it runs year after year, gas oil go. I have never ridden the 1M cats or the Mountain Max.

 

[sledheadedd]

Hey guys,
You can pick up a 800 ski doo zx sled for cheap and they have great power and are more nimble than those boats that others have suggested ( edge, 1M ) those sled are big and heavy but great on the trail I'll give them that. I seen a 2001 800 summit high mark at the show in good shape for 1,500.00. it's a good mountain sled. And don't listen to anyone who tells you to buy one of those old Yamaha's, you will be disappointed.

thats funny, out of the two stock sleds your zx 800 and my edge escape 800 hoo had more problems.and the edge had better suspension and i think it was lighter then the zx. the zx was narrow for small guys so they could get it over on it:s side not like them boats your talking about trails thats funny the boats will out climb the zx. i loved my escap... don"t be a basher

 

[shmuckaluck]

Hey guys,
MAN I can't get away with anything, sledheadedd your escape was reliable for sure. I will put it another way, I wasn't big and strong enough to pull those sled around, the narrower zx sled made it easier for me. Can I still bash the Yamaha's?