I need a sled for Teenage Kids to learn to ride in the Mountains. Which one?

[arctic cat 4 life]

M7

Hey, i am 15 years old and ride an m7 with a can and a cuttler clutch kit. Otherwise its stock. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT!! its an all around great sled it does awesome in the powder and is super light. 3 of our riders in our group have ski doo rt 1000's and i can outclimb them every now and then. M7s have great power and are amazingly controlable. The only time you need more power Is the straight shot shoots but if your kids are learning than i dont think they will be doing any shoots. Anyways, go with the m7 they are unbelieveable.

 

[Chris6060]

I have to agree with Arctic Cat 4 Life. The M7 is an unbelievable sled when you get used to it. Like I said earlier, my dad gave me his after he got his M8. I left out the fact that it has a D&D Pipe and Can as well as a BD-X Black Boxx Air intake. They're very light sleds and thats coming from a 14 year old. I absolutely love my M7. Its amazing fun in powder, the M7 still has my vote. I've ridden a 2008 Ski-doo XP 800R as well and hated it compared to my M7. I rode an Apex once, and I understand that I'm very small to throw one around, but I hated it as well. I rode an RMK 700 about a month ago out in the mountains with my dad and completely HATED it... I don't know if it was the fact that it wasn't set up right or if my sled IS set up right, but it felt completely powerless compared to my M7. Just my 02 cents...

 

[summ8rmk]

Let them ride the chep sleds untill they figure out how and why NOT to hit trees. My 15 yr old 110 lb. daughter is riding a 98 summit 500 2" track for now( I upgraded her from the 85 Indy trail 440 with 1 5/8 in. track, plastic yamaha skis, and modded Boss seat) . She wants to ride my 04 RMK 700 ( with only 800 mi.)but not untill she stops falling off the sled and letting it ghost ride in to trees. I let her ride my M8 once, shes not big enough yet! The 98 summit (S 2000 chassis)500 is a great sled to learn on, its light, goes good in the snow, and they are cheap. I paid $1,000 for the sled early this year. You could probably buy one now for $600-$800. The S 2000 chassis is very tippy on the trail but I can sit down and side the thing and sit down and ride it around on one ski. The ZX chassis is better, but more money, but still half the price of an M7 and handles very similar to the M(minus the power). I take my daughter on side hills and have her follow me through the trees I also take her to meadows and let her practice ridding on one ski. I want to teach her all the things I had to learn on my own to help her become a better rider. as long as she shows interest I will keep teaching her and I think by next year she will riding the RMK and maybe the M8. I do agree with everybody that the M7 or 07 and newer RMK 600 would be great starter sleds but........ let them crash the cheap ones for a year or two, unless your rich$$$.