To ASSAULT or not to ASSAULT...?

[SLDHVN]

My local dealer has a great deal on an 09 holdover Polaris Assault, it is getting all of the updates on the motor etc.

I currently have two 05 900s and 03 800 Edge, I am very interested in the Assault for a freeride sled and just for something different since the 166" is a little long to be jumping and dropping with.

If I bought it I would just want to do minimal mods to it(pipe, can, clutching) and ride it like I stole it.

Obviously it is a short track sled compared to what I have now, so how does it do in deep pow? Spring snow?

What do you guys have to say about it? Likes or dislikes? If you did it all over would you buy another Assault?

Thanks
Andrew

 

[helmethair]

lots of power, and its a wheelie machine, i've ridden them in a couple different snow conditions and have loved them. looks like your 166s are pretty serious i think you'd be happy with one out of the box.

 

[eidem024]

I love my assault, works great in the deep snow and handles decent on the trails. I live in MN and wanted a sled that could handle the steep and deep as well as ride it back home every once and awhile. it does both of those great. You wont be looking back once you by one and ride it for the first time very fun sled to ride.

 

[guidoxpress]

Ski..

I will take a spin on it and tell you how i feel about it...

 

[milehighassassin]

I'm pondering and close to pulling the trigger on an Assault as my primary sled. I am looking at a Dragon 800 155 as well. I do like jumping, dropping and boondocking. Don't hill climb a lot unless it is to get somewhere. I am coming off of a 2005 Summit-X 144"

 

[milehighassassin]

Also wondering if a 16" wide track will fit on the Assault?

 

[Head West]

16's dont fit on the raw chassis.

 

[POWERBLENDER]

got my assault last feb - sled handles great once you get shocks set up until you do frt end is wishy washy and hard to get used to . trail riding is a bit of an effort unless you are leading and can let it rip across the ruff . was climbing in the bowls in cooper creek tend to get a little to verticle for my liking . Now if you are into boondocking , dropping , and big air it is a kick in the a$$ . the track hooks real hard in spring snow and tend to trench in pow- i just picked up my 5.1 from the dealer today installing tommorow . I also have skins can and 3 inch riser . If ya have any ?s pm me with ur # i can give more info I've got 700 miles on sled already and love it

 

[ggcustoms]

I'm pondering and close to pulling the trigger on an Assault as my primary sled. I am looking at a Dragon 800 155 as well. I do like jumping, dropping and boondocking. Don't hill climb a lot unless it is to get somewhere. I am coming off of a 2005 Summit-X 144"

milehigh - I was looking for an assault last year and ended up coming up on a good deal for a d8 155 and i am glad that i didnt get the assault. If i had a choice to do it over again i would by the d8 every time. I ride pretty hard and try to jump whenever i can and the dragon held up great and hillclimbed pretty darn good. I still like the assault but the first thing people are doing (as i would) is putting a different track on, which puts you back some hefty moola right off the bat. Hope this helps guys. goodluck.

ps. it probably wont matter which one you pick, they're both ka ching in el banco.

 

[milehighassassin]

milehigh - I was looking for an assault last year and ended up coming up on a good deal for a d8 155 and i am glad that i didnt get the assault. If i had a choice to do it over again i would by the d8 every time. I ride pretty hard and try to jump whenever i can and the dragon held up great and hillclimbed pretty darn good. I still like the assault but the first thing people are doing (as i would) is putting a different track on, which puts you back some hefty moola right off the bat. Hope this helps guys. goodluck.

ps. it probably wont matter which one you pick, they're both ka ching in el banco.

I have spent some decent time on the D8 155". Two of my bros have that sled, 2009. I really liked that sled but I ended up with an Assault. I was shopping a deal. I honestly would have bought either. I ended up with a 2009 Assault with 155 miles, picked it up for $7600. Pretty happy with that. I was finding a lot of 163 D8's but hardly any 155's within a reasonable distance. I really wanted a 2009 as well, mostly because of the updated front end, plastic and bumper, along with the new rails. I was finding D8's in the 155 length but many of them had damage or a lot of miles.

I have one ride on the Assault so far, nothing major because we don't have a lot of snow yet, but so far so good. I did get some turns in and had fun.

I am going to ride it this season and see where I am. If I can't deal with the track I will put a different one one. In all honesty it seems like all the Dragon guys are hating their track as well. First thing most of them do is swap out the 5.1

 

[mattdenn]

Honestly if nobody likes the track or the stiff suspension, then why not just by the 144" 800RMK..I love the fact that this track hooks up on anything. It really puts the fun factor up there for me, but I'm not a highmarker either. I can hang with my boys that ride 155 dragons pretty well I'd say.

 

[ak49er]

It's been a fun 1700 miles....

1700 Miles, three A-arms, one ECU Re-Flash, swapped out easy to fail "Air" shocks for WE Resoivoir shocks off an IQR. Revalved the rear to something more managable. Don't get me wrong, the super stiff suspension saved my a$$ a few times, early season, when a creek surprised me and I slammed ski first into the opposite bank, and kept going. But after a few hundred miles the sore back was getting old.

Outside of that, I Love it. Excellent early season, spring traction. Digs wonderfull, deep, sqaure sided trenches, for you friends to fall into, when near powder. Will force you to huck yourself off stuuf you wouldn't before. Will wheelie readily without rear shock work.

I would love a different track for 80% of what I like to ride. Oh and while we're at it, a turbo.

Would I do it again?

No. I would buy a base model 144/155 shift 800 or equivalent Polaris model, and just replace the shocks and a few things. I only bought it for the fancy shock package, that with our cold weather, was a letdown, after repeated failures.

After buying two "special" package sleds, I now feel the way to go is a base model , and add all the things I might have added to the "special" model anyway.\

.02