Coming soon!

Great news readers!

Fellow SilentSno blogger Bret has recieved in some parts for his Ski-Doo Rev 800! We have some new PowerMadd 6" Riser with the Pivot block. 

We will also be installed a  pair hand guards with the flexible mounts! 
No more busting off in the trees! 

Videos coming soon!

2008 Yamaha Lineup

Last and certainly not least we have Yamaha. The 4 stroke one and only. Yamaha took the pludge a few years back realizing that 4 strokes were the future and started coming out with some amazing sleds ever since.

This year we have 3 models. The 150hp Apex MTX, 130hp (dyno'd at 138) FX Nytro MTX, and the 80hp FX Phazer MTX. The Apex put Yamaha back onto the playing field in the mountain sled category, but its heavy weight put a burden on a lot of people. Sure people have turbo-charged them to god only needs horsepower levels, but still doesn't help with its nimbleness (is that a word?!) in the powder.

Enter today. The brand new 2008 FX Nytro MTX. Way, way lighter, its roughly 600 lbs WET. A brand new 4 stroke 1050cc engine, most torque of any Yamaha snowmobile engine ever made. The new light weight, rigid, rider forward FX Chassis. Sounds like a match made in heaven for me.

I got a chance to demo ride the Phazer and Nytro in West Yellowstone during the snowmobile expo. Here's a quick summary:

FX Phazer MTX:
Quick, Nimble, and feels light weight
No top end, but expected because of only the 80hp
still fun great handling, if i get my wife into sledding its what i'd buy her

Switched and I got on what i drove down for, FX Nytro MTX
FX Nytro MTX:
Torquey! Tons of it, they don't lie. Sled just wants to go
Also very nimble a lot like the Phazer, obviously not as light, but still rides light to me. (a lot compared to what i ride now: A/C 900 triple Powder Special)

Overall, as this was my first 4 stroke ride, I was very impressed with with the smoothness of the engines and love electric start. Never tried the reverse.
Build quality is top notch, probably the best in the industry.

Needless to say, I found my first brand new sled purchase. Its exactly what I've been waiting for. Power, Fun, Low Maintenance, Styling. We'll have a first look with video and up close pictures the moment it arrives at my local Yamaha dealership sometime this late summer, very early fall, followed by a full review with video after the first snow starts to fall. Not to mention accessory installs!

It's already shaping up to be a very exciting winter for all of us here.

Link

2008 Ski-Doo Lineup

Up next is one if the most incredible changes ever in the history of sledding. Ski-Doo introduces a brand new chassis that reduces the sleds weight to the low 400 lb range. See 439, almost 50 lbs lighter than previous generation, and a huge fan favorite the Rev.

This all new chassis is 37% stronger than the previous Rev. Pretty incredible considering the weight loss. Lots of engineering went into this. Weight loss was also found in their new SC5 rear suspension.

Engine choose were to remain the same from last year, 1000, 800, and the 600, but in April Ski-Doo decided to do away with the 1000, leaving only Arctic Cat as the 1k in 2 strokes.

Also note the new Rev-XP chassis is only available at this time in the 800 class. The 600 will remain the the older, but popular Rev platform.

I had a chance to sit on and play around with a 2008 Rev-XP 800R at the Snowmobile Expo in West Yellowstone. First thing was, they had it setup on digital scales so you could see the weight. Including when someone got onto it upping it to between 650-700 lbs, proving the scales did work, but accuracy remained a question.

The chassis looks and feels great. I have no worries there, my only concerns were with the "cheapness" of all the other materials. Hood plastics were paper thin, I could even see the handlebar risers flex when tugged. Now I'll give Ski-Doo the benefit of the doubt here as this was a prototype model, but hopefully they beef up a few of those areas.

It'll be a make or break year for Ski-Doo with this new chassis and we can't wait to see how it holds up after some major pounding.

Link

Whats been happening

Just wanted to make a quick post with an update.

Sorry I haven't gotten the next post of the 2008 sleds, Ski-Doo is up next, and since I believe the last two makes are the top 2 in the industry right now I want to make sure I do them justice. I promise the Ski-Doo 2008 Sled intro will be up soon.

Also, we'll soon be starting up a few basic how-to videos. Here's some previews of what we have in mind:

Basic chaincase maintenance
Handlebar riser install on a Ski-Doo Rev 800
Track Extension install with new track
Many many more!

So have faith, this won't die, and hopefully I can maybe get a few people coming here and maybe even some more writers.