Blackstar

They are great sleds. Ours came to a sad end. It started having electrical issues. It would randomly shut off and not restart. On the third time towing it out of the bush, we were in North Bay. We spent the afternoon at Carlson's and that's where she rode an Apex with power steering. Turned out to be a cut through the wiring harness under the motor.We traded it at our local Yamaha dealer when we got home. A friend of my wife's went in and bought it with out letting us know. She rode it in to a fence the next winter. Then blow the motor the year after. My wife had the sled on its side on the first ride, then she flipped it off a snowbank, rolled it into a ditch, then barrel rolled it on Kennisis over the 5 years she rode it. It was patched together with duct tape and hot glue. The easy life of a lady driven sled. Buyer beware.......

I know everyone loved to hate on the Barneys but it was a great trail sled.

I don't think I want to go that small with the motor. If she was the only one riding it then maybe but I want this to also be a backup sled for me and something one of my buddies can ride when I want to do a guy ride. The 900 is good for 90mph. I also don't want a light sled. In the past, she rode an '01 Z440, '03 Firecat F5, an '07 500SS and an '09 600 Etec. She didn't like any of them. She felt they tracked all over the trail. She couldn't keep in a straight line. She likes the feel of something solid and planted or she gets anxious and slows down. Her '07 F6 was not a light sled put the steering effort was very light. I like the snowtracker idea mentioned here. I did own a set breifly on my '14 ZR7000. I didn't notice any great change in that sled but I never had much time in to set up before I traded it.

Ok, I was thinking the front would be rebuildable. Thanks for the info. Yes, it was a '12 with the power steering.

Thanks for confirming my thoughts gentlemen. It will be an Adrenaline. Easy throttle pull was an issue back when I bought her an '07 F6 EFI. I was going to get her a 500SS until she rode one and hated the throttle.

I realize the 2 stroke would be lighter handling and I'd buy one if I didn't have to put oil in it. When we both owned 2 strokes, I would put oil in both of them when I put in gas, no problems. Once I had a 4 stroke and she was still on the 2, she ran low on oil several times because I always forgot to check. This winter with 2 people using my 800 Doo, it ran low on oil on the last ride because I forgot to put oil in it. When you are riding to a destination in the dark and she sees her oil light come on, its not good. This will likely be that last sled for her. I wonder what's out there for stimulus money? If I buy Doo, I'm supporting the Canadian economy right? Snowmobiling is indirectly how we met and its one of the things that we still agree upon.

Ok, I've been back and forth on this decision so I'm looking for opinions from you guys, and gals. A new sled to replace the wife's Vector that I just sold. Things it needs to have. Low steering effort, heated seat, added traction, good wind protection, 4 stroke, ability to run 60 mph. With this list and what's available out there, I'm basically looking at Ski-doo and likely the 900NA. The 130 turbo is interesting but I don't think she needs it. I would be buying more for when my buddy borrows it. This motor is in the Grand Touring and Renegade line. A 129 would have been fine too but not available. The Grand Touring Sport comes with the Silent Drive track which I'm told cannot be studded due to the drivers. I'm not interested in the Limited version so both these are out. This leaves the Enduro and Adrenaline Trim packages in the Renegade. If I add the heated seat and taller windshield to the Adrenaline I'm still $2000 cheaper than the Enduro. With the Enduro I'd get an Ice Ripper, fancy gauge and Air Ride suspension in the rear. I prefer to stud this sled for her rather than the Ice Ripper as she has always had studs on the sleds she's ridden. I think she counts on them more than she realizes so best not to screw with what she is used to. The fancy gauge is of no interest. As long as she has a fuel gauge and a clock, she will be happy. This leaves the Air Ride. I see her setting it full soft and never touching it. So my question is, Is it worth paying the extra for the Air Ride? I know the Adrenaline was always considered a soft ride. Is that still the case? Are the front shocks rebuild-able? The rears? Any sled you think I'm missing out on? Viper is the only one I see and she doesn't care for my Cat so I think its out. Thanks for all opinions.

There is talk of doing it in June. We shall see.

March Wing Night is officially cancelled.

Yes but the Polaris makes more HP at sealevel. Doo's makes less. Polaris did it right.

Going to keep the studs I think. The backers and nuts took all of the beating. Will use them in the wife's next sled. And if you are referring to my Cat. No sir, it's staying for another couple years. Hell, if I haven't done any damage to the engine in the past 2 rides with emptying it of oil and then coolant, it deserves to stay for a while.

I've never been a big believer in this idea. I run 4inch carbides on my Cat with 135 studs on a 129. The wife's Vector had Tuner skis with dual 6 inch carbides and 96 studs in the 120 track. I only put 6" on hers because that was all they had in stock at the time. I would have put 2 - 4's if I was picking. On my old Renegade 1200 I ran 6 inch carbides in the 5.7 ski with a 4" on the outsides. Track had 144 studs and I went with 1/4 inch over paddle length. But I prefer light handling to razor sharp cornering and pulling the skis out of a corner to sliding the rear end. As has been said, to each there own. Everyone likes what they like. Although I will look differently at some of you now.

They are a pain to remove. Spent a couple hours last night with a buddy. Still about 30 that we couldn’t remove because the Allen key in the back won’t hold a key. It will be a grinder and wheel for those. No significant damage to the track at least.

Its been discussed but no decision has been made. the 2 most probable options are we will join the Waterloo Rod and Gun Club or we will go no where (give up our independent status and join the district as a chapter as most clubs have done in resent years.

I got a call from the prez last week asking my thought. I said I was game to go but I see several problems. One, if the weather holds, what would we do with sledders in the parking lot? Two, if the weather doesn't hold then the parking lot will be a mess. Three, how many wings could we sell to make it worth while? I believe its been cancelled but I never heard anything official. I was told we have another year yet so we hope to be back in business next October.

There was a group of 4 going out when I was there Friday. All riding single. The tutorial in the parking lot was all of 5 minutes then have at 'er. ....lol

Our best season in at least 8 years and not one nickel profit made through the clubhouse. Shame.

I have had studs in every sled n my garage for the last 20 years. Never lost a stud once. I got a bad batch of backers for the wife's sled when Studboy made their first run of Pink Plastic backers. I talked to them at the Toronto Sled show and they admitted they had a problem and sent me replacements. I think its the nuts in this case that are too soft. I went through the track and probably 50% of them are loose. In all cases the nuts are shorter than the tight ones. When this sled was in a shop 1.5 years ago, they told me that they tightened a whole bunch of studs. I thought that I hadn't got the studs tight enough on install but I found some tight studs with shorter nuts. I need to install better products. Regardless, the track still looks good so far. I have a bunch that are seized and I'll have to cut those out. Then its off to Royal for some Gold Diggers and new backers. I'm interested in trying an Ice Ripper in the future. If I get an Enduro for the wife then I'll have one around to try. But she is used to regular studs, I'm not sure I want to go backwards in traction for her.

Yep, already texting 2 welder buddies.

Mystery solved.

Coolant tank is empty. Spun the track and 1 stud is missing. Edit, make that 12 missing.

My gut is telling me head gasket but I'm still playing ignorant right now.

I did and it was cool.

Yep, my buddy and I both had the Fish with fresh cut fries. It was delish.

1056.