Hi,
I'm 47 and an avid motorcyclist but am new to snowmobiling, at least since my early teens, when I essentially went bombing across open fields and a few small creeks on the prairies. I've been getting the snowmobile bug and am interested in doing some trail riding in Ontario and Quebec. I don't want to do anything too technical, and I'm not worried about having the fastest sled on a frozen lakebed. I have lower back issues, so I like to sit up higher, with the greatest amount of extension in my legs.
I'm interested in Yamaha because of the reliability in the four stroke engines. I've heard that the resale is not great, but I'm not particularly concerned about it.
My question is whether I should go for a Yamaha Viper or a Sidewinder. From some sledding friends that own and ride with other sledders, the turbos in the Sidewinders experience turbo lag, so the benefit of the turbo doesn't really kick in until the higher rpm's and the higher speeds. Therefore, I don't think that I really need the turbo. That being said, there are a lot of new Vipers left on dealer floors, and I'm tempted to pick one up for cheap. My question is whether or not I should go for a 2017 Viper or a 2018 Sidewinder. The money savings isn't really the issue. Moreso, I'm interested in saving the forty (40) pounds that the turbo adds to the front end of the sled. So...
1) Is the Viper a little easier to handle in tighter trails than the Sidewinder?
2) Is the ECU in the 2017 Viper really made/sourced by Arctic Cat? Will it be problematic? Will I really need a reflash? If so, what am I looking at?
The Viper I'm looking at is a 129". I can add a heated seat and a taller windscreen for $800 and still be $3000 ahead from a Sidewinder.
Won't have the ability to test ride. Going to have to get this right.
Thanks for your help!!
I'm 47 and an avid motorcyclist but am new to snowmobiling, at least since my early teens, when I essentially went bombing across open fields and a few small creeks on the prairies. I've been getting the snowmobile bug and am interested in doing some trail riding in Ontario and Quebec. I don't want to do anything too technical, and I'm not worried about having the fastest sled on a frozen lakebed. I have lower back issues, so I like to sit up higher, with the greatest amount of extension in my legs.
I'm interested in Yamaha because of the reliability in the four stroke engines. I've heard that the resale is not great, but I'm not particularly concerned about it.
My question is whether I should go for a Yamaha Viper or a Sidewinder. From some sledding friends that own and ride with other sledders, the turbos in the Sidewinders experience turbo lag, so the benefit of the turbo doesn't really kick in until the higher rpm's and the higher speeds. Therefore, I don't think that I really need the turbo. That being said, there are a lot of new Vipers left on dealer floors, and I'm tempted to pick one up for cheap. My question is whether or not I should go for a 2017 Viper or a 2018 Sidewinder. The money savings isn't really the issue. Moreso, I'm interested in saving the forty (40) pounds that the turbo adds to the front end of the sled. So...
1) Is the Viper a little easier to handle in tighter trails than the Sidewinder?
2) Is the ECU in the 2017 Viper really made/sourced by Arctic Cat? Will it be problematic? Will I really need a reflash? If so, what am I looking at?
The Viper I'm looking at is a 129". I can add a heated seat and a taller windscreen for $800 and still be $3000 ahead from a Sidewinder.
Won't have the ability to test ride. Going to have to get this right.
Thanks for your help!!
you might have better luck asking this question over on ty4stroke.com
you might have better luck asking this question over on https://ty4stroke.com/
super1c
Super Moderator
I own two vipers. 16 & 17. Absolutely love them. If you a avid trail rider with the occ dip off trail the viper is plenty of sled. The sidewinder is a animal. It will have more power then you know what to do with if that’s a thing. LOL. You really can’t go wrong with either and I haven’t really heard of the lag you speak of. The vipers do have the cat ecu. The 17 will have the updated ecu already in it. Mines been money since day one. Depends on if you need 600 type powe of viper (90-100mph) sled or 800 type 200+ hp sled in the sidewinder.
opsled
Active member
No experience with a Viper but those Sidewinders are wicked fast and will carve a corner as good as anything if setup to do so.
Just spent a day racing two of them up and down our local river with my Vmax-4. It's worked up a bit and dialed in to be a long legged slot car on ice. The Sidewinders were studded but in trail tune.
The cornered flat and hard. I could still get around them without to much trouble on the tight twisties but they would pull me on the straights. On the long straights I didn't have a chance. Never had any other 4 stroke come close.
Did take one for a rip. WOW!!
opsled
Just spent a day racing two of them up and down our local river with my Vmax-4. It's worked up a bit and dialed in to be a long legged slot car on ice. The Sidewinders were studded but in trail tune.
The cornered flat and hard. I could still get around them without to much trouble on the tight twisties but they would pull me on the straights. On the long straights I didn't have a chance. Never had any other 4 stroke come close.
Did take one for a rip. WOW!!
opsled
1stgensrx
New member
Just wait for the 2019 srx to come out. U wont be dissapointed.....an no its not for kids silly wabbit
Buy an apex and install a wrp seat.