Racing a Poo

archer

archer

Member
Joined
Jul 16, 2004
Messages
270
Location
Brighton MI
My friend Scott in Sanford wants me to haul the SRX up to wixom lake Sunday to run with his (new to him) '92 650 xlt(?) with pipes and clutch. Should I worry? Or should I be ready with an excuse like "hey I'm new to this" ? Or should I bring a tow rope! The old Polaris has burnt down a couple times before, he tells me.

Doug
 
Watched an SRX walk away from a NEW Polaris 700 Pro X (piped) this past weekend. The Poo had a bigger lug track and brand new studs vs. the SRX, but by the end of the runway (maybe 1/2 a mile or so) the SRX was walking away from the Poo
 
Are you sure thats a 650 XLT? I ask this because Polaris never made a 650 XLT. They did make an Indy 650 (650 triple, no reed valves, no exhaust valves) and they did make an XLT, but it was a 580.
Either way, unless you friend has some serious mods you should be able to beat him with ease.
The Indy 650s were only about 110 hp and the XLTs were only 90 hp.
As far as bringing the tow rope, it wouldnt be a bad idea, but Polaris sleds are usually pretty reliable.
Waterfoul, it doesnt take much to beat a Pro-X. They are geared really low. My '01 600 XC will beat my brother's '03 Pro-X 700 simply because of the gears. He will beat me off the line, but I always manage to reel him in on the top end. The Pro-Xs only did about 95 mph because they were a big bump sled. They were made basically as a production version of the race sleds. It was something that Joe Nobody could buy and race without needing to change much of anything. It was designed for racing corner to corner and for jumping. They certainly werent speed demons...
Hebi
 
I'm sure it has a big bore kit. So what. The SRX could probably tow it faster than it's cabale of going on it's own. Worry, well maybe. Bring your tow rope and an old ratty drive belt for the SRX, so you don't smoke the good belt towing that heap in. Better yet....why bother. The guy can't be serious. If he is, he's very green.
 
Sorry- dumb question! Hebi I wasnt sure on the model- does RXL sound any more threatening? He had to get something else when I bought the Yami. He didnt think his AC was up to the challenge!
 
LOL...RXL?!? I would not be worried about an RXL. The only difference from the Indy 650 to the 650 RXL was carbs vs. fuel-injection.
Most the RXLs you see today no longer have fuel injection because every year that Poo made the RXL they used a different vendor for the parts, so none of the parts from one year to the next are interchangable. For this reason, a lot of people took of the EFI and put on carbs when something went wrong with it.
I would not be worried about an RXL. I would estimate you have easily a 20 hp advantage, maybe even a 30 hp advantage.
My father had a '91 RXL. It was a nice sled in its day, but it was more suited to the trails than it was the lakes. They started and ran pretty good. You had to turn the key to "On" and wait for the green "ready" light to go out. Then you had to pull the rope once to set the EFI system and then it almost always started on the 2nd pull. No playing with the choke or throttle because the computer took care of all of that for you.
If you wanted a sled for running hard corner to corner it was pretty good. Not a lake weapon though...
I would not be worried though. Take your SRX up there and show him who's boss!
Hebi
 
Heck why bother with a SRX? My old '90 Exciter used to spank the RXL's and XLT's...... As did my '93 SX and our '95 Vmax600. This guy obviously is being blinded by the Polaris sticker on the side of the hood. LOL!!
 
I would guess it depends on if they are running ice picks or studs, I would pick the sled running the picks.... Or if there was a few chissles in the track that would be even better. Guess I am saying picks vers studs aint much of a race for the studded sled. Been there & done that back in the 90's..... Boy did I look stupid! lol.
 
vipertripplexxx said:
hebi,
I thought i heard you say before that your dads RXL could beat a v-max4? :ORC
Click to expand...
According to him, it could. However, with his pro-Polaris bias I wonder sometimes if any of that is truth. He also said that my brother's stock '93 Polaris 440 XCR could beat our neibor's SRV with twin carbs and twin pipes. He has told me a lot of negative things about Yamaha so I wonder if any of it is reality.
Anyways, here is the story to the best of my memory. He told me that Vmax-4s werent that great. He said that they were pretty fast off the line, but that they didnt have much top-end. He said that if he raced one with his RXL that he would lose in a 660' race but if they ran 1000' he would win.
I still dont think that an RXL, even a modded one has a chance aganst an SRX. The guy on the SRX could probably be to the other side of the lake at the nearest bar with 2 or 3 drinks pounded back and have the phone numbers of 5 women before the guy on the RXL caught up.
Hebi
 
LOL...I hear that! Back when I still had the Phazer, I used to hear it all the time from him. He said Yamahas were "butt pounders" (Im guessing he means bad suspension) he said they are unreliable, get poor fuel milage. Recently he told me that Yamaha uses "bike chain" in their chaincases!
After I rode the '05 Vector and RX-1 and told him that if I could afford it I would buy one today, he almost snapped on me. He went throug this whole big thing about how Polaris is reliable and solid and how Yamaha is junk.
He told me about this guy he knows who broke the rear suspension on his RX-1 which caused the track to lock up. Then, the sled threw the guy over the hanlebars and he broke his collar bone. He told me that I probably wont be able to find any good used 4-stroke Yammies in a few years because none of them will still be in one piece by then. According to him, a 4-stroke cant handle the bouncing around that a snowmobile has to endure and that when its -10* it wont start.
So yeah, I hear a lot of crazy stuff in my family's efforts to sway me back to Polaris. Granted, the one about the broken suspension Ive heard about. Ive read on rx1.info about broken W arms, but I dont see how that will throw you over the handlebars? If the track locks up, it no different than if you lock it up with the brake.
Its kind of funny. My father is always checking the fuel milage of his 600 XC and he thinks its all big and bad because it usually gets 15-16 mpg (which is pretty good for a 600 2-stroke). I cant wait to get a Vector. Then when he says, "Oh look, I got 16 mpg!" I can just smile and say, "I got 20 mpg..." Also, when their 2-strokes have 10,000 miles on them and they are spending money for new sleds, I will still be running my 4-stroke and only spending money on bearings and the occasional suspension part.
Its just kind of sad that my folks feel the need to proove that they are right and that I am wrong. It just seems foolish for them to put forth so much energy acting like its some sort of competition. They like Polaris, I like Yamaha, so what? Family should be bigger than brand choice, you know?
Hebi
 
LOL!!!!!!!!! Sounds like they are scared to find out the real truth by knocking the Yamaha's down. I tell you what. My Dad, formerly my uncle and myself...(we all share a hobby farm and shop together) have owned about 30 Yamaha's since 1982. The only time we've ever had problems if it was self inflicted, hence modified. No it wasn't chains either. Usually leaned out w/ pipes. In fact I have never seen a Yamaha stock or modified snap a chain, but have seen dozens of Polaris's do so , not to mention blowing belts. Every year I go on trips to the UP, Northern Wisc. or Northern Minnesota. The only time we NEVER have breakdowns is when there is ALL Yamaha's present. In fact one of the guys that goes to Wisconsin with me is a sled mechanic for all brands at a large dealership. He won't ride with anything but Yammies...no kidding!! I'm 41 yrs. old so I've been around awhile. I can't tell you how many Poo's, Cat's and Doo's I've pulled in. One Cat burnt.....yes burnt to a crisp on Lake Gogebic in front of the Fisherman's Lodge 2 yrs. ago. I have photos. This year I was so ticked at my buddy. He's been riding Yammies for 8-9 trouble free years and he goes and buys a snocross prepped 800 REV. What happened?? He blew up just north of Houghton and shortened an already weather shortened trip. 800 miles on my truck and 150 on my sled. NICE!!


BTW, my uncle switched to Poo in 1993 (XLT). You know what? That was his only good Polaris he's owned. Everyone since has been trouble, but he can't see the light. He had a '95 XLT that kept throwing the wheels out of the rear skid, a '98 and '99 XLT that would vapor lock after they were warm. He had a '02 XC800 Edge that was a turd. (our Vipers smoked it bad) He keeps talking up that '93 XLT..............living in the past I guess.
 
Yeah, Ive given up trying to explain it to them. I just kinda let them talk smack about how great Polaris is and let it go in one ear and out the other.
My parents have owned Polaris since the '70s and they really cant see how anything could be better than their Poos. However, when given the chance to try something out, they flat-out refuse. I offered to let my father ride my Phazer one day. He refused stating, "my back cant take riding a pogo Yamaha. You get one thats got trailing arms and I'll try it out, but not a pogo. Besides, that sled's rear suspension is the biggest POS there is!" About a week later he had to move my sled to load it in my truck. His comment was, "Wow, that thing gets up and goes pretty good. It rides pretty nice and corner good too!" I was like, "Yeah, thats what Ive been TRYING to tell you for the past 3 months."
My '01 600 XC has been OK so far. I had to change some things to make it ride decent and we had to adjust the fuel screws on the carbs so that it would idle at a normal rpm. When I first got it, when the sled was warm it would want to idle so high that it would creep along. I cant tell you how many times I would go to stop for a road crossing and just about run over my sister-in-law trying to stop. Now it rides nice, runs good most of the time but still is not comfortable. To me, the seat is too low and the running boards are too high. After about 60 miles it really makes the middle of my back sore. Also, the sled darts but doesnt corner very well. You basically have to tap the brakes while cornering just to make the front end bite. Also, the suspension. Its got waaay too much rebound to it. Its got Fox shocks, so thats part of the problem. Here's what happens. You go over even a moderate size bump and the sled absorbs it OK, but when the suspension rebounds it does it so hard that the sled knocks you up into the air, off of the seat. Ride like that for 100 miles in a day and tell me how much fun it is. The Vector that I rode didnt have the harsh kickback that my XC does.
I could probably make my XC better by getting the shocks rebuilt and revalves and getting the soft torsion springs. I could also make the bars more comfortable by putting a bar riser on them. I could make the seat better by either getting a seat off of a Pro-X2 or getting some kind of taller, aftermarket seat (Boss, ect). However, that would cost me probably $600-800 for all that stuff and I would still have a sled that I dont really like and honestly dont want anymore. The RS Vector and RX-1 really opened my eyes and to me a 2-stroke just feels so dated and slow.
Hebi
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top