terret725
New member
worse uve done to a sled
what the worse uve ever done to ur sled and was still able to ride or make it out of the woods?
what the worse uve ever done to ur sled and was still able to ride or make it out of the woods?
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yamaholic22
Active member
I had a '93 XLT special, with the 580 monoblock triple and fox shox. With 5,800 miles on it i installed PSI triples, and went on a trip up to Ashland, Wi. The added heat from the pipes caused it to burn an o-ring in the head (it uses o-rings instead of gaskets), so it started overheating. At first i didn't know why it was overheating, so on the way back i was trying to keep it cool by running in the loose powder on the side of the trail every chance i got to throw some snow up onto the exchangers. Going through the powder at one of the intersections i hit a hidden rock at about 35mph. It caught the left front corner of the bulkhead, stopped dead in its track, put my knee through the back of the hood, i flipped up, bent the handlebars, landed on the hood (cracking it severly), and falling off in front of it. Going through the wire mesh on the back of the hood tore right through my snow pants and into my knee, so you could see my kneecap. Bellypan got pushed up into the pipes, melting several holes into it. Frame was bent, track was off to the left up by the driveshaft and to the right at the rear idlers, about 1.5" of difference 
That sled really was good to me up until the o-ring went. Insurance company totalled the sled, i took the money and a little extra and went and bought a '97 SX 700 and been on Yamaha ever since. That was a good sled, but i'm glad that happened, opened my eyes to something bigger adn better. 
That sled really was good to me up until the o-ring went. Insurance company totalled the sled, i took the money and a little extra and went and bought a '97 SX 700 and been on Yamaha ever since. That was a good sled, but i'm glad that happened, opened my eyes to something bigger adn better. terret725
New member
2 years ago i hit a group of trees on my 500. i was coming around a corner on top of the mountain (they close the road so we ride that) and it was burnt donw to pavemnt cause it was last ride after all the snow melted and we got a foot of powder. and just kept gin straight into the trees. bent teh shock saft at 90 bent the rods, snaped my sway bark linkage. bent teh trailing arm, caved the hood on the clucth side in fliped it inside out kinda) and knocked myself out. managed to get it unwedged from the trees with a tie down and my buddies sled and then road it down teh rest of the way and my buddy still couldnt keep up.
keep the stories comin i got a few more too.
keep the stories comin i got a few more too.
I nose dived the ol' phazer II off of an 8 foot culvert onto bare solid ice, then as if that wasnt enough, the front end came up and hit a 4 inch steel pole that was in the creek for some reason. all that happend was a cracked up hood and nose cone.
terret725
New member
my brotehr totaly blew his W arm a part like 30 mins into the ride. broke the mounts right off at the skid. we raped a tie down around it to the shock and we road for another 4 hrs. about another h into teh ride i blew out the radius rod mount off the trainling arm. luckly we had anoteher tiedown to rap it up on the other radius rod. then right after that our buddy blew the eye off his shock in the front of the skid on his sled(my curnet sled). we took a cotton glove riped it up adn tied the schock to teh arm so it wouldnt get jamed in the track. and then road a little longer and went home aroun 3:30 am
terret725
New member
anybody have any other good storys??
profyamaha
New member
Broke a belt one time on a Ski-doo. Didn't have a spare so I used duct tape. Wrapped duct tape around break then put about 5 layers around the circumference. Rode sled about 5 mile. It broke again 20 feet from my trailer. Now I always carry duct tape (and a spare belt) 
terret725
New member
thats a good one its a good idea to always carry duck tape. my brotehr one time bent his traling arm it bowed out ward and has about to snap. so i went off teh trall grabed a 2 inch sapling snaped it off raped a tie down around it to teh traling arma dn made it to teh ashfeild lakehouse where a guy had some ducktape and he rapped it around as tight as he could teied it off with the tie down again and road anotehr 4 hrs.
me and my brotehr always say our sled have only broken down once. if u can make it out of the woods with out being towed its not a break down no matter how bad it is or what uve done. lol
keep em comin
me and my brotehr always say our sled have only broken down once. if u can make it out of the woods with out being towed its not a break down no matter how bad it is or what uve done. lol
keep em comin
DoktorC
Member
This is my looonnggg story.
The story takes place somewhere between Cochane and Smooth Rock Falls along the beautiful 20ft wide, table flat, smooth smooth trail, during a cloudless sunny February morning. I was "cruising", at the posted speed limit of course, second in line in a group of 8. Me and the guy leading stepped it up alittle and put some distance between us and the group. Well, I guess I may have been going a touch fast and not really paying close attention (I was dazzled by the beauty that is a northern Ontario trail). Much to my surprise someone put an off camber "s" bend in the middle of all this. From here everything kinda happened fast...so the sled pushed to the outside of the second half of the "s" and the ski caught the soft powder (DEEP) and pulled the sled off the trail! I grab a handful of brake and my whole world goes silent. Funny thing is the sled is still MOVING and not really slowing down AND the bush is approaching fast (it's wide up there but not that wide). So, I consider bailing..too fast...so I look into the bush for a hole. I see a break in the pines and aim for it...and close my eyes..this isn't going to be pretty. CRASH..into the bush I go...the sled hits and stops, I get thrown into some nice soft pine trees and then fall onto the hood of the sled. I open my eyes looking directly at the head light (1" away) and the sled is still idling. I shut it off and haul my butt back to the trail so I don't miss the group going by. Eventually they start arriving and chatting and no one realizes my sled is missing. Finally my buddy goes where the hell is your sled???? I turn and point down this long slope and into the bush...down there.
I went off the trail a good 300 yards before the trees and still cut off a 5" pine tree (which I visit everytime I go by). The sled stopped so close to the edge of a huge rivine that one ski tip was actually hanging over. It took all of us to pick the sled up and walk it backwards out of the bush..then I had to climb up a steep slope in waist deep powder (which it did with no problem).
I bent both radius rods on the left side right into the shock, dented the trailing arm and folded the running board up pretty good. We were able to bend the rods out enough using a trail stake that I could ride it (for the rest of the season lol).
The story takes place somewhere between Cochane and Smooth Rock Falls along the beautiful 20ft wide, table flat, smooth smooth trail, during a cloudless sunny February morning. I was "cruising", at the posted speed limit of course, second in line in a group of 8. Me and the guy leading stepped it up alittle and put some distance between us and the group. Well, I guess I may have been going a touch fast and not really paying close attention (I was dazzled by the beauty that is a northern Ontario trail). Much to my surprise someone put an off camber "s" bend in the middle of all this. From here everything kinda happened fast...so the sled pushed to the outside of the second half of the "s" and the ski caught the soft powder (DEEP) and pulled the sled off the trail! I grab a handful of brake and my whole world goes silent. Funny thing is the sled is still MOVING and not really slowing down AND the bush is approaching fast (it's wide up there but not that wide). So, I consider bailing..too fast...so I look into the bush for a hole. I see a break in the pines and aim for it...and close my eyes..this isn't going to be pretty. CRASH..into the bush I go...the sled hits and stops, I get thrown into some nice soft pine trees and then fall onto the hood of the sled. I open my eyes looking directly at the head light (1" away) and the sled is still idling. I shut it off and haul my butt back to the trail so I don't miss the group going by. Eventually they start arriving and chatting and no one realizes my sled is missing. Finally my buddy goes where the hell is your sled???? I turn and point down this long slope and into the bush...down there.
I went off the trail a good 300 yards before the trees and still cut off a 5" pine tree (which I visit everytime I go by). The sled stopped so close to the edge of a huge rivine that one ski tip was actually hanging over. It took all of us to pick the sled up and walk it backwards out of the bush..then I had to climb up a steep slope in waist deep powder (which it did with no problem).
I bent both radius rods on the left side right into the shock, dented the trailing arm and folded the running board up pretty good. We were able to bend the rods out enough using a trail stake that I could ride it (for the rest of the season lol).
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terret725
New member
that sounds like a close one gald ur ok
Bakemono
New member
I had a '90 Polaris Indy 400. In the manual it said to replace the bearings at 4000 miles. Well, they werent kidding.
Shortly after that sled hit 4000 miles I started hear a slight, "tick, tick, tick". I thought it was just a chunk of ice bouncing around in the track. Well, the tick slowly got louder and louder and I notice that I was having to use a lot more throttle just to maintain the same speed.
Well, I was losing one of the bearings in the chaincase. I limped the sled home (about 20 miles) and when we took the chaincase apart all of the gears LITERALLY came apart in our hands. I guess Polaris wasnt kidding about the bearings lasting 4000 miles.
We replaced the chaincase gears and bearings that night and I was back out on the trails the next day and the sled ran good as new.
Shortly after that sled hit 4000 miles I started hear a slight, "tick, tick, tick". I thought it was just a chunk of ice bouncing around in the track. Well, the tick slowly got louder and louder and I notice that I was having to use a lot more throttle just to maintain the same speed.
Well, I was losing one of the bearings in the chaincase. I limped the sled home (about 20 miles) and when we took the chaincase apart all of the gears LITERALLY came apart in our hands. I guess Polaris wasnt kidding about the bearings lasting 4000 miles.
We replaced the chaincase gears and bearings that night and I was back out on the trails the next day and the sled ran good as new.
Venom
Member
It was a week after getting my brand new SX Venom and I was following two of my friends. They're very good riders, so they gunned it to the top of a very steep hill 25 feet high to the side of a road. Well I wasn't as experienced as them and didn't want to go up a hill that steep, they were yelling "Com'on, nothing to it!", ...so of course peer pressure won. So I gunned it up the hill (a few feet to the right of their path) and as soon as I came to the top, I see a steel pole sticking out of the ground, ...BANG, almost flew over the handle bars! I got off and looked at the sled, the steel pole fit perfectly between the ski and the sled body. It hit the radius rods and shock perfectly, ...they were bent badly and the shock couldn't move an inch. I crept home and then had a good, stiff drink. The next day the two guys were apologizing like crazy. Unfortunately, my sled was at the dealer for the next week while they were riding. Lesson learned, drive within your abilities and don't give in to peer pressure!
terret725
New member
i have no idea how many lower rods ive gone threw i dont buy any more unless theyre realy tweeked thats what my bigh 3 lbs dead blow hammer and pry bars are for. straighting them out.
bolin22
New member
02 viper with 141" harman kit.....last season.Near Marquette, MI..1st. good snowfall ~ 2 feet of fluff....a couple friends come up riding, one never really rode before and rented a 500 fan rev from local shop......30 min into ride the guy on the rev gets stuck while having to highmark on the side of the train tracks to avoid swampy area......im next and have to go around him on the low side to try and help......well i went around and hit a small 3" wide 2 foot long stump that completely under the snow.....must have been chopped off flat by the rail road......the stump pushed the track up between the drivers and the rail tips thus spearing the rail through the window of the track and lockinng the track up......bent the rails like a bannana with a limp dick....destroyed the track....we ended up usin a nearby pine branch for a pry bar and backed the track back off the rrail.........DUCT TAPED The track back together and drove the thing home ~5 miles through the bush and 2 foot of fluff back to the shop......needless to say we had some beers and a good laugh....felt bad the guy paid 175 buks and only rode the rental 20 miles tops.......
DoktorC
Member
The year after my adventure I was approaching Smooth Rock Falls from the other direction...running logging roads with LONG straights. It was cold....I was racing a new viper...then my sled started to slow down...and quite. DOH. I pulled the plugs...had engine peices on the center one. I changed the plugs and fired it back up. Rode it 35-40kms to Smooth Rock Falls and parked it. It was not running very well for about the last 5 or 6 kms but it made it. Doubled back to the hotel...fast!! on the new viper I had been racing...managed to ditch it in the process (no damage). LOTSA fun. Somehow I've earned a bad reputation for breaking stuff lol. Luckly this happened on the last day of our trip so nothing was really lost.
DoktorC
Member
bluewho
Active member
budy and i were out with the wifes one sat in halaburton it got realy foggy and we got lost.knocked on somebodys door and they rode with us to find the trails after we pulled on the lake to get back to the cottage we both stopped to let the girls catch up and hade done so in the middle of a herd of the biggest deer i ever seen in my life.sitting on the sled with 4 feet visability at night i still think they were caraboo.there must of been 50 of them !girls caught up and never seen a thing still dont beleave us.
terret725
New member
closest ive come to that is when i almosst an over a bunch of coydogs coming threw a feild. boy ws that a bad day went realy down hill after that. my 500 had a short on the pipe for teh wenter temp light and it would always come on. plus i had a slow leak in my running board heat excanger so i woudl alwasy care some extra coolent incase i needed itif id over heat . so on teh way home about 5 10 mins from my house the light came on so i stoped started it back up and kept teh hood up cause if it was on with teh hood up it was realy over heating. the light stated on so i cracked the cap made the hissing sounds and stoped. like it did the oterh 100 times so i figured it let all teh presure out. turned it teh rest of the way adn bam a face full of boiling antie freeze wich boils at like what 260 F i did an expirement in chem i think that was the number. but any way here i am face burnin like all hell cant see have it in my eyes face first in teh snow screaming for help cause i couldnt see and i dindt know how bad my burns were and was across the street from some houses, luckly a snowshoe that had just statred out heard me and came and helped me out and flowed me home on the road to my house to make sure i got there ok. talk about pain i raod to teh ER with a bag full of ice in mu face and my head out teh window when it was 10* out. when i got to teh Er they couldnt find a vain on me cuase iw as goin into hypothermia from hanging out teh window with no shirt on. taht was a bad day