Well, i'm shoppin around right now. I kinda narrowed my search onto one rig, it's a 96 xlt sks. It seems priced pretty reasonably, and looks like its been pretty well taken care of. It has a few accessories, but the motor is totally stock, and the PO reports 125 psi in all cylinders.

The drawback.....it has just over 5k miles on it!!!!

Should this be a major turn-off? I negotiated the mileage into the price, and with the accessories it has (1.75" track, cobra shield, plas skis, wind. bag, mountain bar, etc) and the pristine condition, it is very interesting to me. I want something I can ride, and while I can do all the work on it (and have connections), I'd rather just ride and not worry about it!!!! Lemme know asap

I owned a 93 XLT and i sold it with over 25000 miles. It is still on the trail today with over 30000. Did only 1 major motor job. Just watch because some years have poor crankcases.

if it hasnt had the pto bearings on the crankshaft replaced, plan on doing it real soon. trust me this is something that WILL leave you stranded. if it wasnt a major problem polaris wouldnt have added a 4th oil line to that bearing in 97. this is a major motor job. and with that many miles, while apart everything else should be freshened up. that sled with those accesories in perfect shape, ballpark $1300. give or take and depends where you live. but if its original bearings i dont think anyone knowing xlts would pay more the $700. just my $.02. take it for wat its worth. currently own 5 polaris trail sleds and 1 imp. stock drag sled.

Yeah, we're sittin at 1300 right now, and they're goin for a lot more than that locally.

How expensive should I expect that bearing change to be? Is it a replacement of the bearing, or is there a kit that needs to go into it? I did the crank seals on my dad's 94 580 last week, so i've been that far for sure. Also, if they went out, what would they take with them?

I'm sure you'll get a lot of opinions on those bearings. They did have trouble with them - but I was thinking most that failed were not stock. Many piped sleds were turning up over 9000 rpm. My stock 96 XLT was sold at 11,000, still running strong, and never touched internally.

agree with michahicks, gonna get all sorts of opinions. and as far as the older 580 xlts. yes those things ran forever. this is why i put an older motor in one of mine. everything was exactly the same lost a whopping 20cc. but as far as the cranks, i have personally done 3 replacements on friends sled whatever. can usuall find a complete rebuild crank around 6-700 sometimes more. this is complete rebuild not rebuild failure. can get the pto end fixed for a couple hundred, but now the rest of the crank is old. also can find a used crank or a used motor slap it in and be running the same night for around 400. but now who knows exactly what you bought. may luck out. may get screwed. if theyre going for around 1300 in your area, where you at. i have a 95, i can longtrack it if needed, with reverse, electric start, electric fuel guage, new heim joints steering, suspensions completely gone over anything week replaced, all new fule oil lines, new flared windshield, i know theres more, oh rebuilt clutches both, i was gona sell for around that, i do have the 580 motor in this one.
anyhow, its probally a good deal. if its in your price range, go for it. i love my polaris sleds. theyre alot of fun and if you do need parts you can find used ones cheap all the time for them.
good luck let us know how you make out.

For what its worth I have a 94 580 XLT and it's a great machine. :div20: 8100 miles and 0 problems so far. I'm about to do it's first clutch rebuid/mod in the next few weeks. Can't justify a new machine to the wife and month old!(Not that I haven't tried!)

Love my '94 XLT 4000 miles going strong. I call her Old Reliable. Two puls and shes running. Still is one of my favorite triples and sleds in my collection. Later Rick

I love my 96'xlt. Has over 9500 miles and never been apart.

We love our XLT as well but don't seem to have the same luck as the rest of you. Not trying to hijack your thread but what do you guys do when you put them up for summer, during summer, and right before the season? We have to pull the cord like 10-20 times to start it and that wears the plastic cord runners out fast.

I sold a rental 94 XLT we had several years ago, at the time it had 13,000 miles on it, never had an engine problem, it is still running today and comes in here for yearly service, now has over 18,000 miles on it.
I have however replaced many XLT crank bearings and PTO ends on XLT/XCR's, so hard to say, some ran forever, some not so long, some were modded and some never touched.

Don / Performance Parts

I run mine every 2 weeks year round. Let it get up to temp and run the track . It gets serviced every year as well.

96 XLT with 38 mm carbs is the worst for blowing the cranks. Mods to the motor can make it worse. Mine failed stock. There is a PTO oil hole in the case that is note drilled or champhered properly. Modding that hole and turning the oil pump up 1-2mm is very helpful in the engine life. I went a step further and added the 4 line oil pump when I had mine. They also changed the bearings later on to go from 2 single ball bearings to a double and a single. There are a number of places that will do this mod. It is essentially using a 650 seal plate and the new bearings. The extra bearing erea helps support the crank and clutch against shock load which is when you get air born across a mogul and hit the next mogul, when that happens the clutch tries to twist off the motor and will bend the crank. Once the crank is bent it beats the bearings to a pulp. So the issue is lube and shock loading that causes the issue. Like all "known" problems usually only a percentage of sleds have the issue. I think when they get past 3-4k in miles you found a good one. Keep the pipes off it unless you plan to make these mods.