96 Aggressive XCR 600 SP.... I've got a chance to grab one of these sleds. What are the goods and the bads? Engine troubles? Chassis problems? Handling? Thanks for any info.

They can be made to run good with about 6 weeks tuning!!!!!LOL.Actually guys have posted the list of stuff to do to get them to run decent and its quite the list and it'll still only be a decent runner.Heavy front end,poor handling.IMHO.Supertrax picked it as one of the motors they hated Steve

^ Thats what I was lead to believe until I rode my buddies same exact sled. His ran just fine. 6500 miles, minimal maintainence. Driven daily as his only source of transportation all winter till the chaincase went. 100.00 later and up and running.

but I bet your 98 440 would walk it everywhere but top-end

The 96 was the only year with inner seals on the crank for the water pump lube, you cannot buy the seals and must replace the crank segment if the seals go bad, around $750,... 96 Ultras were the same.


Don

I have that engine in a gen 2 sled with 800 pipes altered to fit the 600 engine. runs very strong and very suprising at how quick the sled is.

the biggest thing is to gear that sled down. stock i think they are geared for 105 mph or something clsoe to that. on that body i would gear for about 89-92 mph I am running 22-41 gears on mine and so far absolutely love it. I can only get about 77 mph in 500-600 feet and about 90 in 1000'. but it is quick.

another big upgrade would be track. when you get the engine dialed in you are going to spin all the time. so an upgraded track would be a nice change.

Its got a brand new track, looks to be 1.25" with 144 studs. Its got plastic ski's also. Whats that got for shocks? Throw aways or rebuildables?

I had a 97 ,7500 miles. my buddy has a 98 12,000 miles. Strong, realiable motor with a notorious bog at around 5700. No ves and big pipes, makes for a tight powerand. Last year I had my 97 I put a 99 ves top end, was a ton of fun after that.
Both ours came with plastic skies and white foxes all around.
The 96 had a bunch of carb, clutching updates. Use a 98 spec's, HTG sells a clutch kit to raise engagement, and decent helix.
Dialed in it's very similar to my genII in the woods, turns flat and a hint of inside lift on the gas. If you ride a lot of tight trails the bog would drive you nuts. Open and flat, they sing.

Good to know about the crank /waterpump seal, i almost bought a 96 ultra as a second sled.

yeah, i have mine starting to creep at 5200 and for good movement you have to be close to 6000. but i am running the 800 xcr ignition and 38 flatslides as well. the 97 had a lot better ignition in it.

but get your engagement up to 5200 area, drop the primary wieghts down to 51.5 or 52 grams and toss in a silver blue secondary and something close to a 48-36 to a 50-38 helix. I am running the "10" weights from polaris, 51.5 grams a 170-280 primary spring, 50-38 hsp helix silver blue secondary spring in hole 2. and the rpms shoot to 8500. you do your own work on jetting but i am at 350 mains with needles lowered all the way. but its 800 cc needles I am to cheap to spend 90 dollars for new needles.

From what I heard, the 1 thing really hurting the 600 3x3 was the Storm pipes used, way too big to work optimal on the 600. Ofcourseit didn't help either that it was rushed out as a "parts bin special" to compete with the AC ZRT600 and Doo FIII 600.

BTW, how does it work to put on a Ultra top end...?

Yes, the pipes were way too big for a 600. If I remember right the 600, Ultra SPX and Storm all used the same bottom end and pipes. Many thought the cranckase volume was too big for a 600 as well. I know aftermarket pipes really woke that sled up.

I remember in 1996 that was the "bad azz" sled. I had one snowchecked and they let me back out at the last minute and order an Ultra because there was a waiting list for the 600.

I've parted out 3 of them in the last 2 years. PTO crank bearings or PTO piston on all of them went bad. All 3 had split carb boots that didn't get cought in time. Guys said they ran better than ever for about 30 miles then locked up. Hundreds more of them out there running awesome. Just make sure you check it out closely.

the ultra spx and xcr 600 use the same pipe. i cut a bit of length out of the xcr 800 pipe and put in an internal stinger to help the pipe out some. works aboslutely amazing so far.

the 96 was a toss together sled. the ignition on the 97 along with clutching improvements really helped them out.

if you put on an ultra top end and use the same stock triple pipes it will run very good. not as wild as a "piped" ultra, but very day to day drivable.

Is there anything you can do to the engine to prevent crank failure? Like adding an extra PTO oil line or extra bearings? The sled runs mint now and i've got all summer to mess with it. My 98 XLT is still going strong with 8k on it and the bottom end is untouched but I believe thats got some factory crank updates. If you run aftermarket pipes can you use the stock muffler/can? I don't want to annoy everyone around me.

Weld the PTO pin, and use EGD/FD rated oil.

Don

and also fog it for summer storage and use good gas.


not fogging it can allow pitting on the rod ends or bearings. bad gas creates octane knock. which pounds out bearings and in time will toss a rod.

I have an oil pump with a 4th hole if you want it. 50 bucks and its yours.

it took some tuning and solid advice but once i was done it seriously hauls... very hard on fuel but its worth it.

Our guys had three of them. The 96 xcr 600 required a few hrs. of tuning to get them running decent..after that they behave like any of the aggressive chassis polaris produced. This sled is best at home on big open groomed trails with a speedo top speed of 115 mph.

Very fast cruising sled, they dont like to go slow. Buddy has one and it made me want want. Great trail sled IMO and rock solid reliable.