Hi , I called Quint's this week and inquired about his selection of used blades.
I have always wanted one.
I would like to hear from owners as what to look for .

Thanks,
Duhnis

Parts availability.

Duhnis, Blades are just like evey other sled out there. They have there issuse but for the most part they are very reliable. I would recommend a 2002 or newer, 600 or 700 just because of all the Polaris 800 crank issues. I think 700's are the best. If you can find one with and AirWave that is a huge plus. Fresh rebuild on the shocks would be good. Make sure the coolant bottle bracket is not broken, Oil tank is not leaking, check the belly pan for cracks(The plastic versions is a lot tougher then the carbon fiber version), Make sure the sway bar center bolt is not broken. Look inside the tunnel and make sure the gearcase doesn't have a hole in the back. Make sure stearing is tight and gages work. If it looks beat don't by it. That's some of the big stuff. I use to by one or two new sleds a year until I bought my first Blade. I think manufactures are finally starting to catch up but they're still not providing a better ride. Good Luck.

Blade parts are just as available as Polaris , Doo, Cat or Yamaha. Just a phone call away. You can still get a brand new Blade today if you want one.

Most chassis parts are available, some other parts you may need are not. If you own a Blade you should get to know somebody at a machine shop.

Quint should know most of the issues, he has a good rep. Sledhead is correct though, it can be a pain on some parts. There are enough owners here though that have knowledge on where to go. Keep in touch with Karpik as well.

I have a few of the 800's, we have had 2 worked on and one is still stock with 5000 miles and no issues.

Blades ride great and have slot car handling. We have 5 and proably will have another by next season.

I have an '03 HPO that needed some dialing in (and needs some more), but I will say that it definitely rides better than any other sled I've been on. Virtually no bump steer thanks to the CompLink front end. The M-16 soaks up the moguls real nice but the word on the trail is the M-10 is the way to fly. Things I've noticed or know as a Blade newbie: Oil tank leak, hard on belts (still fiddling with an optimum secondary clutch offset), hard on hyphax (keep the track LOOSE. Blade says 1/2" track sag, go for 1 1/2"+, or until track ratchets), coolant lines rub on frame and oil tank bracket (just reinforce these points with pieces of larger, heavy duty coolant hose and zip ties), gauges are fussy and not accurate, the carbon fiber hoods tend to stress crack (also, I added black door edge moulding to the hood where it meets the belly pan, seats better and looks more finished), keep an eye on gearcase bearings and re-rout the coolant overflow so it doesn't blow on the drive belt. The coolant cap was also backing off. Just crimp the tabs a tad tighter.
That being said, this sled soaks up moguled corners with great stability and confidance, skims over stutters effortlessly and when most everyone else is standing on rough trails, I am sitting.
Bottom line: the Blade is the sled to be on when the trails are beat up and you have to get back to the trailer after a 150+ mile day. You just need to have a little patience...

Thanks to everyone who replied,

I guess my biggest fear would be the hole in the gearcase.< But I do know a few aluminum welders.
For how many miles does the front end stay tight ? I'm concerned about the a-arm & sway bar bushings.

I would be happy with a 600, but the 700 seems to be more popular, an 800 only if the price was right.

What were the issues (if any) did the early "harrier jet" hood models have ? '98 & up.


Thanks again,
Duhnis

Do not worry about the chassis staying tight. The one thing they are is durable and long lasting. No cookie sheet chassis on the Blade, they even last with big Pete (snodust) riding them lol! It is still the only sled on the market with a full frame. Replace the bearings and some bushings and your good. QBR say he has Blades with 40,000 miles on the chassis! You just need to spend some time and go through it, learn the quirks and fix them. Then ride it and spend more time to get it tuned and dialed in till you find the sweet spot. It's not a one size fits all type of sled. It needs to be adjusted. By todays standards they are starting to show their age in the ergonomic department, overall fit and finish is not the best, but the bottom line is the chassis works and on groomed trails cant be beat. A well dialed in Blade will out handle any new sled made today 12 yrears later!

Duhnis, I wouldn't worry that much about the gearcase issue. If it has more than 1000 miles on it then most likely it has the updated bushings. One thing I did forget to mention is grab the secondary clutch and see if it wiggles. If it moves more then .030-050" it migh need new gear case secondary bearing. It's not a big deal just something to watch out for.

I liked the Harrier Jet hood but because they had carbon fiber tunnels I heard (Don't know this as a fact) that the over heated easly and cracked up. The front suspension is extremly durable I have over 10,000 miles on 2 of them. I have only had to grease it and replace the bushing in the dog bone that articulates the upper shock mount. About $20 total and a one hours work.

Good Luck,
Daryl

(snip)
The "harrier" you mention was the 7X2 2000 was the first year. Many changes to the 2001 Models including a differnet chassis (longer by 1.5"), aluminum tunnel, new look, updated M10B etc. in 2002 they came (most) with the plastic belly pans, console, different seat configuration. They also had another chassis modification to accept the power valves. Only 48 2000's made it out the door and about 78 2001's after that there are about 500 total 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 sleds. Look for a 2002 or later with plastic belly pans, they dont crack and look much better after some wear and tear. As for the difference between a Striker and a 1WX the only difference is a longer tunnel (buy it from FAST) and the rails. You could buy a 1WX get a new tunnel from Fast buy 136 rails or add extensions and your in business. As for the motor stick with the 700 if you can. The 800's can be very reliable but you will need to check the main bearings especially the center ones for case clearance .001 to .0015 and keep track of the power valves and you will be very satisfied with the 800. As for the twin pipes or an HPO. If you can find an HPO they need the M-16 taken out and a M-10 or a Airwave and you'll be in business. The twin pipes work quite well. Gerard made them so that the detonation was on the conservative side so that they were more reliable but still had some great power. Gas mileage difference between the twin pipes and single not that much about 92 miles on a tank with twin pipes. BTW the 600, 700 and 800 pipes are all the same. The beauty of the Blade is the handling and how its built. Replace the bearings, service the motor and clutches, new track, paint the hood you'll have a brand new sled!!!

600's had some issues, if you can stay with the 700 or 800.

Hi Duhnis, I also own a Blade. You can call me at 440-812-2189 if you would like to talk about Blades.
Jim

duhnis I own an 02 iwx 700 which I love riding. Some of these issues I have experienced some not. When I bought it 4 years ago had 2300 miles now has around 6000, odometer quit working reads -99 trip and speedo still work, one of the issues. The upper gear case bearings were out when I got it they were rusted I believe from the vent sticking out from under the handle bars, rerouted it 3700 miles no bearing issuus since. The inner race spun on the clutch shaft had to have it sleeved and I lock tighted the bearing to the shaft when I assembled it, shaft not available at that time. Like the one guy stated having a machinest available is a good idea. Also had my machinest turn me some stainless sleeves for the front rocker bushings as mentioned by someone previously got the teflon bushings from my local bearing house, tried to get them from blade, said they would ship the bushings and sleeves but never showed up, that was over a year ago. Also removed the ace control system and I just use the hand crank if I need to adjust it no big deal its better that way.I have talked to David several times at blade, and his wife and they are always pleasant I just think David has a lot going on and just forgets to send you the parts.The biggest problems I have had were broght on by niglect by the previous owner and some one jacking around with the rear suspension that did not know what the hell they were doing or trying to acomplish. Rear shock valve was installed backwards and the heavy spring installed, took me a while to figure out what was going on with that rear skid. Some of the other stuff like broken cooler bottle mounts and the oil tanks leaking is just stuff that can happen to any sled, they endure rough conditions.If I had to do it over again I would buy another blade but I would get a 136 inch tracked machine after stretching my 1wx to 136 it has made a huge difference in its whole trail manners the 121 just spun way to easily and I would get the 700 myself, great fuel milage and very dependable, arguebaly polaris best engine.The bottom line I WOULD SAY THAT IF YOU DONT LIKE TO TINKER WITH STUFF AND YOU JUST RIDE YOUR SLED AND THROW IT IN THE CORNER IN APRIL AND DIG IT BACK OUT IN DECEMBER THAN DONT GET A BLADE, PULL THE MAINTAINANCE ON IT GET IT READY EARLY AND READY TO RIDE YOU JUST MAY HAVE TO MAKE, ORDER OR IMPROVISE ON SOMETHING THAT YOU JUST CANT GET AT YOUR CORNER STORE DEALER. I WOULD NOT TRADE MY 02 1WX ON ANY NEW SLED OUT THERE EVEN UP, BUT THIS IS JUST ALL MY OPINION, IM JUST A AUTO TECH. BY TRADE WITH OIL IN MY VEINS

Quint is a dealer he has everything you need for parts ect. don't worry about that rich

Thanks again for all the replies!!
I have found a '03 800 (rotax powered, The owner had a ski-doo race team put the engine in when the 600cc did not live up to the hype &
he claims it looks original to boot and is wicked fast.)
136" track ,black hood , carbon fiber belly pan with a custom red seat insert, 800 original miles.
The owner says it is excellent, & comes with alot of extra stuff.
I am going to look at it this saturday.

Wish me luck,

Duhnis

ROTAX POWERED NOW YOUR TALKING, THATS SOMETHING IVE BEEN THINKING ABOUT DOING TO MINE

If it has the carbon fibre belly pan it is probably an 01' possibly sold new in 03'.Very interested in the Rotax,its crossed my mind many times,has quint seen/serviced the sled?Quint and Matt always gets me running whenever I have any kind of "catrastropic" problems.

Hi all,
I went to look at the Rotax powered Blade with a friend and we came home empty handed.
The machine was priced cheap, but too many red flags kept popping up showing us that it had way more miles than advertised.
(Worn suspenion parts, hyfax,missing rear cooler, evidence of damage or roll-over,odometer not working,etc.
The test drive showed that something wasn't quite right, it's performance was about that of a decent running 500.
I could not tell if the clutching was off or the motor was weak because the tach didn't work and the speedo read about 20mph too fast.

On the plus side it came with the original 600cc engine which had been bored out to a 700.

As much as I have wanted a Blade , This was not the one for me.

I will keep looking.

Someone at Quint's had mentioned a possible trade-in 700 that needed crank seals and some cosmetic work.......maybe??

Duhnis

I have a 2002 Blade with the carbon fiber belly pan and hood.
This is the new style Blade and was the first 2002 made. I ordered it with the 700VES motor. I would think that it is very rare as afterward they made Blades with a thermoplastic belly pan and hood.
Jim

Hi All,
It sure sounds like you have seen this sled - Pray for snow
It was a Stryker with 136" track Carbon belly pan / hood , Both were damaged.

Jim, those pics you sent shows that it is one of the better cared for / loved Blades out there. WOW !!

Oh yeah, I will keep looking.

I am leaning toward finding a Blade that needs a hug or a little sprucing up, I really don't want a perfect one because I plan on putting a lot of miles on it, This requires a lot of preseason disassembly , inspection and the replacement of wear items. I love working on sleds, but I don't want to start with junk.

Does anyone have a rolling chassis or one with a ill motor ??
The two biggest reasons I don't want a new sled from the big four is I still prefer carbs over efiand I like the "rider rear" seating.
The blade has the chassis, handling and the ride with carbs.
I have all summer to find one.

Duhnis

I know where a 2002 700 black with Fox shocks, plastic belly pan for around $4,000. I bought it in the crate in 2005 and sold it to a friend. It is in good shape and the guy wants to get rid of it. Let me know. Here is a picture of it second from right.

http://www.zenwaiter.com/photos/feb%2018%2...st%20framed.jpg

I would be happy to get his name and number, As I am still looking.
I would like to thank all the people who have offered their Blades to me, and I am considering a couple seriously, But I am in no rush. I can wait untill the season is over and let the owners finish out the year riding them.

Duhnis