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Ok Sled Heads
It’s summer and we can’t ride, but we can remember.
Was thinking reminiscing about some of our favorite sleds from back in the day would be a good summer project.
Will start the discussion by listing some of my favorites in different categories…obviously not all inclusive.
Entry level sled
Arctic Jag and Yamaha Enticer
The Jags had especially good fuel mileage…most tests on the Jag 2000 were over 40 MPG. Had some seat time on a Jag 2000 and it was a great all around sled.
Both the Jag and Enticer had CD Ignition, good carbs and the Enticer had oil injection. These were all big upgrades back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Both companies sold a ton of these and many learned snowmobiling on these sleds
Trail Performance
Polaris Indy 400
Had one of these and was an outstanding trail sled and no slouch in the straight away
Late Model John Deere Liquifire
It was marketed as a performance sled, and it was no slouch, but as Kawasaki would not sell John Deere Invader engines, JD had to get creative. They made it as light as they could which made it a great trail performer
Luxury
Kawasaki Invader
It was performance and luxury in one…which may have hurt its sales as it was kinda of its own niche. Drop dead gorgeous looks, great marketing…anyone remember the Darth Invader poster?
Arctic Cat Pantera
Another gorgeous sled, good power…not Invader power but a solid performer
Performance
9500/9700 Ski Doo Blizzards
Great looks and performance. Like the Invader, they had a sound all to themselves….tuned pipes probably helped.
As a side note, the 1980 Moto Ski Ultra Sonic was one of my favorite Moto Ski color schemes, and obviously performed just as a Blizzard
Arctic El Tigre’s
Beautiful sleds, both liquid and free air and great performance
And for it’s one year, the Kawasaki Interceptor was an absolute screamer.
Race Sleds
1976-77 Yamaha SRX
Very light with a very high HP engine. 340 and 440 in ‘76…440 only in ‘77
Sno Jet Thunderjet
Another company that got innovative due to not having the highest HP engines. Extremely light sled….and free air jugs through the cowling was always cool. Both won their fair share of oval races.
The sled that in my humble opinion changed it all:
Polaris TXL Indy
Oval racing started waning by the lates ‘70s but XC h racing had not.
Arctic Cat with the Trail Cat and Ski Doo with the 5500 Blizzard MX/Moto Ski Sonic MX tried IFS, but did not really know where the sleds fit. Polaris knew what they wanted IFS to do and they put the TXL engine in the Indy chassis and had a winner. Soon it launched the Indy 500…with the Unser Brothers promoting the sleds and Polaris began its run as the leading sled production leader until Ski Doo rang in the modern era.
Hope this is a fun topic and look fwd to your favorites and comments
It’s summer and we can’t ride, but we can remember.
Was thinking reminiscing about some of our favorite sleds from back in the day would be a good summer project.
Will start the discussion by listing some of my favorites in different categories…obviously not all inclusive.
Entry level sled
Arctic Jag and Yamaha Enticer
The Jags had especially good fuel mileage…most tests on the Jag 2000 were over 40 MPG. Had some seat time on a Jag 2000 and it was a great all around sled.
Both the Jag and Enticer had CD Ignition, good carbs and the Enticer had oil injection. These were all big upgrades back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Both companies sold a ton of these and many learned snowmobiling on these sleds
Trail Performance
Polaris Indy 400
Had one of these and was an outstanding trail sled and no slouch in the straight away
Late Model John Deere Liquifire
It was marketed as a performance sled, and it was no slouch, but as Kawasaki would not sell John Deere Invader engines, JD had to get creative. They made it as light as they could which made it a great trail performer
Luxury
Kawasaki Invader
It was performance and luxury in one…which may have hurt its sales as it was kinda of its own niche. Drop dead gorgeous looks, great marketing…anyone remember the Darth Invader poster?
Arctic Cat Pantera
Another gorgeous sled, good power…not Invader power but a solid performer
Performance
9500/9700 Ski Doo Blizzards
Great looks and performance. Like the Invader, they had a sound all to themselves….tuned pipes probably helped.
As a side note, the 1980 Moto Ski Ultra Sonic was one of my favorite Moto Ski color schemes, and obviously performed just as a Blizzard
Arctic El Tigre’s
Beautiful sleds, both liquid and free air and great performance
And for it’s one year, the Kawasaki Interceptor was an absolute screamer.
Race Sleds
1976-77 Yamaha SRX
Very light with a very high HP engine. 340 and 440 in ‘76…440 only in ‘77
Sno Jet Thunderjet
Another company that got innovative due to not having the highest HP engines. Extremely light sled….and free air jugs through the cowling was always cool. Both won their fair share of oval races.
The sled that in my humble opinion changed it all:
Polaris TXL Indy
Oval racing started waning by the lates ‘70s but XC h racing had not.
Arctic Cat with the Trail Cat and Ski Doo with the 5500 Blizzard MX/Moto Ski Sonic MX tried IFS, but did not really know where the sleds fit. Polaris knew what they wanted IFS to do and they put the TXL engine in the Indy chassis and had a winner. Soon it launched the Indy 500…with the Unser Brothers promoting the sleds and Polaris began its run as the leading sled production leader until Ski Doo rang in the modern era.
Hope this is a fun topic and look fwd to your favorites and comments
