Remember the SRVs and Phazers were good running fans back in the day

 

When I was in seventh grade and got a low black windshield for my 440 sport, I was sure I had the hottest thing on the snow😂

 

I had an 80 yamaha SS440 and a 81 540 srv. Both ported, dual carbs, a comet clutch and a pipe. The SS440 was faster than the srv by 1 mph on radar, plus it smoked eltigre 5000's in 1000 ft. The srv was awesome when i took it on rough trails. No one could stay in the same zip code trying to keep up against that sled.

 

You are right, both the SS 440 and SRV 540 were fast fan cooled sleds. I believe the SRV 540 was a thirsty one too.

 

I second the SS440. My 1980 was 1/4 mile fast.

 

They do run real good👍 I have one in my boneyard. It did run great until it lost spark. Just been sitting for years now. Good parts sled.

 

heard the polaris XCF440 sno-x fanner ran pretty strong - but finicky and hard to keep in tune ..?

 

Yes this is true. Our family had a 2003 prox 440 fan. It ran good for what it was when Temps and jetting matched. When either didn't match it was a slug. The same was true with my 2000 zr 440 liquid, though not as much of a slug do to the higher HP and liquid cooling.

 

We’ve got 21 Polaris EVO. Faster than your grandma pushing a shopping cart!!

Kidding aside that is actually a pretty fun little
sled to play around on. I’ve had it up to about 73 on the Speedo, so maybe mid to upper 60’s actual speed . Been a great machine so far for my wife and kids to ride. They think it’s fast 🤣

 

Later srv's were thirsty. My 81 was decent. It made all the gas stops.

 

If memory serves, I got maybe 75 mile range max on that SRV. As soon as you pulled out of a gas station you were looking for the next one.

 

We had several Cat 570"s in the aws5 aluminum chassis, dual carbs, great engine. I think they were rated at 70hp. Perfect power for up and comers, also had the benefit of using the hot air from the fan to warm cloves and defrost visors. I had two Panthers and my nephew had a Z570, the little Z570 was a riot, very snappy and good on fuel.

 

As far as I know, the Cat 570s were the most powerful "stock" fanners. I have heard of guys hitting 90 MPH with these, under the right conditions.

 

The z570 in around 2007 where a fantastic snowmobile for durability, fuel mileage if you didn’t hammer the hell out of them and handling. A bunch of older touring group here all switched to these after a year of fighting icey trails and running hot do to a real low snow winter. They never went back to liquids.

 

Had a 2000 Z440 SnoPro that 2 of my boys rode. Bought it from a dealer that raced it a Stock Fanner class. Had it doing 93 mph by speedo down a primo hardpacked road. Impressive fast for a fan.

 

Thats fast. I don't think my modded 80 SS440 yamaha pulled that kind of top end...actual speed on radar after a 1/2 mile was 81 mph down a icy hard packed lake. I don't remember what it was on the speedo...That sled's speedo read in kilometers.

 

The evolved 488 trails were fast and indistructable also. Geared and clutched right the speedo would get mid 90’s.

 

Yeah, my 1989 Indy Trail 488 fan was faster than I expected it to be.

 

Old Free Airs were very quick.

 

A friend had a suzuki 440 free air back on the day around 75 that was fast as all hell the colder it got. I t smoked my ski doo 400 free air bad.

 

I had an 83 Citation SS, 377 fan dual carbs. Sled weighed next to nothing and was pretty snappy

 

I just bought a pair of 3000 mile '96 Puma Deluxe for the grandkids. Speedo, Reverse, electric start and heated thumb/grips-- all standard on these gems. Overheat issues were my biggest concern with newbie riders. Watching a Temp Light is another thing kids don't need to be aware of.

 

Those sleds sipped fuel and handle great. We had a Z370 in our fleet for a while; it was a great sled that held it's value.

 

My wife bought a brand new Z570 in '04 for $3,500. Sled came with a 4 year warranty and never used it once. A buddies wife had a water cooled Ski-Doo Formula 583 and those sleds were always side by side across a lake. That 570 was a great machine and she racked up a lot of miles on that sled. It did like gas though.

 

Yes, the Z570 was an over achiever for sure. It would definitely out perform some liquids too.

 

My wife had an 86 Indy trail with the 488 fan cooled engine. It was a great sled and the last fan cooled sled we ever owned.
The first sled I bought new was a 1974 650 Sno-Jet Sabre Jet with a 650 fan cooled Hirth engine that produced 50 HP. That was a very fast sled with a lot of HP for those days.

 

My wife had an 86 Indy trail with the 488 fan cooled engine. It was a great sled and the last fan cooled sled we ever owned.
The first sled I bought new was a 1974 650 Sno-Jet Sabre Jet with a 650 fan cooled Hirth engine that produced 50 HP. That was a very fast sled with a lot of HP for those days.

@jds800rev did you buy that Indy from Horace Ivett? Where did you buy that Sno-Jet?

 

BROCHURES_POLARIS

Here you go fellas…this hopefully answers the questions

 

Yep just like I described. The color was ugly but the 488 engine was great.