Snowmobiles - family friendly models

[KinAlberta]

I grew up with snowmobile and had my own in the 80s (70s Nordic and later a Blizzard 5500) and am thinking of buying a used one or two for running around at the lake. Not a racer or mountain machine but just something reliable, light and highly manoeuvrable - and cheap. Machines for myself, my wife and young daughter and friends (as passengers) to enjoy.

When I knew them they were called Elan, Nordic, Bizzard.. Simple names and simple choices. Elan was obviously a family friendly machine. :-) When I look at kijiji now all I see is machines with ST or a X and numbers in the name, and wild colours and massive struts... The choice is mind numbing and totally confusing.

So can anyone name a few really basic machines I could start looking at?

Age? No idea. 5 years old maybe?

[Homesteader]

You'll get a ton of answers. Yamaha phazer new or old. The old Indy trails or 500's were good reliable machines too. If I were getting a newer machine for what you described, pretty sure it would be a 4 stroke phazer mountain

[357xp]

If you're not planning on ripping around much go for a BRP sled with the 600 ace in it. 4-stroke, quiet, fuel efficient, no stink, reliable etc. Probably want a model with the 2-up on it.

[raab]

Find some good used sleds from the 80's. I had two 250cc Yamaha Bravos and theyre exactly what your looking for. Dont let the displacement fool you they kept up easy with some bigger sleds, only difference is they were easy to get unstuck and single cylinder made it easy for maintenance. They can sometimes be hard to find because a lot of people buy them for their kids to use.

[Flight01]

Originally Posted by raab

Find some good used sleds from the 80's. I had two 250cc Yamaha Bravos and theyre exactly what your looking for. Dont let the displacement fool you they kept up easy with some bigger sleds, only difference is they were easy to get unstuck and single cylinder made it easy for maintenance. They can sometimes be hard to find because a lot of people buy them for their kids to use.

Love the bravo. Also had good luck with enticers. The 340 short tracks were fun.

[Big Red 250]

Originally Posted by Flight01

Love the bravo. Also had good luck with enticers. The 340 short tracks were fun.

Also check out Skidoo Skantic, I had one for many years, a real work horse but kinda on the heavy side. I think mine had the 377cc, also had a hitch for pulling a sleigh.

[Sooner]

Originally Posted by Flight01

Love the bravo. Also had good luck with enticers. The 340 short tracks were fun.

I still have my uncle's 79 340 Enticer that he bought new and I rode on as a kid. It's our back up ice fishing sled if someone want to go and needs a ride. I have even followed all my buds that were on their 800's when I didnt have a second sled on that 340. So much fun when they chew up a nice path for you.

Yamaha and Doo make some nice old long tracks, simple to run and can get a good one for under 2G. Just have to watch kijiji and jump when one comes up. Bravo and Tundra's get you on the lake and some decent fun. Not heavy either.

[lmtada]

So far success with three Ski-Doo Skandics. Two 600 and one 800. Fuel efficient yes, quiet, torquey (pull 600-1000 lb xc ski groomers). Excellent service at Riverside Honda.
PB43

[mxz1997]

Another vote for the Skidoo 600 Ace four stroke. You won't regret it. You can get an Expedition(long track, narrower stance) or Grand Touring(shorter, wider) with the two up seat. Any of the newer "rider forward" designs is light years better than the old style snowmobiles were. The 2015 and newer 600 Ace now have a "learning key" that limits the speed and power for beginners

[FishHunterPro]

I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the new Yamaha VK 540.

[gtr]

Live and learn.

[Flight01]

Dang. The vk has always been a great work horse but dear lord don't get it stuck.

[Flight01]

Originally Posted by KinAlberta

I grew up with snowmobile and had my own in the 80s (70s Nordic and later a Blizzard 5500) and am thinking of buying a used one or two for running around at the lake. Not a racer or mountain machine but just something reliable, light and highly manoeuvrable - and cheap. Machines for myself, my wife and young daughter and friends (as passengers) to enjoy.

When I knew them they were called Elan, Nordic, Bizzard.. Simple names and simple choices. Elan was obviously a family friendly machine. :-) When I look at kijiji now all I see is machines with ST or a X and numbers in the name, and wild colours and massive struts... The choice is mind numbing and totally confusing.

So can anyone name a few really basic machines I could start looking at?

Age? No idea. 5 years old maybe?

Kin

If your wife drives and your daughter will soon I'd seriously go track down two newer Log track bravos and enjoy.

[KinAlberta]

Anyone with experience with any of these? I’m surprised that there aren’t really any really simple basic machines anymore.


Top Five Snowmobiles for Beginners - Snowmobile.com
Nov 8, 2011
“Finding a sled that you’d want to let your dear teen or pre-teen snowmobile wannabe ride used to be simple. You’d go to a dealership, pick out a 250 to 340cc engined fan-cooled sled and let your kid play around the cabin or the farmyard. Those days of small displacement, low horsepower, econo-sleds are gone. In today’s snowmobile world, unless your most precious offspring will accept riding a 120cc youth sled, your options change dramatically in power, performance, price and size.”

“...there are more options in the used sled market where you might find old Ski-Doo Freestyle units and nearly vintage 250 or 340 engined Polaris Indy Lites. ...”

2012 models:

Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500
Arctic Cat F5 LXR
Yamaha Phazer RTX
Ski-Doo Tundra 550F
Polaris 550 IQ Shift

https://www.snowmobile.com/manufactu...ners-1497.html

[nast70]

Originally Posted by KinAlberta

Anyone with experience with any of these? I’m surprised that there aren’t really any really simple basic machines anymore.


Top Five Snowmobiles for Beginners - Snowmobile.com
Nov 8, 2011

Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500
Arctic Cat F5 LXR
Yamaha Phazer RTX
Ski-Doo Tundra 550F
Polaris 550 IQ Shift

https://www.snowmobile.com/manufactu...ners-1497.html

I had 2 Polaris 550's, a 2004 Edge Touring, an '09 550 Trail Touring. Both were great trouble free machines. Sold them both this fall, our kids are all grown up and we needed something for our more off trail riding areas we go to.
If you want comfort (for the wife ), find an Edge chassis. There was a 340 on Kijiji sometime ago for 2500'ish?

[Sooner]

[QUOTE=KinAlberta;3952272]Anyone with experience with any of these? I’m surprised that there aren’t really any really simple basic machines anymore.


Top Five Snowmobiles for Beginners - Snowmobile.com
Nov 8, 2011

Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500 - Lower Cc mountain/trail sled
Arctic Cat F5 LXR - No experience with them
Yamaha Phazer RTX - 4 stroke, fun
Ski-Doo Tundra 550F - Work horse -
Polaris 550 IQ Shift - Never heard of this one

What are you looking for in a sled. Trail, Mountain, crossover or work horse?

Whatever you buy, get reverse.

[KinAlberta]

Just considering a couple machines for trails and lake riding. (No mountains of deep powder.)

No rush to buy anything and they will have to be used but reliable. (Will be left at cabin.) Something lightweight would be ideal. No need at all for a lot of power.


On the need for reverse, yes it seems so. The old machines I grew up with were around 350-400 pounds and manageable in my youth. Now it seems that the weights are up from that and my weight and age are both up about the same.

[Indy]

I would look at a air cooled engine for that application. 550 Ski-doo expedition, skandic or tundra would be solids choices.

[lmtada]

Look now with spring arriving. There are some killer deals out there. The 800 are not alarming, if controlled (word, throttle stop, governor). Tonnes of Mtn sleds out there with less than 3000km.

[Sooner]

Bought my son a 2007 Skidoo Summit 600 SDI. Great little machine, great on fuel. Light and reverse. Inch and 3/4 track so it grabbed snow if you found yourself in some deeper stuff. Rode great on a trial. Can get the same sled in a MXZ for the trails.

The newer 600 etecs in either platform are supposed to be real nice.


I'm a Doo guy, we all have Summits but Cat made some nice trail and crossover sleds in the late 2000's.

Yammy 4 strokes are nice but heavy from what I hear.

The above poster is right, deals a plenty out there for the newer stuff.

[Big Lou]

I’ve got a 300F that I purchased for the wife to get familiar with a machine. It has become my favorite in short order. I have a blast with it. Super light, ridiculously easy to maneuver and great on fuel. Not enough snap for a beginning rider to get into much trouble. Fan cooled is a bonus for riders who are yet to start paying attention to warning lights. Last statement applies much more to my wife than the kids.

My 11 year old daughter has been riding it this winter with relative ease. Electric start, reverse, heated grips and thumb. I’m looking for another but in a 550F to add in the fleet. I believe the 2007 and 2008 models have the updated clutch springs. 2005 and 2006 may do well with an update.

My Uncle bought one for his son and recommended them to me. No regrets going this route. $3000-4000 will be about the right price point. They tend to go pretty quickly when they come up FYI.

[huntinstuff]

My partner owns a 2018 Skidoo Grand Touring with 600Ace.

That is a family friendly skidoo that will still get 2 adults over 70mph.

Heated everything. Visor defogger, comfortable, adjustable suspension.

[Albertacoyotecaller]

We have a few different sleds but the one I like the best and my wife rides it for outings and I use it for work is a Polaris Voyager. Hers is a 600 cc liquid cooled but they make it is a 550 fan cooled as well. Rack on the back and mid height windshield. I will buy another one for the wife in another year or two.

[rjlester]

I can also say, fan cooled is bulletproof. Can't really overheat them, I've used them in some pretty warm weather well above freezing. 500cc or larger has lots of power for towing and can get some good speed for a bit of fun.

That said, we used to have a 377 with twin carbs that was a blast to drive, had it up to 90km/h on the lake and had a bit more in it. I could also pull the kids on a tube when they were little with only quarter throttle and they had a blast on that sled growing up. Miss that machine.

Electric start and reverse are also pretty much a must for us the last few years.

[KinAlberta]

In terms of used machines is there a sweet spot for age, price and parts availability?

i.e. I was shocked at how hard it was to just find reasonable priced tires of the right size for my brother’s old, old 4-wheeler.

[Blastoff]

Originally Posted by KinAlberta

In terms of used machines is there a sweet spot for age, price and parts availability?

i.e. I was shocked at how hard it was to just find reasonable priced tires of the right size for my brother’s old, old 4-wheeler.

Look at Royal Distrubtors for tires

https://www.royaldistributing.com/

[darren32]

Originally Posted by KinAlberta

In terms of used machines is there a sweet spot for age, price and parts availability?

i.e. I was shocked at how hard it was to just find reasonable priced tires of the right size for my brother’s old, old 4-wheeler.

Not really. We ride some old stuff but have never not been able to find parts. If you stay 2000 plus you should be fine, at least for polaris......

My wife rides an early 2000's 550 trail RMK that has been a great sled. Have used it almost every weekend for many years. Good workhorse. Tow the kids on toboggan lots with it. I ride it when there is not much snow because my newer one overheats. Kids have 80's Indy lite. Love them for kids. Son has a 340 lite and daughter a 250 starlite (single cylinder). Great little sleds for kids. The lite are a bit tougher to get parts for but nice little sleds.

[elkhunter11]

I would be looking for a 550-600cc engine, with a 129-144 inch track with track no deeper than 2" . There are a lot of great deals on mountain machines, but a super long track with 2-1/2 -3" paddles isn't a great choice for playing around on packed snow. As well, mountain machines tend to get ridden much harder, much more wide open throttle running. Be careful with the older machines, some haven't been used or even started in years, and sitting years , isn't a good thing.

[antlercarver]

Had a 250cc Elan. The bigger machines would leave me behind on the lake, but on narrow bush trapline trail, the Elan was better. If you ever bog down in overflow a big heavier machine is much more troublesome. I could single handed pull up behind a pickup, lift the back end onto the truck, then grab the skis, swing machine to line up with truck and push it on. One person , no trailer.
If you do bog down in overflow. dont leave it long or you will have it frozen in.
I would tip machine on its side , spin track free of slush and come back when track you rode in on is frozen to ride back out on.