The past 10 days have been a whirlwind as the Snow Goer magazine crew spent a week in Montana testing and photographing the 2016 models for stories that will be in issues next fall. It was sunny every day we were out west, and those bright skies helped Snow Goer Photographer Wayne Davis shoot many great photos that will make next season’s issues look awesome.
On Wednesday I worked at the SG shop with Aaron and Liz from Intercomp Company, a company that makes high-tech scales used by NASCAR and by countless manufacturing companies including Arctic Cat and Polaris, to weigh all of our 2015 demo sleds. Here are the weights of the crossover sleds in our lineup:
- Polaris 600 Switchback Pro-S (recoil start): 536 pounds, trail ready with full gas and oil tanks, a spare belt under the hood and tall windshield;
- Yamaha SR Viper S-TX DX: 605 pounds, trail ready with full gas and oil tanks, and a spare belt under the hood;
- Arctic Cat XF 6000 Limited (electric start): 600 pounds, trail ready with full gas and oil tanks, a spare belt under the hood, tall windshield, Sled Solutions handlebar bag and SLP MoHawk skis. It surprised us that the XF and Viper came in so close to each other. The XF’s fuel tank capacity is listed at 11.7 gallons and the Viper’s is 10 gallons, so the extra fuel accounts for about 10 pounds.
- 1980 John Deere Trailfire 340: It’s not a crossover, I know, but this bad boy came in at 381 pounds with an empty fuel tank. For comparison, Polaris claims its new 2016 800 Pro-RMK 155 will weigh 408 pounds.
Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to ride my JD at all this winter because with limited snow cover and warm weather since December, every ride has been devoted to one of our demos – making the most of the hand I’m dealt. I’m going to work at the SG shop this afternoon to prep for two separate snowmobile trips over the next four days when I’ll be riding, evaluating, snapping photos and testing aftermarket products. My next post will include some of those details, and weights of more 2015 SG demo sleds.
March Madness and warm weather will soon be upon us but there’s still time for at least one more ride, isn’t there? Phone a friend, load up the sleds, jump in the truck and hit the trails!