With everybody (and their sister) putting out Top 10 lists at the end of the calendar year, it’s a great time to look back on the most popular stories on snowgoer.com in 2015, in terms of page views. Remember, stories that were posted at the beginning of the year have had more time to accumulate readers’ eyeballs, so they will typically rank higher in a wrap-up list this. And that makes the story found at the very top of the list especially surprising.
1) Arctic Cat Unveils A Snow Bike – When Arctic Cat took briefly showcased a snow bike at the 2015 Haydays in September, and the story about it was subsequently posted on snowgoer.com, it
almost created a meltdown. The curiosity factor about this product was off the charts, as many snowmobilers wanted to check it out, and many dirt bike enthusiasts found the story link on message boards, social media and in google searches. Now, can Cat deliver a product that will live up to the hype? Hopefully we’ll find out soon.
2) 2016 Ski-Doo Unveiling – With longer tracks on select MX Z models, new ski technology, some interesting new models and more, news from the market share leader in the snowmobile world was sure to cause a splash when the brand unveiled its 2016 lineup back on February 23. It sure did, and the story stayed popular throughout the year.
3) 2015.5 Ski-Doo MX Z Iron Dog Special – Back on January 7, Ski-Doo released a limited edition Iron Dog Special racing version of the MX Z, which would normally be interesting-but-not-necessarily overwhelming news. But, the fact that it was an MX Z with a 128-inch track, and thus it provided a cue to the future, caused this story to rocket to a podium position.
4) Snowmobile Suspension Setup Tips – This story has been on snowgoer.com since October of 2009 but it just keeps getting web hits as riders look for clues to help them dial in their ride.
5) 2016 Arctic Cat Unveiling – New ZR 137 models, new TEAM clutches, new Fox shocks and multiple changes to the brand’s mountain sled lineup caused Arctic Cat fans to come to snowgoer.com in waves to check out the 2016 lineup, on March 2 when the news was announced and throughout the summer and fall.
6) 2015 Ski-Doo Snowmobiles – Stories about the new/next year snowmobiles are expected to end up in the snowgoer.com year-end Top 10, but a story on the previous year’s snowmobiles cracking this year’s list? That’s unusual, but Ski-Doo has such a strong position in the market right now, it’s not that surprising. The story was posted on March 4, 2014.
7) 2016 Yamaha Unveiling – A new rear suspension for RS Vector and Apex models, multiple changes to the M-TX mountain sleds and a throttle-by-wire system on the reworked 1049cc mid-
performance triple created a buzz when this news broke on February 25.
8) Polaris Releases RMK In Axys Chassis – You may have noticed that there were no Polaris stories so far in our Top 10? Don’t worry, their fans showed up, but the brand’s news on its 2016 model lineup was split last winter, starting with this story on the 2016 Pro-RMK coming in a raised version of the Axys chassis back in January…
9) 2016 Polaris Snowmobile Unveiling — … and that story was followed up by the release of the rest of the 2016 Polaris snowmobile lineup 4.5 weeks later, when the brand took the wraps off a lineup that also included the return of the SKS and several new LE versions of Rush, Indy and Switchback models.
10) Choosing A Two-Stroke Oil – This story, first posted in 2006 after running in Snow Goer magazine the previous year, is more than a decade old and is deeply buried on the snowgoer.com website. That means that the only way people are finding it is through web searches and message board links. The fact that it worked its way into the Top 10 proves how many people are seeking answers to the questions about proper lubrication.
