C
On Monday I got the call "Can you come to Utah and spend the day on a 2013 and give honest feedback?" Uh........ hello... HECK YA I can! So a quick conversation with my boss "I know I'm gone Wed-Fri of the next 6 weeks, but can I make it 7 and be gone this week too?" I get a smile and a sure! Quick booking of flights and the butterflies begin to flutter... I get to go ride the 2013 AND meet some of the engineers that makes these bad boys what they are. Flutter overtime!
Fast forward to Friday morning. We meet for breakfast, as each of the Polaris team members shows up I get more flutters. The "First Consumers to Demo the 2013 PRO" consists of Geoff Dyer, Tammy Shoen, Charlie Jones, Brent Anderson, Jared Sessions, Eric "mountainhorse" and myself. I don't know Charlie, YET but it is so good to see the rest again!
Off to a small presentation on some of the changes made and some industry insight to how the mountain segment is actually much bigger than I had previously thought. We sign our lives away and head to get dressed. This is odd for me, getting FULLY dressed for a ride in a hotel room. Have to admit, kind of nice. Walking out to the Polaris truck I see the camera pointed towards us and I can envision the scene from Armageddon when the crew is walking out to the space shuttle and everyone is cheering them on. Well, the only things cheering us on were crows, but hey, this is my moment of glory... I can be delusional!
Pick a machine, any machine they say. I find mine, I swear she was saying "pick me!" and give her a look over, swing a leg over and do a quick wiggle to feel the shocks. I grin. We are going to get along JUSSSSSSSST fine today. Instinctively I go to put my tether on, no tether. EEK, no likey this. But it's not my sled, its one day, deal...
The group does a quick beacon test. We've already had the conversation that while there isn't allot of snow, what is there is not stable. We'll do our best to stay on low angle hills, but the Polaris crew had seen 20* hills cracking the day before.
Todd Williams comes over to introduce himself and I'm a bit giddy, the man is amazing behind the camera and I get to spend the day with him. Yeeehaw!!
Start the sleds (it still amazes me that these 800s are so easy to start compared to my 08 700) look down and this one has 2.5 miles on it. This brings a flashback of the earlier talk "PLEASE do not break these DEMO's, we don't have replacement parts for them yet and they kick off their Demo Tour tomorrow in Seeley Lake". Stink... I'll try.
We head on up the hill and it is socked in and really not that much snow on the ground, I don't care... I'm on a 2013, in Utah AND with some of my favorite peeps.
Earlier it was mentioned that the belt drive could be somewhat noisy until it breaks in, so expect that. I'm groovin' down the trail and would not say that mine was noisy at all! We finally get to our "base camp" and Marty says "go play, check back here periodically". It was as if the flag was dropped at the starting line, sleds started and off everyone went like a shotgun blast. I see Phatty to my right picking this line, Brent in front of me picking that line, fine I'll go to the left and find the FUN line, hehe. After weaving through the trees and popping out on top it feels like the clutching is spot on and smooth, throttle response as I feather while weaving is crisp. Sled is responding to my big toe's request for movement. This sled IS different than my 2012! How can that be? It looks the same, hmm....
More climbing, more carving. The snow is very unpredictable, soft here, stop you there.... Back to "base camp" for a quick check in and they tell me to go up and find Todd for some filming. Bust up through some trees, come to an opening and see him at the top. Show time, this is a nice bumpy hill that could just throw you around. I maneuver my sled through a few and am giggling now, this is FUN! After a few runs I decide head around behind Todd through some trees, a little sidehill action. First run, he doesn't catch so "do it again". I go around and this time my tree magnet got the best of me. A few minutes later I'm out and off again. The time flew by and before I know it it is time to go do the interview process. This makes me more nervous that any riding! LOL But it is part of the process and this time, I actually enjoyed myself.
While someone else was being tortured/interviewed Eric mentions that his sled had a nasty vibration and asked Jared if he would take it for a spin to check it out. Before doing so Jared flips this machine on its side and quickly finds the source of said vibration.... a log. Not a stick or twig... a foot long, probably 6" wide by about 2" thick LOG is between the track and the bulkhead. Astonishing that the sled moves at all. I guess the power plant is quite powerful after all!??!
After that a little more throttle time through the trees and then it was time to head home. We arrive back at the trailer and I give mine a quick hug and kiss good bye. Back to reality...
The things that stood out to me:
The running boards - they kick booote'. These things grip. Yes, the snow did seem to build up on the tunnel by the footwell, but it didn't seem to affect my footing in any way. I found myself doing the "snow clearing shuffle" 90% less than normal, wow. Think of how much energy you will save by NOT having to do this? Then there is the concern of boot damage by doing this so much. An even bigger point (to me) is I felt an added confidence that I didn't have to worry about whether or not my boards are clean. Cruising along, need to pull into a quick move? On the 2012 stock boards, most of the time in the back of my mind I'm hoping (because at this point it is too late to stop and make sure) my feet are clear, will stick and I won't come sliding off when I do bust that move. This worry brings hesitation and lack of confidence. Not worrying about this brings confidence to bust an even harder move!
The boards were noticeably stiffer too. I'm 150#s w/o gear... and after a few rides on my 2012 my boards were starting to sway; I don't see this happening on the 2013. They come in a Heavy Duty version for you huckers and bigger peeps, AND you will be able to retro-fit your 2012 and 2011s with these.
The tipping point - On my 2012 I'm tipping all the way over allot when I get aggressive and get my shoulder into the snow. Seems like often I'm shoulder down, full throttle and track washing out on me and I can't get back up. "The Flop" I've dubbed it. And then once I've flopped, it is next to impossible for me to get it up righted on my own without expending allot of energy. The 2013 was noticeably different here. I hooked hard into a shoulder dragging carve and popped right back up. For chits and giggles on the trail we flopped her all the way over to see how hard it would be for me to get her upright and it was very easy. Something here is different even though the sleds appear to have the same geometry. Weight maybe??
Over all ease of riding - My normal riding elevation is 4-6K and I live at about 200' elevation. I am not in cardio shape to ride at 10k. But at no time during my ride on Friday did I find myself out of breath. This tells me that this sled is expending less of my energy, which will make my days longer and my next morning less sore. This is huge in my world.
The weight - you feel it. The sled gets off the ground on smaller "bumps". I actually got stuck... and pulling the sled around felt easier.
The strength - the new A-Arms are strong! I took on a tree that I feel on my 2012 would have bent the a-arm. Yes, I know this sled is more "flickable" as they've coined it, but my tree fascination runs strong... and well, they do need tested.
Kill switch relocation - I'm not a big fan of the kill switch in general, I've got mine zip tied open (we run tethers) so I don't have the concern of it getting hit at an inopportune time. With the new relocation I had no issues (other than Phatty) with branches nor my body hitting it.
Rear suspension - not sure if there's truly any changes here other than no conventional boggie wheels but now 2 small wheels inside the rails up at the front. But this suspension felt more responsive (than my stock 2012) to preloading off of jumps.
The belt drive - I love this option. I've broken a few chains and tensioners over the years and the only option then is a tow out, sucks. SO when the engineers tell me that this belt has the tensile strength of 17THOUSAND pounds that we will NOT be able to snap and even if it loses ALL of its teeth we'll be able to ride it out of the backcountry... I GET EXCITED!
The seat - This is the thing I use the least on a sled. I can not say anything about its comfiness... but I think it is going to be a good change for those with shorter legs. I am 5'10" and notice that my feet do drag sometimes when crossing over and on this shorter seat this didn't happen. When you get that drag, it slows you down and can cause for a different outcome in your move than you had planned.
Turning radius - when arriving back at the parking lot I had to turn the sled around and noticed that the thing turns on a dime. While I'm not a trail rider, sometimes you have to get turned around and I don't always like to use the reverse if the snow is soft (feel it's hard on the belt) so this will be nice in those situations.
I have read disgruntledness over the lack of HP increase in this sled. To those, I'd say ride this and tell me then if you truly think it is lacking. The sled WORKS well. IMO there are true HP junkies out there and for them, the aftermarket world is the option. But for your average mountain rider (trust me, I've ridden with thousands of them) and your average mountain terrain (not talking chutes here) this sled will out perform many a skill level. Not to offend there... just an observation. What Polaris didn't do in HP gains they did BIG in maneuverability and workability of this sled.
Things I would still like to see changed -
Pretty short list really...
The last thing I'd like to say is that these engineers can ride, they love what they do and they grin like little kids out on the snow! They listen to what is being said on here, might not comment, but they are checking in on us! We just need to be realistic in knowing that changes we want now will come later.. not now. This was a huge pleasure for me to meet them and get to have conversations with them. I truly wish I would have had more time for this.
Everyone else has coined this as the most "flickable" sled. I'm thinking it is the giggle machine. You can not help but grin and giggle when riding this. I've watched as unconfident riders hop off other sleds (even the IQ chassis) onto the PRO and you can see an instant change in their body language, confidence and skill level. Especially with the ladies, the timid become less so. With the refinements that have been made to the already fabulous PRO platform I think many are going to be pleasantly surprised with the 2013.
So..... with that long story done, if you have questions please ask. I'm hoping I remembered everything. This was an amazing opportunity and am beyond stoked I got to participate. Thank you Polaris!
The light was flat but still managed to get a few pics.
Mountainhorse
2fun4u
show off!
Todd Williams
Modsledr being interviewed
Jared Sessions of Boondockers..hmm.. what's he up to?
Modsledr
Moi
We had lots of tag alongs, low snow..
2fun and Jared taking pics of the log!
Fast forward to Friday morning. We meet for breakfast, as each of the Polaris team members shows up I get more flutters. The "First Consumers to Demo the 2013 PRO" consists of Geoff Dyer, Tammy Shoen, Charlie Jones, Brent Anderson, Jared Sessions, Eric "mountainhorse" and myself. I don't know Charlie, YET but it is so good to see the rest again!
Off to a small presentation on some of the changes made and some industry insight to how the mountain segment is actually much bigger than I had previously thought. We sign our lives away and head to get dressed. This is odd for me, getting FULLY dressed for a ride in a hotel room. Have to admit, kind of nice. Walking out to the Polaris truck I see the camera pointed towards us and I can envision the scene from Armageddon when the crew is walking out to the space shuttle and everyone is cheering them on. Well, the only things cheering us on were crows, but hey, this is my moment of glory... I can be delusional!
Pick a machine, any machine they say. I find mine, I swear she was saying "pick me!" and give her a look over, swing a leg over and do a quick wiggle to feel the shocks. I grin. We are going to get along JUSSSSSSSST fine today. Instinctively I go to put my tether on, no tether. EEK, no likey this. But it's not my sled, its one day, deal...
The group does a quick beacon test. We've already had the conversation that while there isn't allot of snow, what is there is not stable. We'll do our best to stay on low angle hills, but the Polaris crew had seen 20* hills cracking the day before.
Todd Williams comes over to introduce himself and I'm a bit giddy, the man is amazing behind the camera and I get to spend the day with him. Yeeehaw!!
Start the sleds (it still amazes me that these 800s are so easy to start compared to my 08 700) look down and this one has 2.5 miles on it. This brings a flashback of the earlier talk "PLEASE do not break these DEMO's, we don't have replacement parts for them yet and they kick off their Demo Tour tomorrow in Seeley Lake". Stink... I'll try.
We head on up the hill and it is socked in and really not that much snow on the ground, I don't care... I'm on a 2013, in Utah AND with some of my favorite peeps.
Earlier it was mentioned that the belt drive could be somewhat noisy until it breaks in, so expect that. I'm groovin' down the trail and would not say that mine was noisy at all! We finally get to our "base camp" and Marty says "go play, check back here periodically". It was as if the flag was dropped at the starting line, sleds started and off everyone went like a shotgun blast. I see Phatty to my right picking this line, Brent in front of me picking that line, fine I'll go to the left and find the FUN line, hehe. After weaving through the trees and popping out on top it feels like the clutching is spot on and smooth, throttle response as I feather while weaving is crisp. Sled is responding to my big toe's request for movement. This sled IS different than my 2012! How can that be? It looks the same, hmm....
More climbing, more carving. The snow is very unpredictable, soft here, stop you there.... Back to "base camp" for a quick check in and they tell me to go up and find Todd for some filming. Bust up through some trees, come to an opening and see him at the top. Show time, this is a nice bumpy hill that could just throw you around. I maneuver my sled through a few and am giggling now, this is FUN! After a few runs I decide head around behind Todd through some trees, a little sidehill action. First run, he doesn't catch so "do it again". I go around and this time my tree magnet got the best of me. A few minutes later I'm out and off again. The time flew by and before I know it it is time to go do the interview process. This makes me more nervous that any riding! LOL But it is part of the process and this time, I actually enjoyed myself.
While someone else was being tortured/interviewed Eric mentions that his sled had a nasty vibration and asked Jared if he would take it for a spin to check it out. Before doing so Jared flips this machine on its side and quickly finds the source of said vibration.... a log. Not a stick or twig... a foot long, probably 6" wide by about 2" thick LOG is between the track and the bulkhead. Astonishing that the sled moves at all. I guess the power plant is quite powerful after all!??!
After that a little more throttle time through the trees and then it was time to head home. We arrive back at the trailer and I give mine a quick hug and kiss good bye. Back to reality...
The things that stood out to me:
The running boards - they kick booote'. These things grip. Yes, the snow did seem to build up on the tunnel by the footwell, but it didn't seem to affect my footing in any way. I found myself doing the "snow clearing shuffle" 90% less than normal, wow. Think of how much energy you will save by NOT having to do this? Then there is the concern of boot damage by doing this so much. An even bigger point (to me) is I felt an added confidence that I didn't have to worry about whether or not my boards are clean. Cruising along, need to pull into a quick move? On the 2012 stock boards, most of the time in the back of my mind I'm hoping (because at this point it is too late to stop and make sure) my feet are clear, will stick and I won't come sliding off when I do bust that move. This worry brings hesitation and lack of confidence. Not worrying about this brings confidence to bust an even harder move!
The boards were noticeably stiffer too. I'm 150#s w/o gear... and after a few rides on my 2012 my boards were starting to sway; I don't see this happening on the 2013. They come in a Heavy Duty version for you huckers and bigger peeps, AND you will be able to retro-fit your 2012 and 2011s with these.
The tipping point - On my 2012 I'm tipping all the way over allot when I get aggressive and get my shoulder into the snow. Seems like often I'm shoulder down, full throttle and track washing out on me and I can't get back up. "The Flop" I've dubbed it. And then once I've flopped, it is next to impossible for me to get it up righted on my own without expending allot of energy. The 2013 was noticeably different here. I hooked hard into a shoulder dragging carve and popped right back up. For chits and giggles on the trail we flopped her all the way over to see how hard it would be for me to get her upright and it was very easy. Something here is different even though the sleds appear to have the same geometry. Weight maybe??
Over all ease of riding - My normal riding elevation is 4-6K and I live at about 200' elevation. I am not in cardio shape to ride at 10k. But at no time during my ride on Friday did I find myself out of breath. This tells me that this sled is expending less of my energy, which will make my days longer and my next morning less sore. This is huge in my world.
The weight - you feel it. The sled gets off the ground on smaller "bumps". I actually got stuck... and pulling the sled around felt easier.
The strength - the new A-Arms are strong! I took on a tree that I feel on my 2012 would have bent the a-arm. Yes, I know this sled is more "flickable" as they've coined it, but my tree fascination runs strong... and well, they do need tested.
Kill switch relocation - I'm not a big fan of the kill switch in general, I've got mine zip tied open (we run tethers) so I don't have the concern of it getting hit at an inopportune time. With the new relocation I had no issues (other than Phatty) with branches nor my body hitting it.
Rear suspension - not sure if there's truly any changes here other than no conventional boggie wheels but now 2 small wheels inside the rails up at the front. But this suspension felt more responsive (than my stock 2012) to preloading off of jumps.
The belt drive - I love this option. I've broken a few chains and tensioners over the years and the only option then is a tow out, sucks. SO when the engineers tell me that this belt has the tensile strength of 17THOUSAND pounds that we will NOT be able to snap and even if it loses ALL of its teeth we'll be able to ride it out of the backcountry... I GET EXCITED!
The seat - This is the thing I use the least on a sled. I can not say anything about its comfiness... but I think it is going to be a good change for those with shorter legs. I am 5'10" and notice that my feet do drag sometimes when crossing over and on this shorter seat this didn't happen. When you get that drag, it slows you down and can cause for a different outcome in your move than you had planned.
Turning radius - when arriving back at the parking lot I had to turn the sled around and noticed that the thing turns on a dime. While I'm not a trail rider, sometimes you have to get turned around and I don't always like to use the reverse if the snow is soft (feel it's hard on the belt) so this will be nice in those situations.
I have read disgruntledness over the lack of HP increase in this sled. To those, I'd say ride this and tell me then if you truly think it is lacking. The sled WORKS well. IMO there are true HP junkies out there and for them, the aftermarket world is the option. But for your average mountain rider (trust me, I've ridden with thousands of them) and your average mountain terrain (not talking chutes here) this sled will out perform many a skill level. Not to offend there... just an observation. What Polaris didn't do in HP gains they did BIG in maneuverability and workability of this sled.
Things I would still like to see changed -
- Give me a tether. Please.
- While these sleds are easy to start, I'm still not understanding why they will not start until you've pulled the cord all the way out. I do have a long wingspan, thank goodness, but when I'm getting tired... it gets frustrating to have to do this. But then at 417#s, I'm thinking electric start is in order! hehe
- How about a shorter mountain bar? I've taken mine off completely as I don't want or need to use it. Many like it, but dang it sticks up there and is painful when it meets your guts or chest!
Pretty short list really...
The last thing I'd like to say is that these engineers can ride, they love what they do and they grin like little kids out on the snow! They listen to what is being said on here, might not comment, but they are checking in on us! We just need to be realistic in knowing that changes we want now will come later.. not now. This was a huge pleasure for me to meet them and get to have conversations with them. I truly wish I would have had more time for this.
Everyone else has coined this as the most "flickable" sled. I'm thinking it is the giggle machine. You can not help but grin and giggle when riding this. I've watched as unconfident riders hop off other sleds (even the IQ chassis) onto the PRO and you can see an instant change in their body language, confidence and skill level. Especially with the ladies, the timid become less so. With the refinements that have been made to the already fabulous PRO platform I think many are going to be pleasantly surprised with the 2013.
So..... with that long story done, if you have questions please ask. I'm hoping I remembered everything. This was an amazing opportunity and am beyond stoked I got to participate. Thank you Polaris!
The light was flat but still managed to get a few pics.
Mountainhorse
2fun4u
show off!
Todd Williams
Modsledr being interviewed
Jared Sessions of Boondockers..hmm.. what's he up to?
Modsledr
Moi
We had lots of tag alongs, low snow..
2fun and Jared taking pics of the log!
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