From Rochester NY and new to snowmobiles.

[jhutch83]

Hello my name is Jon and I haven’t road a sled more then 1hr :P . what happened was I went up to a camp with my cosine and a few his friends a few months a go and one of his friends brought there sled. Lucky enough the kid was feeling generous and let me try it out he showed me the ropes and off I went . I feel in love it was cool his sled is a … RX1 and needless to say that’s not going to be my first sled but maybe some day. I have been looking at local listing and found one in my price range .Its a 2003 ARTIC CAT F5 little smaller then I was thinking about going with ( I was thinking 600 700 ish ) but the cost is 1995 (about what I can afford right now) and it has 2135 mile with BRAND NEW CARBIDES and he sead “EVERYTHING WORKS” . I look up the NADA blue book vale it they say 2160 to 2840…. So I guess my questions would be . what do I look for when I look over the sled , is this a good deal, should I wait and get a bigger one or spend more money on a newer one?(ever one ill be riding with has 800 to 1000s size sled but will just be cruzing not racing ) Thanks for your patience in helping the new guy

[RJ Gleason]

The F5 will be plenty for cruising and will have no problems keeping up on the trails.
Take someone who has some experience/knowledge of sleds with you if possible when you go to look at it.
Ask for all proof of maintenance if it looks real clean.
Look under the hood at the condition of the engine bay, any cracks in the hood/belly pan are signs of abuse.
Look at the condition of the track, is it worn and have missing or torn off lugs ao any torn out studs if the track is studded.
Look at the condition of the bottom of the skis. Are the skegs worn down, the ski itself have signs of wear due to too much road riding with worn down skegs.
Start it up, how easily does it start? Is the engine already warm before you got there?
For everything you can find wrong with it, you can get that deducted from the price he is asking since you will have to pay to repair it.

[polaris rider]

yea for a 1st sled I would go ANY bigger then a 500-600... thats PLENTY of power and can still get up to 100 mph... there also light and easier to throw around

[jhutch83]

Thanks for all the help. Ill keep all that in mind . I hope to go look at it buy the end of the week if its not sold. Keep the info coming if there’s any thing ells you can think of

[dobbs]

You'll be surprised how fast that F5 is, It's a good price and a good sled. I would buy that as my 1st sled in a heartbeat. My buddy has one, no problem keeping up with 600's, if it wasn't for the sticker on the side you wouldn't even know.

BTW, I Live in Rochester and do most of my riding in Wayne county.

[smallengineguy]

Welcome! I agree on the 500-600cc max power for you. That's all the sled you'll need for now.

[Ultrafrozen]

Welcome to the Forum!

[jhutch83]

I want to thank every one for helping me out . I did end up picking up the sled a week ago but the weather was crapy so I had to wait to take pics






This is mine and my buddys Thats the one i rode for the first time


I need a new windshield the last guy cut it all up and the screw things that keep it on dont work beacuse the holes are to big . any one have any ideas wear i could get a new shiled and maybe some new bigger screws ?

[xxxthebxxx]

I have to say that snowmobile looks great! I'm not so sure about the windshield, though. But it does make it look sharp.

[RJ Gleason]

Go to an auto shop and buy "upholstery darts" of the right size.