[meburdick]

Much of the smell from 2 stroke comes from burning certain oils. I burn Spectro in all my sleds, and come home with very little odor having been picked up from riding. The four stroke motors are nice when it comes to mileage and the "gas and go" premise, but any repairs are spendy and they are MUCH heavier. If you're riding packed trails, you'll be fine, and may quite like the power steering. But, if you're running powder, that weight is like riding a two stroke with TWO passengers.

 

[meburdick]

As in bolting on a rear seat? Is the suspension designed to take the extra weight on those sleds?

Ranb

Not of two adults, no. Most Jack Seat type of add-ons are intended for smaller individuals, 80-100lbs limit.

 

[meburdick]

Any quality 2-Stroke synthetic oil will be just fine. Oil specifications are often times "created" for a particular manufacturer and then magically only their own brand of oil ends up certified.

For my machines with VES valves, I use Spectro SynSno Synthetic for PowerValve motors with zero issues. In my non-VES motors, I burn Spectro Sno Gold with zero issues.

For the belt, you're going to find that it's a higher price because it's a CVT belt and those are a bit more spendy than the non-CVT belts. I understand it's a hefty price to swallow, but weigh it against the cost of chewing up a belt on a trail and not having a spare with you.

You could look around for a used one for a low cost and toss it in the machine solely as a spare. Then, as you get some miles on the belt and decide it's time to retire it, make the old belt your spare and buy a new one for the machine.

 

[meburdick]

For the future...

The Polaris Classic 340 (no longer in production) is a very nice, nimble, lightweight, and fairly capable machine. You could also look out for something like my 1998 Indy 440 (liquid cooled, hard to find, harder to find in good condition) as its similar to the 340 but packs more punch. It could actually keep up nicely with the 550 fanner you just bought.

 

[meburdick]

15MPG on that sled, with two people, would be an achievement. 10MPG is closer to the reality.

 

[meburdick]

There's no single speed that will be any better than another. The CVT drive system means that the motor can (and will) operate at whatever RPM is required given the exact current conditions. So, there's zero correlation between RPM and speed, and thus, MPG.

You definitely DON'T want to be operating in the 5MPH area as that will likely mean that you're putting a lot of wear on the belt from a lot of engaging and disengaging of the clutch. Other than that sort of scenario, just drive it.

 

[meburdick]

Agreed. Once you've established a baseline, it's pretty easy to tell when something is amiss.

 

[meburdick]

Post the specifics as to what happened on the trail. Details are never a bad thing...

 

[meburdick]

I have to disagree due to all the battery free sleds, that have the exact same mechanism.

I see your disagreement, and raise you a counter-point.

The issue may have absolutely nothing to do with the mechanism. Even in non-EFI sleds, PERC is problematic if the motor isn't running properly. To that end, an incorrectly performing motor (especially if the idle is too low), will cause PERC to not work. And, if that issue with the motor has to do with a bad battery, then the battery would ultimately be at fault.

 

[meburdick]

What, exactly, does "it won't go into reverse" mean? Does the motor stall? Does it not engage when you hit the throttle? Does it stall when you hit the throttle?

 

[meburdick]

It sounds like there's a problem with the controller. Try and arrange a date/time with the dealer when you can trailer it over and have them connect it to the diag tool.