Hey, it's the dog days of summer...and I have a few minutes to reflect upon the time when I first became intrigued about snowmobiles back in the fall of 1978 when I picked up a Fall issue of "SnoTrack" magazine while taking a lunch break while I was travelling on the road.
It had the article where Olav Aaen developed the porting, clutching, and pipes for a 78 Invader that turned it into an SRX killer....and the Kawi add showing both 79 Invaders, both Drifters, and the Intruder in a full page ad travelling across some untracked snow.....goodness gracious...I have to own one of those Invaders some day!!
So, I did, when I bought my '79 in 1982.
I have followed the industry closely ever since...I about died when I received the "SnoWeek" issue when it was announced Kawasaki was exiting the business....you remember when Snoweek was published 16 or 18 times per year, on news print?
I have watched Yamaha rise to # 1 in sales when they came out with the 84 Phazer...very light, very responsive,....reliable....kudos to them.
Then, the Indys took over.....I don't know about you, but I
awaited with baited breath when Polaris unveiled the "NEW Indy"
...when was that?.....94?
Great fanfare and mystery led up to this new Indy.
I remember getting one of the snowmobile mags back then and being extremely "underwhelmed"!!
Forgive me for a moment....I have 3 sons...and 3 daughters...so I don't think I could have survived by being too much of a male chauvinist pig.....but I found the new Indy to be a very pretty, streamlined sled.
Guess what?....I don't want a "pretty" sled....I want the meanest, new Romulan Warbird or Klingon Battle Cruiser....something like when Yamaha came out with their new 81 SRX....Now that looked MEAN..
Just havin' some fun during the dog days of summer....I think Polaris should have fired everyone in their design staff 30 years ago. Polaris poo-pooed the Ski Doo Rev when it came out in 2003, while they were scurrying behind the scene to catch up....and what did they come up with?...The Fusion!!!...sorry, one of the most butt-ugly sleds ever.
I am entirely open to others opinions....but the Fusion didn't do much for me.
I have a great deal of admiration for the engineers at Polaris...they developed modern clutching, dominated cross country racing with the Indy,....really have their act together....but their design team SUCKS....have you looked at their Snocross sled....it's a bloated hippopotamus....fire everyone and hire someone from George Lucas's Star Wars staff.
What's wrong with Yamaha? They put great motors and sleds together with very high quality components, yet they seem to always remain a day late and a dollar short in the suspension department.
Yamaha had it together pretty well...As exhibited by my 83 Vmax, when they came out with the new Pro Action rear skid in 1983....a quantum leap compared to their earlier skids.....The pogo stick front suspension had absolutely no camber change,...no bump steer, but yet they never developed it as rapidly as Polaris did with the IFS Indy front end.....The Indy was simpler, and the TSS pogo stick could not have survived to 2015, with 12" of front suspension travel....but, you're kiddin' me, Yamaha?...you didn't even include a front anti-sway bar on the 83-87 Vmaxes or SRV's as standard equipment. You had to wait until the next models came out to go...Doooooh! ..we need a sway bar.....meanwhile, Polaris was kicking your a## in CC racing.
Yamaha...always a day late and a dollar short in the suspension dept....still today.
Ski Doo has pretty much obliterated the other 3 manufacturers, since the Rev came out....Yamaha is having Cat build the sleds....a pretty cool alliance between the 2 companies....but, I just find no particular inspiration from the new sleds...like I once did.
They all look kinda the same???
They all cost $12,000??
I think I will stick with my vintage stuff...
It's all relative...I'm sure the newest sleds can travel a trail at 60 mph, where I would have to be content at 30 mph on my Invader or Sno Jet, but the fun factor would remain the same....and a tree will hurt a lot less at 30 mph.