>>Ski-Doo 850 Summit-X: First Ride Impressions

christopher · Nov 26, 2016

DITCHBANGER said:
Jorli must have been drunk when he posted his 850 review..:wine:

For those that want to read what Jorli had to say, here are his comments.
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showpost.php?p=4005427&postcount=73

In all honesty I suspect Item #8 has a HUGE impact on his overall impression of the sled and of the corporation behind it.

But you can clearly see we had very different experiences on the sled.

Cat man doo · Nov 27, 2016

So good to hear about your son not being in pain the next day. Great review. Thanks and keep them coming!

RWCoyne · Nov 27, 2016

I got to experience my first day out on my 850 Yesterday and all I can say is wow. We were a little more fortunate to have 3 ft + of fresh powder and it's a dream to ride. My buddy made the switch from Yamaha to an 850 this year and he was like a kid on Christmas morning all day. the Two 850's broke trail into the ride area without any issues at all and the Yamaha crew followed an hour behind us getting stuck several times trying to negotiate some of the steep switchbacks.
We quickly found ourselves headed into the tighter treed areas effortlessly riding through them taking lines we usually would never attempt. I was wowed by how slow you could go in tight spots and get going again. They really do well at getting back on top of the snow with a little throttle management.
The biggest adjustment for both of us was to think turn and not be aggressive initiating a turn. The only times I got stuck all day was from falling on my side from over initiating a turn. A few more days on it and I'll be retrained on how to ride it.
I'm glad to hear you and your sons had such a great day out and I can promise you when you get out in some deep pow the grins on your faces are gonna take days to go away.

Solarguy · Nov 27, 2016

christopher said:
The day after..

This afternoon my son and I get together to take care of some of his wedding arrangements when he said to me "I Don't Hurt Dad". Looking at him incredulously I said, Excuse me, what did you just say?. I DON'T HURT.

What do you mean you don't hurt, you ALWAYS hurt the next day. Usually you spend the day on the couch just laying there recuperating.

Dad, I DON'T HURT TODAY.

There it was, the words I NEVER thought I would ever hear my son speak. We spent a full day in the mountains, running and jumping and pounding as much as we could, and he didn't hurt the next day. Thank You God, that was way beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.! It was far more than I could have possibly hoped for.

Guys, we have about 6 hours on our new sleds so far.

I am deeply impressed with the Torque and Responsiveness of this normally aspirated 850 e-tec engine.

The Sleds are FAR more nimble& agile than I had hoped for.

They are a JOY to ride in lousy snow (I can only IMAGINE what they will be like in deep powder).

As of right now, I am ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED with my purchase, and consider it a terrific investment.

In two weeks we will be at Togwotee for my son's bachelor party, hopefully we will have some real snow by then and will report back on how the sleds behave in better conditions.

Congratulations to Jr on the wedding, and the bachelor party sounds fun too, hoping for great snow for you guys!

Idahodoo · Nov 27, 2016

christopher said:
The day after..

This afternoon my son and I get together to take care of some of his wedding arrangements when he said to me "I Don't Hurt Dad". Looking at him incredulously I said, Excuse me, what did you just say?. I DON'T HURT.

What do you mean you don't hurt, you ALWAYS hurt the next day. Usually you spend the day on the couch just laying there recuperating.

Dad, I DON'T HURT TODAY.

There it was, the words I NEVER thought I would ever hear my son speak. We spent a full day in the mountains, running and jumping and pounding as much as we could, and he didn't hurt the next day. Thank You God, that was way beyond my wildest hopes and dreams.! It was far more than I could have possibly hoped for.

Guys, we have about 6 hours on our new sleds so far.

I am deeply impressed with the Torque and Responsiveness of this normally aspirated 850 e-tec engine.

The Sleds are FAR more nimble& agile than I had hoped for.

They are a JOY to ride in lousy snow (I can only IMAGINE what they will be like in deep powder).

As of right now, I am ABSOLUTELY DELIGHTED with my purchase, and consider it a terrific investment.

In two weeks we will be at Togwotee for my son's bachelor party, hopefully we will have some real snow by then and will report back on how the sleds behave in better conditions.

Thanks Great Post

fastmnstealth · Nov 27, 2016

I loved to read your trip report Christopher! I was a 4 stroke advocate for a number of years too (Polaris FST) and my eyes were opened with a 2011 switchback assault back in 2010. I then found mountain riding and have had a number of RMKs since. No matter the brand, they just keep getting better and better...easier and easier to ride. Of course we keep getting older and older, so that works in our favor

slinky · Nov 27, 2016

delightful read

I could not be happier for you and your family. I was stoked to read the review and hear how the newer sled allows your family to be out longer with less pain. I hope the new sled (850 Summit) allows for copious amounts of family bonding and fun. I hope we can get a little more snow here so I can take out my new 850 and experience it as well.

Kudos to your son and his marriage. God bless and happy Braaping!

Reg2view · Nov 27, 2016

Congrats Christopher, thanks for sharing. The adventure with friends and family is what sledding is all about. Trying new sleds, gear, trucks, trailers, and places to ride just adds to the adventure. Happy to hear that it's working so well, may it encourage all of us to seek new adventure. Being an old guy, it's really is amazing how far sledding has advanced since the early 2000's, gear, sleds, styles. Not longing for the old days here...

PaulAnd · Nov 27, 2016

Thanks for sharing!

b-litt · Nov 27, 2016

That was awesome reading your post and seeing those pictures! It made me home sick. My wife and I lived three miles down Fish Creek for about six years. We've been in McCall now for the past two years. Big springs parking lot there was where we kept our rigs all winter to transition from truck/car to sled. Many cold nights spent gearing up for the ride down the trail to our cabin. A few cold walks too after finding out the sleds wouldn't start for various reasons. We started off with Yamaha four strokes for the first couple years as they made great commuter sleds. My first two stroke was in the rev chassis and I remember thinking how much more nimble that was. I can only imagine the difference in your transition. Great story about you and your family. It was very refreshing and fun to read.

spudnut · Nov 27, 2016

Awesome review, I can't wait to take mine out. We are planning on heading up to Island Park Friday. As far as the no windshield goes...I have found as I get older I am willing to sacrifice looking cool (ie - no windshield) for being warmer (ie - yes windshield). The new Gen 4 does not have even a small one. I added the mid-height windshield to mine and a friend of mine added the same to his. I also added one to my 2012 XP when I first bought it, It has no effect on the ride ability of the sled. it does increase the comfort level due to the wind protection. So when you see a gen 4 out there with the old guy windshield wave and say hi.....unless I am stuck then stop and help shovel....

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

RWCoyne said:
I got to experience my first day out on my 850 Yesterday and all I can say is wow. We were a little more fortunate to have 3 ft + of fresh powder and it's a dream to ride. My buddy made the switch from Yamaha to an 850 this year and he was like a kid on Christmas morning all day. the Two 850's broke trail into the ride area without any issues at all and the Yamaha crew followed an hour behind us getting stuck several times trying to negotiate some of the steep switchbacks.

We quickly found ourselves headed into the tighter treed areas effortlessly riding through them taking lines we usually would never attempt. I was wowed by how slow you could go in tight spots and get going again. They really do well at getting back on top of the snow with a little throttle management.

The biggest adjustment for both of us was to think turn and not be aggressive initiating a turn. The only times I got stuck all day was from falling on my side from over initiating a turn. A few more days on it and I'll be retrained on how to ride it.

I'm glad to hear you and your sons had such a great day out and I can promise you when you get out in some deep pow the grins on your faces are gonna take days to go away.

WOW sums it up rather nicely!
The sled was most impressive, and that was on LOUSY snow.
I can ONLY GUESS how cool it will be on some deep powder with a solid base beneath it.

I FULLY EXPECT a full blown Perma-Grin!!!

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

fastmnstealth said:
I loved to read your trip report Christopher! I was a 4 stroke advocate for a number of years too (Polaris FST) and my eyes were opened with a 2011 switchback assault back in 2010. I then found mountain riding and have had a number of RMKs since. No matter the brand, they just keep getting better and better...easier and easier to ride. Of course we keep getting older and older, so that works in our favor

Like Ski-Doo loves to say.
Better rides makes better riders.

At our age, we need to use the Technology to our advantage!

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

slinky said:
I could not be happier for you and your family. I was stoked to read the review and hear how the newer sled allows your family to be out longer with less pain. I hope the new sled (850 Summit) allows for copious amounts of family bonding and fun. I hope we can get a little more snow here so I can take out my new 850 and experience it as well.

Kudos to your son and his marriage. God bless and happy Braaping!

So far so good.:face-icon-small-hap:face-icon-small-hap
To be perfectly honest, I am considering buying a 4th sled at this point.

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

b-litt said:
That was awesome reading your post and seeing those pictures! It made me home sick. My wife and I lived three miles down Fish Creek for about six years. We've been in McCall now for the past two years. Big springs parking lot there was where we kept our rigs all winter to transition from truck/car to sled. Many cold nights spent gearing up for the ride down the trail to our cabin. A few cold walks too after finding out the sleds wouldn't start for various reasons. We started off with Yamaha four strokes for the first couple years as they made great commuter sleds. My first two stroke was in the rev chassis and I remember thinking how much more nimble that was. I can only imagine the difference in your transition. Great story about you and your family. It was very refreshing and fun to read.

For years I have seen various vehicles that looked like they LIVED in that parking lot. Now I know someone who actually owned one of them!!:face-icon-small-hap

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

spudnut said:
Awesome review, I can't wait to take mine out. We are planning on heading up to Island Park Friday. As far as the no windshield goes...I have found as I get older I am willing to sacrifice looking cool (ie - no windshield) for being warmer (ie - yes windshield). The new Gen 4 does not have even a small one. I added the mid-height windshield to mine and a friend of mine added the same to his. I also added one to my 2012 XP when I first bought it, It has no effect on the ride ability of the sled. it does increase the comfort level due to the wind protection. So when you see a gen 4 out there with the old guy windshield wave and say hi.....unless I am stuck then stop and help shovel....

I am perfectly OK with the no windshield.
I can't tell you how many I have had to replace on my Yamahas over the years. I will just change up my KLIM clothing a tad bit to compensate for the extra air flowing over me.

I plan on moving up from Base Layer level 1 to a 2 and see if that is all the more insulation I need.

And, I will be wearing the BCA Avy Vest once we start real riding and that will also add a little more insulation and wind blocking around my torso.

DITCHBANGER · Nov 27, 2016

Christopher, the LOW windshield for the g4 pops on and off in a split second, it can be removed if you are in a bad spot and have to roll it over..so no worries about breaking one

glass&stone · Nov 27, 2016

First ride for me on the 850 from rabbit ears, Colorado. yesterday..... 65 miles of road riding.... so far so good on break in.

elevation roughly 10,000 ft. clickers at 4

I did notice my max revs were over the recommended at ~8300. watched revs the rest of the day. Will likely turn down clickers for now until deeper snow.

no issues with recoil, or temp sensor being loose.

The sled feels nimble and strong so far.... at least on the road.

coming from 6k miles on a 2014 xm sp

Hoping for the best on the this new chassis.

christopher · Nov 27, 2016

DITCHBANGER said:
Christopher, the medium windshield for the g4 pops on and off in a split second, it can be removed if you are in a bad spot and have to roll it over..so no worries about breaking one

That is REMARKABLY EASY to install and remove!
<iframe width="853" height="480" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QLTFfMxxGYM" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Andystoy · Nov 27, 2016

2017 Ski-Doo 850 Summit X: First Ride Impressions

I have installed the mid windshield on my Summit X 165 and don't expect any breakage problems when you have to roll the sled over when stuck. I had the same type of windshield on my 2014 Summit X and it folds back to the bars when rolling over no damage at all. The machine definitely stands out in the unloading area when the younger crowd drives by as uncool though, makes a big difference when riding to and from the staging areas.

>>Ski-Doo 850 Summit-X: First Ride Impressions

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