03` Vertical Escape, Opinions on sled.

I bought one new and still ride it. It is an awesome sled. The slp single pipe really woke up that sled. They came with really good shocks and if they have been recently rebuilt, he should be real happy with them. As for must do's, that would be the slp intake covers to keep snow and water out of the air box. Add the 1 1/2" flow rites on either sife of the dash. Those two things make a huge difference on deep powder days. Check to make sure the headlight is still sealed up well around the hood. The foam fell out of mine 2 years ago and it did on a couple of other edges I've been around. When the foam falls out and you stick the nose in fresh powder, the air box gets a big shot of snow and the sled just falls on it face. Are you riding it at the same elevations as the previous owner? If not, you may have some jetting and/or clutching to do.

Everything theultrarider said and replace the primary spring, they start wearing out when you install them. Put in 19/42 gears, remove the sway bar, powder pro skis, and a highrise seat.

Stock they are 130 something, about 150 with a single and 160 with twins. Mine started out stock, then the single after a couple months, then twins after a couple years with the single. The twins pull hard at wot. The single is a huge gain everywhere. As for the swaybar, some like them some don't. icp said pull it. many do just that. Personally, I prefer the sway bar. But then again I am 6'1" and 240 and have no issue throwing it around. They are much more stable in the bumps with the swaybar. Ride it first before pulling it. When you do pull it, do it right and REMOVE it, do not just cut it off. It only takes 5-10 minutes to pull it without destroying it. Unhook the trailing arm on one side. Then drill out the rivets holding the guides on the bulkhead where the swaybar goes through it. At that point it will just pull right through the bulkhead and out. If he wants to put it back on, reverse the process and it will only take a few minutes once again. The stock gearing on that sled is 19/39. I too went to 19/43. You have to get the next size longer chain. It pulls alot harder on the bottom and helps to keep belt heat in check. Very common mod. either 19/42 or 19/43. With my weight I went to the lower gearing, and I like that the chain is not piched as tight as the 42.

nice sled....Carry extra h2o/oil pump belt....change it in the warm shop so you know just how to do it in freezing cold. replace once a year no matter what. You also should buy the kevlar gates belts not the polaris ones if you can find them.

I would change the front engine mounts. The engine will naturally tear the engine mounts apart and then you start twisting the crankcase, which leads to crank failure. Then you need to check those engine mounts every ride by lifting up on the VES extensions and checking for any movement. Double nut the engine mount bolts because they come loose as well. Tighten the torque stop up by the clutches, to zero gap. And replace it when the rubber starts to disentegrate.

Look for cracks in the tunnel below both footrests and beneath the black plastic trim pieces at the rear. If you have cracks then you need to reinforce them before riding. The rear crack repair involves 4 structural rivets and a 4 inch long 3/4 x 3/4 aluminum angle. You also need to drill a round hole in the exact end of the crack itself to reduce stress concentrations that otherwise would allow the crack to continue to grow. Which is a bad thing. The front tunnel crack repair involves an 8 inch piece of aluminum angle that you install bolts on either side of the crack, in order to take the full force of any future trailing arm front impacts. Use stainless steel bolts and nylon insert lock nuts. For the front 1/4" or 5/16" bolt, you are drilling a hole through the center of a preexisting hole in your sloping footrest, and then through your new angle. To attach the back end of this angle, I then used 3 stove bolts through the bottom of the footrest that were set in a pattern that matched the dimples in the footrest. Better to bend up a trailing arm than crack your tunnel.

Check the slider bolt that is behind the front idle wheel because it likes to come loose.

Check the thermister wires to see if they are bent as they come out of the top of the cylinder head. Replace if bent.

Check the gears. Replace if teeth are not symmetrical.

Change out as many bearings as you can get to. Especially at the rear idler wheels, and the front drivers.

Check the shock grommets to see if the bolt hole as been oversized from wear.

Check the VES diaphragms for tiny wear marks, even though they are not yet leaking oil.

Carry extra VES diaphragms, VES gaskets and an extra reed case. And of course the tools to replace them in the field. The sled will fall flat on it's face if either you break a reed or blow a hole in a gasket.

800 escape

I had a 2004 Escape I bought it new, my riding buddy still has it. Great sled from the begining and responded well to mods and was a blast to ride.
SLP single pipe, SLP airbox mod, Flowrites in the dash,Boysen rage cage reeds,bored carbs,plug decompression holes, stock gearing, balanced clutch.
I would replace the primary and secondary spring, I do it about every other year no matter what condition it looks in. I would use Redline Oil also.
Carl's Cycle was great to deal with, helped me do mods that did not break the bank but made it run better than the average 800.
Hope he enjoys his new sled as much as I did mine.

I really like my 03 RMK 800 153 w/ SLP pipe/can, even without the Vertical Escape package.

Add the wide bearing to the engine.
The ski stance width is supposed to be adjustable down to 38".

03RMK800 said:

I really like my 03 RMK 800 153 w/ SLP pipe/can, even without the Vertical Escape package.

Add the wide bearing to the engine.
The ski stance width is supposed to be adjustable down to 38".

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Ski stance is non adjustable on the escapes....

Nothing to add, other than I'm another happy 03 Escape owner. Wish mine had a frickin' pipe though.

Congrats!!! That looks to be in great shape and already has the slp single and boards on it. Make sure to do the intake covers, flowrites, and high flow airbox mod...all from slp. Pretty cheap mods. Most days it takes a dyno truthfully to tell the difference. Others will argue that the can feel it. BUT, on a deep powder day, The difference is amazing as it will run great (same as always) even when snorkeling throw the snow. Now it sounds like Dad needs one too:beer;

Was gonna suggest better boards but looks like you already have them. Great, clean lookin' sled:face-icon-small-hap

Nice ride

Impressive. Pretty much all the major points were coverred. You want an Almond/Red polaris primary spring. Change the counter weights to hit the right rpm. Can't remember what I ran for a stocker in the secondary. I do know I ran a dual angle helix... again can't remember the #'s. As far as the gearing goes. I stay as high as the motor will pull...=track speed. The stock 800 gearing is a good gear. Top gear was 21 teeth I think. On the 700 it was 19 teeth and the lower was 39. Can't remember the bottom on the 800. One tooth on the top will do a major change. One tooth on the bottom will be a minor change. A 2:1 ratio is pretty close to what you want. If the sled won't pull it then 2.1 or 2.2:1 is ok. A simple way to check your clutching is to take a felt pen and start at the hub of each clutch and draw a line outwards. Take a pull and when you are done the pull you want to check kill the engine. The pen will be wiped away by the belt. This way you will know where the belt is running and if it is shifting all the way. A good book on clutching is Olaf Aaens clutch tuning manual. It has a lot of good info. He also has a carb tuning book that is worth looking at. Both are about $20 each.

I'm not sure on the 03 but on the 02 RMK you could widen or narrow the ski stance. Worth looking at.

D. :beer;

'03 Escape had the best graphics package ever imho on a stock sled.

smwizzz said:

Impressive. Pretty much all the major points were coverred. You want an Almond/Red polaris primary spring. Change the counter weights to hit the right rpm. Can't remember what I ran for a stocker in the secondary. I do know I ran a dual angle helix... again can't remember the #'s. As far as the gearing goes. I stay as high as the motor will pull...=track speed. The stock 800 gearing is a good gear. Top gear was 21 teeth I think. On the 700 it was 19 teeth and the lower was 39. Can't remember the bottom on the 800. One tooth on the top will do a major change. One tooth on the bottom will be a minor change. A 2:1 ratio is pretty close to what you want. If the sled won't pull it then 2.1 or 2.2:1 is ok. A simple way to check your clutching is to take a felt pen and start at the hub of each clutch and draw a line outwards. Take a pull and when you are done the pull you want to check kill the engine. The pen will be wiped away by the belt. This way you will know where the belt is running and if it is shifting all the way. A good book on clutching is Olaf Aaens clutch tuning manual. It has a lot of good info. He also has a carb tuning book that is worth looking at. Both are about $20 each.

I'm not sure on the 03 but on the 02 RMK you could widen or narrow the ski stance. Worth looking at.

D. :beer;

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Actually the stock gearing on the 03 Escape was 19/39, which was pretty good. I finally have dropped mine to 19/43 and I really like the way that works out for me. I ride tight trees and alot of technical stuff. That, and I weight 240 in street clothes. My boy @130 ripped on it with stock gearing in it. He saw 300-500 more prm out of a pull than I did. The gearing got me my r's back.