Major Problems with new G 4

Sharp · Jan 23, 2017

Arctic Cat front heat exchanger. It took a rock up high but didn't puncture it, without the ribs probably would have. Also, if it needed to be replace it wouldn't be as difficult as the skidoo. This is not a bash...I'm just pointing out the difference in design. The ribs on the Cat help protect and also provide better cooling by increasing surface area vs the thinner and smooth surface of the Doo. It's still an awesome sled that's super fun to ride. It would be nice to take the good from each sled to make a better one.

Sharp · Jan 23, 2017

Close-up picture of Cat heat exchanger. You can see the rock damage better in this picture.

Sharp · Jan 23, 2017

Chadly said:
The bulkhead is only weak for those who like to crash into stuff. I stay on the groomed trails so I never hit stuff.

Funny. You never answered my question about riding Mt. Baker. Do you ride there? If so I know you don't ride trails. When are you going to invite me to ride there?

Chadly · Jan 23, 2017

Sharp said:
Funny. You never answered my question about riding Mt. Baker. Do you ride there? If so I know you don't ride trails. When are you going to invite me to ride there?

I rode Baker today and Saturday. I'm not much for riding with people off the forums...

Sharp · Jan 23, 2017

Chadly said:
I rode Baker today and Saturday. I'm not much for riding with people off the forums...

That's okay. Just curious wants wrong with Riding with people off forums? How was the snow? Does it get dry or wet snow?
I want to ride Mt. Baker but would like to go with someone that knows the place first. Well maybe I'll see you up there one of these days.

boondocker99 · Jan 24, 2017

Chadly said:
The bulkhead is only weak for those who like to crash into stuff. I stay on the groomed trails so I never hit stuff.

Why are you in a Summit forum defending a weak bulkhead when you are a trail rider? Makes no sense at all! An BTW, someday you may cross a road or train tracks catching the ski and finding your buildhead is damaged... You still going to be ok with it then?

Any BTW no one "likes" to crash into stuff. It's a fact of life when you ride off trail, sooner or later everyone hits something...

Chadly · Jan 24, 2017

I don't trust people's skill level on the forums. I want to ride with people who everyone else says is really good, not people who have to tell everyone they are really good. I also prefer groups of 4 or smaller and I already have enough people wanting to ride with me. Baker was amazing these past few days. It's a great place to ride but I would suggest that you ride with someone that knows the place. There are plenty of people on this forum (that are much more of a people person and friendlier than I am) that would probably love to show you Baker. Post in the Washington Forum...

Chadly · Jan 24, 2017

xphighmark said:
Why are you in a Summit forum defending a weak bulkhead when you are a trail rider? Makes no sense at all! An BTW, someday you may cross a road or train tracks catching the ski and finding your buildhead is damaged... You still going to be ok with it then?

Any BTW no one "likes" to crash into stuff. It's a fact of life when you ride off trail, sooner or later everyone hits something...

That's why I own multiple sleds. I always have a back up if I crash! I've already ridden 20 times this season and was out just as early as anyone else I know. I thrash on my sleds more than anyone I know and my bulkheads are in one piece with no cracks. Saying Ski Doo is responsible for all these bulkheads is like saying the gun manufactures are responsible for all the murders. I don't care what your skill level is or where or what you like to ride. If you are going to crash into stuff the G 4 might not be for you. A Subaru Station wagon can take way more abuse than a Ferrari. Does that mean you are going to tell me a Ferrari is a POS and Ferrari needs to bulk up everything on their cars?

Norona · Jan 24, 2017

Sharp said:
Arctic Cat front heat exchanger. It took a rock up high but didn't puncture it, without the ribs probably would have. Also, if it needed to be replace it wouldn't be as difficult as the skidoo. This is not a bash...I'm just pointing out the difference in design. The ribs on the Cat help protect and also provide better cooling by increasing surface area vs the thinner and smooth surface of the Doo. It's still an awesome sled that's super fun to ride. It would be nice to take the good from each sled to make a better one.

Actually not true, the ribs are very inefficient at cooling, it is the inside flat part that does the majority of it. In my experience a lot of cat riders experience over heating issues a lot of the time. Still a great sled but the flatter new system is more efficient than the ribs, and stronger and easier to fix on the Ski-Doo.

sledhead9825 · Jan 24, 2017

Chadly said:
That's why I own multiple sleds. I always have a back up if I crash! I've already ridden 20 times this season and was out just as early as anyone else I know. I thrash on my sleds more than anyone I know and my bulkheads are in one piece with no cracks. Saying Ski Doo is responsible for all these bulkheads is like saying the gun manufactures are responsible for all the murders. I don't care what your skill level is or where or what you like to ride. If you are going to crash into stuff the G 4 might not be for you. A Subaru Station wagon can take way more abuse than a Ferrari. Does that mean you are going to tell me a Ferrari is a POS and Ferrari needs to bulk up everything on their cars?

Better comparison... A Porsche can take more abuse than a Ferrari.. And a Ferrari is a POS!! Italian Trash. If your going to beat on a sportscar the way you beat on your sled. Better not buy a Ferrari.

Sharp · Jan 25, 2017

Norona said:
Actually not true, the ribs are very inefficient at cooling, it is the inside flat part that does the majority of it. In my experience a lot of cat riders experience over heating issues a lot of the time. Still a great sled but the flatter new system is more efficient than the ribs, and stronger and easier to fix on the Ski-Doo.

Cat have smaller heat exchangers than Doo, that's why Doos cool better. The ribs do protect the heat exchanger, but of course they can still be damaged. If you are just repairing the heat exchanger and not replacing it then a flat exchanger will be easier to repair than one with ribs, but if you're replacing the exchanger, then a Doo is more complicated only because it's more incorporated into the tunnel than cats. Not bashing just comparing.

Efficient heat exchanger have large surface area to fluid ratios, it's that simple. Increasing the surface area of a heat exchanger, will increase the efficiency of the exchanger. Radiator and air cooled engines use the same principle. Also, a larger amount of fluid a cooling system has, the better it will cool. Ribs increase surface area. Like I said before, I'm not bashing.

Chadly · Jan 25, 2017

sledhead9825 said:
Better comparison... A Porsche can take more abuse than a Ferrari.. And a Ferrari is a POS!! Italian Trash. If your going to beat on a sportscar the way you beat on your sled. Better not buy a Ferrari.

I haven't had any issues with my Ferrari either. She runs like a top. :face-icon-small-coo
I think it's a sad day when you are buying a sled because it's "crashes" better than another one or because you can repair it cheaper because YOU abused it it. Too each their own though!

cascadesnowjunky · Jan 25, 2017

Norona you are wrong on a flat surface being more efficient at cooling. If your theory was correct why do all air cooled engines have fins on the cylinders? Let me guess. Is it because they would cool to much, do they need to keep some of the heat in the engine? I think not. How about fins in a radiator those are not there for looks or for little boys to flatten out with there fingers. Fins create a larger surface area to dissipate more heat. Comments like that just show your lack of knowledge on mechanical equipment. Maybe you should stick to skiing.

fynnigan · Jan 25, 2017

easier to fix maybe . stronger and more efficient ,not a chance, ribbed anything creates more surface and way more strength.

powdermuncher · Jan 25, 2017

You make a ribbed cooler to maximize the cooling ability of a small cooler the smooth large skinny G4 cooler is just a different design -- large surface area integrated as part of the structure. There are different ways to achieve a result this one just happens to save weight and cool better then the old design. Are you really complaining about that now.
If you guys want a heavy sled get one with a solid tunnel and bolted in heavy cooler with lots of ribs to add weight.

shattuck · Jan 25, 2017

Baker riders might be less concerned about weak bulkheads. I'm going to have to look into riding Baker probably won't hit much with 53 feet of snow. Why on earth would anyone just ride trails there? Unless it's so deep you have no choice.

"Mt. Baker also enjoys the unofficially highest average annual snowfall of any resort in the world, with 641 inches (53.4 ft; 16.3 m)."

Sharp · Jan 25, 2017

Chadly doesn't ride trails. That was a joke. I've seen him ride and he's really good.

boondocker99 · Jan 25, 2017

Chadly said:
That's why I own multiple sleds. I always have a back up if I crash! I've already ridden 20 times this season and was out just as early as anyone else I know. I thrash on my sleds more than anyone I know and my bulkheads are in one piece with no cracks. Saying Ski Doo is responsible for all these bulkheads is like saying the gun manufactures are responsible for all the murders. I don't care what your skill level is or where or what you like to ride. If you are going to crash into stuff the G 4 might not be for you. A Subaru Station wagon can take way more abuse than a Ferrari. Does that mean you are going to tell me a Ferrari is a POS and Ferrari needs to bulk up everything on their cars?

Well not everyone can own multiple sleds and despite your belief that Doo cares more about you because you have purchased 8 sleds in the last 5 years that is a "drop in a bucket" compared to the number of sleds sold during that time and most of those people don't have bottomless pockets, actually expecting to get a good quality sled that has a reasonable strength and reliability. I'm not sure if you are just a lucky or don't care because your rich but for normal people a break down that costs $1k-$5k to fix and causes 2-6 weeks of down time during the limited season we have is a big deal and the Gen4 bulkhead is VERY weak compared to the competition which is setting the standard. To most of us spending $13k+ on a sled that can only be used for a few months is a big deal!

Phizzer · Jan 25, 2017

Norona said:
Actually not true, the ribs are very inefficient at cooling, it is the inside flat part that does the majority of it. In my experience a lot of cat riders experience over heating issues a lot of the time. Still a great sled but the flatter new system is more efficient than the ribs, and stronger and easier to fix on the Ski-Doo.

That is definitely not the case when it comes to ANY heat exchanger.

Chadly · Jan 25, 2017

xphighmark said:
Well not everyone can own multiple sleds and despite your belief that Doo cares more about you because you have purchased 8 sleds in the last year that is a "drop in a bucket" compared to the number of sleds sold during that time and most of those people don't have bottomless pockets, actually expecting to get a good quality sled that has a reasonable strength and reliability. I'm not sure if you are just a lucky or don't care because your rich but for normal people a break down that costs $1k-$5k to fix and causes 2-6 weeks of down time during the limited season we have is a big deal and the Gen4 bulkhead is VERY weak compared to the competition which is setting the standard. To most of us spending $13k+ on a sled that can only be used for a few months is a big deal!

It boils down to the kind of riding you do. I ride a lot more than a majority of people so one would think I would be more susceptible to hitting stuff. I don't hit stuff though. I ride where I know the terrain if the snow is marginal. I am personal friends with 2 of the dealers here who move a lot of sleds and they have had less than 10% come back with broken bulkheads. It really is rider error. Bulkheads don't break from racing down a whooped out trail, jumping, or riding deep powder. Now I can understand that if you know you are going to hit stuff you want to get a more durable sled. So go buy a tank. However, there are plenty of pure back country riders that ride very technical terrain that shaving weight is much more important than having something that can crash into rocks and stumps. Ski Doo is not hurting in sales. If you add up the knuckleheads on here that say they will never buy one now because the bulkhead sucks; it's such a small number it's not going to change Ski Doo's thoughts on how they build stuff. The forums are a soap box for guys who have wives and children that won't listen to them at home. And for guys like me who are bored waiting for their next ride :face-icon-small-win

Major Problems with new G 4

Forum Expert

Forum Expert

Forum Expert

Well-known member

Well-known member

Forum Expert

Well-known member

Well-known member

Forum Expert

Similar threads