D
Would like to hear from technical riders who have come off a pro and moved to an XM. Need to buy a sled this week and too torn for words. Wish I had ridden an XM last year so I could see what I think.
Off a pro and on an XM? Positives? negatives?
- Thread starter dh1
- Start date
What kind of terrain do you like to ride? Past sleds? Did you ever ride an XP? Where do you ride the most? Most important, how is the Doo dealer? Poo dealer?
Ace
Ace
The xm steers easier and in the right snow it is effortless. It has more power and rides better. You can put your weight in the footwell to make it stuff the front end to slow you down on the steep stuff. The pro is better in the really steep sidehills. The xm can have a tendency to dive and want to swap ends and you are really close to a yard sale, on really steep stuff, before you get it corrected. The running boards drag and slow you down in some instances. The xm is noticeably heavier when trying to flip it over backwards. As far as riding it , you don't notice the weight. The xm trenches a little comared to the pro. The pro jumps up on the snow as good as anything. The pro has a really good powder track but there are better all around tracks. This is my opinion but the pro has a more correct steering. I can ride either one. The xm , when riser is inline with the post, turns into the seat. The pro bars are up higher, because of the verticle post, and I believe it gives you better leverage when the sled is on it's side. It is a preference thing. The pro doesn't need all the little trinkets such as 36 inch front end, t-motion and flex edge track to make it work. A little counter steer and move your weight around is all it needs. Even though it sounds like i am knocking the xm, I'm not because it flat out works. I think less experienced riders will have an easier time on an xm. Both sleds are awesome and the whole thing is a preference thing. You can't go wrong with either. I think there will be days when I like the xm better and there will be some I wish I had my pro back. You should take what I and anyone else tells you with a grain of salt. Don't let anyone else pick your sled. Especially someone you don't know or have not rode with.
good review terry
i think you hit the nail on the head
Dh1 umm i understand your trying to figure out your next sled BUT
YOU SHOULD GO RIDE BOTH ! these forums are great for info and ideas
but when it comes to feedback its all personal
so happy hunting they're both awsome sleds
let it snow
ps Qs asked in said section tend to lean toward favor in that sections haha
i think you hit the nail on the head
Dh1 umm i understand your trying to figure out your next sled BUT
YOU SHOULD GO RIDE BOTH ! these forums are great for info and ideas
but when it comes to feedback its all personal
so happy hunting they're both awsome sleds
let it snow
ps Qs asked in said section tend to lean toward favor in that sections haha
Last edited:
D
thanks for the responses. To answer Ace's questions: I ride steep trees with as deep a powder as can. I have never owned a Ski Doo. The dealers seem good around me. I mostly ride Cle Elum area, Gallagher, teanaway, reecer creek out of ellensburg, and Snoqualmie area, gold creek. In the spring Mt Baker. I've been riding for a very long time and have owned mountain sleds when they came out except ski doo. I weigh about 190 lbs all geared up. I rode a pro for one full day last year and liked it a lot. and an xm for 10 minutes on one of the toughest rides of my life last year and didn't like it. Our entire group was working hard on our familiar sleds to get through extremely deep terrain. I dismiss my impression of the xm on that day as it was VERY challenging on my own familiar sled. Not a fair test. 10 minutes really told me nothing. I of course would prefer to ride an XM this year for a few hours and then decide but don't want to miss out on this 3 year bumper to bumper thing going on till this Saturday. Pretty sure I can make any sled work well, just don't want to give up to much during technical riding as the extreme rides require something easy to ride or you don't make it into places the group is heading to. Going to flip a coin I guess.
thanks
thanks
You won't be able to test ride in any decent snow by this Saturday, unless you take it to Revy. I would buy the one that was the best value to you... Price, warranty, and dealer. I don't think there is a bad choice between the 2, and I ride the XM.
Ace
Ace
We have spent lots of time on both sleds in the same areas you ride.
Quick summary:
The pro is easier to ride all day in the timber. I know what the xm fans will say. "I can take my xm anywhere that a pro can go". I agree with the comment but would challenge you to follow a pros line all day in the trees and see who is more tired. The pro fit and finish is poor compared xm. Polaris quality is poor compared to doo.
In our experience the xm does all but trees better compared to the pro.
Quick summary:
The pro is easier to ride all day in the timber. I know what the xm fans will say. "I can take my xm anywhere that a pro can go". I agree with the comment but would challenge you to follow a pros line all day in the trees and see who is more tired. The pro fit and finish is poor compared xm. Polaris quality is poor compared to doo.
In our experience the xm does all but trees better compared to the pro.
I had a 12 and 13 Pro and my sons had 13 XMs and this year I will be on a Pro-Lite 900 or one of the XMs. You ride where I ride. I think you can tell that the XM was developed in heavier costal snow and the Pro was developed in the lighter, dryer snow of ID, WY and CO and I think the XM works better around here. I really liked the way the Pro would hold steep(so steep the hill pulls you off the sled) downhill sidehills and the ease with which it would hold lines with precision. I did hill climbs back to back when both the Doo and Poo 163s were stone stock and there was maybe 1/2 sled length difference. The higher power of the Doo was balanced out by the lighter weight of the Poo, at the track there is very little difference. The Doo gets about 20% better mileage, on our sleds it was really consitent. I fill the sleds from a metered pump so I know this is correct. The Poo used way less oil, actually kinda scary how little oil it used. As Roosterbuilt said the fit and finish of the Ski Doo products is much better than the Polaris. I had none of the common problems with my Pros. A few things I really didn't like about the Pro and Polaris; smokes a lot on start up and stunk us out of the trailer, the reverse switch works poorly, the ride flat out sucks, the dealers locally to us leave a lot to be desired(putting it nice here but I did have a great experience at Larson's with the one warranty item I personally had to deal with), Polaris is HORRIBLE with warranty and quality issues, track works mediocre at best in our wet heavy snow, stock A-arms crumble when they fail and make getting out on a bent or broken a-arm a chore. All that said I loved my 13 Pro after I put and X3 track, Roosterbuilt clutch and Raptor shocks on it. I would still be riding it this year if I hadn't test rode that 900. Both sleds feel very different and it would take me 2-3 rides when switching around to feel comfortable and forget what the other sled felt like. Let us know what you decide on and how it works for you as the season moves on.:face-icon-small-ton
S
I'm no professional rider but I will say that the biggest difference for me is the steering geometry, if you can get used to both more power to ya, they are completely different one from another in that aspect, other than that they are mostly comparable.
dh1 you should post this question in the Pro section too. You will get a different perspective there.
I rote this big long-*** thing last year with some opinions;
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342738
http://www.snowest.com/forum/showthread.php?t=342738
J
This is the most honest post I've ever seen comparing the two sleds. Sums it up very good, I agree with the comments.
The xm definitely takes some getting used to but after a few hours on it(took me 5 hours) It became really easy to ride the power is super smooth and the chassis is very well balanced! the steering is the main thing I had to get used to.
K
XM Rocks
I was the Tour Manager on the comparison tour where we rode Polaris, Ski-Doo, and Arctic Cat for 2 months all over the US West. I really like the XM for most conditions. I think the steering is less effort, the suspension is softer, thus easier to initiate and maintain sidehills and even beats you up less on the trail, most importantly I believe the XM gets better traction and is more controllable through tight trees. The only modification I made was shorten the riser by 3 inches which helps me get forward and make less drastic corrections. I'm riding a 2013 SP for this season. How about I-90 MotorSports in Issiquah? Remko or Tom will set you up.
I was the Tour Manager on the comparison tour where we rode Polaris, Ski-Doo, and Arctic Cat for 2 months all over the US West. I really like the XM for most conditions. I think the steering is less effort, the suspension is softer, thus easier to initiate and maintain sidehills and even beats you up less on the trail, most importantly I believe the XM gets better traction and is more controllable through tight trees. The only modification I made was shorten the riser by 3 inches which helps me get forward and make less drastic corrections. I'm riding a 2013 SP for this season. How about I-90 MotorSports in Issiquah? Remko or Tom will set you up.
D
All great points guys. Truly appreciated. If I go XM I'll be posting my experience with the change.
S
I was able to demo 2 stock sleds for 2 full days together. 163 Pro and XM, also had 155 Pro and rode another 163 Pro with front shock work done (handled much better). I have always owned Poo (came off 08 Dragon). The only things i felt the Pro did better was go straight up the hill and maintained sidehill (Doo wants to point uphill). I am 5-10 and 210 riding weight. For the life of me i could not ride the Pro nearly as well (decent rider, riding 13yrs). Swapped the Doo out with several Pro guys and they liked it. Doo fit and finish way better, power felt noticeably better eventhough XM was E-start and weights 50lbs more. 1st day i swapped out a bunch, 2nd day I rode the Pro for all of 10min. 2nd day was some pretty technical riding (to much on a borrowed sled for sure) but at the end of the day i was not exhausted, kid riding the Pro (13yrs younger than me) was exhausted. I wanted to like the Pro but in the end I was sold on the XM. Who knows in 5 yrs I may like Arctic Cat better. Imagine if i had never been able to demo i would have been happy with buying another Polaris......until my drive belt or jack shaft broke......
The real issue is the frikin companies don't come out west and demo them. I was very lucky to get both sleds at same time for demos.
I hear Lifestyles will meet you on the weekends on the hill and let you demo a new sled if you call in advance, othee than that you gota know someone.
The real issue is the frikin companies don't come out west and demo them. I was very lucky to get both sleds at same time for demos.
I hear Lifestyles will meet you on the weekends on the hill and let you demo a new sled if you call in advance, othee than that you gota know someone.
Here's an honest question for the doo guys...and I'm not just being a smart ***. Sorry if this is a little off-topic, but reliability always comes up when comparing these 2.
I've been helping a friend look for a 2010+ doo, and have been blown away at how many sleds for sale have rebuilt or replaced motors around 2000 ish miles. P-teks and etecs. Is that more the norm for piston replacement than is generally known? Any thoughts? Lord knows we have all heard about piston replacement on the pols....
I've been helping a friend look for a 2010+ doo, and have been blown away at how many sleds for sale have rebuilt or replaced motors around 2000 ish miles. P-teks and etecs. Is that more the norm for piston replacement than is generally known? Any thoughts? Lord knows we have all heard about piston replacement on the pols....
I think the P-teks and early e tecs had issues but ski doo started using better pistons and the e tecs don't seem to have the crank issues that the P teks had but I'm not sure why.
To the best of my knowledge, the P-tek crank issue was pretty focused on the 2007 Rev's and maybe some 2008 XP's. Incorrect tolerance on the center crank bearing from what I recall on the 2 motors that puked in my 2007 rev. I think they had that pretty ironed out by mid 2008 model year....the 3rd engine that went in my Rev was a "2008 engine" and it was problem free.
I was just really surprized at the number of engine failures/rebuilds in the for sale threads, when in the other sections, doo seems to have developed a good reputation for reliability over the past few years. Genuinely surprised....not just trying to stir the pot.
Similar threads
