24 Pro 850 N/A locked up tight 78mi

[Chern_889]

Title says it all, had 2 good days in the mountains on my first trip, drove 14hrs for our second trip, made it 1/2mi from the truck and motor locked up tight. Let the motor warm up before moving, light throttle cruising, engine temp was ~125*f, disappointed is an understatement.

Couch surfing and YouTube for the next 3days while my buddies ride.

 

[Calvin42]

Title says it all, had 2 good days in the mountains on my first trip, drove 14hrs for our second trip, made it 1/2mi from the truck and motor locked up tight. Let the motor warm up before moving, light throttle cruising, engine temp was ~125*f, disappointed is an understatement.

Couch surfing and YouTube for the next 3days while my buddies ride.

Can't get a rental?

 

[Chern_889]

Can't get a rental?

I’m going to rent tomorrow to get at least one day in, conditions aren’t stellar anyways, and don’t want to drop $1500us to rent for 3 days

 

[Calvin42]

Bummer. We spend a ton of money on these sleds. Should be way more reliable.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

Was it difficult to pull over from new? I saw another 850 that went down in no time; it was super tight from new, took both hands to pull over and start, and went down in less than two hundred miles. Makes me wonder if there's a supplier or batch issue. I've always had it in the back of my mind that I could rent if my sled broke on a long trip (and I did once just to try a newer sled), but at $500/day, it'd have to be great conditions to even be worth one day to me (yeah, Chilly says I'm poor...).

I'm not sure an experience like this would turn me off to Polaris forever, but I understand why it does for some (particularly guys like you who have to plan ahead and make a long drive to ride). Not that anyone's perfect, but just too many issues the last couple seasons costing people riding time, and no sense of urgency from Polaris. Somebody already said it in the 2025 rumors thread, but all Polaris needs to do for '25 is make their stuff reliable, and they would dominate.

 

[Chern_889]

Was it difficult to pull over from new? I saw another 850 that went down in no time; it was super tight from new, took both hands to pull over and start, and went down in less than two hundred miles. Makes me wonder if there's a supplier or batch issue. I've always had it in the back of my mind that I could rent if my sled broke on a long trip (and I did once just to try a newer sled), but at $500/day, it'd have to be great conditions to even be worth one day to me (yeah, Chilly says I'm poor...).

I'm not sure an experience like this would turn me off to Polaris forever, but I understand why it does for some (particularly guys like you who have to plan ahead and make a long drive to ride). Not that anyone's perfect, but just too many issues the last couple seasons costing people riding time, and no sense of urgency from Polaris. Somebody already said it in the 2025 rumors thread, but all Polaris needs to do for '25 is make their stuff reliable, and they would dominate.

It was not noticeably tighter to pull over, and the 2 days I did have on it prior, it ran fantastic with zero hiccups.

And I’m also the same, call me poor if that makes you feel better, but I didn’t spend $20k on a new sled, to then have to rent a sled to salvage a trip, our accommodations are nice so I’m taking in the hot tub and sauna and making the best of it.

 

[tdblakes]

You should call Polaris customer service and talk to them about rental reimbursement. Not sure if thats still on the table but it was when my 2019 blew up on a trip out west. They offered to cover rental cost up to a certain $$ per day... worth the call if you're just sitting on the couch otherwise.

 

[NHRoadking]

My buddy's 2023 Pro 850 made it 10 minutes before it blew. Took them 3 weeks to get the new motor in.

 

[Calvin42]

Polaris builds a very capable sled, not reliable. Some people have no issues while others have many. I have a small number of days to ride each year and refuse to spend money on something I have little faith in. It frustrates me as it limits my options. I don't consider myself brand loyal, but know what works for me. I'm sympathetic to anyone that plans a big trip and is stuck in their hotel room due to preventative engineering problems by a manufacturer.

 

[SHERMAN]

I think they have some oil pump issues, first ride of this season on my 9r crank seized up after about 5 miles. 4 weeks later new motor (Polaris shipped it on freight that got tied up forever). first ride today with new motor made it 5 miles… same sh!t. still pulls over barely, but won’t idle and is very unhappy. Pistons and cylinders look ok with a bore scope so I’m guessing crank. 400 trouble free miles last year. Can’t believe my boost has been the reliable sled lol

 

[JeffBrines]

Polaris builds a very capable sled, not reliable. Some people have no issues while others have many. I have a small number of days to ride each year and refuse to spend money on something I have little faith in. It frustrates me as it limits my options. I don't consider myself brand loyal, but know what works for me. I'm sympathetic to anyone that plans a big trip and is stuck in their hotel room due to preventative engineering problems by a manufacturer.

Outside the P-22 clutch issue, I'm not convinced most of these problems are engineering in nature but rather QA. Their processes around manufacturing, supply chain management etc is what keeps kicking their butts IMO. The world's greatest engineering means nothing if your vendors can't reliably hit spec - and I think this is where most of their issues come from.

 

[BeartoothBaron]

Outside the P-22 clutch issue, I'm not convinced most of these problems are engineering in nature but rather QA. Their processes around manufacturing, supply chain management etc is what keeps kicking their butts IMO. The world's greatest engineering means nothing if your vendors can't reliably hit spec - and I think this is where most of their issues come from.

I'd include the hyfax issue as and engineering mistake, but I'd agree that most of the problem isn't design and engineering. The failure rate on the 850 when it rolled out was pretty high, but if you got a good one, it seems it'll last as long as anything (I think even without the added locating ring they went with in '20). Some things, like the blocked oil line on the early 850s, could have been avoided with more careful assembly. I'm not sure if it's more QC or supplier issues that need to be addressed, but a little of both would go a long way. If you're shelling out $20k for a sled, an extra $500 to cut out most premature failures seems like a no-brainer to me.

 

[turboless terry]

Outside the P-22 clutch issue, I'm not convinced most of these problems are engineering in nature but rather QA. Their processes around manufacturing, supply chain management etc is what keeps kicking their butts IMO. The world's greatest engineering means nothing if your vendors can't reliably hit spec - and I think this is where most of their issues come from.

Buddy went sledding with us and it was his first time out. Brand new 23 boost. Bogging all day. He has a 22 boostthat he had all sorts of problems with. He finally got mad and went back to trailer and called his dealer. 24 boost and 9r run stellar and that 325 track is the best they have ever had. The scratchers work but their brake sucks. Completely ruins it for me in the trees. Brakes getting changed out or I'm done with them. Polaris junk. How do they ruin something that been good forever. No other manufacturer has stop ride for brakes. 22 and 23 were fine. My other buddy's 22 boost was awesome until they did updates. Shouldn't have took it in. People talking about holdover 23 boosts for a deal. If riding means anything, i wouldn't do it or make sure you have a spare.
Hope you get yours fixed.

 

[Chern_889]

So dropped the sled off at my dealer and they dug into it right away, PTO side cylinder seized up as I expected, but unfortunately they cannot determine why.

So it’s getting a new top end and injectors as a precautionary, doesn’t really give me the warm and fuzzies for my future riding.

My local dealer has been nothing but awesome and trying to assist as much as possible.

Polaris customer service has been not so stellar, I ended up renting for 1 day and requested my rental be reimbursed for that day(it was through a “Polaris adventures” outfit) and they would not commit to that over the phone, I had to old school snail mail paper receipts(that I printed from emails, smart) with a form and will have to wait up to 30 days for them to consider reimbursement.

But if they don’t consider it valid, they won’t let me know, it’ll be silence.

Best buddy could do over the phone was a $250 parts and accessories coupon, guess I’ll take that and go **** myself with it…..

 

[b-litt]

Welcome to sledding. I love how guys act like this a is a new thing, and only a polaris issue. Anyone that’s been in the sport knows having one sled is a risky move if you want to ride consistently.

 

[cateye5312]

I've had over 50 Polaris sleds in the past 20 years and yes there have been some not so minor issues but I think I've only two had motors burn down in that time. One was a carbed sled jetted too lean and the other was a bad oil pump. Once in awhile you're gonna have one if you do this sport much. I do agree with having a spare sled - I've drug out the spare lots of times, usually because I just got through breaking something! That said, I am pretty sick of all the recent recalls. It's impossible to keep up with them all! And my wife's '24 brake does suck ... We finally have it dialed in a bit with an adjustable after market brake lever but it's still not as good as her Axys was. Going backwards is the wrong direction Poo!

 

[cateye5312]

I've had over 50 Polaris sleds in the past 20 years and yes there have been some not so minor issues but I think I've only two had motors burn down in that time. One was a carbed sled jetted too lean and the other was a bad oil pump. Once in awhile you're gonna have one if you do this sport much. I do agree with having a spare sled - I've drug out the spare lots of times, usually because I just got through breaking something! That said, I am pretty sick of all the recent recalls. It's impossible to keep up with them all! And my wife's '24 brake does suck ... We finally have it dialed in a bit with an adjustable after market brake lever but it's still not as good as her Axys was. Going backwards is the wrong direction Poo!

Let's change that now to ABSOLUTELY SICK of all the recalls! This one today is just too much! Good God! How ridiculous can Polaris get?

 

[HCRRider]

If your riding Polaris, you better have two! With the shorter seasons it seems here in Northeast, if you have something serious happen and you have to take it to dealer, your season might be done. I used to sell the spare sled, not I just rotate the oldest one out and have two. One breaks, and another in the stable. Sucks but thats just how it is

 

[duncan76]

Welcome to sledding. I love how guys act like this a is a new thing, and only a polaris issue. Anyone that’s been in the sport knows having one sled is a risky move if you want to ride consistently.

You mean anybody in the sport that rides a Polaris needs to have a back up.

 

[duncan76]

Let's change that now to ABSOLUTELY SICK of all the recalls! This one today is just too much! Good God! How ridiculous can Polaris get?

Polaris - hold my beer