Major Problems with new G 4

[XFIRE800]

They could never please everyone. I have never ran a skid plate on anyone of my sleds and never intend to. I am all for making the sled as light as possible. I've never put brace kits on my sleds because I feel if I crash into something and it breaks it my fault. As of right now with probably around 700 miles on the G4 my only complaint has been the running boards but I am going to change those when an option becomes available. Ski Doo is going to try and cater to who they think is going to buy the sleds. And being that I have bought 8 Doo's in the past 5 years I think they catered to the right person

Didnt put brace kits on because if you hit something its your fault. I hope you don't live by that logic LOL..... Don't wear rubbers and if you knock her up its your fault.

 

[Wapow]

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

Ha! You've been on a roll lately, keep it up!

 

[rulonjj]

Hitting crap in the snow is rider error. Your bulkhead breaking like a damn eggshell when it happens is not rider error. The bolts or the arms should fail before the bulkhead. Simple as that.

 

[rulonjj]

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

I'm sure your tune will change when your 2 piece bulkhead suddenly becomes a 10 or 15 piece bulkhead.

 

[d1100t]

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

This knucklehead would sooner change the spindle or heim joint or A Arms or whatever breaks or gets bent outside of the bulkhead than have to drive my new sled which cost more than $16,000 Canadian to the dealer that is more than a 1.5 hour drive away (because that's the way it is where I live) and then wait for weeks for the sled to be fixed and than drive back the 1.5 hours to pick it up and hope I don't have to repeat this the next time I clip a rock, a tree or a stump.
I'm not a trail rider. Most of my riding is off trail on logging roads that aren't maintained that lead to swamps and small lakes with creeks and rivers in northern Saskatchewan. That is unless I'm in mountains for a few days.
If I was riding a 850 my guess is I'd be replacing the second bulkhead and my insurance cost would be going up.
I'll say it again. All sleds get rode in the same conditions and BRP sleds are the only ones having this problem. I've seen it a lot.
I know a dealer that has 4 sleds in his shop with broken bulkheads and he didn't sell anywhere near 40 2017 sleds. So that's a lot more than a 10% failure rate.
This knuckhead would sooner own a sled that doesn't have a weak bulkhead.
By the way didn't BRP say that this sled would be stronger than past sleds?

I'm out.
I'll let you get on your soap box now!!!

 

[turboless terry]

I disagree with a bunch this stuff but I do agree that your arms should bend or break first. If people are worried about it they should get a set of alternative Impact arms. I always ran them on the old revs because I always thought skidoo arms were too strong. My bet is skidoos doesn't do anything because the actual number is really small compared to what's out there. You only hear about the broke ones. You never hear about the 2000 that didn't break.

 

[boondocker99]

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

Reality check! No one knows or plans to hit stuff. It happens sooner or later for most mountain riders. Sometimes they are light hits and sometimes they are hard hits. Any MOUNTAIN sled should be able to take a light hit without issue and a hard hit should limit damage to an isolated area. Polaris has figured this out WITHOUT having a heavy sled (lightest sled on the market) so there is no reason Doo can't do better, much better.

The sad truth is although the XM was also bad it could be fixed with aftermarket bracing however the new fully casted bulkhead has so may weak points and is too brittle so no brace kit is going to address it but the jury is still out on that as no one has hit anything with a brace kit installed

Any BTW... 10% bulkhead issues in a year with record snow levels is huge! Polaris riders in total have likely not replaced this many bulkheads in total for the life of the Axys chassis.

The Gen4 is an amazing riding mountain sled and it is great that you are so good that you don't hit anything but that is not reality for the majority of the mountain riders. There was an analogy above of a car hitting something but that analogy is way off. The analogy would be more like a car hitting a pothole... Potholes are common to streets as stumps/rocks are common to mountain riding. Sure we all try to avoid them but **** happens!

I know better then to buy a first year sled and hoping to get a 2018 but it will require Skidoo to address the the bulkhead issue. I would be very surprised and sad if they don't...

 

[jvb]

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

Think you have him confused with someone else!

 

[xpspenziv]

It appears they missed a rivot on my mud flap and it now the flap has popped out. What a crappy sled. At least now I know why I can't sidehill and I'm always stuck. Hopefully Ski Doo issues a recall. I wish I would have bought a Polaris Axys!
??????????????????

FRIDAY SLED.

 

[Old Scud-doo]

I know better then to buy a first year sled and hoping to get a 2018 but it will require Skidoo to address the the bulkhead issue. I would be very surprised and sad if they don't...

Exactly. Bought first year Pro in 2011 and the first year of the second gen Pro in 2013. That's the reason I bought 2016 T3. Decided to wait for a year on the Doo 850. I am either checking an 850 or a Cat for next season. Want a Doo but they definitely need to do something to address the bulk head. My small dealer has had 2 out of 15 break. If the brace kit's don't help and everyone here is using insurance to replace, that is not a warm fuzzy feeling. However, after seeing Polaris Industries leave Pro 800 owners hanging with a throw away motor, I won't hold my breath, and that is sad because the new chassis is really a step up from the XM.

 

[b-litt]

I disagree with saying "Polaris has it figured out". One of the guys that rides a Polaris with me is on his 5th set of arms. He's ended the day early more than anyone I ride with. I've tagged many rocks and stumps hard enough to put me over the bars. That would have been the end of the day and a new set of arms on a Polaris. I have 800 off trail miles. My skis are thrashed from all the rocks they've encountered due to just getting a base in our area a couple weeks ago. My bulkhead has no damage though. That being said I plan to install the brace kit when it arrives in the mail this week. I think it's a smart thing to do. I feel for the guys that have had to replace a bulk head. But if that's what is keeping you from riding or buying this sled then you're missing out.

 

[Sheetmetalfab]

Ha! You've been on a roll lately, keep it up!

Chadly always defies logic.......
And reason......

 

[boondocker99]

I disagree with saying "Polaris has it figured out". One of the guys that rides a Polaris with me is on his 5th set of arms. He's ended the day early more than anyone I ride with. I've tagged many rocks and stumps hard enough to put me over the bars. That would have been the end of the day and a new set of arms on a Polaris. I have 800 off trail miles. My skis are thrashed from all the rocks they've encountered due to just getting a base in our area a couple weeks ago. My bulkhead has no damage though. That being said I plan to install the brace kit when it arrives in the mail this week. I think it's a smart thing to do. I feel for the guys that have had to replace a bulk head. But if that's what is keeping you from riding or buying this sled then you're missing out.

Fair enough but at least on the Polaris it's just the A-arms and there is always aftermarket options for those. There would likely never be an aftermarket bulkhead for the Gen4... Give me the Polaris bulkhead + a-arms on a Gen4 and I would be happy!

 

[turboless terry]

I disagree with saying "Polaris has it figured out". One of the guys that rides a Polaris with me is on his 5th set of arms. He's ended the day early more than anyone I ride with. I've tagged many rocks and stumps hard enough to put me over the bars. That would have been the end of the day and a new set of arms on a Polaris. I have 800 off trail miles. My skis are thrashed from all the rocks they've encountered due to just getting a base in our area a couple weeks ago. My bulkhead has no damage though. That being said I plan to install the brace kit when it arrives in the mail this week. I think it's a smart thing to do. I feel for the guys that have had to replace a bulk head. But if that's what is keeping you from riding or buying this sled then you're missing out.

If you have went through 5 sets of a arms in a season, you need to change what you're doing. If you drive over a box of nails and get a flat, why would you drive over it again and again until you got 4 more. Maybe you didn't see it the first time but after a while I would think you would start looking.

 

[Ski-doo#1]

It is pretty simple to understand.

You hit something when you're moving. You have a strong bulkhead. So the arms give.

You hit something when you're moving. You have strong arms. So the bulkhead gives.

Both items are about the same price. Bulkhead takes more time to replace. Arms are most likely to take out a shock with it. Shocks are by no means inexpensive.

If you put the Poo bulkhead and Doo arms onto a sled the only thing missing from the equation is you hit something when you're moving. DOO you really believe nothing will break in this situation? No, something has to give, I'm sorry to break it to you. Everyone will find something else to blame it on. The only thing that will prevent breaking is eliminating hitting something when you're moving.

This is the sport we play; these are the risks we take; we just flat out love to ride snowmobile. Accept the consequences if this is the sport you play. Seriously if that rock that is sitting out on the mountain that your sled might hit is stopping you from buying the 850 you are indeed missing out on the sport we love, oh and one of the best sleds ever made.

 

[gilestyle1]

My 850 took a pretty good hit last weekend. Probably 20mph or so. Bounced the ski off a stump good enough you could hear it and see the big chunk i took out of it. Bulkhead is perfectly fine. A arms are perfectly fine. To me if my bulkhead can take a hit like that then its doing a good job. If i had hit the stump with an a arm it might be a different story. But laying on the brake and getting stuck is better than taking a hit. I think a lot of the bulkheads being broke is simply the riders fault. Yes a arms could be made weaker to avoid that but overall these bulkheads aren't just falling apart on their own. And so far ive had zero issues with my gen4 other then my kill switch seems to be getting water in it and only working half the time.

 

[boondocker99]

It is pretty simple to understand.

You hit something when you're moving. You have a strong bulkhead. So the arms give.

You hit something when you're moving. You have strong arms. So the bulkhead gives.

Both items are about the same price. Bulkhead takes more time to replace. Arms are most likely to take out a shock with it. Shocks are by no means inexpensive.

If you put the Poo bulkhead and Doo arms onto a sled the only thing missing from the equation is you hit something when you're moving. DOO you really believe nothing will break in this situation? No, something has to give, I'm sorry to break it to you. Everyone will find something else to blame it on. The only thing that will prevent breaking is eliminating hitting something when you're moving.

This is the sport we play; these are the risks we take; we just flat out love to ride snowmobile. Accept the consequences if this is the sport you play. Seriously if that rock that is sitting out on the mountain that your sled might hit is stopping you from buying the 850 you are indeed missing out on the sport we love, oh and one of the best sleds ever made.

Bulkhead vs. a-arms is a huge difference in cost. It's not like you are taking out all 4 a-arms... Yes, taking out a shock will elevate the costs a lot but in some cases it's the bulkhead, a-arms, and shock getting damaged so if the bulkhead is saved that's just time and money saved.. Agree there is no perfect solution you have to question all these bulkheads that are all cracked up!

Most the people defending Skidoo are going to have a change of heart when they find their bulkhead cracked and looking at $1000+ just for parts...

At least with the XM you could put some extra bracing on and have a reasonably strong front end. The jury is still out on bracing for the Gen4 but based on what I have seen I bet it does not help much...

 

[BC SnoX]

Ha Ha i hope everyones brand new sled is terrible

 

[Ski-doo#1]

Bulkhead vs. a-arms is a huge difference in cost. It's not like you are taking out all 4 a-arms... Yes, taking out a shock will elevate the costs a lot but in some cases it's the bulkhead, a-arms, and shock getting damaged so if the bulkhead is saved that's just time and money saved.. Agree there is no perfect solution you have to question all these bulkheads that are all cracked up!

Most the people defending Skidoo are going to have a change of heart when they find their bulkhead cracked and looking at $1000+ just for parts...

At least with the XM you could put some extra bracing on and have a reasonably strong front end. The jury is still out on bracing for the Gen4 but based on what I have seen I bet it does not help much...

Let's be clear. In all of this I'm not counting instances where the whole front end is just smashed because nothing will withstand a head on type collision. I'm talking stumps under the snow, rocks, ski hits and what happens to the sleds after that.

Well I personally had an experience with an XM s-mod and it was only a $230 part. A Poo forged a-arm is $200. So I'm not in for too much of a surprise on the G4. The s-mod for the G4 is only $350 not $1000 considering most instances I've seen haven't taken out all three items.

Obviously I'd rather just have to deal with the a-arm but not if it takes out the shock. If the e-mod is broke too yes, this is a different story, it becomes more expensive. So both cases could be worse. If we are talking JUST S-mod and A-arms the shock is more vulnerable on the Poo than Ski-doo. I have not seen many s-mods, shocks, and arms get bent from ski hits on Doos. However I've seen Poo a-arms and Doo s-mods bust from ski hits. None of them have been small ski hits. But ski hits nonetheless

I personally believe with how easy the G4 is to ride I could care less whether I might bust the G4. Strap in cause just like the 2011-2016 Doos got better, these will too.

 

[Old Scud-doo]

My 850 took a pretty good hit last weekend. Probably 20mph or so. Bounced the ski off a stump good enough you could hear it and see the big chunk i took out of it. Bulkhead is perfectly fine. A arms are perfectly fine. To me if my bulkhead can take a hit like that then its doing a good job. If i had hit the stump with an a arm it might be a different story. But laying on the brake and getting stuck is better than taking a hit. I think a lot of the bulkheads being broke is simply the riders fault. Yes a arms could be made weaker to avoid that but overall these bulkheads aren't just falling apart on their own. And so far ive had zero issues with my gen4 other then my kill switch seems to be getting water in it and only working half the time.

Or you got lucky. Maybe you got a good one. I had a 2010 Dragon 800. Ran great. Zero issues. Does that mean the Poo 800 was perfect? Hell no. I had 2 Pro 800's and got smacked down continuously with those motors. Luck of the draw sometimes.

I don't own an 850 yet. Talked to some people and if they are telling the truth, the hits that caused the carnage were light. That being said, maybe there is some truth to the thought that some of the bulkheads had a bad run. Not ALL Polaris drives had the glue fail. Not all Cat clutches had problems. Not all bulkheads are breaking. I just hope BRP addresses the issue and doesn't look the other way. At least some kind of press release to dealers.

I really want an 850 next year so I am watching the bulk head issue closely as well as the belt issue. I had an 01 800 Summit X that ate a belt every 100 miles. Don't want to go down that path again either.