My sled, the mods I've made, and some riding with friends.
A friend I work with, Bob, recently got me involved with the sport of snowmobiling. We have a nice riding area at Tollgate, OR, which encompasses wooded hilly terrain, 250+ miles of trails, and a large open meadows and a lake that is frozen over during the winter. I bought the 1994 Polaris XLT snowmobile that he had for sale.
The XLT model is based on the "Wedge" Indy chassis that was produced by Polaris for a number of years. The engine is a triple cylinder 2 stroke piston port design and makes around 88HP stock. The Wedge chassis also came with twin cylinder engines and ones with EFI.
The "Xtra Light Triple" engine uses an oil injection system so no fuel premix is required, and uses Mikuni VM34 34mm carburetors. A Mikuni vacuum-operated fuel pump supplies fuel. Normally the engine comes with a single exhaust pipe and muffler. The SLP pipes on this sled kick the power up to 110HP or so. This picture is with the airbox removed.
The transmission system is a CVT or Constantly Variable Transmission. The front pulley houses a variable clutch system that utilizes a spring and set of weighted arms that change the effective pulley size based on speed and torque requirements.
One of the first modifications I made was a set of three inch riser blocks that moved the handlebar up roughly three inches. This helped greatly when standing up and "boondocking" but more height was needed, plus the risers I machined moved the handlebar back a little as well.
The stock runningboards on the XLT (and other Indy sleds) have almost zero traction. Hi-Performance carries the Surefoot II runningboard inserts that are very nice, made out of aluminum, and makes a HUGE difference in traction when there is snow on the runningboards and you're either hanging off the side boondocking or climbing a hill with the throttle full on.
Another view of the Surefoot II inserts. I also added Surefoot II Extenders that poprivet onto the runningboard rails and add 11.5 inches of traction behind the Surefoot II runningboard inserts. If you're running an older Indy sled, I HIGHLY recommend this mod. You won't regret it!
Most snowmobiles, regardless of brand, have carbide wear strips on the bottom of the front skis and they will dig trenches in a concrete floor instantly. I made up a set of dollies for moving my snowmobile around the shop and protecting the floor. These are the ones for the front skis.
The cleats on the rear track tend to fold under when a sled is left sitting in one place for a long period of time. I cut down a 2X4 to be a 2X2.5 (roughly) and positioned them to clear the cleats. This way, the weight is transferred through the track straight to the track rails.
A picture of me cutting it up a little. The sled looks decent from a ways away, but really needs a new paint job. When I bought this sled, Bob had installed an Xtra-10 rear track/suspension out of a 1997 Polaris RMK, along with Holz suspension parts and Fox Shox.
Here's Dan playing on his '04 Polaris 700 Edge sled.
Dave on his Ski-doo cutting a turn as he crests a rise.
Dave (in the lead) and Dan in the powder.
Dan, his wife, and Dave parked.
Today I added a Powermadd handlebar adapter and 4 inch riser block. Total lift is about 5.5 inches, and is adjustable fore and aft. Should make a huge difference when boondocking in the powder.
A picture of the tilt adapter before the riser was installed.
Snowmobile resources: Messageboards: Hardcore Sledder, Snowest, Snowmobile Fanatics, Snowmobile World
Tech Info: Maintenance info and PDFs
Photos: Image gallery