So.... on my last trip out this past weekend, I had a failure on my Arctic Cat which took it down late in the day of day 2 of a 3.5 day trip. So I decided to rent. Called around and ended up going to Land O Lakes Recreation as they had short notice availability.
LAND O LAKES RECREATION REVIEW:
We rolled in around 10am and was informed that their standard rental was a MXZ 600. This was NOT enticing to me, as I know the 600 isn't all that fast. So I pleaded with them to rent anything they might have that was faster. They let me know they had a 900 GSX in the lot and I could have that.
The guy at the desk was a bit of an asshole if I'm being honest. One of the guys in my crew (5 dudes) who were obviously with me went to grab the key off the counter as I was filling out my paperwork so he could start loading the sled on his trailer (he mentioned this out loud before he went for the key). The dude behind the counter snapped at him and told him to put the key back. My guy was like, "OK, man! Not trying to make problems, was just going to load the sled up...." Counter guy answers, "Yeah, we'll get there. We will give you the key when we go outside to look at the sled."
So then I get to the last page of the rental agreement and its talking about how I'm liable for EVERYTHING wear related from skis, carbides as well as panels, windshield, seat, etc... so I ask, "are we going to look over the sled before I agree to all this stuff?" Same counter dude says, "We will go over the sled with you outside." Me: "So I'm supposed to just agree to all this stuff blindly and sign?" Counterguy: "Yep. Pretty much." Me: "Great. Just making sure..."
Go outside after he charges my card... but struggled to do so. Tried the chip and swiping the card 3-4 times with his system failing to work. His card reader wasn't working right. So he had to type in the card # to get it to work. He wasn't happy about that. Card went through fine after manually entering the #s. WTF. So we go outside to "look over the sled" and the helper guy literally puts the key in the ignition, shows me how to start it and put it in reverse and says, "have fun." and starts to walk away.
Cool guy, thanks for showing me all the wear items I just agreed to being in good shape....
I ask him if he minds loading it on the trailer (since they denied my buddy doing so 20min earlier) and he obliges me.
SLED REVIEW:
This was a 2015 Skidoo GSX 900, a pretty run of the mill 4-stroke touring sled based on the "renound" and highly praised REV chassis.
We unloaded the sled from the trailer at the cabin and got geared up. I took it out on the lake behind the cabin and quickly found out it was miserable slow. Like really, REALLY slow. This is a problem because I came from a turbo Arctic Cat F1100 the day before. On the lake, it would do 78mph MAX. But I sucked it up anyway, and rode the sled to enjoy a day of riding without speed.
What I found after a decent day of riding (~130mi) on rather beat trails (Sunday riding) is that the Skidoo REV chassis is actually a pretty damn decently handling sled. Its also probably the most comfortable sled I've ridden, over Polaris, and AC and certainly Yamaha (which is now AC too).
This sled really handled whoops more gracefully than anything I've been on. Steering was impacted only slightly and the sled went where you pointed it regardless of the terrain you were on. It was extremely compliant.
On the tighter twisty forest trails, this sled actually let me ride pretty damn aggressively without beating me up as much as my AC would have. It wasn't as fast, but it definitely let me ride plenty hard and faster than others on higher performing sleds (granted, this is impacted by individual rider style).
All in all, I'm surprised by the chassis and very happy with how it handles. I'm NOT happy at all with the wide open power. Even just trail riding on long straight stretches, the group had to slow up to let me stay with them. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A THING AT ALL.
Would I buy a Skidoo? Maybe. But it wouldn't be a 900. The 1200 which I also rode (yellow sled pic'd above that a guy in the group rides is a '15 MXZ TNT 1200), could be a contender... but the infamous throttle lag is a real thing and something I instantly criticized after jumping on his sled.
LAND O LAKES RECREATION REVIEW:
We rolled in around 10am and was informed that their standard rental was a MXZ 600. This was NOT enticing to me, as I know the 600 isn't all that fast. So I pleaded with them to rent anything they might have that was faster. They let me know they had a 900 GSX in the lot and I could have that.
The guy at the desk was a bit of an asshole if I'm being honest. One of the guys in my crew (5 dudes) who were obviously with me went to grab the key off the counter as I was filling out my paperwork so he could start loading the sled on his trailer (he mentioned this out loud before he went for the key). The dude behind the counter snapped at him and told him to put the key back. My guy was like, "OK, man! Not trying to make problems, was just going to load the sled up...." Counter guy answers, "Yeah, we'll get there. We will give you the key when we go outside to look at the sled."
So then I get to the last page of the rental agreement and its talking about how I'm liable for EVERYTHING wear related from skis, carbides as well as panels, windshield, seat, etc... so I ask, "are we going to look over the sled before I agree to all this stuff?" Same counter dude says, "We will go over the sled with you outside." Me: "So I'm supposed to just agree to all this stuff blindly and sign?" Counterguy: "Yep. Pretty much." Me: "Great. Just making sure..."
Go outside after he charges my card... but struggled to do so. Tried the chip and swiping the card 3-4 times with his system failing to work. His card reader wasn't working right. So he had to type in the card # to get it to work. He wasn't happy about that. Card went through fine after manually entering the #s. WTF. So we go outside to "look over the sled" and the helper guy literally puts the key in the ignition, shows me how to start it and put it in reverse and says, "have fun." and starts to walk away.
Cool guy, thanks for showing me all the wear items I just agreed to being in good shape....
I ask him if he minds loading it on the trailer (since they denied my buddy doing so 20min earlier) and he obliges me.
SLED REVIEW:
This was a 2015 Skidoo GSX 900, a pretty run of the mill 4-stroke touring sled based on the "renound" and highly praised REV chassis.
We unloaded the sled from the trailer at the cabin and got geared up. I took it out on the lake behind the cabin and quickly found out it was miserable slow. Like really, REALLY slow. This is a problem because I came from a turbo Arctic Cat F1100 the day before. On the lake, it would do 78mph MAX. But I sucked it up anyway, and rode the sled to enjoy a day of riding without speed.
What I found after a decent day of riding (~130mi) on rather beat trails (Sunday riding) is that the Skidoo REV chassis is actually a pretty damn decently handling sled. Its also probably the most comfortable sled I've ridden, over Polaris, and AC and certainly Yamaha (which is now AC too).
This sled really handled whoops more gracefully than anything I've been on. Steering was impacted only slightly and the sled went where you pointed it regardless of the terrain you were on. It was extremely compliant.
On the tighter twisty forest trails, this sled actually let me ride pretty damn aggressively without beating me up as much as my AC would have. It wasn't as fast, but it definitely let me ride plenty hard and faster than others on higher performing sleds (granted, this is impacted by individual rider style).
All in all, I'm surprised by the chassis and very happy with how it handles. I'm NOT happy at all with the wide open power. Even just trail riding on long straight stretches, the group had to slow up to let me stay with them. THIS SHOULD NOT BE A THING AT ALL.
Would I buy a Skidoo? Maybe. But it wouldn't be a 900. The 1200 which I also rode (yellow sled pic'd above that a guy in the group rides is a '15 MXZ TNT 1200), could be a contender... but the infamous throttle lag is a real thing and something I instantly criticized after jumping on his sled.