If flotation was what they were looking for, they should have taken a cue from Yamaha. While the latter might be true (the baby climbs!), we can tell you that the former ain’t. Polaris claims they offer excellent flotation and sidehilling.
The Real Skinny – Although we loved the Indy 700 RMK and don’t mean to take the narrow view, we do have a bone to pick: the 5-inch skis aren’t wide enough. Well sad to say, they have now been passed. [modern note: Polaris unveiled the late-release 1997 Indy 700 XC in December of 1996).īrake! – A long, long time ago, Polaris set the industry standard by providing the first hydraulic brake on a production machine. Now if they’d only combine that mill with a 121-inch track… Can you say “Late Release?” We knew you could. These two sweet sleds are the closest things to home grown we’ve seen since the Harley-Davidson and Evinrude days. Manufactured in Osceola, Wisconsin, the extraordinarily torquey powerplant got dropped into the Indy 700 RMK and SKS for ’97. – Polaris swung for the fences with their new 700cc twin and hit a grand slam. So, here’s a look back at what editors chose for Hits & Misses from Polaris, Ski-Doo and Yamaha after the initial testing of the 1997 models.ĮXCERPT FROM AUGUST 1996 SNOW GOER MAGAZINE: Coverage of 1997 Polaris snowmobiles in the August 1996 issue of Snow Goer magazine. Remember, Arctic Cat skipped the testing event that spring. 1997 Hits & MissesĪs was the tradition at Snow Goer for brands that appeared at Rode Reports we chose three “Hits” for their new model lines, and chose three “Misses” for each brand. Due to internal industry politics at the time, Arctic Cat didn’t fully participate in the 1997 Rode Reports, but this was the year the brand launched the Batteryless EFI system, expanded use of the Extra Travel Tunnel and introduced the Torque Sensing Link on the FasTrack rear suspension. Ski-Doo used 1997 to expand features it had previously introduced in models like the 1996 MX Z 583 deeper into its lineup – including moving all trail twins to the S-2000 chassis and dumping the heavy C-7 rear suspension in favor of the SC-10 in the Mach Z, Mach 1, Formula III and other machines. Polaris countered that move by launching its new American-made 700cc twin, plus the Ultra SPX triple-piped triple. This is when Yamaha jumped into the “modern era” by dumping the pogo-stick TSS front suspension and launched the ProAction chassis with a trailing arm front end and a long travel rear, plus new 600- and 700-class triples in the sexy SX models. And for that, we turn to the Season Premier/August 1996 issue of Snow Goer magazine, which covered the Rode Reports testing of the new models. With the launch of the 2017 snowmobile models generating so much excitement this spring, it seems like a good time to flash back 20 years to review the buzz from when the 1997 new snowmobile models were released.
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