If I was crafty enough to pipe in the background music from “Chicken Run,” by God it would be playing. Alas, I’m not in the least, so you’ll have to hum along in your head. Or aloud, who are we to tell? (For those of you who don’t know, the title is a quote from the movie, too).

Daydreaming as I am as I write an eBook on a subject far less interesting than snowmobiling, my thoughts wandered to a few notable points. One of them was of the “five years ago, who’d have thought” variety.

Five Years Ago Today….

As in five years ago, who’d have thought I’d be telling Bill to “go, man, go!” on a day-off Friday to go ripping it up with his buddy Bob, with me sitting at home.

Or as in, five years ago, who’d have thought my idea of celebrating and rewarding myself for a big-project finish and payout would be a new pair of Polaris snowmobile pants (note to Bill—UPS may be stopping by—and yes I know I totally could have slipped that by you and worn them for the remaindering season if I’d not just gone public with it)…. or a Saturday babysitter and treating Bill to gas and lunch at some trailside location…or some girly snowmobile stickers for my truck (note to self—finish your sticker order!); in fact five years ago I didn’t even own a truck and had no intention of doing so.

As our other buddy Paul so LOVES to remind me, five years ago I was an un-fun, bitter wife who called herself a snow-widow and snarled every time the subject of snowmobiling came up. I had no sympathy for the “guys” when they complained that they HAD to ride this weekend because the snow might be gone by the next. I had my own ideas of what HAD to happen. I cared little for driving hours away and spending the day with my kids and in-laws so Bill could buzz around the great snowmobile state of Vermont. I cared not at all to buy another trailing arm at the tune of a cool hundred bucks, or to replace the seat and bumper that someone rode up on because it had a dent or a scratch (which reminds me, I’ve got a bumper in need of a little attention—and no it was not my fault!).

So What Changed?

What changed was that four years ago, while I was still pregnant with our last child, Bill decided in the fall that it was time for a new sled. And I’d finally had enough. I put my foot down and told him that if he was buying a new snowmobile…..!

…he’d better buy two. And he did. Really with no argument, to his credit.

After that, it all changed. It’s funny thinking back now because I remember when Bill went shopping for those sleds. I’d told him something used and cheap was good enough for me. After all, up until then I’d done no real trail riding, only banging around in the fields when I was young. I’d never dare to go over thirty, so no, his old 600 XCSP was not a good idea for me.

I Remember The Day….

I remember when he came home and told me what he’d picked out for me—the Polaris 550 Pro X that I still have (because it’s a nice sled with hardly any miles because it can’t seat 4 kids—and I wouldn’t want it to). I remember telling him that was more sled than I needed, and him talking about how he’d weighed it out and wanted a sled with potential and value. I also remember him telling his friends that at least that way, when he sold it with 300 miles on it because I never rode it, it would be a nice sled with some resale value. As it turns out, he’s not always as right as he thinks he is.

The Moral Of the Story

Today, things are quite different. Bill’s created a bit of a monster, and the germ is spreading. Since then, at least three close female friends or family members have bought sleds and caught the bug, with a number of others in the works; next year I fully expect to see Melissa in Maine with us, and no, breastfeeding a young’un is not an excuse—been there, found a way around that!

Now, it’s not always Bill pushing for weekends out riding—I take all the credit for making him go last Sunday after all day out riding Saturday. I’ve more than doubled my 30 mph, and my sled has probably the same number of miles (or close) as Bill’s. Now, I actually care that his clutch is squeaking and might need new bushings. Now, I know that a clutch has bushings. Now, I’m signing a check and sending him back downtown so his crappy clutch doesn’t ruin my good day riding!

Now, Paul gets to make girly whining noises as he ruffles my hair and teases me for my prior bitterness. Of course now, I’ve got little to be bitter about, save for the fact that winter only lasts a quarter of the year around here if we’re lucky. Now, I root for the bad-weather forecasts, and swear at the people who live in New England but complain about snowstorms. Now I write a snowmobile blog for women for crying out loud! There’s no way I could have predicted THAT five years ago!

The other great bene is that now Bill and I have finally found something in common. Today he comes home from the local Polaris dealer and hands me the new Polaris Rush brochure, and we’re both licking our lips. What’s even funnier is that I’d already checked it out online and watched the virtual ride while he was downtown. Much as we enjoy rides out with a big crew, we also enjoy a few hours’ dash together alone, just the two of us. We’ve found some common ground, and we’re imposing our much-loved sport on our kids. Last year when we visited the local Polaris dealer with the intention of buying the boys the 120, and I saw that hot-pink one sitting there, an old, familiar refrain sounded out:

And so we did!

“If you’re coming home with one, you’d better come home with two!”

Take A Friend Riding?

The big push by the International Snowmobile Manufacturer’s Association has been their “Take a Friend Riding” campaign. Take a friend riding? How about take a wife!? (girlfriend, sister, significant other….) I’ll tell you all now that’s a surefire way to grow the sport and get yourself out of the doghouse in the process. And put a smile on a lady’s face

Not enough reason for us to jump the Polaris ship yet, but the four-year warranty Yamaha is offering on new sled purchases until April 15 as part of the 2009 Yamaha Spring Power Surge Program might be something to consider. 

As reported by American Snowmobiler, buyers who get in on the SPS program will get a one-year factory warranty, plus 3 more years through Yamaha’s “Y.E.S.” program for a total of four.  There is also the option to add a fifth year for around $100, which we know is all too easy to spend if something goes wrong with your snowmobile.  What makes it an even better deal is that the warranty is fully transferable, so you can still sell your sled under warranty, theoretically increasing its resale value and marketability.

 Here are some details from the AmSnow article:

• No deductible
There’s never a deductible to pay on covered repairs.

• Fully transferable: Increase value on your Yamaha
Your 4-year Y.E.S. protection plan is transferable, which can increase your Yamaha’s value if you decide to sell or trade it in later. There is no fee for the transfer.

• Affordable 5th year available
2009 SPS buyers can add an extra year onto the end of the coverage for about $100.

• TRIP benefit
Y.E.S. coverage automatically includes TRIP - Travel and Recreation Interruption Protection that’s in effect from the date of Y.E.S. plan purchase, even during the factory warranty period. With TRIP, expenses related to a covered failure can be covered as well, up to $150 per occurrence. This means unexpected food or lodging expenses, transportation expenses, even a rental vehicle can be covered - and that’s each time you have a covered warranty or Y.E.S. repair.

• Nationwide coverage
Have the nationwide network of Yamaha dealers behind you.

• Peace of mind
Repairs* become Yamaha’s problem, not yours. Y.E.S. will be there to help make it right.

*Excluding those repairs due to normal wear and tear or aging.

****

Sounds like a decent deal, but you have to wonder what the real worth of extended sled warranties are (not just for Yamaha, for any snowmobile).  The italicized print says it all, doesn’t it? “*Excluding those repairs due to normal wear and tear or aging.”  Which naturally, most snowmobile repairs are.  I guess it can’t hurt and it’s a good promotion for Yamaha.  Probably still not enough to make us make the switch, though. If we were to do that I think we’d have to bank more reasons than a warranty of questionable real-world value.

This will finish up the last of our posts from Mark Lester’s Supertrax reply.  It’s fairly short and sweet, but I thought it was an important point and didn’t want to just lump it in with everything else.

 Mark’s final point is to make sure you deal with a great dealer, and in this case, one that is woman-friendly (i.e., respects women as snowmobile riders, not tries to pick you up!).  

Here’s Mark…

“When it’s all said and done, I haven’t told you what is the best sled for a woman. However, I hope my remarks give you some place to focus your attention for the perfect women’s sled.

One more important issue - the dealer. In any snowmobile purchase – especially for women – it is important to have a great dealer. Too many powersports stores are not appealing places for women. However, an increasing number of retailers are getting with the program and are making their stores female friendly as they react to the shift in buying trends.

Look for not just a good dealer – expect to deal with a great dealer and your purchase will be satisfying as the years roll on. “

Over the years, we’ve noted the benefit of dealing with a really great snowmobile dealer time and again (often by realizing what we’re missing, unfortunately…).  Many have room for improvement, and finding a GREAT one like Mark suggests isn’t such an easy thing, but if you can manage it, it’s certainly worth the effort even if you have to drive the extra miles.  Once you find a dealer you’re happy with, though, it’s worth sticking with them, too; that’s when you’ll really start to notice the extra-mile service and gain respect as a customer they wouldn’t want to lose.  And of course, any powersports dealer that doesn’t treat you as a serious rider because you are a woman is not a dealer worth giving your time–and definately not your money–to.

Not one to leave you hanging half-off your sled, I wanted to wrap up what Mark Lester had to say about the perfect women’s sled (which, I contend, is one bought and paid for by a man; yes guys, girls love the sledding Sugar Daddy).   

Mark goes on to talk about horsepower.  Typical guy… 

“I also believe women are happier with snowmobiles in the 100 to 120 HP range. Women want to be able to keep up with the pack on lakes and faster trails but do not pack male-egos which require huge power that’s really – for the most part – unnecessary. Hmm, it’s that practical thing again – isn’t it?However, my wife is not happy on sleds with less than 100 HP as we ride a lot of lakes and she wants to be able to run at least 80 mph without holding the throttle wide open.” 

Ahhhh….I can’t add much here.  I agree that guys have big egos, but I don’t even know how much horsepower my sled has.  I do, however, realize that this has nothing to do with actual, real, live horses anymore, so I’m not utterly lost, but mostly I think we’ll take Mark and Barbara’s word for it.  I can add that I agree that although most of the time a lady wouldn’t be tapping that high-end power, there are those times in the clearly visible wide open spaces when we build up a little more of a usual nerve, and punch it—and we want the sled to respond when we do!  (Disclaimer, disclaimer, I know there are crazy women out there, too; I’m related to most of them.  A couple own snowmobiles.)  Moving on, Mark shows the experience of an advanced rider who really knows his gals, adding…

“Here’s another important factor for women – as if you didn’t already know! Women do not like cold snowmobiles and unfortunately, there’s more of them this year. Let’s go back to 4 strokes. In our experience some of the warmest sleds on the market are – in fact – 4 strokes. 4 stroke exhaust systems are hotter than 2 strokes and underhood heat is generally higher with the models carrying the entire exhaust in the engine bay. Only Yamaha has an exclusive patent on placing the exhaust under the seat which allows a cooler engine bay and snow in the tunnel is used to remove pipe heat.

The other 4 strokes we’ve mentioned here have lots of heat exhausted through the knee panels facing the rider and they are warm to ride – even on really cold days. Combine this with a practical windshield and it makes a compelling argument again for a 4 stroke. As well, many 4 strokes have powerful alternators – some are actually automotive caliber – and they provide amazing power to hand and thumb heaters as well as the ability to power-up accessory heaters as well.”     

Ooohhhh….nothing better than a nice warm sled, except maybe a nice, warm body. Nope, sled wins!

Great points again, Mark, showing that you’ve beat your average male in knowledge about women.  Must be why you’re still happily married, and why both you and Barbara are still happily snowmobiling.  There’ll be just one more post from Mark tomorrow, then we’ve covered it all.

Not wanting to leave you hanging with just half the information Mark Lester gave us (re: the perfect women’s sled) in case you didn’t visit Supertrax for the whole low-down, I’m posting a portion of Mark’s article, yet again, with commentary.  We still have a ways to go, but here’s some more… 

 

“Back to the sleds. A snowmobile which has flexible ergos is an advantage for women pilots. The Jaguar Z-1 is incomparable in this area. My wife really appreciated the moveable bars and seat – many women feel uncomfortable on sleds with ergo’s skewed to men sizes.

The Polaris IQ models with Rider Select are good in this area. As well, the new Rev XP has tons of room for women to move forward and get more comfortable than they might if they were forced into a fixed rider “pocket”. The Yamaha Phazer is exceptionally easy to move around on and the seat is extremely narrow – something many smaller riders really appreciate.

So, you asked which is the best? – here’s another qualifier. Women like light snowmobiles. In fact riders generally are more tolerant of weight the heavier they are themselves. Light riders like and appreciate light sleds. Okay, heavy riders do as well but the importance of lighter weight is more prevalent in the preferences of smaller riders – men or women.” 

 

Again, Mark’s right.  I hadn’t realized the importance of ergonomics until we went to the recent open house at Higgins Powersports and I sat on one of the new Polaris’s.  I love my sled, but I can see that there are certain factors which could be improved.  The one I noticed right off the bat was the higher stance of the IQ Mark talks about (as for the others, well, you all know I’m just a Polaris girl, so I didn’t test them out—you all will have to let me know).   

I knew nothing of sledding when my Polaris 550 was purchased—I had to take my husband’s lead.  He did an excellent job picking out my ride, but now that I’ve had some experience I’ll know what else I might like to look for in my next snowmobile purchase, and like Mark says, the ergo’s will play a big part.  I would definitely have more fun if I could increase my maneuverability (and visibility).  I do think things like “Rider Select” will become big factors—I’m very picky about my tilt wheel and seat adjustments, I’d love to bring that to my sled. 

As for weight, that’s a given.  Contrary to what I said in my early post regarding increasing strength to benefit my riding, I have actually given in and started some light weight-training (a post for another day…), so that will help, but there’s only so far I’ll be able to go, and sled weight will always factor (my maiden name is Indian for ‘no genetic arm-strength’—and you can skip the comments about my lack of PC, I know…). 

So suffice to say this is more great advice from Motorhead Mark.  If you’re a buying woman (or even a guy) take away that which is most usable to you, and make the most of your investment…this just might be your ride for years to come, and you want it to be a good one.

More thanks go to Mark Lester today from Supertrax.Again, this quote comes from the Supertrax newsletter.Mark brings up a very interesting point about buying snowmobiles that are more environmentally friendly. The answer here surprised me, and since we’ve heard so much about four stroke snowmobiles being the earth-friendly choice, I’m guessing it might be the first many of you have heard about this, too.

“Now after saying this and paying attention to your site’s concern over the environment, I would like to give you this qualifier as well. New EPA certified (not compliant) 2 strokes like the SDI Ski-Doo’s and the Polaris Cleanfires are no more dirty than comparable 4 strokes. In fact, the new certified 2 strokes generate less emissions in some situations than comparable 4 strokes. Vice-versa applies in certain situations with certified 4 strokes as well.

What I’m saying is this – it’s about the EPA certification – not about the strokes. Keep in mind, Ski-Doo SDI 2 strokes are mpg champions in every class.”

Again, the issue is not as cut and dried as it would at first appear, and if you really want to buy the most environmentally friendly sled, it seems some more research and reading is in order. Great info to have; I’m glad Mark brought this up because it’s the first that I’ve heard of it. At any rate, at least we can feel better that strides are being made in cleaning up snowmobile emissions to protect the earth and save our winters!

Moving on through Mark Lester’s suggestion for the perfect women’s sled…. 

“ This leads me to suggest a 4-stroke. 4-strokes inherently deliver ji-normous bottom end, low RPM squeeze. It’s the kind of power we call “tractable”. This means you can meter out what you want in precise proportion to your right thumb’s command.

However, there is a small problem with this. 4 strokes are generally heavier than 2 stroke powered sleds. So here’s how I’ll qualify this – a sled like the Polaris IQ FST 750 4 –stroke or the Arctic Cat Jag Z-1 or the Yamaha Vector are great trails sleds that “mask” their weight well. On hard pack snow you would be hard pressed to identify the extra weight. In loose snow or “boon docking” for sure, it’s a penalty.  

The Yamaha Nytro and the Phazer are the first of a new generation of 4 strokes which are actually very competitive to their comparable (horsepower – not displacement) 2 stroke cousins.” 

 –”Tractable” is precisely what I want in a sled for the control and security—I want fast response to unknowns; but it has to be weight manageable.  This is why I don’t like riding my husband’s sled—it’s just too heavy for my girly arms.  My hub and I checked out some Polaris 4 strokes this weekend and they were very heavy—let’s hope this improves (can’t remember if it was the IQ FST Mark mentions here or not; I know it was a pretty blue….).   –It’s great that these sleds mask their weight well, but I’m not sure I’d want to rely on ever-predictable trail conditions, and I want to maintain flexibility & maneuverability regardless of where we ride.  Bill’s a big guy, and after lifting the 4 strokes we saw this weekend, even he said he’d hate to go off trail and have to pull it out. 

–Hate to consider a Yamaha, we’d have nothing to hold against my neighbor J 

These are all great points Mark brings us, but it seems on the surface that maybe I’ll be waiting before I replace my 550 with a 4 stroke.  Four strokes are being touted as great environmental choices, too, but before you go buy one for that reason alone, consider not only what Mark says here but also what he has to say next…but for that you’ll have to come back tomorrow.

As promised, I’d like to start delving into Mark Lester’s reply to the question: What’s the perfect women’s sled?

Maybe I led you here with a somewhat provocative post title (well, that’s my job, isn’t it?), but I have to say that I didn’t disagree with much—if anything—Mark had to say. His was an excellent article that really spoke to so many aspects of buying snowmobiles for women. Really, the only impetus for “picking apart Mark” is just to break the matter down into more digestable pieces. So here goes…

This is the first topic Mark addresses that I’ like to speak to a little.

“I think snowmobiles which deliver strong low end power – not so much high RPM squeeze – are more desirable for women. Women are very practical in their use of the throttle – it has been my experience that women can almost always generate the best mpg numbers when we test sleds.

I believe it’s because they do not jump in and out of the throttle like many males seem to. As well, women do not like the sensation of track spin or in particular tail sliding – I know there are exceptions – however, women like to have a firm grip on white top – many guys like the sensation of sliding in and out of turns. Simply put, If you’re spinning the track – you’re wasting fuel.”

…” women can almost always generate the best mpg numbers when we test sleds” Go Girls!!! (see, we are more environmentally responsible )

At least from my own perspective, I have to say Mark (and his wife who proved a valuable resource) is spot-on here. Like he said, there are, of course, exceptions, and from time to time I might be feeling courageous and be one of them, but overall, I want to be in control and know I’m in control. With four kids, it’s essential that at least one of us makes it home in one piece. This is the stark difference (well, that and speed, which is talked about later in the article) between my husband and me and our riding styles—he gets a thrill out of scaring himself, I just get slower.

I’d love to hear if this is the consensus, so please, feel free to weigh in—either in agreement or disagreement. Comment amongst yourselves….