I promised to elaborate on the snowmobile break-down fiasco that kicked off (or more accurately, delayed the kick-off) of our recent Maine snowmobiling trip. Here it goes!
If you own a Polaris made somewhere around 2004, you might already know that there has been a recall twice on this sled due to cracking and breaking around the fill cap on the gas tank. (Which makes, models, and years, I can’t exactly say–you should have gotten a notice from your Polaris dealer, but if you bought used you might not have. Check with a Polaris dealer or on the Polaris website if your sled is in question.) Both of our sleds were subject to the recall–mine is a 2004 Polaris ProX Supersport, Bill’s is a ProX 2 700–a limited production, not widely known sled.
Just before New Year’s, our sleds went down to our local Polaris dealer (now, as you read this post, think back to Mark Lester’s advice about finding a great dealer!!). The recall work–which consisted of replacing the gas tanks on each sled–took an extra day, but as there was no riding snow, it was no big. The sleds were picked up Friday at the dealer, loaded on the trailer by forklift, and soon that afternoon we were off to Maine.
The next day, Saturday, we had our babysitter lined up (thanks, Gramma), sleds ready to unload and go. My sled came off wihtout a snap and Bill’s….well this is where trouble starts.
Three pulls to a cold 700 and Bill’s pull-rope snapped. Turns out the reason is that the mechanic at our local dealer (who will remain nameless for now pending outcomes, but if you know who I am you know who you are…and so do lots of our snowmobiling friends…) routed the pull-cord all wrong and had it slicing against a steel clamp on one of the hoses. Since the sleds weren’t started when loaded, the cut didn’t happen until we were 360 miles away–and thankfully still in the yard!!
Now, I don’t know if you’ve looked at gas prices lately, but they’re pretty high. Getting 360 miles away is not cheap. Imagine spending that money for a wasted snowmobiling trip? In a year when those trips have already been deemed “limited”?
Some of you, those of you who know a bit about fixing snomobiles and replacing rip-cords, might think I’m just whining–there’s no reason a cord broken at 9:00 a.m. can’t be replaced for a later start, right? Right. In any world beyond the ‘04 Polaris Pro X 2.
After working on the sled for a while, Bill was able to ride the 10 minutes into town and get a pull cord for his sled from a local Lincoln, Maine snowmobile dealer before they closed, but that guy recommended also replacing the recoil spring. Because, he said, they almost always break when the cord breaks. Oh yeah–but he didn’t have one (Bill hadn’t yet broken down the machine to see if the spring was broken or not). Bill relayed this info to me when he got back–now after 12:00. I suggested that it might be worth us girls locating a spring and going after it while he broke the machine down (since now we were stuck at home with our kids anyway) so that the part got replaced (us thinking if the spring wasn’t broken it was at least weakened) while the sled was already apart.
After a call up to a shop in Medway–those great guys at Custom Sled & Cycle that I mentioned the other day–we found a spring in nearby Medway. Maybe a half an hour or so away. As my sister in law and I were preparing to leave, though, Bill thought better of it.
The sled offensive. Poor baby, it wasn’t your fault….
The thing about the ProX 2 is that it has this really rugged, beefy suspension. Everything is welded down, and welded frame encases parts of the motor–like the housing for the cord–in a way tht you can’t open the housing without taking the whole sled apart. The exhaust had to come out, the entire motor had to come out–everything to get to the bottom where the cord-housing was. Bill thought better of attempting this on the back of the trailer in Mom’s yard.
Hoping he was not as smart as he really is, and thinking maybe there was a better way, Bill called back the guys at Custom Sled & Cycle and asked about it. They told him that yeah–replacing the cord is no big deal, and often happens right on the side of the trail. It’s a 45 minute-1 hour job.
By now it was around 1:30. Custom Sled & Cycle closed at 3:00. Bill could be there in around 45 minutes/an hour. You do the math.
Nevertheless, these guys told Bill to bring the sled on up and they would stay an extra while and replace the cord–oh yeah, and the spring they had stocked, too. (What!?*? I’m sorry, we’re from Massachusetts, land of the selfish people, did you say you would stay late to help us?!?) Elated, but also knowing these guys would probably find what he did, Bill & Joe headed to Medway. The sled was still on the trailer anyway…
The guys pulled into Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine 15 minutes before closing. The sled was talken in, and when the repair guys (aka Bill’s new buddies–he tries to collect potential friends when we are in Maine) had a look, they couldn’t believe their eyes. I think Bill’s quote of the remark goes something like…”NO…They didn’t do that!” (and by ‘they’ he means the Polaris engineers).
Well they did, and now at 3:00–closing time–the guys realized this should-be-really-quick-fix was a 4 hour job that entailed pulling the motor. Now what do you think of your after-hours generosity?
For these guys (brothers Pat & Robin Federico who own the shop), staying late was still not a problem. By now, we are entirely dumbfounded by their dedication to their customers.
Bill and Joe were invited to stay and pitch in if they wanted. The Custom Sled & Cycle guys made relatively short work of the project and reduced a 4-hour job to about 2. By 5:30, this monstrocity was finally fixed.
Better still was what the guys charged! They stayed at least 2 1/2 hours after closing, started a 4-hour job when they should have been going home, and charged us only $90. WITH PARTS. And that’s the other thing–the spring that was out of stock but would have been $35 in Lincoln was $9 in Medway! (The spring didn’t break by the way, but was bent so replaced–there was no way we were doing this again!) Bill upped the ante a bit, cracked a cold one with the guys from a 30-pack he bought his new pals, and headed back home with a completely repaired sled.
Lest you think the story ends here–here’s the best part! Not only did his cord break because of someone’s inattentiveness, but the mechanics in Medway found vacuum lines that were never reattached and an unsecured cover, too. If memory serves, ‘monkeys’ were how the previous repair crew was referred to.
So on top of staying late, fixing the sled, and charging nominal fees, these guys also found work the other repair shop either missed or couldn’t be bothered with!!
Yes, we are big fans of Custom Sled & Cycle, even though I’ve never laid eyes on the guys. Bill did stop in again when he was up that way on an errand for his aunt on Monday to say ‘Thanks Again’ and ‘Hey’ to his new friends. Thanks to them, our entire weekend was salvaged.
After many starts and stops, riding finally got under way that night at 8:00 for a nice evening ride. It wasn’t the all-out day we’d planned–Thanks for ruining my big ride, nameless local Polaris dealer–and it cost a lot more than it should have, but in the end, all was not lost, Thanks ONLY to Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine.
If you are in the Katahdin area and need snowmobile parts or service–THESE ARE YOUR GUYS!!!
Thanks for salvaging the weekend, boys, it’s not every day a sled chick has a chance to leave 4 kids behind to go riding!
Check out Custom Sled & Cycle in Medway, Maine at www.custom-sled-cycle.com. You could tell them the Sled Chick sent you, but they’d probably think you were crazy…
