Ok, here is the deal. I decided last night to put a wrench on all my bolts, check out the sled entirely since its warm and we cannot ride. I changed the plugs, checked track tension, checked gear oil, and wreched all the skid bolts to make sure they are tight and this is what I found.

I changed my slides in the fall. I have 1300 miles on the sled just this winter, and the slides are junk. I need to replace them and am getting new ones after work.

My belt is junk too, of course the belt is the orginal belt from when the sled is new. Its got 3800 miles on it now.

My question is, under normal riding condtions, how often do the slides and belt need to be changed? I expected the belt to go this winter due to the new clutch kit and the fact that there is 3800 miles on the thing, but the slides seem to be wearing prematurely. And ideas? My track tension is good, and if anything maybe a bit loose.

oh yeah, one more thing, My inner bogie wheels are all chiped up again just like in the fall. Same thing, they need replacement, but why after 1300 miles are my bogie wheels junk. I check my studs every 5th ride or so, and they are fine. The same thing is happening to CBF7, we spoke about it. Maybe low snow and small loose rocks in our trail system get caught up in the skid, or maybe ice in the skid wearing them out. Anyone else have this problem?

My 2 cents. The milage you get from slides depends on what conditions you ride on. If you ride on ice (ice drags), tar, or really hard packed snow (frozen snow), you will not get as much lubrication as you would on snow. Therefore, the slides will wear more. Your bogie wheels help keep the preasure off the track and allow snow to get in. If the wheels are chipped, then the track will ride more on the slides, and you may not get the lubricaiton between the slides and the track that you need.

As for what is making the wheels chip, are there any stud backings that are directly under them? Are you using cheap, third party (i.e. non cat) wheels? If the bearings are bad, they may wobble.

Again, just my 2 cents

This makes sense. Yes, I thought about my stud backings going over the wheels, but they do not with my pattern. What is happening, is the rubber on the wheels crack all the way around, and slowly just chip away. The exact same thing is happening to CBF7. Now, my wheels are 1300 miles old, and its only the inner ones that are failing. The rear, and the outside wheels are just fine. As for the slides, I guess 1300 miles on the slides in the low snow conditions all year this year is normal. I am just getting frustrated with the amount of money to keep the sled 100 percent so I have no on-trail issues.

Thank you for controlling yourself. If there are bogie wheels aftermarket you guys think will hold up better let me know. I am willing to pay a bit more if they hold up.

by the way mr. president.... If Pickles Z1 doesnt hold up, I will be highly considering a Skidoo renegade. I just cannot bring myself to buy a yamaha. I want a new sled for next winter, and the wifeypoo has given the green light. I dont like most of the doo's mostly because they are all short tracks. 121 inch track will never work for me. Honestly, I used to love my 136 track on my polaris. Going down to the 128 on my cat, took alot for me to do it. The Renegade is a nice sled, easy to ride, low maintance, and has the long track for a guy my size. I really like that sled, I just hope its really good on gas.

The new 2011 will be comming out in a couple months usually by the end of March. I love to see the new sleds every year I would love to see the sno-pro 500 with a bigger motor and a longer track

see, I dont know, I was reading quite a bit about that sled the last few days. Its a pita to get under the engine cover. And its a sled designed to be ridden wide open and hard. I dont think is going to be a great groomed trail sled, I think it will be better for ditchbanging and backwoods type riding. I can buy the 500 right now for 3400.00 out of pocket and my sled, and I considered it, but I think its not right for me.

are you using plastic slides or the graphite ones.. i have had no problems,, and cbf7 has the same sled as me.. my sled however, throws a bogie wheel once per season

CBF7 needs slide very soon the sled was over my place for some work. Chuck hope the sled is running good and let me know about the ZL.

all done, I bought a Crossfire 800R tonight, going to get it tomorrow after work.

That's one way to fix it!

You better believe it. I refuse to miss even one day of riding becuase of a stupid problem. 4200 miles on my sled when I traded it last night. It got its use.