Rockerdan's 50+ years of Snowmobile History 

I totally hear ya! Every season I come so close to walking away from the sport due to the crazy cost of these sleds nowadays! I think if I was more busy in winter I would likely walk away too. But my winters are wide open as most my work is seasonal. It really would be hard to walk away from this sport but I totally get it. Best memories for sure are sledding over all the years! So many good friends who rode and most of them have got out of the sport unfortunately so just a few left. Cheers!

These days with the internet sure makes it alot easier to meet sledheads then back in the day. Back then we all knew the local guys and that was about it! Nothing like youtube for bringing together sledders! Cheers!

I think for those of us who started riding at those young ages, it just stays with you and hard to give up! Wow very cool sled you own there! I wish the 22/newer 900r was easier to "tune" like the 900t was. I have been following the Hurricane ECU setup for the 900r along with a few other power solutions, but they all aren't cheap by any means! So far the stock power with the clutching i added is respectable and I do enjoy the stock reliability to hold it WOT mile after mile on those "up north" trips to the super highway trails in the far north! I agree riding the old iron is like stepping back in time. There is a decent chance I will get out my old Enticer this fall and will see how she runs, its been around 30 years since I had her out! Cheers!

So so true, you nailed it! Cheers!

Glad you enjoyed it! Cheers!

Hey brother! Dootalk was always a great place for us to talk about any issues with sleds. I dont get over there as often as I used to but try. Wow you have had a ton of sleds yourself! Yes the Phazer was so cool and so unique, it was such a popular sled in its day too. I always loved the Phazer and did a ton of cool stuff to it, as I was very close to Tim Bender's shop just south of Buffalo. Good times for sure! Ahh yes I had my 2 golden retrievers back in those days, and man they were a handful but such a huge part of my life in that era. I often took them everywhere including on sled trips where they would hangout in the motels when out riding! LOL. Nothing like the companionship of a loyal Golden! Thanks so much! Cheers!

Very true! Yes the cottage has been a stable in my life since I was a small boy. And even before we built it at about 6 yrs old, our family had been renting cabins at this location going way back to 1940s, when my Grandparents would trek north from Buffalo to Muskoka for 2 weeks every summer! The owner of those rental cabins sold off all the land around 1968 and that was when we bought a couple lots and decided to build. Mind you back then things were dirt cheap and very few people were in Muskoka. So the cottage is a place I hold very deep in my heart! Cheers!

Wow very cool collection of old sleds, love to hear it! I loved those old Kawasaki's! I think everyone love them. My friends grandfather had one of them in the early 80s and we only got to ride it once if I recall and man it was so fast compared to our enticers! Great memories! Cheers!

Wow awesome! Love those sleds especially that SRX700! Thanks so much and Cheers!

hi mark I had many polaris in ninties had 92 RXL waht a great sled and motor, Christopher Ottawa. By the way my first sled was a 1968 snow cruiser

Thanks! Cheers!

Very cool lineup of sleds you had!! Love it. Cheers!

Thanks so much! Yes time just flies by wayyyy too fast! Cheers!

Very nice, sounds like a cool collection. Cheers!

Definitely!

Awesome! Agree the winters just aren't what they used to be, we used to ride Muskoka here at my cottage earlier and later and now we tend to need to head further north more and more often. Cheers!

Cheers!

Thanks! The only older sled I still own is the '82 Enticer 340 which is in really decent shape. It needs to get out soon so I may do some videos on the old girl! Cheers!

Thanks so much! Yes that Sidewinder was one of the sleds I did the most to, and while it caused me much heartache it also was so much fun to ride once I got it all tuned and transferring like I wanted. As my bud Dano would say, "that sled is mental"! Haha. We would swap often and everytime I did another mod Dano would try it and say, i think you changed this or that and he was right. Part of me would love to get another 998 and now with EPS would be really awesome! I was always a longtime yamaha fan back in the day so i appreciate the 998. Just needs a few upgrades to make it solid overall, and the best part is easy to make HP! Cheers!

Thank you. Yes I did tend to do a lot of work on that sled. It was a blast once i got the tune from Hurricane! I think i modded that sled more then any other. That was the fun of owning a 998, all about the mods. Even though the chaincase issues sucked, the overall modding experience was always very cool and lots of people always wanted to talk about it trailside. Cheers!

Hey Tim! Nice to hear from you brother! Hope all is well. Cheers!

@@rockerdan All is well. Is Iron Dog still around your area? Have a great summer.

@@timdrouin475 Hmmm...not sure bout that. Have an awesome summer bud.

Wow, very cool history you have there! Really love all those Kawasakis you had! Cheers!

Such great memories!

Ahh yes that is one Mach I always wanted. Would have been super cool.

Ahh yes, the Apex was one of my all time faves. I think I kept that sled longer then just about all others. Being it was my first 4 stroke it just always ran so good. I even kept the Apex after I got the '12 cat turbo for a couple seasons. Unfortunately those early procross Cats were serious belt blowers, even after all the time i spent adding items to help keep engine aligned, it still was very hard on belts. So by '14 model year going back to a 2s Doo was a nice change of pace, and that was just a buy and ride sled. Cheers!

It's really funny going through the years and seeing the photo quality and resolution get better over time. Much of the reason I wanted to start making youtube videos this year was all due to getting the iPhone Pro model. Incredible how good the photos are but never did I think the iPhone would do such a great job with video riding footage and stabilization! Maybe not GoPro territory but I think its very close! Man the time flies Dano, we sure ain't getting any younger and hard to believe you and I have been riding for so many years already. Can't wait til next winter! Cheers!

Wow very awesome! You are a Cat die hard i see! Have you ever rode other brands? Just wondering. I tend to always want a specific brand myself, but grew up with Yamaha from enticer days and Doo as well since they were everywhere in Ontario in early days. But I think i got more open to other brands when i started riding with more guys with other brands where we would swap all the time. I think swapping brands or even going on Demo days really shows each brands highs and lows. I know when i swap from a 4s to 2s this is where i see the more noticable differences. Always great to try new stuff for sure! I still have yet to try a newer Winder with EPS which I would love to! I'm hoping Yam/Cat bring out some changes for the 998 sleds soon. Would love to see a new Gauge package and a few other updates but that engine and ease of tuning for big power is always a huge bonus! Cheers!

Yes Dan, I've tried other brands that my friends have, And agree that all brands have pros and cons, For some reason I've been hooked on cats since my 1st el tigre, haha I just seem attracted to cats nostalgia, history and spirit, from their advertising and commercials, to their posters (which I collect) And their racing history, And the fact they're a small town grass roots factory, (Even though Textron owns them now) haha

I just traded my 18 9000 ltd. And we picked up a 23 SRX, To go along with the 23 Tcat (she put on 1,200mi last yr.) I'll ride it now, and she wants to ride the SRX... Cuz she loves the blue color Haha We've been hooked on these 4 stroke turbos last few years, as we ride alot of rivers and open groomed trails, we still have a 13 procross 800 and firecat 2 strokes as spares, lol Yes the gauges need updating but it doesn't bother me much, as I'm a simple man and can barely text my wife! Lol I'm not tech. savy like u Dan! Haha We just enjoy riding together and fast! Lol

I like all brand snowmobiles, As long as we're riding haha Keep up the good work and cool tech. Videos, By the way, why are u called rocker Dan? Are u a classic rock fan? Just like me?! Rock on bud!

@@darin224 I hear ya! Very cool. Definitely a lot of cool history and the old ads are so nostalgic i love it too!

Love it! Wow you really are a Cat guy eh? You got some very iconic and cool sleds in your history, just awesome brother! Cheers.

Great questions. I loved my Winder alot, it was by far the fastest sled overall i have ever owned. However to be clear, it took a tune to get it this way. I think stock for stock I much prefer the power delivery of my Mach now. But once tuned the Winder would make this stock Mach feel ultra slow. I did not love the stock power delivery of the Winder as it has no snap to it. It takes its sweet time to snap to motion, so you can not snap the nose off knolls when trails are rough. With any 2stroke you can instantly snap the nose off knolls lifting the front end at will, which is the huge benefit the 2 strokes offer. The Mach due to its iTC(drive by wire) engineering which now has a cable lever going down to the iTC motor, is able to be very aggressive when snapping the butterfly on the 900r, so it does have MORE snappy feeling on initial hit, then the Winder does stock. With a Hurricane tune Dave is able to design the map to hit with more turbo PSI down low in the rpm range which gives the 998 Winder some serious snap which gets it to become a true animal. As for handling, I feel the Mach and Winder are fairly similar in handling, where as the 2 strokes feel quite a bit lighter overall, especially when slogging through big mogulled out sections of beat up trails. The 2 strokes feel fun and flickable just powering across the tops of the moguls carrying great speed with little effort, while the 4 strokes will wear you out on this type of pounded out trail at big speeds very fast. When comparing the Winder to the Mach, I think the Mach does better in every category, and this is likely mostly due to the Smart Shocks(SS). My Winder had very good Qs3r shocks all around and they do a nice job, but the Rmotion rear with or even without SS is a fair bit better in ride quality, and it can take bigger G'out holes harder without killing your back. I do think the Winder has a slightly lighter steering feel at the bars then the Mach, however I had mine setup with Pilot 6.9 skis. I would LOVE to try the new EPS on the new 998. Im guessing the new EPS with a very aggressive ski/carbide combo would be amazing. I recall my Winder had a fair amount of push with the 6.9s even though I always run the biggest 8"+ Square carbides i can get. Back then it was ACE 8" carbides and now will be going with the new Maverick 8". If you are in to tinkering and want to tune and want to be fastest, then the 998 is the way to go for sure. But if you are someone who leaves things stock and just wants to pile on miles and wants the best ride and longevity, I would lean Mach Z or at this time what is now a 900r XRS. I put the 900r as even more reliable then my beloved Apex. Winder will need some things to do even brand new before you ride it if you demand the highest reliability for trips. As for 2 strokes, they cannot compare in reliability when it comes to long term as most understand. They will need to be traded before warranty is over for fear of a large repair bill if engine goes down. Also with crazy 2s oil costs the 4s do make the best saddle baggers for sure. The 4s also lives effortlessly at high speeds for hours and miles on end on the big up north trails, where the 2s just wind with lots of noise and arent as happy IMO. Definitely depends alot on where you ride primarily and how you ride. I enjoy them both alot as my home riding area is very tight, twisty and rough alot end of weekends due to high volume tourist area, so around the cottage 2s is king most weekends. But when we head farther north, the 4s becomes the preferred sled by just about everyone, and no oil to carry.

@@rockerdan many thanks to your response to my questions, I run with fellow who has 2022 Mac and he loves it, in my case have 2022 Polaris XCR just love this sled also had any Apex and SRX 2 sroke, by far my best sled ever 2013 APEX with power steering this sled with stock variable exhaust put put out 165 hp stock, got 1p9 mph on GPS a very comfortable sled with air shocks all around should never have sold,my son's apex now on erd owner now has 30,000 klm still running strong,keep up the great work with you video, the only sled I modified 1999 SRX put cold air box, custom clutch, upgraded cylinder design to 800 cc this was one fast sled but not much suspension, Christopher Ottawa

@@christophergeorge6581 That is very cool! I agree the Apex will always have a sweet spot in my heart of all time sled faves. I will say this 3cyl 900r mach engine is pretty darn good too. I think these ACE engines will be able to rack up BIG MILES for guys keeping them long term. I really like the fact my Mach Z is a one year only sled, at least for now. So it sorta makes me want to keep it. The look is quite masculine and angular compared to the new G5, which i also love, but I think i might just hang on to this one awhile! Cheers!

Rocker Dan what I forgot to mention now 85 still sled as much as possible except this year only one run sofar in Mt Laurier, most trails now closed due to lack snow, my first sled was a 1978 snowcruiser 16 hp, Christopher ottawa

@@christophergeorge6581 I had a trip planned to Mt. Laurier earlier this season too, but we cancelled last minute when the local trails got bad, but i heard it was pretty decent once you got into the hills north of town. I really wanted to get there badly. Next year will try again for the "free pass" weekend. Cheers!

Yes for sure! Cheers!

Yeah those were awesome! Cheers!