That has definitely not been my experience, Dennis. Polaris 340,440, 488 fans, and 400 and 500 liquids (older models), were all very good. The 550s were absolute garbage and any of them that made it beyond 5000 miles without the engine giving up bordered on miraculous. We have only 30,000 miles on the three 'Cats we've been running - 440 and 570 fans, and a 550 liquid, but they have also been easy maintenance-wise�.right in line with the good Polaris machines. They both need idler bearings annually. Other than that, they're pretty solid. Yamaha has built some good machines, a bit heavy perhaps, but strong and reliable since the 80s. Ski-Doo has caught up with the rest after being the cheap alternative for quite a few years�and their quality was hit-or-miss.
I can only tell you what we talked about. He bought a 100 new machines every year and sold all the old ones. Everything he had was basically new. I don't know what sizes, what track lengths, what type of cooling. I just know that as a lodge owner, he was a huge fan of Polaris sleds.
Myself, I have never even sat on one before. Maybe someday...
