Well then Congrats on getting great gas mileage - I am wrong for disbelieving you.. I guess by Dooing what you are Dooing you get the advantage of great gas mileage / belt life / plug life / carbide life!

I get about 2000-2500 miles out of a belt... a season or two out of carbides (depending on how many roads I've crossed) and at a minumum a fresh set of plugs at the beggining of the season.

 

If you have a newer ski-doo with the pilot skis you can rotate the carbides similar to tires on a car, take the outside carbides and switch them with the centre ones since the centres wear faster.

I can understand you scepticism but I don't ride like most people, I'm more into long haul touring. I went on three rides this winter with a distance of 400+ km in one day, We have some really good trails on the west coast of Newfoundland, conditions most people on Dootalk drewel over. I've put on about 47,000 km since 2002 between three sleds:

2002 Grand Touring-Sold last winter with nearly 27,000 km on it... my biggest complaint with that machine was the carbs had a habit of icing up when it was mild out... and the sponge in the seat went flat.

2005 Expedition 550f-Sold last winter with nearly 11,000 km on it. This machine was flawless, still had the original belt on it at time of sale. It was hard on gas though (200 km per tank).

and my 07 gtx w/9000 km has been flawless.

Riding like I do I have to be easy on them.

Irving

 

Its the physics of the thing also for people not into sleds.

A 500-600 ATVs get 20-25mpg rolling along a road with a more fuel efficient 4 stroke motor that only makes 30-40 hp. If a ATV runs out of gas it keeps rolling for awhile.

A 500-600 sled has a less fuel efficient 2 stroke motor and makes 80-100 hp and if it runs out of gas it stops dead like it hit a wall because of all the resistance has to overcome at all times.

How do they get the same gas milage?

 

With my sled I find that there is a range where it's most efficient, a sweet spot so to speak, between 60-80 km/h so I always try to keep it in that range. Any slower or faster and mpg drops. As far as ATVs go I never really tracked mileage since there's no accessible stations to fill up here in the summer, only the winter. I have no idea how much I'm pouring from a 5 gallon can. My 46 hp 650 Kawi was probably worse on gas than my 108 hp 600 cc 2-stroke sled though. If you let off the throttle on a sled and it stops dead your track is too tight, the only exception being if you have a 4 stroke which has more of an engine braking effect. I run my track as loose as possible, just tight enough so it doesn't ratchet.

However you slice it rider style is probably the biggest factor in fuel economy (and durability).

 

Hey Eastcoastwest - I'm also an avid ski-dooer (600 renegade HOsdi) from the rock. Have you ever done over 50 km/hr? That's about the only way you could get that milage and no maintenance. I change belts and plugs every season to get top performance out of my machine.
Anyway lets concentrate on the ATVs.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: woodstove

Hey Eastcoastwest - I'm also an avid ski-dooer (600 renegade HOsdi) from the rock. Have you ever done over 50 km/hr? That's about the only way you could get that milage and no maintenance. I change belts and plugs every season to get top performance out of my machine.

Anyway lets concentrate on the ATVs.</end quote></div>

Like I said above, usually 60-80 km/h. I change things when they need to be changed, I don't have money to throw away.