One of the great dilemmas of working in snowmobile media, specifically racing media, is that you spend almost every weekend of the winter, along with at least one or two days before and after, traveling, shooting, writing and editing, which leaves minimal time to actually ride.
Don’t get me wrong, its a pretty great gig, but unlike dirt bikes in the warm temp months when you can hop on a trail almost anywhere at anytime, winter rides are so much more weather dependent, and is often the case, that one off-weekend on the racing calendar just might also happen to be in the midst of a polar vortex or stretch when snowfall and trail conditions are meager at best.
All of this aside, we at Ride X want to start shining more light on the consumer side of the sport and one way we’ve been able to make it happen is by extending race weekends into destination trail rides and our latest one was right up there with the best of ‘em. The AMSOIL Championship Snocross event in Deadwood, South Dakota has been a favorite since the tour made its way back there in 2013. The race course, along with hotels, restaurants and casinos are all located within walking distance of downtown Deadwood, which also happens to be situated just minutes from a trailhead connecting over 350 miles of pure riding bliss.
As a born and raised flatland rider, I’ve witnessed the transformation of Midwest riding habits from traditional weekends in the ditches and on the lakes to what has become a pretty equal mix of local trails sprinkled with a trip or two to the U.P. or even deeper and steeper locations to the West. To spotlight this growing segment of the sport, we teamed up with Finley Motorsports in Finley, North Dakota to build an ultimate crossover sled based on the 2021 Polaris Switchback Assault 146.
This sled is currently available for purchase from Finley with all the aftermarket accessories featured in the story included at the standard retail price. To learn more, go to: FinleyMotorsports.com
Our Switchback featured the all-new Matryx chassis which, not so coincidentally is what Polaris refers to as a snocross-inspired, rider-first design. This platform provides easy forward movement in the cockpit with a sleek and tapered profile at the back of the side panels allowing additional rider weight transfer over the inside ski while cornering.
Power is supplied by the proven Patriot 850 motor which I must say, was one of the truly best engines I’ve ever squeezed the throttle on. I personally have always balked at the cubic arms race that continues to take place in the snowmobile market, never having ridden a 600 or 650 that didn’t get from point A to point B in an adequate amount of time. However, having spent a handful of days on this sled and specifically bouncing back and forth with a like-minded 650 VR-1, I can tell you that there are a lot of smiles in those extra 200cc. Furthermore, it is the way the power is delivered with impeccable fuel mapping and clutching that broaden the sweet spot in the power band at trail speed and higher speed/RPM lake attack mode.
We started our time with the machine in stock trim, traversing the landscape around our home in Baxter, Minnesota. There was a good firm trail base and surprisingly little dirt given the snow conditions, but as is common in Central Minnesota at this time of year, icy corners dotted the path, preventing full-on XC racer mode. This was our first extended ride with a crossover length track and it really left me with more questions than answers. It was absolutely fantastic on the whooped out ditches leading to and from the main trails, closing the gaps between acceleration and breaking bumps and really smoothing the ride. I actually found myself standing more than I normally would and finding it quite comfortable.
The overall ride on the freshly groomed trails was really good as well, although the 146” track was noticeably more sluggish in the corners. Handling was very stable but seemed to contradict itself with a bit of a push and fairly heavy ski pressure all at the same time. I found myself riding the Assault a little too much in the way of casual tourist and once I started getting up on the bars and leaning forward into turns the sled responded more favorably with less steering effort.
After an initial 75+ mile break-in ride, we went to work building out the Assault with a few modest but highly beneficial upgrades. The idea being to keep the budget in check but also add creature comforts that would increase the overall riding experience. Under the hood we swapped the stock can for a Speedwerx lightweight ceramic-coated muffler. Speedwerx doesn’t make any bold claims about bolting on 50 horsepower with this unit, but what you do get is an instant eight pound weight reduction and a noticeably cooler sounding exhaust.
This muffler only bumps the loud scale by about 10 decibels, but it makes a much throatier sound that really gets noticed, especially at idle. We were actually amazed at how many people commented on the sound or asked what kind of exhaust it was while leaving trailheads or gas stops. Installation was super easy as well, requiring the addition of only one hole and rivet in a support strut, along with some heat shield tape near the stock outlet in the belly pan.
Every sled we get our hands on ends up fitted with a pair of C & A Pro Skis. In this case we opted for the XCS models as we knew we would be in search of deeper snow in the Black Hills. C & A Pro not only delivers with great aftermarket skis tailored to a number of different racing and riding environments, they can also customize the colors of your ski and loop, including a wicked multi-color blend option. In our case, we wanted to keep the Finley Assault somewhat stealthy and opted to swap the stock, red hooped skis for a black body with grey hoop.
And of course, anytime we are bolting on skis, they are going to get fitted with Stud Boy Shaper Bars. We went with six inch carbides, but would recommend the four or five inch option with the this ski setup as the combo provides more than enough front end control and borders on being a bit too planted.
We left the track untouched during our time in the Black Hills, but once we returned to Minnesota, we did install a modest setup of Stud Boy Power Point studs and Pro Series backers. We went with a 1-2-1 pattern that repeated diagonally across the 54 rows in the 146″ track. This setup provided even more forward drive but more importantly gave us extra confidence in icy corners, without completely locking down the track.
The final upgrade was a ROX Speed F/X Flex Tec handguard kit that is also a staple on any sled we ride or build. ROX handguards give increased protection from the wind and roost, as well as an accented look. The guys at ROX also threw in one of their new VASKA bar pad bags, which is a crossbar pad cover that features a small zippered storage compartment that is perfect for quick access to trailside items like chapstick, spare key or phone battery booster. Like everything ROX makes the bag is super well thought out with a velcro loop on the zipper tab that locks it in place when closed. If you notice the aluminum fitting to the right of the pad in the photo below, that is another new ROX product that clamps on the bars and accepts a 1/4″-20 thread for a RAM mount to hold a cell phone, GPS unit or in or our case a Go-Pro camera.
Once we got out west, we didn’t find quite as much snow as you always dream of, but did get in some great riding none-the-less. The trail system extending west from Lead and Spearfish to the Wyoming border is on most every sledder’s to do list and for good reason. The majority of the network features gradual winding climbs lined by scenic stands of Ponderosa Pine and Birch while also cutting through numerous canyons and meadows.
As mentioned, the snow depth was not “all-time great” during our trip but the trails themselves were perfectly groomed with a good base. We did managed to find a few waist deep playgrounds along way but were pretty cautious of what lie underneath while riding loaner and rental sleds.
One of the more impressive items on the new Switchback was the Polaris Ride Command 7S display. This super hi-res and easy to read display provides multi-format readouts of all the traditional gauges such as fuel, RPM, water temp, etc. , but is also a full blown location and communications system.
Without any programming, the map feature on our sled pulled up every trail in the Black hills as soon as we left the parking lot at Mad Mountain Adventures. Even more impressive was its tracking feature which updated your path along the trail in real time, leaving a great reference to where you had been and how far to the next intersection or feature.
We programmed one phone into the system just to see what it would do but immediately shut that off when our text messages started showing up on the display, haha. After all, we were riding not working and would have just as well preferred to leave the phones at home if we could.
Ride Command even has the ability to track others in your group, with or without cellular, which is almost like watching a video game with the various icons moving about the screen. There are push button controls on the display itself, but a very intuitive control block on the left hand grip also allows you to make changes on the fly without have to take your hands off the bars. We really can’t overstate how cool and functional this whole system is.
It was only fitting that as we wrapped up our final day of riding we happened upon the Polaris factory race teams who were doing start tests and fuel mapping at a secret location outside of Deadwood. Fitting in that Engine Development Specialists Darren Hedlund and Rick Bates were working with the teams as they continued to fine tune the new EFI system in the 2021 race sled. Often times knowledge gained on the race track trickles down to consumer models and in this case there is shared technology with info flowing both directions.
In closing we want say thank you to Mad Mountain Adventures, who provided us with one of their rental units for our part-time staffer Chris Johnson, who was along to ride and help shoot on the project. The Indy VR 1 650 with a 137-inch track made for some great comparisons to the Assault. Specifically, we left the week feeling like the big motor Assault with the 146 was the go anywhere, do anything machine that compared heavily to an adventure motorcycle.
The VR 1 in contrast was a bit more of race-inspired cousin that was equally capable but always required a little more attention as often felt it was being ridden at it’s limits when the Assault was just cruising along.
We’ve said it before, but we really wish ISOC would do more to promote the Deadwood race as a destination weekend. The on-track action is the best, the local amenities are perfect and the trail riding is right up there with any in North America.
