I got into snowmobiling when I was 14 years old, and from there I was hooked. That year, my parents bought our first sled, a new Polaris Indy 550.  It was awesome, and our first season we put 1000 miles on it because we loved it so much.  During the next summer, however, we ended up with another sled that was in some ways even better.

What happened was that during the summer, I found an old sled just sitting out in one of our fields.  A 1994 Polaris Indy Lite Deluxe 340.  It was a heap of metal that someone had left for dead, but I wondered if it would work. I asked my grandfather, and he was willing to help me give it a shot, and we convinced my dad to let us bring it into our barn. 

The first thing we did was drain out the old gas that was sitting in there. We used an old tube, and after a mouthful or two of it, we eventually got all the gas out.  Then we did some cleaning; there were tons of pine needles, dirt, and crap under the hood.  Then we put gas, oil, and spark plugs into it and began pulling the engine over. On the sixth pull, it fired right up. To say we were shocked is an understatement. For a sled to be sitting for fifteen-plus years and start on the sixth pull was amazing.  

From there, we faced the challenges of getting it to run properly and unfreezing the steering. To get the steering working again, we had to pull out the motor and everything. First we took off the seat and gas tank to get to the air box. After that was out, we were able to pull both carburetors out and loosen the motor mounts. We had to disconnect a few more things and then we could move the motor a few feet out of the way. From there we could see where the steering had seized and rusted over from years of sitting. We spent two or three nights out there, about three hours each night, with a blowtorch and a hammer, trying to get the steering to come loose. One night we picked up an extra torch, for a total of two now, and multiple hammers. We had the heat on the steering column for a long time. Then the skis started to move a little bit. We kept moving them back and forth, and it got easier and easier.  Finally there was a full range of motion. 

We put everything back together and went to take it for a spin. Unfortunately, I made it only about 150 feet before it died. I was super-discouraged and gave up for the night.

But a couple of days later, we decided to bring it to our friend Dale. While we know how to do some stuff, we are not super-educated in the department of carburetors, but Dale is.  After he got the carburetors tuned up, the thing ran a lot better.  It seemed ready to ride.

I was super-excited but also nervous, worried it would break. But it ran great, and the feeling I got from holding it wide open and racing down a field was unlike anything else.  It was a lot faster than I had even hoped, because while it has a small engine, it is very lightweight.  

When the Vermont trails opened, I registered the sled, and our maiden voyage with on the trails was some of the most fun I had had in forever! Over the rest of the winter, I rode countless times and accumulated over 1000 miles on it. 

I still have the sled and plan to keep it for as long as I can. Right now it has a few small problems with the carburetors from sitting over the summer, but I hope to fix them.   For how little money I have in it, it is definitely one of the best investments I have ever made.

I rate my 1994 Polaris Indy five stars.