1972 ski doo nordic 440e new motor, all orig. exc. cond. $375

1984 ski doo ss25 462l/c exc. cond. $475

(2) 1980 arctic cat 440 panthers with dolly $475

The 1st 2 are from the same person, and the 3rd is somewhere else. Both places are pretty much equal distance, about 2 hours. Personally, i'd like to not have to drive that long to get them, taking only someones word on the condition. From the pics, although low quality, they all look good.

What would you guys do? Which of these sleds:

Are fastest?
Have best ride quality?
Are most reliable?

Kinda like the panthers, if only for the fact that there would be 2 of em. I'd have to see if my friend still has a trailer though, cus i can't fit two in the bed of the pickup.

The Skidoo will have the best and is the fast one of the 3 , also has a two up seat and oil injection and the few that I had got good gas mileage motor were stong and had a fun bottom end and midrange, hope this helps! Let us know what you bought.

Well, it seems that the other replies are gone now. Thanks bill, which ski doo do you mean, the ss25?

I've been debating either that one, or the panthers. Still can't get over the fact that there are 2 of 'em. Any info on the panthers. Like top speed, low end, reliability, ect.. Top speed isn't my biggest factor though. It would have to be reliablilty 1st, then a mix of ride quality, mph, and the way it pulls. I would like a strong sled that can accel good, but last for awhile. Doesn't need to be the fastest, as long as it can hit 70-75, i'm good. I rarely go any faster than that anyhow.

I can't remember if the panthers are a 440cc fan or a 500cc fan. I had a 1980 pantera and that was a 500cc fan. Top speed would be 70ish. The ride is going to be "Old School" on all all three. They all have leafspring front suspension. The Panther & SS25 probably have between 4"& 6" of rear suspension. I'm not too familiar with Ski-Doo, But I'd be surprised if the Nordic being a 1972, would probably have Bogie wheels for the rear suspension. Do you want to mix the gas & oil or not? The Nordic will be premix, the other 2 will be oil injected. This would be my choice of the three. If you want a sporty ride, pick the SS25. If you want a here to there sled, pick the Panthers. If you want to ride vintage and maybe restore and go to shows, pick the Nordic.

The panthers are 440 fan. As far as looks go, i'm on the panthers side with that one. 4-6" of suspension sounds fine also, my last sled was just bogey wheels. Whether the machine is injected or not, the 1st thing i do is disconnect the sending unit and premix. I've never trust the injectors on any machine.

When it comes to what i'm looking for, sporty, or here to there. Well i just want to be able to ride some trails, maybe a little climbing every now and then, and be able to pick up the speed and let it pull from time to time, love to feel the acceleration.

I should also add that the trails around here are pretty open, not twisty and tight, and from what i can remeber, "most" were never all that bumpy. The ability to go through non groomed areas is important as well, since we like to make our own paths while riding on friends property.

Oh, when you spoke of ~70mph, were you refering to the pantera you had, or to the panther?

Thanks.

70mph was from a 1985 Jag 440 that I had. Don't be so hasty on disconecting the oil injection. I know that on Kawasaki engines for sure, (not sure on other engines) the oil injection lubes the middle crank bearing. Even though the Panther has a Suzuki engine, if the oil injection is working, just leave it. They seldomly have a problem, and the injecter pump does a more accurate job of getting the right amount of oil than adding oil in a can and shacking it up. I myself have never had an oil injection problem on any sled that I've owned, & that's starting with a 1980 pantera all the way to a 2000 zl600efi.

I to would keep with the oil injection check to if the ss has a 16 inch wide track I had a 85 and it did and the 89 mx, and plus did . That gives a little more play in the deep and hooking up on the trail.

The 1980 panthers do not have 4-6" of travel in the rear, more like 2-3" they ride like a brick. Stock ski stance is pretty narrow, about 28" so they aren't terribly stable. The clutching is off on mine, but I would say it would probably top around 60 or so. Has an oddball Mikuni butterfly carb. Been a reliable sled, I took off the oil injection, it doesn't lube the crank bearings on this engine. I can't rag on it too much, she's been a good sled to me.

Take mine for a test drive :D
http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z95mWplpiFo

The 1980 panthers do not have 4-6" of travel in the rear, more like 2-3" they ride like a brick. Stock ski stance is pretty narrow, about 28" so they aren't terribly stable.[/b]

Maybe you should do your homework before you tell me that I'm wrong. On Davids vintage sled page in the brochure section. The 1980 Arctic Cat brochure lists the Panther as having a 30" ski stance and 4 1/2" of rear suspension.

Maybe you should do your homework before you tell me that I'm wrong. On Davids vintage sled page in the brochure section. The 1980 Arctic Cat brochure lists the Panther as having a 30" ski stance and 4 1/2" of rear suspension.[/b]

Whoa, sorry man, didn't mean it like that. I guess it just feels like 2" of travel and a 28" ski stance. :lmao:

Around 60 huh. How fast does it get there? I guess i could live with 60, as long as it accelerates there quick enough. Thanks for the youtube link, already seen it. It was a pic of your panther that got me looking at these panthers. I like what you did widening the ski's, give it a great looking stance, and looks like it handles good that way as well. Do you know of any tricks to get a little more "giddy up" and maybe a smother ride out of these sleds?

Liked the powerslide vid with the 250r as well. Always loved the 250r's, wicked fast machines that still outrun most modern models.

Well, right now it takes forever to get up to speed, but that has more to do with the clutching being off. The hex clutches on these sleds can get worn and self destruct if not taken care of. When I rebuilt mine I had to use a spider assembly off an older hex clutch, the arms are much heavier than stock and I messed around with different weights for a while trying to get back near stock, not much luck. With the lack of a tach, tuning was frustrating, and these engines have a 12 pulse electrical system so finding an electric tach is tough, and finding a NOS cable driven tach is even harder. Back with the worn out clutch setup it was pretty quick, previous owner claimed it would hit 70 on the speedo. I think the engines were 42 hp, they have a decent amount of torque though. If you really wanted to, you could try and find some dual intakes and shoehorn a tuned exhaust in there, but not sure if that would be worth the hassle. As far as the suspension goes, taking everything apart, cleaning, and lubing everything goes a long way. I ride ungroomed trails and she will wear you out. The skidoo will ride better, and I bet the ss25 has more than 6" of travel in the rear. But, I've been wrong before. :whistling:

Thanks, the 250R is a handful, she's not completely stock either. Got to love them death wheelers. :D

Thanks toocheap. Think i'll go with the panthers. One can be stock, and the other can be my toy.

Any chance of being able to run a larger shock out back to gain some travel, or is that not possible with the setup on these sleds? Never seen one in person, so i'm not sure what is and isn't possible. I've just seen a couple sleds before with fab'd brackets and larger/longer rear shocks used to get more travel and a softer ride.

I have a snowmobile salvage yard nearby, so if it's possible, i could get one there. Making the brackets is something i can do.

I am not sure where your located, but I would bet you that for 475$ you could go to the auction in Bronson Michigan and pick up a early to mid 90's sled with a lot better suspension (front and rear) as well as newer toys,,,, I know I bought a 90 prowler there that was in excellent shape back in 1998 (sled was 8 years old) and I only paid 500$ for it. I rode that thing for a while before selling it,,,, might add, I got 550$ out of it when I sold it 4 years later!!!

look up whitestar auctions on google,,,, you will be amazed at the prices,,,, just remember to check the sleds out HARD that morning and know what your bidding on. If you choose to go, I am sure there are other members here that would be there and assist you if it was needed.

I looked at their site beofre, but i never checked the price report. I may just do that instead. Seems like maybe i can save up a little more, and walk out with two nice sleds. I seen some that went for 200-300. Wow.

If i decide to go there, then i'll post a thread at the time to see if anyone from here is going, or maybe lives nearby. I do think that i could use some help there. I've always been into atv's, and snowmobiles are still pretty new to me. I've riden friends sleds, but only owned and old deere for one season. So i'm not really up on which models have issues, which are faster, ect...

Thanks for the reminding me of the auction site puree. I'm glad i looked at the price report this time. Not to mention that it's closer than where either of the other sleds i've been looking at are.