Picked up my XCR yesterday and we gave her a 130 mile run.  My very FIRST impression was HOLLY SHIT this thing just RAILS.  It's gotta be the best handling sled I've ever owned.  The 650 power is impressive as well.  I rode it fairly hard for the first 65 miles.  Lined up with my son on my tweaked 900T Doo with maybe 15 miles on the 650 and it stayed with it for a short period of time, then of course the turbo walked away.  On our way back we lined up again, 115 miles on the 650, with me on the turbo and the 650 got the hole-shot, turbo spin like a mother on this run.  I finally passed my son on the 650 at around 85.  At the end of the run my son said he saw 101mph on the speedo.

Suspension?  I put HD springs on it and at this point wish I hadn't, shes a stiff one even with the blocks set on low and I think I have the clickers set on 2 from soft all the way around.  My last weigh in was 308lbs in business casual. Regardless she eats up the bumps. If I had to rate the suspension between my 900T Doo XRS and my 650 XCR, the Doo eats the bumps much better.

Fit and finish is awesome.  Seat is hard, XRS seat is SO much softer on my virgin ass.

Overall she's a fun sled, rails like no other and the power and performance of the 650 is VERY impressive.

Edited February 6, 20223 yr by A05GSHO

4 hours ago, A05GSHO said:

Picked up my XCR yesterday and we gave her a 130 mile run.  My very FIRST impression was HOLLY SHIT this thing just RAILS.  It's gotta be the best handling sled I've ever owned.  The 650 power is impressive as well.  I rode it fairly hard for the first 65 miles.  Lined up with my son on my tweaked 900T Doo with maybe 15 miles on the 650 and it stayed with it for a short period of time, then of course the turbo walked away.  On our way back we lined up again, 115 miles on the 650, with me on the turbo and the 650 got the hole-shot, turbo spin like a mother on this run.  I finally passed my son on the 650 at around 85.  At the end of the run my son said he saw 101mph on the speedo.

Suspension?  I put HD springs on it and at this point wish I hadn't, shes a stiff one even with the blocks set on low and I think I have the clickers set on 2 from soft all the way around.  My last weigh in was 308lbs in business casual. Regardless she eats up the bumps. If I had to rate the suspension between my 900T Doo XRS and my 650 XCR, the Doo eats the bumps much better.

Fit and finish is awesome.  Seat is hard, XRS seat is SO much softer on my virgin ass.

Overall she's a fun sled, rails like no other and the power and performance of the 650 is VERY impressive.

I found that both the seat and shocks broke in a bit. The power came up a bit after it was broke in as well. The engine needs about six hours well  into the RPMs ,To come out of break in. It also takes for ever to warm up when in break in mode. Fuel and oil consumption also improved biggly.

27 minutes ago, Woodtick said:

I found that both the seat and shocks broke in a bit. The power came up a bit after it was broke in as well. The engine needs about six hours well  into the RPMs ,To come out of break in. It also takes for ever to warm up when in break in mode. Fuel and oil consumption also improved biggly.

Forgot to add that the average running temperature was around 95°

Have about 300 miles on my XCR 850 now.  Yesterday was the first good ride to feel the sled out with the guys ride.  Set the sled up similar to my VR1 with the spring pre-loads and put all the shock adjustments both hi and low setting to the middle of the adjustment.  I go about 250 fully geared up for riding.  I set the suspension so it does gently bottom on some of the larger bumps on the trail.  Right now I have it close to what I'm looking for which could be different for others.  All shock adjustments are set from knob set in closed position  

Front ski High speed shock set on 4 low speed set on 4 springs have .812 preload

FTS High speed set at 4 low speed set at 5 spring has 1.25 preload

RTS High speed set at 1 low speed set at 5 stock torsion springs set at medium.

Coupler blocks in high position to couple the suspension the soonest

I did have the RTS shock set on 3 for low speed on the last ride so I'm trying it at 1 for next weekend.  If that don't work I'll move the torsion spring up to high and back the shock down.

Nice 

I never really gave a review on my 650 XCR this season, mostly because I felt like others had summed it up pretty well and I ultimately agreed with what they reported.  Between @A05GSHO and @Ziemann - I'd pretty much give a "+1" from me.  That said, I'll throw a few things out here that I found with mine ... other than the obvious, which was I WAITED on it too damn long!! 

I wasn't sure what to expect with the 650, but I figured with the amount of trail riding (primarily northwoods trail riding) we do, it would be more than adequate.  And that assumption was 100% correct - it's fantastic in the trails/woods.  The engine has enough snort to keep a guy honest, but is a bit more "controllable" when pushing it hard through the tight & twisty stuff.  From that aspect, the 650 is fantastic.  On the straights, it will surprise people as it will hit the century mark in perfect conditions, and a solid mid 90's in most other typical conditions.  In other words, it's not a slouch .... but anyone thinking they're going to line up against 800-850 class sleds and win?  Sorry

It wasn't until my last trip of the season that I started to realize that I miss the grunt of the 840/850.  A riding buddy of mine was on his Riot, and was leading us for the day & we had a stretch of ditch riding where there were several field approaches and driveways which were perfect for catching a bit of air.  It's not that the 650 is incapable of hitting those approaches to catch air, it's just a much less exciting feel to it.  Watching my buddy hit them, I was initially grinning as I got to each "opportunity" .. but was ultimately left with the feeling of, "Well that was a bit lackluster."  I guess, after 20 years of being on 800's ... going back to 130'ish horsepower is fine for a lot of my riding, but where it lacks also affects the FUN FACTOR (I had to use that phrase just to piss off a few people )

The other thing with the 650 that I was kind of interested in was the fuel economy - just to see if it was legit.  Maybe if I was a smaller, 175 pound type of guy, the MPG's would be better .. but I wasn't overly impressed.  I expected to see ho-hum mileage on the days we ran mostly lakes and keeping a brisker pace going, but when we mostly rode trails and stayed away from long stretches of 70+ mph I was thinking I'd still see significantly better fuel consumption than my buddy on his Riot.  That wasn't the case.  I beat him by a gallon a few times, but other than that we were pretty close at fill ups.

Overall, the 650 really is a nice engine package and for some people it's going to be more than enough.  It will impress the 800 and 850 crowd if they swap sleds with a 650 owner, but it still isn't an 800 or 850.  For me, I miss my 840/850 too much and will be going back to one for 2023.  So if anyone is looking for a lightly used 650 XCR, I'll be selling mine when my '23 comes in!

Thanks for the honest report Bontz, have been wondering if the 650 would fill that in between 850-600 gap.

 

A little surprised at the fuel economy, have to say wife's 600 e-tech is steller on fuel even when I'm pushing it.

33 minutes ago, oldslowsledder said:

Thanks for the honest report Bontz, have been wondering if the 650 would fill that in between 850-600 gap.

 

A little surprised at the fuel economy, have to say wife's 600 e-tech is steller on fuel even when I'm pushing it.

I think that is rider dependent.  My 800 uses less gas than my buddies 600 e-tech when we ride together.  He uses less oil though.

30 minutes ago, Deephaven said:

I think that is rider dependent.  My 800 uses less gas than my buddies 600 e-tech when we ride together.  He uses less oil though.

This has been my experience when riding with guys on 600's next to my 800/850's as well.  

Jim will tell you differently...but when your top speed is 18mph your results may differ

On 4/17/2022 at 10:06 AM, Bontz said:

I never really gave a review on my 650 XCR this season, mostly because I felt like others had summed it up pretty well and I ultimately agreed with what they reported.  Between @A05GSHO and @Ziemann - I'd pretty much give a "+1" from me.  That said, I'll throw a few things out here that I found with mine ... other than the obvious, which was I WAITED on it too damn long!! 

I wasn't sure what to expect with the 650, but I figured with the amount of trail riding (primarily northwoods trail riding) we do, it would be more than adequate.  And that assumption was 100% correct - it's fantastic in the trails/woods.  The engine has enough snort to keep a guy honest, but is a bit more "controllable" when pushing it hard through the tight & twisty stuff.  From that aspect, the 650 is fantastic.  On the straights, it will surprise people as it will hit the century mark in perfect conditions, and a solid mid 90's in most other typical conditions.  In other words, it's not a slouch .... but anyone thinking they're going to line up against 800-850 class sleds and win?  Sorry

It wasn't until my last trip of the season that I started to realize that I miss the grunt of the 840/850.  A riding buddy of mine was on his Riot, and was leading us for the day & we had a stretch of ditch riding where there were several field approaches and driveways which were perfect for catching a bit of air.  It's not that the 650 is incapable of hitting those approaches to catch air, it's just a much less exciting feel to it.  Watching my buddy hit them, I was initially grinning as I got to each "opportunity" .. but was ultimately left with the feeling of, "Well that was a bit lackluster."  I guess, after 20 years of being on 800's ... going back to 130'ish horsepower is fine for a lot of my riding, but where it lacks also affects the FUN FACTOR (I had to use that phrase just to piss off a few people )

The other thing with the 650 that I was kind of interested in was the fuel economy - just to see if it was legit.  Maybe if I was a smaller, 175 pound type of guy, the MPG's would be better .. but I wasn't overly impressed.  I expected to see ho-hum mileage on the days we ran mostly lakes and keeping a brisker pace going, but when we mostly rode trails and stayed away from long stretches of 70+ mph I was thinking I'd still see significantly better fuel consumption than my buddy on his Riot.  That wasn't the case.  I beat him by a gallon a few times, but other than that we were pretty close at fill ups.

Overall, the 650 really is a nice engine package and for some people it's going to be more than enough.  It will impress the 800 and 850 crowd if they swap sleds with a 650 owner, but it still isn't an 800 or 850.  For me, I miss my 840/850 too much and will be going back to one for 2023.  So if anyone is looking for a lightly used 650 XCR, I'll be selling mine when my '23 comes in!

you forgot "flickable"

2 hours ago, oldslowsledder said:

Thanks for the honest report Bontz, have been wondering if the 650 would fill that in between 850-600 gap.

 

A little surprised at the fuel economy, have to say wife's 600 e-tech is steller on fuel even when I'm pushing it.

Like I said, it may be better on fuel for a lighter guy and one who's not so thumb happy   But I just know after a day of riding, primarily, the Chippewa Flowage (northwestern WI waterway that's a huge trail system) and running 70-80mph ... the 650 was far from "economical" 

 

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous summary is ... I'm not overly impressed with the amount of time it takes the 650 to warm up compared to its 840/850 counterpart.  Even after riding for a while, and having parked in the cold for an hour or so, it takes way too long for it to get up to the mid 80's or 90 degree temps.  

On 4/17/2022 at 9:06 AM, Bontz said:

I never really gave a review on my 650 XCR this season, mostly because I felt like others had summed it up pretty well and I ultimately agreed with what they reported.  Between @A05GSHO and @Ziemann - I'd pretty much give a "+1" from me.  That said, I'll throw a few things out here that I found with mine ... other than the obvious, which was I WAITED on it too damn long!! 

I wasn't sure what to expect with the 650, but I figured with the amount of trail riding (primarily northwoods trail riding) we do, it would be more than adequate.  And that assumption was 100% correct - it's fantastic in the trails/woods.  The engine has enough snort to keep a guy honest, but is a bit more "controllable" when pushing it hard through the tight & twisty stuff.  From that aspect, the 650 is fantastic.  On the straights, it will surprise people as it will hit the century mark in perfect conditions, and a solid mid 90's in most other typical conditions.  In other words, it's not a slouch .... but anyone thinking they're going to line up against 800-850 class sleds and win?  Sorry

It wasn't until my last trip of the season that I started to realize that I miss the grunt of the 840/850.  A riding buddy of mine was on his Riot, and was leading us for the day & we had a stretch of ditch riding where there were several field approaches and driveways which were perfect for catching a bit of air.  It's not that the 650 is incapable of hitting those approaches to catch air, it's just a much less exciting feel to it.  Watching my buddy hit them, I was initially grinning as I got to each "opportunity" .. but was ultimately left with the feeling of, "Well that was a bit lackluster."  I guess, after 20 years of being on 800's ... going back to 130'ish horsepower is fine for a lot of my riding, but where it lacks also affects the FUN FACTOR (I had to use that phrase just to piss off a few people )

The other thing with the 650 that I was kind of interested in was the fuel economy - just to see if it was legit.  Maybe if I was a smaller, 175 pound type of guy, the MPG's would be better .. but I wasn't overly impressed.  I expected to see ho-hum mileage on the days we ran mostly lakes and keeping a brisker pace going, but when we mostly rode trails and stayed away from long stretches of 70+ mph I was thinking I'd still see significantly better fuel consumption than my buddy on his Riot.  That wasn't the case.  I beat him by a gallon a few times, but other than that we were pretty close at fill ups.

Overall, the 650 really is a nice engine package and for some people it's going to be more than enough.  It will impress the 800 and 850 crowd if they swap sleds with a 650 owner, but it still isn't an 800 or 850.  For me, I miss my 840/850 too much and will be going back to one for 2023.  So if anyone is looking for a lightly used 650 XCR, I'll be selling mine when my '23 comes in!

How much faster was the 650 against the riot in top speed? Did it ever foul any plugs? Do i need to get the tall windshield or is the mid warm enough? Was the seat hard, Med, or soft?Did you run regular or premium fuel? Do i need to run extreme oil and how much is a gallon?

3 hours ago, Bontz said:

Like I said, it may be better on fuel for a lighter guy and one who's not so thumb happy   But I just know after a day of riding, primarily, the Chippewa Flowage (northwestern WI waterway that's a huge trail system) and running 70-80mph ... the 650 was far from "economical" 

 

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous summary is ... I'm not overly impressed with the amount of time it takes the 650 to warm up compared to its 840/850 counterpart.  Even after riding for a while, and having parked in the cold for an hour or so, it takes way too long for it to get up to the mid 80's or 90 degree temps.  

Interesting you should mention warm up.  The 2022 seems to take a little longer to warm up.  I ride with Ski-Doo's and my 2022 was the normally last to warm up.  When I was riding with my wife she was riding a 2021 850 VR1 and that would come up to temperature before my 2022.  

Edited April 18, 20223 yr by Doug

Since I have a '22 sitting out in the trailer I won't get to ride until next year, been scoring the net for rider reports. Man it's encouraging seeing so many over the moon happy with the complete package. 

5 hours ago, Bontz said:

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous summary is ... I'm not overly impressed with the amount of time it takes the 650 to warm up compared to its 840/850 counterpart.  Even after riding for a while, and having parked in the cold for an hour or so, it takes way too long for it to get up to the mid 80's or 90 degree temps.  

 

2 hours ago, Doug said:

Interesting you should mention warm up.  The 2022 seems to take a little longer to warm up.  I ride with Ski-Doo's and my 2022 was the normally last to warm up.  When I was riding with my wife she was riding a 2021 850 VR1 and that would come up to temperature before my 2022.  

funny reading about about sleds that take forever to warm up compared to ones people can't seem to keep cool... 

4 hours ago, wrinkly balls said:

How much faster was the 650 against the riot in top speed? Did it ever foul any plugs? Do i need to get the tall windshield or is the mid warm enough? Was the seat hard, Med, or soft?Did you run regular or premium fuel? Do i need to run extreme oil and how much is a gallon?

All I can tell you is, the 650 was not a disappointment (for me) when lining up against the Riot ... although I know the Riot isn't geared for top end.  I think my buddy was a bit surprised though!  According to @krom you should buy a pallet of spark plugs, and be sure you pack the underseat storage compartment with boxes upon boxes of plugs since all Polaris sleds go through plugs like Ramstad drinks green Kool-Aid.  For oil advice, I'll defer any and all questions to "The Chemist" 

2 hours ago, Doug said:

Interesting you should mention warm up.  The 2022 seems to take a little longer to warm up.  I ride with Ski-Doo's and my 2022 was the normally last to warm up.  When I was riding with my wife she was riding a 2021 850 VR1 and that would come up to temperature before my 2022.  

I guess I wasn't really aware of the 2022's as a whole, taking longer to warm up ... I thought it was just the 650 engine.  I dunno, I guess I'm just a bit picky in that I won't even move my sled until its in the mid 80's if it's been run the same day ... I do prefer seeing 90 though.  Thankfully that same buddy on the Riot, he would be right with me waiting most times.

56 minutes ago, ZRSledhead said:

Since I have a '22 sitting out in the trailer I won't get to ride until next year, been scoring the net for rider reports. Man it's encouraging seeing so many over the moon happy with the complete package. 

You must be scoring the Polaris FB pages to find people over the moon happy with the complete package ... well, maybe the Yamaha forums too.  But clearly you haven't been reading much for Cat riders' feedback 

19 minutes ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

 

funny reading about about sleds that take forever to warm up compared to ones people can't seem to keep cool... 

Different but somewhat related topic ... on the keeping sleds cool.  So last week at our April snowmobile club meeting, two buddies of mine were talking about their '22 Cats and how both of them were fighting issues all winter with icebergs being created in the tunnel.  The thinking is, both of them were fighting that issue because they run their scratchers down 100% of the time.  I guess it's easy enough to bust it loose and get the ice out of there, if the scratchers are doing their job.  That's one area I was pleasantly surprised with my sled - it did a good job of staying cool even without scratchers.  

14 minutes ago, Bontz said:

Different but somewhat related topic ... on the keeping sleds cool.  So last week at our April snowmobile club meeting, two buddies of mine were talking about their '22 Cats and how both of them were fighting issues all winter with icebergs being created in the tunnel.  The thinking is, both of them were fighting that issue because they run their scratchers down 100% of the time.  I guess it's easy enough to bust it loose and get the ice out of there, if the scratchers are doing their job.  That's one area I was pleasantly surprised with my sled - it did a good job of staying cool even without scratchers.  

it only seems to be a 'problem' for those unfortunate enough to have experienced the problem.  'inconsistency' seems to have become a AC trademark... 

More and more, I'm thinking the wife needs a 650 Matryx.  Hopefully, she has another season left in her old Polaris.  I'd rather have a sled that's slow to warm up, but also slow to overheat.  The one thing she's going to insist on is wind protection.  If Polaris puts their excellent ATV EPS on the Indy next year, that would close the deal for her.

My Riot suffers from the dreaded ice bridges, and it seems to be related to all three of these at once:  colder weather, freshly groomed trails and scratchers down.  Two out of three and I never have a problem.  But, it's pretty annoying when I have to stop to kick the ice off.

On 4/18/2022 at 1:52 PM, Bontz said:

Like I said, it may be better on fuel for a lighter guy and one who's not so thumb happy   But I just know after a day of riding, primarily, the Chippewa Flowage (northwestern WI waterway that's a huge trail system) and running 70-80mph ... the 650 was far from "economical" 

 

One other thing I forgot to mention in my previous summary is ... I'm not overly impressed with the amount of time it takes the 650 to warm up compared to its 840/850 counterpart.  Even after riding for a while, and having parked in the cold for an hour or so, it takes way too long for it to get up to the mid 80's or 90 degree temps.  

Smaller bore sleds have never been more fuel efficient than their bigger brothers.  It’s a myth made up by people that ride them slow. 

9 hours ago, Not greg b said:

Smaller bore sleds have never been more fuel efficient than their bigger brothers.  It’s a myth made up by people that ride them slow. 

Cue up a Dumstad response.

 

He's claimed that multiple times, rofl.

11 hours ago, Not greg b said:

Smaller bore sleds have never been more fuel efficient than their bigger brothers.  It’s a myth made up by people that ride them slow. 

Gym doesn't care about fuel economy.  Gym loves the smell of premium fuel and Amsoil.  Gym rarely goes over fifty miles per hour.  Gym likes to stop frequently and pin the throttle.  Gym giggles when he rides wheelies and sprays roost.      

17 minutes ago, Gym Ramstud said:

Gym doesn't care about fuel economy.  Gym loves the smell of premium fuel and Amsoil.  Gym rarely goes over fifty miles per hour.  Gym likes to stop frequently and pin the throttle.  Gym giggles when he rides wheelies and sprays roost.      

Jimmy's Down.

Sorry man, couldn't resist.

 

 

5 hours ago, ArcticCrusher said:

Jimmy's Down.

Sorry man, couldn't resist.

 

 

Gym doesn't liked to be mocked.  Gym has a hurt feeling.

20 hours ago, Not greg b said:

Smaller bore sleds have never been more fuel efficient than their bigger brothers.  It’s a myth made up by people that ride them slow. 

My 05 Machz was pretty much equal to my wifes 600 sdi. Ridden brisk but not balls to the wall usually both got around 16-17 mpg. 

On 4/19/2022 at 11:07 PM, Not greg b said:

Smaller bore sleds have never been more fuel efficient than their bigger brothers.  It’s a myth made up by people that ride them slow. 

Definitely noticed that on cats - 600s and 800s in our group are all nearly the same on gas.