For my last snowmobile test of the season, I chose to test a rental snowmobile. It has been made available to me by Stadacona Aventure, the BRP rental service at Dion Moto’s, BRP dealership in Saint-Raymond de Portneuf.
My trial snowmobile is a 2017 Ski-Doo Renegade with the famous 4-stroke engine of 1200cc and with already 9 000 kilometers on the meter!
Also, this standard 1-up snowmobile is equipped with the Ski-Doo optional accessory, the famous 1 + 1 seat to make a 2-up machine out of this 1-up.
Very surprised by the comfort of this standard 1-up snowmobile, equipped for 2-up usage!
The bottom and the backrest of the 1 + 1 seat are really comfortable. Made of quality materials, it brings comfort to the passenger. Effectively, it was my passenger’s first snowmobile ride and she was comfortable.
The design of the backrest allows us to strongly attach our bags.
Over 280 kilometers of wonderful trails in Charlevoix, we rode in all trail conditions like the carpet type, the stutter-bump type and finally the extreme-bump type.
Of course, we must adjust the rMotion rear suspension and the RAS 2 front suspension to get their best performances. Ski-Doo snowmobiles offer many calibrations of the suspensions.
The rMotion rear suspension surprised me by its outstanding performance in 2-up riding.
In extreme bumps, we used the maximum setting of the original springs.
I noticed that despite the quality of the center and rear HPG shocks, a fatigue effect appears after 9 000 kilometers on the meter. As a result, the restraint caused by the charge is only supported on the springs that remain firm even after lots of kilometers.
As I am used to the rMotion specifications, I am sure that with fresher HPG shocks, we would get a good overall restraint when riding with a passenger and this, even in extreme bumps.
I wish I could have tested this snowmobile with only 2 000 kilometers on the meter!
Experts in snowmobile shocks and suspensions say that no matter the shocks, they need to be restored between 8 000 and 10 000 kilometers. In fact, your dealer can do this restoration job and you will surely appreciate the improvement.
Personally, I think that the BRP rMotion suspension is actually the best of the best in matter of snowmobile suspensions.
I noticed that after many kilometers on trails covered with powder snow, turbulences were throwing snow on my rear bags!
Maybe the design of the Renegade is slightly different from the Touring models equipped with flaps. The turbulences are then different. The design of the backrest offers a good protection against these turbulences.
Anyway, we must always use quality bags. On this photo, we see the bags I use on both my motorcycle and my snowmobile.
The gray bag is a Oxford Aqua T-30 bag of 30 liters while the black one is a Holeshot bag of about the same capacity. These affordable quality bags are available at your dealer’s. A valuable and durable investment!
With some skill in strap fixing, you can strongly attach your bags to the backrest and your luggage will remain dry.
As the tunnel bags are above the radiators of the engine cooling system, the warmth produced is sufficient to keep our bottle of water not frozen, even at 15 °Celcius!
Comfort, please!
Owners of Ski-Doo Renegade 1200 snowmobiles should not worry, you will recognize the feeling provided by this engine.
The motorization, the calibration of convectors and the gear ratios of the 2017 Ski-Doo Renegade 1200 get efficiently adapted to the additional charge.
The 1200cc is an excellent producer of torque.
Being used to a solo type of riding, in 2-up riding we must consider the rear counterweight effect on the skis performance, mostly in acceleration at the exit of curves. A 1200cc with 2 passengers is not affected by this charge… it pushes. Also, the track traction is improved!
The adjustment of the riser blocks reduces and controls the lift of the machine in order to make the skis stick to the trail. Maybe, by tightening the restraint strap of the front suspension, I would have found the aggressivity of my usual riding.
Well… some ski-lift can be fun and it makes an impression!
It is pleasant to see that a Ski-Doo Renegade designed for 1-up riding can be efficiently modified for a 2-up usage.
My own snowmobile is a 2015 Ski-Doo Renegade 1200. For the next season, I will install a 1 + 1 seat and I will calibrate the available adjustments on the suspensions of this machine.
Already many wonderful snowmobile tours to plan.
We would like to thank Dion Moto, BRP dealer in Portneuf region, and Stadacona Aventure, its rental division.
Thanks to the support of this new partner and his personnel, we have been able to present to you many new features of Ski-Doo recreational products.
We wish to renew our partnership with Dion Moto for the next season.
