You splurged for the extra storage bags and fancy riser pouch on the last sled you bought. You thought, ‘What the heck? It’ll be nice having somewhere to put my extra goggles for a change.’ Little did you know, you just volunteered to be the ‘camel sled’ of your riding crew! I kid, I kid… but only slightly.
I think there is a certain nobility here because instead of just carrying your belongings, you’ve got yours, his, hers and that guys who doesn’t even know your name. You don’t mind if I put my hat in there too, do you? Before you know it, you’re back to carrying a backpack to accommodate the storage needs of the whole group. I know exactly how you feel, because I’m that guy in our group! But hey, it’s kind of nice to be the ‘go to guy’ right? Well, some of the time, but all you storage eagle scouts out there might be thinking like me that it’s time we planted some seeds of suggestion in the minds of our riding buddies.
We are talking storage options for everyone!
Here’s a few favorite OEM storage solutions from the AmSnow staff, in no particular order:
Polaris – Our favorite storage system from Polaris is so new, it won’t even be available until August 2015. We had the opportunity to test it out on some pre-production rides at the end of the season. The Burandt Adventure Tunnel Bag comes in both large and small sizes. It’s a semi-rigid shell that attaches to the tunnel of your RMK with Polaris’ own Lock and Ride technology. The quick-release pressurized locking system secures into place with the flip of four levers and holds the bag snugly to the tunnel in the roughest of terrain. The interior of the storage space is customizable with adjustable Velcro dividers keeping items separated in a variety of different arrangements. It closes with YKK zippers and is doubly protected by the semi-rigid shell cover with a buckle and strap system that can compress the storage area if need be.
It’s a great low-profile design that’s perfect for the mountains. It doesn’t interfere with a rider’s movement on the sled, and it’s lightweight. It can be a bit of a pain to unbuckle the shell AND unzip the bag’s interior to access your stuff, but the top of the shell complete detaches and creates a very convenient tray for tools, parts or even a lunch spread, when turn upside-down. For more info go to www.polaris.com. (Part #2880969 – Small, #2880970 – Large)
Ski-Doo – The LinQ storage system is the gold standard when it comes to storage add-ons for your Ski-Doo as far as we’re concerned. The base kit installation is so easy with their pre-drilled mounting points; it can be done in less than five minutes. Then you can choose from any number of accessories to throw on the back of your sled like storage bags, gas cans, 2-up seats and ski/board racks. It’s easily the most versatile in the industry to date.
We’ve even taken our LinQ accessories a step further and found some nifty adapter kits (like the ones from www.upnorthtechnologies.com) that allow us to place our LinQ storage accessories on sleds of other makes. You’ll often find us riding the trails with LinQ Premium Tunnel Bag – Short 10 +3L (part #860200622). It’s got plenty of room for our daily riding necessities, and then some. It’s also easy to take off and on with your gloves on. For more info go to www.ski-doo.com.
Arctic Cat – In most cases, Cat’s Tunnel Pack that comes standard on the LXR, El Tigre and Limited models of the ZR trail lineup accommodates my storage needs for a day of riding. Then there are other days where you know you’ll need just a little more. On those days we like Seat Pack (part #6639-838). It replaces the smaller stock Tunnel Pack that comes on those ZR models mentioned above, and adds more space for all your goodies and also offers separate zippered pockets. Install requires some tools, but is still relatively quick and painless. It only calls for drilling out and replacing two rivets. All parts needed are supplied with the bag. Install only took us about 15 minutes.
The straps do tend to collect a little snow and ice on days when you’re really kicking up the roost, but it’s of little concern. When you consider exactly how much stuff you’ll be taking along for the ride, you won’t be concerned about a few extra snowflakes hitching a ride. The storage space is easily accessible on the sled by way of zippers that open all the way around 3 of the 4 sides of the bag. The bag also detaches fairly easily if you want to take the whole thing inside with you, although that’s not really the intent of the design. Simply loosen the straps and you’re good to go, unless those straps are frozen inside that ice collection. It also lacks the semi-rigid sides of the Polaris and Ski-Doo items we mentioned earlier, but it’s still a very durable goodie bag. For more info go to www.arcticcat.com.
Yamaha – We loved our Yamaha Viper R-TX LE this past season, but it was glaringly lacking in the area of storage. It’s an extremely comfortable sled to spend a long day on, but I always had to carry a backpack whenever I planned any extended riding. That is until I got an Expandable Tunnel Gear Bag from YPAD (Part #SMA-8JP63-00-00).
Boom! All of a sudden I had a cargo capacity that would make any soccer mom jealous! Extra gear, snacks, tools, you name it, and it all fit in my newly acquired trunk space. The best part of this piece is you can keep it low profile if you want and still have plenty of room for essentials. You can also expand the bag and bring plenty of non-essentials with you as well if you so desire.
Installation is almost identical to the Arctic Cat system we described above. That shouldn’t surprise anyone given their same ProCross chassis. One thing to note here is that instead of hooking under the tunnel, the rear hooks of the bag will wrap around the back bumper and hook back to itself.
Again, it does not have the semi-rigid construction we like in the Ski-Doo and Polaris, but it’s a nice big space to take plenty along for the ride. For more info go to www.yamahamotorsports.com
