Howdy! New to the forum here. Landed three Cats from my family as hand me downs. Two 98 Panther 440's and a 98 ZL500.
I understand that the ZL500 is a completely different beast from the panthers, and in all honesty I enjoy the panther twins much more for trail riding than the ZL500.
I am a complete newbie when it comes to riding sleds, aside from sitting on someone's lap as a kid I have only been riding for a year. I am all for going full tilt and throwing up some powder or getting the skis off the ground, but I mainly enjoy slow to medium pace trail riding.
Is it normal for a ZL500 to be absolutely screaming at 5000+ rpm when just lugging along at 25-30 MPH? I noticed the sled is a lot happier at much higher speeds, but for trail riding I am just pissing through gas. It also does not sound very happy when at low speeds, almost like it has a misfire, but it clears right up when I go past 3/4 throttle. I understand it is not a big motor, but it feels like the panther has a bit more low end than the ZL.
Another issue I have noticed is that unless I go full tilt from a stop and accelerate quickly to high speed, it seems to have little to no top end. From a stop it mops the floor with the panther, but from a roll above 35 it doesn't seem to want to give me much more and the panther pulls away.
Please take it easy on me! Not very familiar with the characteristics of the ZL just yet! Pretty familiar with the panthers though.
I understand that the ZL500 is a completely different beast from the panthers, and in all honesty I enjoy the panther twins much more for trail riding than the ZL500.
I am a complete newbie when it comes to riding sleds, aside from sitting on someone's lap as a kid I have only been riding for a year. I am all for going full tilt and throwing up some powder or getting the skis off the ground, but I mainly enjoy slow to medium pace trail riding.
Is it normal for a ZL500 to be absolutely screaming at 5000+ rpm when just lugging along at 25-30 MPH? I noticed the sled is a lot happier at much higher speeds, but for trail riding I am just pissing through gas. It also does not sound very happy when at low speeds, almost like it has a misfire, but it clears right up when I go past 3/4 throttle. I understand it is not a big motor, but it feels like the panther has a bit more low end than the ZL.
Another issue I have noticed is that unless I go full tilt from a stop and accelerate quickly to high speed, it seems to have little to no top end. From a stop it mops the floor with the panther, but from a roll above 35 it doesn't seem to want to give me much more and the panther pulls away.
Please take it easy on me! Not very familiar with the characteristics of the ZL just yet! Pretty familiar with the panthers though.