Snowmobiling is a great sport. You get to see the world in a way that very few get the chance to see it and I just can't describe the feeling of a crisp January morning where we get to ride out and see what's going on in the world. Maybe that's part of the of the problem though, we are keeping this wonder of the world to ourselves and we're not telling our friends and family what fun it is. Snowmobiling isn't bringing in a wealth of youth to the sport and most riders you see on the trails are mid 30's or older, and we aren't getting any younger. If this continues we're going to be in trouble as there will be fewer and fewer riders for the same miles of trails. You can see where this is going, we'll thousands of miles of empty trails, that we can't afford to maintain. In Ontario it's estimated that it cost $600 per mile to run the trails. You could very easily how the cost for a pass could spiral up, quickly, if new riders don't come on board.

But what solo rider wants to have a ride that's intended to carry two riders all the time if they usually ride by themselves? 2 up sleds tend to be more expensive, heavy, longer, and more cumbersome to manoeuvre. If you want to bring your girlfriend along it's not a great experience asking your them to sit on the bump on the back of the seat while you're crusing to the restaurant.

Jack Industries (http://www.industriesjack.com/en/) has had a solution for a few years that would allow you to put a seat on the back of your sled. It requires some black rails to be mounted to your tunnel, which don't look great, and a classic looking seat, which isn't my style. It works, but it isn't very stylish. With the way sled prices are going you want your ride to look prime!

SKI-DOO has come out with a unique offering for just this. There is a bolt on seat that will keep her warm and out of the bump zone on your ride. As it's rated for 180 lbs it's the perfect way to bring a her along on a Friday night ride. I've never found a better mix of fit and function for a sled. New from the dealer they can be had for about $500 or used you can get them used for about for $350 or so from ebay. If you buy a used seat make sure it comes with the mounting bracket as some seats come up but are missing the bracket that costs $100 to replace.

There is very little assembly required with the seat itself. You simply screw the handles onto it and you're ready to ride. I would recommend getting the insulating muffs that go over the handles though, esp if you're going to be taking passengers whose hands are prone to getting cold. The kit also comes with footrests for your passengers if you want to install them and they go on with a few rivets each.

The install is a breeze.

First you remove the trunk lid by pushing in on either side of it so it will come off the sled.	Next you remove the plastic faring that goes around the back of the seat by taking out the 4 large Phillips screws.
Trunk is removed and getting ready for minor surgery	Now that all the plastic is out of the way you can get to installing the bracket

Then undo the two nuts that hold the seat and gas tank to the tunnel. Slide the mounting bracket over the bolts and use the 2 new nylock nuts that com in the kit to secure the mounting bracket, gas tank and seat base down to the tunnel.

For 2003 sleds - Attach the mounting bracket to the rear bracket that hinges the beaver tail. For 2004-2007 Rev and RT Fasten the seat bracket to the two L brackets already attached to the tunnel	Next you need to trim the trunk bottom so the mounting seat brackets will clear it once it's installed.
Surgery was a sucess! Assembly begins	After the trunk bottom is trimmed it fits back in perfectly.

Then install the trunk bottom and put the rear faring back into place and attach it with the 4 Phillips screws. If you're not ready to use the seat you can now put the trunk lid back on and the look goes right back to stock.

Ready for the seat. Notice that most of the trunk space is retained!

Attaching the seat to the sled is easy. You remove the trunk lid, aim the front of the seat onto the mounting bracket and then push down on the back of it. To remove, you simply push the button on the back of the sled and lift up on the back of the seat.

With a setup like that is as easy to install as this, how could you not want to bring friends along for the ride?

Solo or with friends, the choice is yours and looks styleish either way!