New here, not to Slingshot.

    Hi everyone, new to the forum but not to Slingshot. I’m 67 years old and been riding bikes for 50 some years. Wife and I used to do the GoldWing thing, but she had hip replacement and I got tired of riding lone wolf. Tried cars {convertibles} but way to still and quite and just like, well, riding in a car. Test drove a Slingshot and loved it, way more elemental and raucous, like a bike! Wife loved it too, so we bought a 2018 SLR. This particular slingshot had constant intermittent starting problems even though we did all the prescribed fixes. Got fed up and sold it back to the dealer, then ordered a 2022 Slingshot R. Ordered in June and was told it wouldn't arrive till November.....sign of the times I suppose! I guess that's OK, it was 109 degrees here in Dallas today. Waiting patiently for November. Sorry this was so long winded. But to make it even worse (LOL) I do have one question, the PSS 18 had the GM ECOTEC engine, a well known and tested platform. Does anyone know about the longevity and reliability of the Polaris engine and how it compares?

    Hello, and thanks, Brian.

    Welcome! To my understanding the new engine is basically 2 of their UTV engines bolted together, so technically not a new design. Still fairly unproven given that off road riding and on road are vastly different animals.

    Quote from BRIAN H 73

    Hi everyone, new to the forum but not to Slingshot. I’m 67 years old and been riding bikes for 50 some years. Wife and I used to do the GoldWing thing, but she had hip replacement and I got tired of riding lone wolf. Tried cars {convertibles} but way to still and quite and just like, well, riding in a car. Test drove a Slingshot and loved it, way more elemental and raucous, like a bike! Wife loved it too, so we bought a 2018 SLR. This particular slingshot had constant intermittent starting problems even though we did all the prescribed fixes. Got fed up and sold it back to the dealer, then ordered a 2022 Slingshot R. Ordered in June and was told it wouldn't arrive till November.....sign of the times I suppose! I guess that's OK, it was 109 degrees here in Dallas today. Waiting patiently for November. Sorry this was so long winded. But to make it even worse (LOL) I do have one question, the PSS 18 had the GM ECOTEC engine, a well known and tested platform. Does anyone know about the longevity and reliability of the Polaris engine and how it compares?

    Hello, and thanks, Brian.

    Welcome BRIAN H 73 to the forum and yes you can get great responses for almost any questions or concerns!

    I have owned a 2016.5 and 2018 Slingshots, and a 2020R , but now own the 2022 R Slingshot since mid-April with almost 5k miles. Personally I prefer the New Polaris engines for the Pure Performance it has over the stock ecotec engines and all my Slingshots have been the 5 speed manual transmissions !! But, I also enjoy the better ride and handling of the newer Slingshots!

    Quote from Batcycle

    Welcome BRIAN H 73 to the forum and yes you can get great responses for almost any questions or concerns!

    Thanks for the input! I am a little bit concerned about the reliability and longevity issue because the wife and I try to ride almost every weekend if the weather allows. Our normal day ride is usually 500 miles or so. Judging by the used market around here it seems like most of our local riders don't put many miles on their rides. By many I mean it is easy to find 3 to 5 year old machines with 5 to 10k miles on them. So for most of them it's probably not as big of a concern as it is for me. Happy trails to all!

    Quote from BRIAN H 73

    Thanks for the input! I am a little bit concerned about the reliability and longevity issue because the wife and I try to ride almost every weekend if the weather allows. Our normal day ride is usually 500 miles or so. Judging by the used market around here it seems like most of our local riders don't put many miles on their rides. By many I mean it is easy to find 3 to 5 year old machines with 5 to 10k miles on them. So for most of them it's probably not as big of a concern as it is for me. Happy trails to all!

    Welcome to the "World of Slingshot Insanity" ... might want to rethink and look at a used one. I bought in Feb 2015 and put 16,901 miles on it by Sept 2015 and major electrical problem caused me to trade for a 2016 and I now have 95,000+ miles on it and it's running like a dream. I do know lots of guys who have lots on miles (upward of 100,000 miles) and they are running strong.

    Quote from BRIAN H 73

    Hi everyone, new to the forum but not to Slingshot. I’m 67 years old and been riding bikes for 50 some years. Wife and I used to do the GoldWing thing, but she had hip replacement and I got tired of riding lone wolf. Tried cars {convertibles} but way to still and quite and just like, well, riding in a car. Test drove a Slingshot and loved it, way more elemental and raucous, like a bike! Wife loved it too, so we bought a 2018 SLR. This particular slingshot had constant intermittent starting problems even though we did all the prescribed fixes. Got fed up and sold it back to the dealer, then ordered a 2022 Slingshot R. Ordered in June and was told it wouldn't arrive till November.....sign of the times I suppose! I guess that's OK, it was 109 degrees here in Dallas today. Waiting patiently for November. Sorry this was so long winded. But to make it even worse (LOL) I do have one question, the PSS 18 had the GM ECOTEC engine, a well known and tested platform. Does anyone know about the longevity and reliability of the Polaris engine and how it compares?

    Hello, and thanks, Brian.

    Welcome to the best place for Slingshot info!


    As for the engines, we have been doing development on the 2.4L Ecotec Slingshots since they were introduced in 2015 and there are a lot of parts for that engine and it is definitely a known quantity. The newer 2.0L Prostar engine is still a little bit of an unknown, there have been some issues with that engine having some oil consumption issues that Polaris had a fix for, but some people still have reported the issue. With a 2020+ Slingshot, definitely recommend checking the oil on a regular basis to make sure. We have both here for testing and development, a 2016 with big turbo that is the fastest thing in standing 1 mile and our 2020 Slingshot that lives most of its life in pieces being developed on ;). Personally, I prefer the newer engine, I like the higher rev range and it is just more fun to drive, especially with some simple suspension mods and good tires.


    Good luck with yours, if you have any questions we can help you with, just let us know!

    Dave

    By and large, folks seem to like the higher revving 2nd Gen engine, primarily because the high-revving nature of the engine provides a more motorcycle-like experience.

    The only possible weakness I remember hearing about was a few folks reporting oil consumption problems. Not sure how the oil consumption issue was fixed or if it appears to be a long-term issue.

    I have a 2015 that I have been customizing and am quite happy with it. If I had the money to buy a 2nd Gen Slingshot, I think I'd go with the S model AutoDrive and add the Paddle Shifters and Performance Tune to get R model performance at a significantly cheaper price and add my own audio system.

    Thanks again to everyone for all the good info! Super helpful.....now I know to keep a close eye on the oil level. Using a little oil I can deal with, on my 2018 SLR you never knew once you had planned a ride and went out to leave whether it would start or whether you'd just hear the dreaded CLICK. I guess I just got a bad one since everyone else seems to be happy with their first gen machines. I installed jumper terminals and bought a portable jump starter, installed an Optima yellow top, the dealer put on a new starter....nothing worked. When it wouldn't start it couldn't even be jumped off, you'd just hear that dreaded CLICK. Decided we wanted the newer one, different engine and starter, different wiring harness, different battery location, etc. So, waiting patiently on our second gen.

    Quote from VV11B40

    Batcycle what changes were made to make the new machines ride better?

    Well, the new edition of the modes for driving ( comfort for cruising and Slingshot for sport driving) and seats are more comfortable and hold you in place, overall suspension seams better and angle drive seams quieter and less heat in the cabin ??? But, could just me getting older and bolder??

    Quote from Batcycle

    Well, the new edition of the modes for driving ( comfort for cruising and Slingshot for sport driving) and seats are more comfortable and hold you in place, overall suspension seams better and angle drive seams quieter and less heat in the cabin ??? But, could just me getting older and bolder??

    Allot of $$$$ when you can buy seats etc for a gen1. From what you mentioned I don't see any real riding improvements.