I think we are missing one serious thread in this discussion. That being how much R&D was pumped into each company's line up for the '02 season VS. the '03 season. At first, I thought this poor season would really hurt Yamaha as they went "all out" developing the Viper (and I have seen a lot of advertisements for leftover Vipers). But then Polaris came out with VES in the big blocks and they haven't been able to truly strut their stuff either as I see tons of those still at dealerships. In my opinion, Ski-Doo and Cat stayed the most vanilla for '02 in terms of R&D into those sleds as compared to '01 models. Again, these are just opinions and NOT researched facts. But wouldn't it make sense that whoever spent the least in R&D, would lose the least during a poor season of snow? However, one has to consider the spring orders and the preseason anticipation that so many of us had after a good '01 snow season. Overall, perhaps a lot of sleds were sold for this season. Before I shut up, I pose one more thought...Does this poor season favor those who put lots of R&D into the '03 sleds, or does it hurt those companies??? Part of me says it will hurt them because so many people will buy leftovers or will keep thier '02's that have few miles. But the sled enthusiast in me says, "Screw it! We can't have another crappy season like this! I'm gettin' a Firecat or an RX-1!"
TOO MUCH IS JUST RIGHT!