Cat45

4 hours ago, airflite1 said:

If Cat compares to Bugatti, or the exotics in the car world then why don't they just raise their price accordingly and become profitable? 

That's what I wish they would do, Build ultra performance sleds and charge accordingly. 

10 minutes ago, ZR6000RR said:

I wont ride with ass holes!

So you're all talk i guess 

27 minutes ago, ZR6000RR said:

Beat your slow ass to the next watering hole. 

Anytime you wanna ride let me know. Tried to get you on a ride last year but you had excuses

23 hours ago, racinfarmer said:

And the brake dust to top it off!

Slow down to Jim's speed and you won't have to worry about brake dust

1 minute ago, Ziemann said:

That is 100% correct, @Not greg b. The sharp angle of the skid combined with the decreased track making contact on the snow scrubbed a lot of speed off of the top end. Not to mention the increase in wind drag....

I ride with a guy on a 17 assault and that thing absolutely murdered my zr8000 on top end and mpg, and he rarely gets stuck off trail. The assault has a much shallower attack angle than the cat, and I'm sure the tipped rails make it more efficient too. You can push the sled with your foot and it just rolls. I'm curious to see what the catalyst rails look like. 

1 hour ago, SnowRider said:

Just now, Ziemann said:

Don't knock it til ya try it......

I wonder if it's more of a white meat compared to our black bears??

2 minutes ago, Palu49 said:

I was thinking more chassis wise, I was always more comfortable on a ZR but I also never rode an absolutely dialed firecat chassis sled. If I could get a cheap 5 or 600 CCE I’d keep it around just to bomb the tight twisty stuff around home, on bump free days of course.

That would be a fun ride! 

1 minute ago, ZR6000RR said:

Just being honest. Had a Firecat. Set up trail burner. Like on rails, until you introduced one bump.

Slammed to the ice they were wicked fast

1 minute ago, Palu49 said:

I think I’d rather have a well set up APV ZR 600 but either one gives you a distinct advantage of being slung low in the corners.

Apv 600 was fast but the f6 with a race shop xc tune and 10t drivers on ice was faster than any of the new stuff. It's been awhile but i think back then we could run 1in tracks that helped alot. The 1.25 really kill top end as intended. Sleds were getting too fast so pat found a way to slow them down so nobody died

3 minutes ago, ZR6000RR said:

No, and NO!

Speaking from experience are ya??

1 hour ago, racinfarmer said:

We scrimped and saved to get a 08.  What a ride that thing is.  Couldn't afford an 09, so that thing served for 2 partial years.

That's 1 nice thing about xc racing, you don't necessarily need the newest sled to be competitive. I bet a well setup firecat 600 would still be a threat on a ice race

Just now, racinfarmer said:

I avoided racing the Barney in 07.  Raced a year old F6.

The trick was being too poor to afford a 07.

Yeah in hindsight that's what i should've done too. Raced a few in 08 on it but it wasn't even in the same league as the snopro sleds. Sold it to start a business intending to get back into it but never did.

13 minutes ago, mnstang said:

I'm not saying there are never any problems.  I'm saying they are not total first year lemons to be afraid of besides the 2012.  The 93 was a limited build race sled whether you bought it at the dealer doesn't change that.  They had to crank out 500 real quick to race with it.  I never once nitpicked on fit and finish of a sled either but I've also never had a cat where I looked at anything like that and thought anything was bad with it and it bothered me.  It's a toy that's made to pound the living crap out of and give you cool feelings when you're riding.  If another brand has 1/32" tighter gaps I don't really care, cats still look the best anyway.

I agree on the fit and finish,  just make it perform as it's supposed to and I'm happy. 

Just now, airflite1 said:

Don't give nightmares of the Prowler special. I had both a Prowler SP and a 400XC, the 2 sleds weren't even comparable, the biggest issue of racing a prowler was getting the side pods to seal and any kind of a hit from the side would destroy your engine and clutch, the little Jag SP's you like were awesome but the Prowlers sucked.

Those little jag z',s were cool sleds. I've been trying to find a nice 94 for awhile. 1 of my favorite sleds when i was a kid

7 minutes ago, mnstang said:

See we go from talking first year epic flops to problems they had racing at the highest level.  The prowler sled was by no means a flop.  At the time it was a huge step forward in the whole industry, lighter, nimbler, compact, AWS suspension.  Roger skime said it was a really great sled for the masses and trail riding but for racing yes they wanted more, racing was way more important back then.  They wanted to move more around on it and more suspension, hydraulic brake etc, no doubt though the zr is just bigger and it is heavier too.  And the spindle breaking in the i500 was when the PROWLER was LEADING the race at the end and the racer hit a tree with the ski and spindle and it broke.  But again, we were talking epic first year disasters where Joe blow consumers are afraid to buy them, that is not what the prowler was, it was a good reliable sled and was popular.  The 93 zr was a race sled in 93.  Race sled.  It was whipped together in a few weeks from nothing.  Again, we're talking epic first year blunders, giant flop lemons (fusion), and then you turn it into "fit and finish" of a race-only sled.  These aren't the same things at all, not what was being discussed.  You're moving the goalposts as necessary when it fits what you want.

Cat has such a long list of epically cool badass sleds.  Polaris probably has a couple you could mention like the storm, the xcr800, ummm.. <crickets> and a couple other ones but the list is nowhere near as long and awesome as all of the benchmark cat sleds over the years that have also stood the test of time.  And their badass sleds were still #2's.  Oh yeah I forgot the 750fst hahaha 

You could get a 93 zr right from the dealer. Sure it was a limited build but anyone could get 1. I bought mine right off the floor at tousley sports. Zrt was another 1 1st year that they were out, motor mounts broke almost every weekend on my 95. I'm a loyal cat guy but I'm not blind to the issues they have had. Our family has run nothing but cat since the early 70s. 

1 minute ago, Bontz said:

OTB ... the 800 was an underachiever too.  I still remember my Dad and his buddies saying, "That thing may sound like an 800 but it performs like a 600!!" 

My 19 800rr was the best performing 600 i ever owned. Took $$ to make it run like it should've from the factory

7 minutes ago, krom said:

first year twinspar had teething issues too, updates off the top of my head include remap, exhaust melting/staining the bellypan, ccu, and poor performance from the 1000

didn't the prowler have all kinds of issues with ball joints too?? or was that a different sled

Yeah the prowler had the front end issues. I don't remember many finishing the I500 those years. Heard stories that hibbert pushed the zr development up after a poor finish in the I500. I trail rode and xc raced a 07 f6 for 2 years and the only issue i had was a ccu. when i sold it it was still a solid sled. They were heavy pigs but tough as hell. My firecats chassis were looser than a $2 whore after 1 season. Rivets loose, cracked bulkheads and tunnels. 

41 minutes ago, mnstang said:

I disagree.  If they were known as being failures, they wouldn't be desirable.  When I think of first year failures I think of the fusion, 12 procross, 850 patriot engine, etc.  None of these will ever have collector value.  If something is known as being a failure, it wouldn't be sought after.  03 firecat was not a flop first year they were a hit.  People still search them out.  93 zr is the most collectable sled in the last 40 years of production.  I don't remember the 1990 prowler being a fail.  Thundercat 3 generations all solid. Twin spar was solid every year.  Crossfire and M solid.  Cfr solid.  Snopro solid.  Four strokes solid.  Every world's fastest snowmobile for the past 30 years solid (all Arctic Cat).  Only challenge for world's fastest was the machz to the zr9 and the mach z was the hot pile of garbage.  I'm talking about first year epic flops like the fusion and the decade of new Polaris 800's.

Cats have the best track record in this department which is more impressive considering they've always had too dog models pushing industry limits.  900 triple 1000 triple first four strokes first turbos, z1 turbo, Yamaha triple, big twins etc etc etc.

Only black eye in there would be first year procross I will fully admit that but considering the history that is a stellar record for leading the pack and having durability at the same time.  Other brands were ankle biters and breaking more.  My buddy breaks a trailing arm every time he goes out, chassis is trashed, that happened for years and years until they copy catted.. just one example of ankle biters 

The prowler was such an epic failure it brought the zr chassis a year sooner than planned. Have you seen a 93 zr in person that was actually ridden, badass sled for sure, but the fit and finish that everyone talks about was the worst I've ever seen. Most of the 1st year fails evolved into good machines though. Imo the only sled they built lately without major 1st.year issues and stayed rock solid was the twinspar. I have friends that sold late model procross sleds to go back to an 11 twinspar. 

On 9/23/2023 at 7:06 PM, mnstang said:

Ok I just read hater squad #1 dip shit post because zr6000 quoted him.  All first year cats are shit?  Haha ok?  I'll give you the procross, ok.  First year prowler?  First year zr?  First year thundercat?  First years z/zr snopro?  First year firecat?  First year M/crossfire?  First year twin spar?  First year four strokes and turbos?  First year snopro race/500's?  First year ascender/alpha?  So one means all?  What a dumb ass seriously.

Historically cat has first year sleds that perform right away with no major issues, way more than anyone else.  Just more proof he has no clue what he talks about 

1st year prowler was a fail, 1st year zr was great but had lots of issues, broken bulkheads, hoods that cracked like glass, a few other things I'm forgetting. 1st year firecat had chassis cracking issues(all years actually did), cooling issues, mapping issues, procross was an abortion. I'm a 40yr cat rider too but they sure haven't been perfect

On 9/23/2023 at 2:43 PM, Jimmy Snacks said:

Of course he’s OK with it and the fact remains that he could volunteer to fight for Ukraine but he won’t….nothing but a chickenhawk shitbag predator.

I offered to arm they/them with a scary black weapon of war  and pay for it's plane ticket but they/them didn't seem interested 

2 hours ago, HSR said:

Please put all sled talk in the GSF as per the request by the OP.

Don't you guys listen? 

Things were so much friendlier on FS 1 

This post was moving along fine untill you showed up and fucked it up by being a miserable cunt. 

13 minutes ago, 01mxz800 said:

so you helped the FMCSA fuck the commercial drivers, got it

I hate the fmcsa with a passion, they all neec to rot in hell but the drug testing is the only worthwhile thing they do.