teamgreen02

That thing would last 2 days in my garage before it ended up outside frozen in a ball of ice. I have a floor drain but it freezes up in the winter since it runs outside and not into my septic system. A good squeegee can clear things up in a few minutes.

Fun ride this weekend. New machines worked flawlessly. Still need to work on getting them set up for longer rides. The 850 is an animal, the 1000 is totally ridiculous.

I ordered these last week but they won't ship until October. Don't confuse testing and staying home if you are sick with the vaccine hysteria.

Yup, almost everything today is made from an oil base. Just the things within arms reach are my backpack (polyester), cell phone, laptop, chargers, cables, headphones, and even the finish on the dining room table (polyurethane).

Been there, done that. Truck, sled, and gear all in one year. That was back when they were giving away Arctic Cats, oil was $35/gallon, and a good used truck could be had for $10-15K.

No kidding, I just picked up 10 gallons of Doo oil at $58 per gallon, Doo the math on that. Belts are $200 a crack, the good stuff will be $5 per gallon this winter, and you can't even eat lunch on the trail for less than $20 these days.

He wasn't that old, maybe in his 30s?

Didn't ask, figured I was already pushing my luck with a rig tour.

2. Benham and Yurk again.

Summary of all the changes. Good to see the talent from Pro Lite moving up to Pro this year. Should make for some better racing. Would be nice to get to the point they had to race their way into the Pro Final. Elias Ishoel – newly signed with the Skogquist Race Team, departing Thene Motorsports. Emil Harr – staying with Judnick Racing Polaris on a new contract. Kody Kamm – newly signed with the Judnick Polaris team after the shutdown of Hentges Racing Hunter Patenaude – back with Scheuring Speed Sports. Francis Pelletier – newly signed to Thene Motorsports Ski-Doo, departing Warnert Racing. Adam Peterson – back with Team LaVallee Polaris Daniel Benham – Signed with Woodies after All Finish Racing shut down. Logan Christian – retired. Petter Narsa – Rumors are floating that he may not return to the U.S. Won’t be back with the Skogquist Race Team. Aki Pihlaja – No official word yet on his status. Competed for Green Mountain Ski-Doo team last year. Cole Cottew – Joining Thene Motorsports Ski-Doo team, leaving his family Cottew Racing Polaris effort. Travis Kern – Returning with Cottew Polaris team. Gustav Sahlsten – Signed with new Elite Motorsports Ski-Doo team after fill-in work with Green Mountain last year. John Malmstrom – After racing as a fill-in for an injured racer last year, there’s no official word on whether he’ll return to North America. Oskar Norum – Signed with KC Motorsports Polaris team after the shutdown of Hentges Racing. Was injured early last season. Jacob Yurk – Signed with Kyllo Racing Team Arctic after All Finish Racing shut down. Other Notables Jordan Lebel – Back with Warnert Racing Ski-Doo team but jumping up to the Pro class after dominating Pro Lite. Ryley Bester – Back with Team LaVallee Polaris team but jumping to Pro after finishing second to Lebel in Pro Lite. Evan Daudt – Turning Pro with Boss Racing/True North Motorsports (Ski-Doo) after racing Pro Lite for KC Motorsports in recent years.

Went both Saturday and Sunday for the first time this year. Got to watch the finals for the grass drags Sunday afternoon. It helps when @Potatodigger1 has a swap spot and keeps us fed with good food and cold drinks. The Polaris starter is a legacy design from the early 2000s so they are long overdue for a redesign.

Yurk is part of a new team, still on a Cat. Talked with the folks at Thene and bought a few things, nice people. Elias' old mechanic (didn't catch his name) showed me their rig and I got to BS a little bit with him about all the work he has to do after @fortune46x tears all his stuff apart. Met Carl Schubitzke at the ISOC trailer. Remember watching him race when I was in high school. Sounds like there may be a few of us flagging in Duluth this year?

The new motor looks good, not as good as an ETEC, but exactly what I was hoping for out of Cat. Got to spend some time talking with one of the Cat engineers on Sunday. The new 600 has the 800 bottom end in it plus other mods for increased durability even though it was pretty much a bulletproof engine. Not much on the 600 for additional power. I like the dual piston ring setup on the 858. When asked about durability, the engineer said it was looking good and their goal with the new engine is the same long term durability Cat has been known for over the years. Doesn't sound like Doo or Cat are interested in going any larger than 850. The weight and physics just don't work out, too much vibration. Polaris is having plenty of issues on the 9R. You won't see or want the 9R in a trail sled any time soon. All weekend I was asking the factory reps and engineers about engine reliability, testing, and maintenance. A couple things that were consistent was using the factory oils and letting the engine warm up and then shut off and let heat soak to allow everything to come up to temperature. Polaris was ~6000 miles on the 850 before looking to freshen up the top end. Cat wouldn't say but thought I did ok freshening up at 8500 miles. Compression tests and looking at the skirts through the exhaust provide a lot of information on the health of the engine. Doo tests their 850 to 400 dyno hours (compared to old engines at 300 hours) which was around 20,000 trail miles. As long as compression is good and the engine runs fine, leave it alone they said. Replace plugs every year regardless of what the manual says, especially after fogging, makes sense to me. Exhaust valves don't need cleaning when running Doo oil unless the valves don't move freely by hand. For those of you with the POS Polaris electric starter, they are working on a new one for next year. Good stuff out of all 3 camps. Last year for Yamaha before they shut it down.

30 oil changes or so, something like 225,000 miles in a modern vehicle.

I would put at Fidelity in a total market or S&P 500 index with a 15 year timeline.

it doesn't even matter what the cost is when they are limiting the factory hours in Germany to conserve electricity. Lead times are through the roof from the factories in Germany.

I had 8000 hard miles on my 2016 600 before I put the updated piston kit in. Both pistons looked really good yet and no noticeable wear on the cylinders either.

Don't forget the market illusion of a soft landing. Feds pausing, then 25 bps hike, market thinks they are done and it drives up energy prices. Need a recession to reset things and bring back price stability.

Should be required to put EVs in ejection spots so they can dump them in the ocean when they burst into flames.

I've been around Corporate America long enough to know how all that works! My VIP pass includes 1 brat, 1 gatorade, use of a 2 wheeler to haul out my purchases, and a temporary storage spot at @Potatodigger1's trailer.

100 miles away would be my recommendation. Yup, I'm right down the street too.

How are freight prices year over year? Commodities have come down but they have been offset by freight and labor costs. Nothing has gone down in price and wages haven't kept pace with inflation.

Let me introduce you to Corporate America. No one is spending their own hard earned money on a "VIP" pass into a dirt field. If they don't announce the new engine at Haydays, it will be one of the biggest marketing mistakes ever in the history of powersports. It won't change any sales for this year and Polaris and Doo are well ahead on engine development anyways. Remember this? It was so crowded I had to watch from the Yamaha booth!

Yes, that is true, I have seen it first hand.

Be interesting to see what this does for freight prices. There have been alot of trucking companies close their doors this year.