What one particular snowmobile in your lifetime when it was debuted and before it reached the publics hands was the most overhyped poor performing piece of junk to ever hit the snow? 

idk yet, but there's at least one

Hands down, for me personally it was the 2007 F8 that replaced the Firecat.  I remember talking with my Cat dealer and the area rep in the spring of 2006 (during Snow Check, of course) and them claiming how the F8 was outperforming the Firecat in every way (handling and speed) ... I was hooked, and of course put my money down on a spring order.  To say I was disappointed is a huge understatement ... HUGE!!

 

That said, I don't know who was more pissed, me or my buddy and his 2005 Fusion 900 that he lost his ass on.  Both sleds were terrible.

My 98 xcr700.  Was pretty awesome.  But I bought it after riding buds piped ultra . Obviously a big weight difference and I was a little let down after buying it.  

Whichever model had that first year 840

Yamaha Nytro. Most ill handling sled I've ever been on. Had it for 1.5 seasons. Spent lots of $$$ in parts and hours in labor only to still have a POS. 

I'll put pistons in every month before I do that shit again.

1 hour ago, Legend said:

Yamaha Nytro. Most ill handling sled I've ever been on. Had it for 1.5 seasons. Spent lots of $$$ in parts and hours in labor only to still have a POS. 

I'll put pistons in every month before I do that shit again.

Man, I really liked mine once sorted out, fucker ripped too, actually looking for an xtx for my son that's been done right..Not saying it's as good as what I got now, but I really liked it..I'd agree with you though, it definitely needed some loving and $$ to get it to work..

Fusion 900

1 minute ago, Tommcat said:

Fusion 900

That was almost my first sled, went with a Phazer instead.. probably not much of a difference though..

Just now, Rigid1 said:

That was almost my first sled, went with a Phazer instead.. probably not much of a difference though..

Well, at least the phazer continued to run

My friends 08 Ski-Doo 800 of some variety was nothing to write home about, when it would start.

1 hour ago, Rigid1 said:

Man, I really liked mine once sorted out, fucker ripped too, actually looking for an xtx for my son that's been done right..Not saying it's as good as what I got now, but I really liked it..I'd agree with you though, it definitely needed some loving and $$ to get it to work..

No the first style one is what I had. An 06 I think it was. 

I was alot younger then and tried to ride it hard in the woods trails like the Edge chassis Polaris sleds. Was never even close.

Edited October 23, 20213 yr by Legend

I´ll probably get bashed for this one...

Yamaha V-max4 1992, touted as THE most badass machine to have, got beat in a straightline race by the Arctic Cat Wildcat 700...
Superheavy despite a lot of aluminium used.

But put some turbos or pipes on the Vmax4 and it was another story... but still heavy.

10 hours ago, Legend said:

No the first style one is what I had. An 06 I think it was. 

I was alot younger then and tried to ride it hard in the woods trails like the Edge chassis Polaris sleds. Was never even close.

Oh gotcha, I think that one was called a Nitro, based on the rx-1 chassis

13 hours ago, mnstang said:

Whichever model had that first year 840

I was just waiting for that one ... wasn't sure if it's come from you or @krom   I'll counter that with whatever model had that first year c-tec 800

1996 Polaris XCR600SP will go down in history as the biggest POS I have ever owned.    Slow AF.   

I briefly owned a 2007 Cat F1000 and it was a big turd as well.    

110% the 2006 900 Fusion I had for 650 miles before making Polaris buy it back. 

9 hours ago, Bontz said:

I was just waiting for that one ... wasn't sure if it's come from you or @krom   I'll counter that with whatever model had that first year c-tec 800

I just set up the pins on this, but knew it was coming eventually.

 

but, in fairness the first year CT8000 mostly just blew flames and melted plastics, and had a hanging idle possibly because it wasn't tuned right for EPA.

the 840 got a Hitler meme and multiple 100+ page GDF hit piece threads, so there's always that.  I even recall you having some nervous 840 doubts Bontz. 

there was a lot of hype around the 2019 840, but when it wasn't blowing up or melting down owners of them were thrilled with the performance and the chassis was already sorted out and well received.  so while it might be in the hunt for a first year engine, I certainly wouldn't declare it the winner as they've supposedly fixed the issues.

Poo will always get bonus points though for letting the marketing dept. run amuck with  class-leading Durability  & Unmatched durability   https://www.polaris.com/en-ca/news/product/2019-polaris-snowmobile-lineup-features-innovation/ 

Edited October 23, 20213 yr by Crnr2Crnr

21 hours ago, racinfarmer said:

My friends 08 Ski-Doo 800 of some variety was nothing to write home about, when it would start.

not a Doo guy but didn't they have a slew of 800R issues in the early 2000's?  Pistons, skirts, cranks, Isoflex bearings etc. or just a shit design before the 800HO came out which also had problems?   could check DoucheTalk but don't want to contribute to a VS clicker count. 

but... I'm not looking to pick on a manufacturer just for some engine issues.   some pretty good responses so far though. 

Edited October 23, 20213 yr by Crnr2Crnr

11 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

I just set up the pins on this, but knew it was coming eventually.

 

but, in fairness the first year CT8000 mostly just blew flames and melted plastics, and had a hanging idle possibly because it wasn't tuned right for EPA.

the 840 got a Hitler meme and multiple 100+ page GDF hit piece threads, so there's always that.  I even recall you having some nervous 840 doubts Bontz. 

there was a lot of hype around the 2019 840, but when it wasn't blowing up or melting down owners of them were thrilled with the performance and the chassis was already sorted out and well received.  so while it might be in the hunt for a first year engine, I certainly wouldn't declare it the winner as they've supposedly fixed the issues.

Poo will always get bonus points though for letting the marketing dept. run amuck with  class-leading Durability  & Unmatched durability   https://www.polaris.com/en-ca/news/product/2019-polaris-snowmobile-lineup-features-innovation/ 

Is the Cat even sorted out yet? I’ve ridden with a few from multiple years of production and all of them seem to have their little quirks. A close friend of mines zuk 800 runs great. He’s had a few sensor issues but I think that was because the previous owner stored it outside or something. 
 

The 2019 850 Polaris in our group had its odd ball issues but never left us working on it or dragging it out of the woods. Everyone I’ve ridden since that model year has ripped.

 

I can’t believe we don’t have pages of blown up Polaris 800 engines here yet…oh, that’s right, our faithful Cat dealer janitor isn’t here and won’t come here to share all of those with us.  

3 hours ago, SayatodaU.P.eh? said:

Is the Cat even sorted out yet? I’ve ridden with a few from multiple years of production and all of them seem to have their little quirks. A close friend of mines zuk 800 runs great. He’s had a few sensor issues but I think that was because the previous owner stored it outside or something. 
 

The 2019 850 Polaris in our group had its odd ball issues but never left us working on it or dragging it out of the woods. Everyone I’ve ridden since that model year has ripped.

 

I can’t believe we don’t have pages of blown up Polaris 800 engines here yet…oh, that’s right, our faithful Cat dealer janitor isn’t here and won’t come here to share all of those with us.  

I don't feel the Gen2 8000 is fully sorted out and there's posts here from reliable sources I trust that have had top ends and complete engines replaced.  The Zuke 800 may go down as one of the most reliable big bores in history, but it wasn't EPA friendly so... hopefully they got their shit corrected for 2022 - with an entirely new clutch in the mix.

Poo sold a shitload of the 850's in 2019 so there's a larger pool of potential failures... and the 19's had some failures.  Recall Indy Dan and even Ricky skewering those first gen engines?  Cat guys do. 

Admit it, you and others miss Krom's fun threads that almost every one of you joyfully participated in.  He set good bait.    

 

1 hour ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

Admit it, you and others miss Krom's fun threads that almost every one of you joyfully participated in.  He set good bait.    

 

I would gladly take @krom doing the fishing vs. you, any day ... can you light up the bat signal to get him in here & you take a back seat? 

Still seems like a lot of Cat guys still afraid to step away from the Suzuki and into the Textron zone.

2 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

I don't feel the Gen2 8000 is fully sorted out and there's posts here from reliable sources I trust that have had top ends and complete engines replaced.  The Zuke 800 may go down as one of the most reliable big bores in history, but it wasn't EPA friendly so... hopefully they got their shit corrected for 2022 - with an entirely new clutch in the mix.

Poo sold a shitload of the 850's in 2019 so there's a larger pool of potential failures... and the 19's had some failures.  Recall Indy Dan and even Ricky skewering those first gen engines?  Cat guys do. 

Admit it, you and others miss Krom's fun threads that almost every one of you joyfully participated in.  He set good bait.    

 

Yeah my buddies ‘16 Zuk still needs to be geared better but at least we got the clutching squared away. Cat left a shitload on the table with those sleds. No BS. He’s been a Cat sled guy for 20+ years and he said this ZR is his last. It think it’s a pretty good sled now that we are getting it to come around but he’s also ridden a few of our Polaris SBAs, SBs, etc and between myself being able to help him more with the Polaris, the availability of parts and he likes the Polaris chassis better, he still says he’s done. He got the ZR for a screaming deal and typically doesn’t put as much into his sleds as he does his SXSs so I’m sure he will have the ZR for a while longer. Maybe it will grow on him more over time. I will say that when he wants to swap sleds I don’t hate it as much as some of the others I’ve been asked to swap with. Especially those Gen 1 or 2 Rev guys. Fuck those things, all to hell. 
 

If I ever posted in more than 1/3rd of his threads, I would be impressed. It was out of sheer boredom at that. He’s like the Spin Dry of sled based forum posts. 

Edited October 24, 20213 yr by SayatodaU.P.eh?

56 minutes ago, Doug said:

Still seems like a lot of Cat guys still afraid to step away from the Suzuki and into the Textron zone.

None in my parts.  Nobody wanted to see the famous Zuke go away but, to Cats credit, They did a damn fine job with the Ctec.  Damn fine.  I’d bet that less of the ctecw have had to be cracked open than any other brand.  I’ve heard numbers that back this.

Still, they all have their fair share of issues.

On 10/23/2021 at 8:39 AM, Bontz said:

I was just waiting for that one ... wasn't sure if it's come from you or @krom   I'll counter that with whatever model had that first year c-tec 800

Well I still have you beat then.  Name a cat guy that melted down as hard as Northstar Rick did about the 840.  Multiple posts from him about it's a design failure issue, them bandaid'ing it, and polar bears.  This coming from the #1 Polaris fan and master mechanic that dealer techs go to!  Iirc they had alot of issues when new also that the spark plugs fouled like crazy.   But mostly for the catastrophic engine failures from design problems that at least three different things were changed in engine design for the following year 

 

Aaaaaaaaand all of this from something that was sold as being the most durable engine ever built.

 

A little flame out of exhaust after certain riding styles on some machines, from a brand that did not promise unmatched durability, does not compare.   Not even close.

 

As far as the Suzuki, yes it was reliable but I didn't care for the power character of that motor, cat has made better big cube motors than the 800ho.

28 minutes ago, mnstang said:

Well I still have you beat then.  Name a cat guy that melted down as hard as Northstar Rick did about the 840.  Multiple posts from him about it's a design failure issue, them bandaid'ing it, and polar bears.  This coming from the #1 Polaris fan and master mechanic that dealer techs go to!  Iirc they had alot of issues when new also that the spark plugs fouled like crazy.   But mostly for the catastrophic engine failures from design problems that at least three different things were changed in engine design for the following year 

 

Aaaaaaaaand all of this from something that was sold as being the most durable engine ever built.

 

A little flame out of exhaust after certain riding styles on some machines, from a brand that did not promise unmatched durability, does not compare.   Not even close.

 

As far as the Suzuki, yes it was reliable but I didn't care for the power character of that motor, cat has made better big cube motors than the 800ho.

Ricky vs Ramstad … your brand has them too 🤣