odd question... but aside from being ugly as sin, were the Barney sleds warm while riding?  idk as I've never ridden one.

don't ask why...

 

13 minutes ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

odd question... but aside from being ugly as sin, were the Barney sleds warm while riding?  idk as I've never ridden one.

don't ask why...

 

following....

From what I remember, yes ... it was a warm sled.  But like many sleds, it depended on the windshield to help & if you were in super cold temps.

Warm and comfy, for cruising. 

Big and bulky if trying to actually ride 

35 minutes ago, Bontz said:

 it depended on the windshield

ironic, as I was actually studying their windshields...  

Very warm, very comfortable, handles well.  The most planted sled.  Great trail sled for the right person.

44 minutes ago, mnstang said:

Very warm, very comfortable, handles well.  The most planted sled.  Great trail sled for the right person.

Old geezers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would actually like to ride one again, just to compare it to what I've been riding the past 10-15 years or so.  At the time I owned my 2007 F8, it was very comfortable and a nice cruiser but it sure as hell lacked the raw/grunt of my '03 F7 (seriously though - what measures up to the might F7!!)  Trail cruiser for sure, FTW!

11 minutes ago, hayward said:

Old geezers?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If I rode bigger mile days or bigger wider trails, I think it's the best machine out there for that.  Our normal trails are tight woods and swamps, the twin spar is still ok for that but it doesn't outshine the rest there.

Part of me selling it was my buddies all had old ass draggers and it was like we were having total different experiences when riding together.  One of those buddies rode mine and did end up getting his own twin spar and still loves it and won't replace it for anything.

I think they're great for the trail rider who only rides trails.  They're great for a conservative rider or an aggressive rider that likes to go fast and be comfortable.  They don't require a ton of rider input and are the easiest on the body, which adds up at the end of the day.  They are nice to ride, very compliant and handle well. 

If you ride off trail or are the guy asking how to wheelie your sled, then they're not for you.

I feel like people just like to hate on them because it's popular with the degenerate crowd on the internet.  My buddies 10 f8 is pretty fast too for an 800.

My z1 looked wicked, was fast as hell, and was super easy to ride very fast.  You could ride all day and feel fresh at the end of the day.

If Cat would have come out with the F8 HO the first year, I think it would have made a huge difference in the overall view of the Barney.  Because @mnstang is right, the later model years with the HO were actually pretty good runners.

yeehaw...

 

maybe they're just extra horrible looking in certain colors and schemes.  didn't realize they were still using that body until 2017

that was before they couldn't use Lynx 

 

 

@Premium 

38 minutes ago, Bontz said:

If Cat would have come out with the F8 HO the first year, I think it would have made a huge difference in the overall view of the Barney.  Because @mnstang is right, the later model years with the HO were actually pretty good runners.

They also changed the chassis geometry a fair amount in 2009 and again in 2010.  Helped the handling.  They cleaned up the look a bit in 2010 by deleting the trunk.  The 2010 limiteds were pretty sharp with the metallic green they used.  If the right z1 turbo 2010 limited came along for the right price I'd be tempted to get it.  With that 4 stroke they're just so heavy moving them around the garage 😅

If I did nothing but pound out trail cruising miles, like 300+ miles day after day, I 100% would have a Z1 or Z1T, ideally the EXT version.  

Those things handle decent and are like riding a Lazy-Boy down the trail.  So surreal cruising at 90-100mph and feeling like you are sitting on a recliner.  

My synopsis of a Twin spar is. You can ride one 400 miles in a day on anything but tight twistys, get off the thing at the end of the day and not know you rode a snowmobile.

If you wanna ride hard, not the sled for you. If you wanna bang out miles in max comfort they’re hard to beat to this day.

2 hours ago, racinfarmer said:

If I did nothing but pound out trail cruising miles, like 300+ miles day after day, I 100% would have a Z1 or Z1T, ideally the EXT version.  

Those things handle decent and are like riding a Lazy-Boy down the trail.  So surreal cruising at 90-100mph and feeling like you are sitting on a recliner.  

Yep I think that 4 stroke motor fits that chassis so well.  I rode a procross turbo and it just wasn't the same at all.  One night got separated from a buddy and he ended up a ways over, I had to take this straight trail under power lines to get over to him, I was cruising between 95-100 for at least 10 miles, not even breaking a sweat.

5 hours ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

 

 

 

 

That is a damn sharp looking sled.

They're warm and comfortable, handle well and actually ride pretty good. Probly not the ideal UP Saturday afternoon sled but can handle moderately rough trails just fine. I xc raced 1 in 07 and the suspension was fine, the lack of transfer in the ditches on the big whoops was a problem, it's too planted for that kind of stuff

7 hours ago, hayward said:

That is a damn sharp looking sled.

slightly less homely 

interesting commentary coming in above though about it.  

and now to potentially ruin the conversation... Palin and Quam ran them in the Iron Dog

https://thomassnosports.com/2011-arctic-cat-f6-sno-pro-iron-dog-racers.html

 

 

1 hour ago, Crnr2Crnr said:

slightly less homely 

interesting commentary coming in above though about it.  

and now to potentially ruin the conversation... Palin and Quam ran them in the Iron Dog

https://thomassnosports.com/2011-arctic-cat-f6-sno-pro-iron-dog-racers.html

 

 

ruin the conversation?  They finished second place, in the most highly regarded snowmachine race in the world on arty cats!

 

1 hour ago, hayward said:

ruin the conversation?  They finished second place, in the most highly regarded snowmachine race in the world on arty cats!

 

i know you don't spend much time on this part of the forum  but there's some key words around here that can totally derail any thread, start an argument or get a really good laugh... they are as follows... (there may be more I'm forgetting at the moment)

Iron Dog 

Climate Change or Global Warming 

What kind of oil

Rick (or any combination of Fix Kits, Wolves and Polar Bears)

Joe and The Pond 

Mah Hyper Sled

Snowtrackers

Textron

Barney

any combination of Polaris, Recall and/or Fire

The God Damned Soo

and last, the holy grail... F7 

 

 

 

Didn't they win the irondog on barney sleds??? 

Forgot to add, I have a friend with a 17 xf 8000 cc, and a 15 xf 6000 cc and 2 11 f6 sp. He'd take the barney's any day over the procross for trail riding

They are also the best sled ever for the knee area plastic.  The shape of that area is very good and you can't really bang your knees into anything.