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2001 Mountain Cat 1000 questions

J
Feb 18, 2009
49
2
8
I'm thinking about purchasing a 2001 Mountain Cat 1000 as an upgrade from my 1998 Polaris RMK 700. My RMK is a pain to ride on trail, but its actually pretty decent off trail when the snow is good.

I've ridden an M8 (I believe the year was either 2007 or 2008) and on trail it is amazing; responsive, easy steering and doesn't really feel like a long track.

Basically what I'm wondering is how well the Mountain Cat handles on trail and off trail compared to the M8 and my RMK.

Any info and input will be appreciated. Thanks!
 
S
Dec 21, 2007
125
6
18
Coquitlam, BC
Honestly, its not going to feel much like either of the two sleds you mentioned. Big triples rock, but you can't really get around the fact that the motor and pipes are HEAVY... its like riding with a boulder under the hood. But with proper set up they are a ton of fun. I have a buddy with a crazy tcat mod with a 1400 PSI triple thats a friggin beast. But personally not a sled I'd want to ride all day. Just my 2cents:beer;
 
2
Nov 26, 2007
293
7
18
Anchorage, AK
I just jumped from a heavily modified 2000 TCat with a 162x16x2.25 to the M8 while it doesn't have near the power, the fun factor of the light weight 8 is off the chart. The 2001 Mountain cat 1000 is a very good sled, I rode my sled for 9-1/2 years and it starts 2nd pull (always) and was a beast on the mountain could climb like no other. It did wear you out after a long day of riding as in stock form it is nearly 600 lbs dry. I had mine down to 525-530 but even then it takes a lot more input to get it to do what you want.

I will say that it works much better on the trail than most people expected it to. It will run with just about any sled down a bumpy trail.

If you don't do a lot of tight technical tree riding and most off trail riding is in a more open area its a great sled.
 
J
Feb 18, 2009
49
2
8
Thanks for the input guys. This sled seems too powerful and heavy for the kind of riding I usually do, which is technical off trail through the trees type of stuff. Thanks again.
 

KMMAC

Well-known member
Lifetime Membership
Feb 7, 2008
1,461
207
63
Mount Vernon, WA
Find a good M7 most who have this sled or have had this sled like them really well. If not geared down from stock do it to one of these sleds hear it's the hot ticket for more bottom end and, boondocking.
 

Idcatman3

MODERATOR: Premium Member
Staff member
Nov 26, 2007
2,234
866
113
39
Idaho Falls, Idaho
We rode longtracked T-cats for a few years around 2000. The power was great, but they definitely wore you out after a day of riding. When the 800 twin came out, we switched to those and have been riding 8/9/975's ever since. Last year I decided I wanted to try a triple again, but didn't want to go back to a T-cat. So my dad and I built a triple out of two 900 twin cat engines. Now it's running as a 1500 (M1000 pistons) with a 162 x 2.5 Camo extreme track.

I am absolutely amazed that it doesn't feel nearly as heavy as I remember our T-cats feeling. I'm sure that most of that is just the power, but I can ride it all day boondocking through the trees and I'm not dead by the time we get home.

For this type of riding, having clutch engagement at 1900 RPM and being able to crawl nice and slow, then hit it and be going 90 in 3 seconds is pretty intoxicating. Plus, there's nothing like the sound of a piped triple.
 
K
Feb 5, 2014
3
0
1
44
I'm thinking about purchasing a 2001 Mountain Cat 1000 as an upgrade from my 1998 Polaris RMK 700. My RMK is a pain to ride on trail, but its actually pretty decent off trail when the snow is good.

I've ridden an M8 (I believe the year was either 2007 or 2008) and on trail it is amazing; responsive, easy steering and doesn't really feel like a long track.

Basically what I'm wondering is how well the Mountain Cat handles on trail and off trail compared to the M8 and my RMK.

Any info and input will be appreciated. Thanks!

I love my mountain cat for both powder and trails. Yea it's a bit heavy but now that I'm used to it I won't go back to any other sled. She handles great and I haven't been bucked off this one lol
 
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