1998 the 800s

The 800 class isn't that tough to figure out. They're big, throaty beastswho blaze into glory on lakes, drag strips and occasionally on wide sweepingtrails. And the guys who drive 'em can appreciate taming a wild buck ofa sled in trail riding, as long as they're in the front of the pack. They'realso the distinct minority of sled buyers. Less than 5 percent of all sledssold last year were in the 800cc or larger.

With Yamaha dropping the Vmax-4 for '98, we had Cat's ZRT 800, Polaris'Storm and Ski-Doo's brand new Mach Z and one lonely test rider. When thesnow dust settled, and we sat down to rate these sleds, we didn't pull anypunches. In the post grading discussions, we found our test riders agreedon one thing: the 800s may be the biggest and baddest class, it may capturethe most daydreaming and fantasizing, and it may even get the babes, butthey're not all fun and games.