Muskoka buys 858...

[Rob.G]

I found this skid plate last night while googling around:

Carbon Pursuit Arctic Cat Catalyst Skid Plate

The Carbon Pursuit Skid Plate is built to protect your investment. A full carbon fiber solution provides a lightweight part with excellent impact resistance to protect the bottom of your snowmobile from whatever the trail or mountain might throw your way. Stock thin gauge aluminum proves...

freshiesbuilt.com

 

[Pinchecharlie]

I won’t post the video but todays video posted by proven progression has a guy named chase who’s riding a 858. They don’t show him a lot but there’s one short shot of him doing the bow tie re entry kinda things (don’t know the names) that seem to be the benchmark of the cool new kids. I personally may never need to do one to make my line but I do appreciate it sometimes but I also won’t lie…Caleb’s videos are hard for me to watch all the way through just because it’s over and over and over and over lol. Iam not talking trash just not my personal style and I understand just how hard it is so I get he’s really really good it’s just kinda the same thing . I know he can ride anywhere anytime and he’s bored with that so he does the tricks . Anyway caleb makes fun of the dude and says ,”we have two other riders on off brands that can’t keep up.” And laughs as he’s shooting the cats on dude’s sled deck. So I think in the pro rider space they still get pooped on. Anyway dudes right there with them (so it must get places) and he’s doing silly burn out wheelie fall over burn out tricks so? At least it’s possible? Lol! Anyway I sound ms just as wide open and revy as the others with stock cans lol. Take a look if you care

 

[boondocker97]

I'm going to throw out another observation about the Cat, so shoot holes in the theory if I missed something in class.

When these riders are doing a hop over to fully change directions on the hill, the Cat appears to want to continue to claw and stand the sled up on the tail instead of a controlled wheelie out of the hop over. I'm assuming the lack of a long tunnel acting as a wheelie bar and the aggressive traction of the track is allowing it to pull the front end up quite easily. In some scenarios I could see this being an advantage, but in deep fluffy stuff, the lack of floatation could be an issue and require additional input to get the ship righted and underway again.

3 things come to mind: gobs of traction from the powerclaw, super short and high tapered bumper, and 10" rear wheels. The large radius of the rear wheels maintains a little more traction when it's up on its tail. A few Cat riders have been noting this the last few years even when putting them on the twin rail sleds.

I know nobody likes to adjust things anymore for snow conditions, but a front track shock and/or limiter adjustment on the deep days should help keep the front end down better on the real deep days.

 

[Rob.G]

I saw that video too and was also a bit put out by Caleb's remark. I chalk it up to the fact that he's bought and paid for by Polaris. Chase had the Catalyst 600 last year, now has the 858. Caleb had ONE scene with that sled in it (other than on his sled deck)... it did a fine job with that bowtie. The rest of the video were all Polarises. They ended with a couple of broken a-arms but no blown clutches or motors at least.

I've been watching Syxxes Backcountry a bit more... I like the dude's personality and he and his buds seem to mostly be Cat guys, so that's nice to see.

Anybody notice that NXT LVL (Dan Adams) has yet to put out a video this season?

 

[cacsrx1]

Caleb can ride a sled as good or better than any person on the planet, but I have always thought he comes across as a dick.

 

[tuneman]

Caleb was kidding with the Cat comment. He even said that after his comment, as well as saying, "they're all good." His only mistake is that last comment. To be more accurate, he should have said, "They all suck". Hee, hee.

 

[ratlover]

Likely he was waiting on parts to fix his brake. Hit a rock sidehilling and bent the hell out of the disk. Here is a pic he posted on a Facebook comment. The cover is pretty thin and weak.

My guards better get here soon. I ordered those, and the skid plate, when I snow checked. Still don’t have them.

Mine came last week and they had the guards but skid plate is still on backorder. Need to pull the guard off one side to do a little tweaking from the dealer. It doesn’t fit the best and Im either going to do a bit of heating and bending the plastic underneath or do a bit of grinding on the guard. Not sure why they don’t make it all one piece like the ascender.

 

[Vern]

Don’t forget what brand Caleb was riding when he had to buy his own sleds.

 

[Chewy22]

Mine came last week and they had the guards but skid plate is still on backorder. Need to pull the guard off one side to do a little tweaking from the dealer. It doesn’t fit the best and Im either going to do a bit of heating and bending the plastic underneath or do a bit of grinding on the guard. Not sure why they don’t make it all one piece like the ascender.

I got a call from the dealer after my post. The guards are in, no skid plate yet. Some will say Cat make more $ by selling them separate, however I believe it has more to do with the belt drive. You have to remove the cover to get the belt off. If the guard was built into the skid plate, like on the ascender, it would be a pain having to remove the full skid plate. Keeping those separate makes sense for that, just removing the cover and guard.

That being said, the combined guard/skid plate on the ascender is extremely tough. A lot of the hits are absorbed by the ridge that extends way in front the covers. I've smashed the heck out of mine and no damage to the brake disk or chain case. Fingers crossed the Catalyst guards work as well.

 

[Jaynelson]

The day we can't make fun of riding buddys for riding different sleds is the day the pansies win

 

[GSX97]

The day we can't make fun of riding buddys for riding different sleds is the day the pansies win

It is this way with everything. all brands have their goods and bads, and you have to talk crap about only the bad points while completely ignoring your own brands issues, lol.

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Yeah I. Know there’s a reason the best guys ride what they do. You can’t argue with that. Iam just so happy with my catalyst as an average intermedia rider that I want the 858 to kick butt for expert riders! May take a few try’s to get it right but I think eventually it will be the go to for deep snow steep trees! Maybe not “flickabke “ tricks though lol! Funny now we’re arguing that being stable , planted and having to much traction with less physical efforts a bad thing. I don’t think Caleb’s a tooth er than a young string kid who’s really good at what he does. That allways comes with confidence and sometimes a little ego lol! Remember the middle linebacker in high school? So way better than that lol! I wish I could benefit from a clinic with him or tourcotte but iam just not advanced enough and it would easy my money and their time lol!

 

[J270wsm]

Skills clinics are never a waste of time or money! If you learn 2-3 little things that make your riding better/easier then it’s worth it.

 

[DDECKER]

I'm always willing to ride with guys and help where I can.

 

[10003514]

I own a boost and an 858 (just sold a 2023 gen5), put my personal bar setup on the 858 and an elevate kit. The sleds a riot. Have had multiple people ride it they all say it’s the easiest chassis and instantly comfortable. Who cares what everyone’s saying (Polaris guys are going to pick Polaris ect.) just get out and ride. I’ve had 4 days on my cat and loving it. Will it out climb my boost no. Guys need to think about their ability and not the sled. Any sled from any manufacturer is too much sled for 90% of the population. Great to have cat back and competitive.

 

[goridedoo]

I've been watching Syxxes Backcountry a bit more... I like the dude's personality and he and his buds seem to mostly be Cat guys, so that's nice to see.

Anybody notice that NXT LVL (Dan Adams) has yet to put out a video this season?

In the nicest way possible Syxxes vids are a tough watch. 90% talking 10% riding. Those guys would be perfectly fine on 600s and yet it seems like they always have modded out sleds that never run. Seem like super nice guys. Just slow videos.

Looks like theres about 6-12” of total snow in the mountains around Alpine. Thats probably why Dan hasn’t posted anything.

 

[Rob.G]

I agree, a lot of talking. I just find their personalities fun to watch. The main guy, don't know his name, but he seems like he'd be fun to hang out with.

 

[Chewy22]

Is there any updates on Matt's sled?

I finally watched the video this morning. The rattle/tinging was clearly the spring hitting the steering post, which still is baffling to me, but should be easy to fix. At one point when idling you could hear the brake rotor issue also. But I would love to know what caused the power valve to stick, strange! Again, with the new power valve design, I don't think it's possible to hit the piston like they mentioned. More like a faulty out of spec power valve. Please respond if you've heard anything.

After watching, I'm even more excited about this sled. I know everyone has there own way and to each his own, but damn that was some pretty brutal conditions to break a new sled in. I know, I know - break them in like you ride them....LOL!!!

 

[GoBigParts]

I saw that video too and was also a bit put out by Caleb's remark. I chalk it up to the fact that he's bought and paid for by Polaris. Chase had the Catalyst 600 last year, now has the 858. Caleb had ONE scene with that sled in it (other than on his sled deck)... it did a fine job with that bowtie. The rest of the video were all Polarises. They ended with a couple of broken a-arms but no blown clutches or motors at least.

I've been watching Syxxes Backcountry a bit more... I like the dude's personality and he and his buds seem to mostly be Cat guys, so that's nice to see.

Anybody notice that NXT LVL (Dan Adams) has yet to put out a video this season?

I'm almost positive he probably thinks the Catalyst is cool but I know when I am in a group and almost everyone is on one brand the guy that isn't is going to get a lot of ribbing. All in fun its just how guys are.

 

[Rob.G]

I haven't seen any updates on Matt's sled yet. I figure we'll hear something in another week, maybe less.

We have a storm in process right now, supposed to drop around two more feet up around Tahoe. I'm planning a "simple" ride next Saturday to get some more break-in time on my Catalyst and some test time on the M8 I just picked up.

BTW I ordered the dual wheel kit for the Catalyst a few days ago. I got the front and rear axles for it. I'm curious to see how that affects its handling.