My 858 sux

[ndfb35]

Cat will never do enough for anyone it seems. So what if good riders are able to go along the same places as great riders on turbos. It’s just the curse of the cat. Good news is it looks as if their parent company may not care as much about them as they thought. Who knows it may be a dying breed.

Nope, there's always something to complain about with Cat... it felt great to get off my Matryx and onto the Catalyst but the riders in my group said I was crazy because the Matryx is sooooo much better. If that was the case, I would be the limiting factor on where we can go but that has never been the case...

 

[Rob.G]

Competition is always a good thing. Polaris and Doo only is still a bit limiting. Imagine if we only had Ford and Chevy. Dodge adds more to the mix and makes everything better due to competition. And interestingly enough, Dodge (Chrysler) is in sad financial shape too just like Cat.

 

[Vern]

Cat can’t win no matter what they do. I’ve been hearing for years on social media how my ascender and previous proclimb were garbage, yet I’ve never had any issue hanging with, or in some cases out performing the all mighty poo poos in my group. One thing I can say is none of my cats have came out on the end of a rope since i switched to cat in ‘06, but I’ve watched or towed out numerous blowed up poos over the same time frame. Hopefully the 858 will keep this track record going.

 

[Rob.G]

I started out with a first-year Ski-Doo Rev for winter 03-04. I HATED that sled (a long but separate story)... but where I'm going with this is the motor problems. Those 800's had ring delamination issues and were failing frequently. I know of one guy who had a long extended warranty and rode a LOT (he's here on SnoWest but I won't name him) and word has it he got two new motors a year the whole time he had the sled... one at midseason and one at the end of the season (or start of the next).

Then there's Polaris... remember how the 800 had crank issues where the primaries were snapping the end of the crank? The 700's seemed good, but the 800 was a problem.

Then there's Cat... I don't recall them ever really having motor problems. I've heard many stories of their motors (back when they were Suzukis) lasting thousands of miles without a top end job. I haven't really heard of problems since they switched to their own motors either.

Yamaha... I haven't paid much attention but I don't recall really hearing much about motor issues. But their motors also got used in motorcycles and other things so they got a LOT of use and testing and refinement. Look at the power you can get out of any of those 4-stokes with a turbo. Yikes. This was before they started selling rebranded Arctic Cats.


My point is that the two main players in the sport (Polaris and Doo) seem to have had some significant engine issues over the years. Even today, Polaris seems to have recall after recall. My '23 Khaos 850 has had two recalls... the last one was that one about having to use ethanol fuel because of some ridiculous 0.01% chance of a fire due to static buildup... yet Polaris has been known to deny warranty claims when they do fuel sample tests and discover ethanol. Seems pretty shady to me. And my new 2024 Sportsman 850 that I bought last March... less than two months later it got a stop-ride recall, something about a possible leak from the fuel pump. They didn't have a fix until SEPTEMBER. That's absolutely unacceptable.

All in all, Cat seems to be a pretty reliable brand.

 

[hansenmac]

checked my power valve cable alignment and could see where it was binding. bent it ever so slightly so it seemed to clear in all ranges of motion. havent ridden it yet so dont know if it woulda been a problem or not.

 

[Rob.G]

See pic... is this the power valve cable you guys are talking about? Mine looks completely straight, near as I can tell. If not, what am I looking for?

 

[koolaid]

Below that bracket is where you want to look. Post #50 shows what the issue is. There is a rod that goes up and down inside a tube. It may rub against the inside of wall during its travel, causing a bind. You can cycle the servo by hand by pushing up and down where that rod connects to a black plastic housing. If it does rub, simply bend that bracket with some pliers till the rod clears the inside of tube without rubbing.

 

[joshkoltes]

I was just curious if you found the source of the bog and correction for it.

Haven't had time or ambition to mess with it yet.
Not too excited about it currently

Dealer has been trying to reach me almost every other day. They have a new flash for the computer.
I currently don't have any wheels to make the five hour one way drive

Been buying a boat load of parts to add to my twentythousanddollar sled to make it work might see that ibex tuner thing in a couple weeks, got a bunch of speedwerx clutching

 

[Pinchecharlie]

Just need some snow and you’ll be having a good time man! Freshies built has a bunch of stuff for catalyst. Including I think stuff from r&d . He’s on social media selling take offs and turbo stuff and ice age stuff. He may know all the fix stuff too . He is a factory rider after all so it’s worth a call i bet?

 

[Sleddinhunter]

Haven't had time or ambition to mess with it yet.
Not too excited about it currently

Dealer has been trying to reach me almost every other day. They have a new flash for the computer.
I currently don't have any wheels to make the five hour one way drive

Been buying a boat load of parts to add to my twentythousanddollar sled to make it work might see that ibex tuner thing in a couple weeks, got a bunch of speedwerx clutching

Boy Josh I thought Cody was only 3 hrs from Ranchester. Seems to be getting farther every day.

 

[joshkoltes]

Boy Josh I thought Cody was only 3 hrs from Ranchester. Seems to be getting farther every day.

It is if 14 a was open, closed yesterday
I'd bet four if i went through shell
I have to go through billings, my old gmc doesn't like the switchbacks
I'm bidding on a newer truck, don't have my hopes up but I'm tryin

 

[Sleddinhunter]

Yeah going through Billings is a drive that sucks. Shell isn’t too bad at the moment since we don’t have much snow the rods aren’t too icy. Well hope you get it in from the sound of it ecu update and power valve bracket adjustment it should rip. I had mine up last weekend and it just started to open up and run good after the break in.

 

[AdrenalineAddict]

Some say Doo’s are tuneable, I would say otherwise. A good friend of mine switched to Doo, two years later he has tuned and tweaked and still says it does that weird Ski-Doo ****. I’ve never straddled one I was comfortable on, just overly squirrelly with seemingly disconnected handlebars.

 

[clutch]

Ranchester to Cody is maybe 2.5 hrs. If your truck doesn't like going that way, you definitely aren't going over 14A.

 

[caper11]

Surprisingly I kind of liked those gold shocks by the end of the day. Seemed very squishy at first but that may have contributed to me being able to side hill.
Probably be some used for cheap here in the near future too.

Have had all the stuff to twin rail with floats in my bedroom all summer. I might give the single another shot

I have a gen 5 turbo. It sux too. I think it's our sugary snow. The front constantly plummets and the skis fold up. I see so many other people's vids riding super predictable but I think it's all snow conditions

Or its the rider? My gen5 turbo is the best sled I have owned.

The people I know that have a 858 are disappointed in the engine, very boggy.

 

[Sleddinhunter]

I kind of think a lot of people don’t give Cat their due respect. Every sled manufacturer has some problems with their sleds. And it seems the most popular Polaris and Ski Doo have had more problems than Cat. This new chassis and motor in my opinion flat out rocks. I haven’t had any issues yet with my new sled, and over the years my Dad and I have had Cats with no issues other than when I started putting aftermarket parts on. All our older sleds have over 4000 miles and hard miles. 2 of the 3 have never been rebuilt and still run strong. Yes you are going to have a few lemons that some one will get. But the majority of cats engines don’t have problems. It’s the same for Ford , Dodge and Chevy. So quit your complaining and making excuses and get your sled to the dealer and let them look at the sled and fix it, before you start bad mouthing a new machine that the company has known problems that are fixable. It’s not like you can’t put ethanol free gas in it because it will catch on fire if you do. Go have fun that’s what it’s all about.

 

[Rob.G]

Vocal brand loyalists are the problem. It's not much different than team rivalry. The fact that people feel the need to rag on somebody else's choices says a lot about the person. What's even worse are two-faced people, who will say one thing in a YouTube video and then come here and say something else. I've seen that in the case of the Catalyst but won't mention any names. You guys probably already know who I'm talking about anyway.

 

[Sleddinhunter]

Very true I tend to be brand loyal. I absolutely hate Fords. I will never buy one. I have a poo it was a fun sled at the time it is older. Now I’ve been running cats and I think their reliability for engines is top notch. Even the old Suzuki’s a great power plant. They all have their pros and cons. The after market makes them all lighter and more powerful. Some like boondockrs, some like speed werx. You name it. But don’t rag on something right away. Give it a chance to get out of the breakin. Let the dealer fix the known issues. Yes it sucks there isn’t a closer dealer for some of you. But you knew that when you bought it. Call the dealer and maybe I’d a few live in the same area you can get them to meet you in your riding area and they might be willing to fix them in the parking lot. It doesn’t hurt to ask.

 

[Rob.G]

Hahaha I can relate about Fords. I ALMOST seriously considered one a couple of years ago but just couldn't get past them still using the CP4 in the diesels. Now learning that all the EcoBoost motors have serious problems and the 10sp auto has problems too, it renders every car they produce as something I wouldn't want. The Mustang is cool (or was, until the latest redesign) but I just can't see ever owning one. What's worse is that even Chrysler has lots of issues. They haven't had a truly reliable motor in decades. The Cummins is great but the emissions crap ruins it. GM has nice stuff but uses the same 10sp as Ford. Glad I still have my 2005 RAM with a 6sp manual.

I've had several Polaris quads, and my '23 Khaos. But all the recalls have me soured to the point I'll never own another. I've owned four Bombardier products... a first-year Rev (POS), an old Summit 670 (good; better than the Rev, IMO), a DS650 quad (good but heavy) and currently a Renegade 1000 (POS). Never again for those brands either.

I personally think Cat's quads are pure crap. Very poor design. Might be very reliable, but overall design is terrible. I had one briefly.. almost got me killed due to its poor design. Long story.

I'm picking up a very nice condition 2011 M8 SnoPro this weekend... can't pass it up due to condition, super low miles and price. Honestly, if I could unload both the newer sleds without taking it up the ass, I would, and just ride the M8. Those things were bulletproof.

 

[Vern]

I think social media is a big part of why Polaris gets a pass on all their issues and cat gets drug through the mud no matter how good their product is. Polaris has figured out how to use social media better than any other brand by scooping up and sponsoring anyone that starts to gain any sort of following. People nowadays are so easily influenced that they just gotta have whatever they see the “cool kids” riding on social media no matter how problematic they are proven to be. Cat on the other hand seems like they are completely against getting in the social media game. Just look how many of the big name riders cat has had and let slip away to Polaris. Then there’s the aspect of how social media has the problem of minor issues getting blown way out of proportion and people just regurgitate stuff they read as fact with no actual experience. Like how when the alpha first came out there was a couple rail failures that got posted and reposted and suddenly the alpha rail is junk and fragile as glass. Never mind the thousands of sleds out there with no issues or the fact that dual rail sleds have been bending rails for decades to the point there’s companies like iceage that started there business on building stronger rails for dual railers.