I am seriously considering ordering a new sled for next season. I am sold on an Alpha One 154" for my purposes but, I would really love it have the SHOT starting system the Skidoos offer. I say Cat should trade Skidoo the single rail Alpha One technology in exchange for their SHOT super capacitor technology. Then again, would I then want a Skidoo 850 with a single rail setup? Thoughts?
Trade Alpha One Single Rail Technology for SHOT use
- Thread starter Frostbite
- Start date
I would like it too, but I don't feel that's an equivalent trade.
Just buy a Polaris. Snap of the wrist is faster starting than waiting for SHOT especially if an Avy is headed your way. And it requires very little effort. And most guys like the handling of the Poo so maybe you don't need the mono-rail.
Im not sure how the patent is still effective. SHOT is literally technology from the 60s. Kinda like RER was.
Shot is a nice feature, I'm unsure if there is truly a patent on it or not, it's relative concept is fairly simple and just adds a few extra things and weight but by far less than adding a starter and battery. I'm surprised more or other companies have yet to adopt it.
Shot is awesome but no way am I trading the mono for it. No e-start until 50
I may be mistaken but I believe others haven't adopted or recreated something similar because of the engine tech required to do it.
With direct injection the motor only needs to rotate a handful of degrees to fire whereas with the Polaris and Cats they're not direct injected and require more than 1/2 a rotation (or whatever it takes) to fire for the fuel/air mix to reach the combustion chamber and spark plug for ignition.
If I'm way off here someone feel free to set the record straight.
With direct injection the motor only needs to rotate a handful of degrees to fire whereas with the Polaris and Cats they're not direct injected and require more than 1/2 a rotation (or whatever it takes) to fire for the fuel/air mix to reach the combustion chamber and spark plug for ignition.
If I'm way off here someone feel free to set the record straight.
I am 58 and can still pull my Suzuki 800 with a high compression head fairly easily when it's warm but, on super cold mornings it's a struggle. I don't want to pack around the weight of a battery, starter, gears, etc. There was a post on here where a guy made is own shot system on a newer Cat but, I can't seem to find it. If I remember right, it was fairly straight forward. Maybe I can build my own. Oh, here it's is. https://www.snowest.com/forum/threads/e-start-installed-on-our-alpha.445543/
Not really shot just lighter option for electric start. Might as well have a light weight battery or pull a cord.
That's what I did, the lithium battery saved 11 pounds. On a sled with a pull rope you can get away with a lithium battery in cold weather because you have the rope pull as back up. Only had it not start once one morning when it was below 0F, used the rope and she was good for the rest of the day.
IMO, the whole weight saving issue is negated by the increased maneuverability of the alpha chassis. My 2020 800 165" alpha is about 40 lbs heavier than my older 2017 Polaris 800 163" Axis and I like the Alpha better. Maybe not when trying to get it unstuck but I am not expecting as many stucks as I will have more energy toward the end of the day to avoid those.
ive owned more Doos than any other brand and I’m not really a fan of SHOT, took a lot of **** because of it to lol. I’ve had estart or SHOT on every sled I’ve owned but the first, including my current Alpha, and love it. The SHOT is slow to respond, the tiny button gets sucked into the padding on your gloves, sounds like my mom is pull starting my sled when it does engage and I have to jerk start my cold sled every morning at least once haha. My neck is jacked up and pull starting my sled on a cold morning is not a great way for me to start my day. I’ll take real e-start and the extra 13lbs over SHOT or the rope!
Order the electric start, ditch the battery and install the gizmo that does shot on skidoo. You can add this feature to other sleds but can’t do it via the magneto, still need starter and ring gear. Can’t remember what it’s called but guys have removed battery and thrown in the electric gizmo you can buy online to have it so pull start first pull and push button rest of day. Saves weight of battery is all though. Think I saw it on the axys threads.
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