horkn
New member
It is not a brand stereotype when there are facts that back up these statements. It is a fact that cat is the smallest company that makes sleds (in the big 4) and has the least amount of money to work with. This leads to corner cuttings, and lower cost/ quality components.
I really like suzuki bikes, and quads, but since suzuki stopped making sleds a long time ago, I think that running issues that come up, are due to this. For example, the early F7s that were a ticking time bomb. They were fast, but would not last long.
We had a 440 fan cooled panther, and it was a nightmare. We had stator issues, low quality drive sprocket/ chain issues, and bearings went out on it many times much earlier than they should have.
There are at least 20 newer cats that my friends have had, and all have had issues that either should not happen, or happen way earlier than they should.
I could explain in detail every issue that cats i have rode with have, but I dont have the time to do so.
I will mention the stator issues that cat has had, no polaris or doo I have had has had those issues.
IMHO, 1000 miles out of skid bearings is not acceptable. Regular greasings after every weekend still cannot save driveshaft bearings from going on cats before they should.
All of the other sleds we have owned get bare minimum 2500 miles on the skid bearings before any even get a little questionable.
I have a lot of experience with OEM's as I am a purchasing agent for an OEM.
Just because the rear skid bearings on cats are skf or any other known brand, that does not mean that they are the same skf that you can buy and drop in. OEM's get special pricing, and they have to approve the quality (QA) of the components. Sometimes corners are cut to make the cost spec that any OEM has in place.
I feel that cat cuts too many corners.
Don't take it personally, I sure don't. But I have been burnt one too many times, and with the track record of my buddies sleds, I will not ever buy another cat.
If you have had good luck, then great, but nobody I have ridden with has had good luck with them.
And for some reason they still buy them. That I do not get.
I really like suzuki bikes, and quads, but since suzuki stopped making sleds a long time ago, I think that running issues that come up, are due to this. For example, the early F7s that were a ticking time bomb. They were fast, but would not last long.
We had a 440 fan cooled panther, and it was a nightmare. We had stator issues, low quality drive sprocket/ chain issues, and bearings went out on it many times much earlier than they should have.
There are at least 20 newer cats that my friends have had, and all have had issues that either should not happen, or happen way earlier than they should.
I could explain in detail every issue that cats i have rode with have, but I dont have the time to do so.
I will mention the stator issues that cat has had, no polaris or doo I have had has had those issues.
IMHO, 1000 miles out of skid bearings is not acceptable. Regular greasings after every weekend still cannot save driveshaft bearings from going on cats before they should.
All of the other sleds we have owned get bare minimum 2500 miles on the skid bearings before any even get a little questionable.
I have a lot of experience with OEM's as I am a purchasing agent for an OEM.
Just because the rear skid bearings on cats are skf or any other known brand, that does not mean that they are the same skf that you can buy and drop in. OEM's get special pricing, and they have to approve the quality (QA) of the components. Sometimes corners are cut to make the cost spec that any OEM has in place.
I feel that cat cuts too many corners.
Don't take it personally, I sure don't. But I have been burnt one too many times, and with the track record of my buddies sleds, I will not ever buy another cat.
If you have had good luck, then great, but nobody I have ridden with has had good luck with them.
And for some reason they still buy them. That I do not get.
Last edited:
Roost 'Er
Member
horkn said:
i dont take it personally but i have LOTS of cat experience and really dont feel what you are expressing is true furthermore cat is NOT the tail in the market. As far as sales last year they were top 3 and were above polaris. Im sorry but the 1000mile skid thing i call something extremely wrong, again we have 3 cats in our fleet and i know alot more people with cats and have never ran into this before.
Another thing why would you put OEM bearings back in then if you have had such problems, go out and buy a set of NTN's if you have had such bad luck. I cant believe over a 10000 sled investment a $6 set of bearings is what is causing such a bad name. Personally even though its not true i could deal with that, the chassie is amazing. It has been redefined over and over and over that is without question most proven chassie in the industry period!.
Better yet why are you ranking skidoo over cat, were you not aware of the MASSIVE ring problems with the 600 doos or the problems with the 800 motors, skidoo has had TONS of motor problems, next polaris any idea how big of a mistake the fusion was, the amount of recalls and problems?....
The cutting costs at factory and being worst sled in market stuff is all bull so i really am disagreeing with you on this topic. No harsh feelings but i ride the sleds that prove the consitency and reliability of cat, you had one bad experience with a cat and suddenly they are horrible machines, i dont find this a just cause.
Dont take anything i have said to heart as i dont intend it to be presented that way.
2 of the guys I sled with have ZR900's, as far as I know they haven't had any problems with them. They aren't into racing so I'm not sure how well they go, the only thing I've noticed is they are real pigs on fuel. Not sure if it's the norm with all ZR900's but as an example, when we stop for gas mine would take $17 and their's would be about $36 to fill.
Personally, I'm not real big on manufacturers that have to have someone else make thier engines for them, I'd much rather have the same people working together in order to design and create the chasis along with the engine
Personally, I'm not real big on manufacturers that have to have someone else make thier engines for them, I'd much rather have the same people working together in order to design and create the chasis along with the engine
bud4ya
New member
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Thats a good point that was another question I had was if the ZR 900's are gas hogs????????? Sounds like they are.
Equalizer said:2 of the guys I sled with have ZR900's, as far as I know they haven't had any problems with them. They aren't into racing so I'm not sure how well they go, the only thing I've noticed is they are real pigs on fuel. Not sure if it's the norm with all ZR900's but as an example, when we stop for gas mine would take $17 and their's would be about $36 to fill.
Personally, I'm not real big on manufacturers that have to have someone else make thier engines for them, I'd much rather have the same people working together in order to design and create the chasis along with the engine
tedgoesfast
New member
the zr 900 has more torque when cat changed to the diomond drive the sled became alot slower there is a clutch kit for the front from d d also the new secondary has some binding issues d d has a flat bearing kit to fix this but be preparred to be towed ive owned alot of cats and yamaha always stays together how many cats have you seen with 20000 kilos ive put in on a 1989 phazer 1991 phazer 1989 srv 1993 exciter sx ive owned 10 cats and i would be pressed to get 3000 miles without a tear down
bud4ya
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What is the name of the co that sells the kits you are refering to? I would like to get their website to check out prices. I could not find anything under D D.
tedgoesfast said:
tedgoesfast
New member
www.ddracing.com d&d powersports
tedgoesfast
New member
horkn
New member
roost'er,
by cat being the smallest of the big 4, I mean as far as $$, not sales.
yamaha is HUGE, Bombardier is HUGE, and polaris is not quite yami/ doo huge, but considerably larger than cat. Of the 3 cat was the only one that was not in business for a couple years in the early 80's.
bearings are like 6 bucks a piece, not per set. when the dealership either gives you a set of new bearings for free, or installs a new set of stock bearings for free, why would you complain? that's exactly what happened.
when I named the other brands, they were in no particular order, so I won't comment on the order I listed them in. All brands have an off sled or 2. Just like auto manufacturers.
To disagree with me is fine, but I am not basing any of this on one isolated instance. Just because I have not personally owned more than 1 cat, does not mean the other issues with the other sleds do not exist.
All of these issues have been noted by the magazines, so it's not like I am the first to mention them. On the same token, I have personal experience in purchasing for an OEM. This is my career. I am not making this up. But believe whatever you want.
Like Harley, cat has devoted fans, and somehow they are able to keep them.
by cat being the smallest of the big 4, I mean as far as $$, not sales.
yamaha is HUGE, Bombardier is HUGE, and polaris is not quite yami/ doo huge, but considerably larger than cat. Of the 3 cat was the only one that was not in business for a couple years in the early 80's.
bearings are like 6 bucks a piece, not per set. when the dealership either gives you a set of new bearings for free, or installs a new set of stock bearings for free, why would you complain? that's exactly what happened.
when I named the other brands, they were in no particular order, so I won't comment on the order I listed them in. All brands have an off sled or 2. Just like auto manufacturers.
To disagree with me is fine, but I am not basing any of this on one isolated instance. Just because I have not personally owned more than 1 cat, does not mean the other issues with the other sleds do not exist.
All of these issues have been noted by the magazines, so it's not like I am the first to mention them. On the same token, I have personal experience in purchasing for an OEM. This is my career. I am not making this up. But believe whatever you want.
Like Harley, cat has devoted fans, and somehow they are able to keep them.
bud4ya
New member
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- Dec 9, 2004
- Messages
- 100
TY I will check out the pricing
tedgoesfast said:
blueblooded
Member
You want something faster and newer than an srx with a better ride? I seen a brand new 2003 xcr 800 on ebay today.The only sled i have owned that out performed my srx was my 99 mach z with dynoport pipes and v force reeds.If i could find a nice 03 tech plus mach z with low miles id buy it,but i havent seen many for sale.
Roost 'Er
Member
horkn said:
hey its alright your entitled to your personal opinion and what you believe in, with over 10000miles on our 3 we havent had any of the problems you speak of.
Look at the 2001 zr 600 Le my uncle has, we found it in 2005 brand new in the crate. Since then he has put i think closer to 2000miles on it and he hasnt touched one thing. he figures this year he ought to change the belt and the plugs as they are still FACTORY originals....
Im really sorry you had problems with cats in the past, however if yamaha didnt have the SRX id still be on a cat today.
Also id really like to hear the issues you are refering too. The last 10 years worth that i know of are:
-1998 ZR 500, couple early builds had wrong clutch weights were ROCKETS but were reving to 9200RPM, cat replaced it under a recall
-2001 9 tower clutches (isloated cases) they had a tower or two out of spec 5 thou if i recall causing binding again replaced.
-2001 Zr 500, had problem with the APV's wearing the shims.... recall was done however this was not a complete fix.
-2002 Le/Ce front clicker shock had some rough spots...
-2003 F7 had recalls for pipes, and a couple other things all fixed under the recall
-2004 early build ZR's had some problems with DD again fixed under a recall
-2005>2006 no known problems im aware of
.... not every manufacturer is perfect look at the crank problems even the SRX had at first....
Cat is able to keep there fans through innovation. They have alot of market leading stuff, they were the first to go all a arm suspension, first with Diamond drive system, first with the laydown type motor... hell the F7 is STILL to this day the industry benchmark for performance..
VenomMod
New member
I agree with ya Roost 'Er, those Zr 900's are a sweet looking sled. My dad had one and I loved the way it looked. The low end torque was awesome. IMO it was one of the best sleds I've ever ridden. Hard for me to say since I own a yamaha.
Roost 'Er
Member
VenomMod said:
.... Sometimes its hard to sway away from the blue side.... 
I will post some results for you guys. My brother just bought an 06 zr900 with 2200 miles that we have not ridden yet but we are going to try and take them out this week sometime. I just changed my clutching this year to Turks setup so i will post the results when they happen. I also have an edge skid in mine that hooks up like crazy. I have raced an friends 04 zr 900 snopro (CPR supertune kit) last year on the lake that I beat pretty good but he wasn't hooking up at all. The ZR is just a hoot to trail ride lots of grunt out of the corners and very good suspension. Also can rail corners all most as good as an srx. I liked the ZR 9 much better then the F7 that I have driven. I thought the F7 was unperdictable on the trails. If some one told me I had to buy another sled in the same price range as my SRX I would get a ZR900. Very nice sled, does alot of thing very good, all around nice sled.
Concept Carbon
New member
I was on my way to buying a 03 zr 900, but decieded to go with the viper for one reliability and I love tipples th ezr handlebars and th erattling twin feels like your driving a tracker. your hands will get numb from the vibrations.
If you decide to go with a zr make sure the valves where shimmed they had problems with the valves hitting the piston. Besides that I never was able to dig anything up really bad about them besides the fact that there green .
Make sure you go snopro if you do.
as fo rfit and finish I found thew cat to be pretty good in some aspects like the foot rests and fram, arms. but they use really flimmsy material for the hoods and plastic.
If you decide to go with a zr make sure the valves where shimmed they had problems with the valves hitting the piston. Besides that I never was able to dig anything up really bad about them besides the fact that there green .
Make sure you go snopro if you do.
as fo rfit and finish I found thew cat to be pretty good in some aspects like the foot rests and fram, arms. but they use really flimmsy material for the hoods and plastic.
Roost 'Er
Member
ZR 500 motor had the real problem with valves, they shared a similar design with the 800s ( not nearly as frequent), the 900 however should not need to be shimmed
bud4ya
New member
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I will be awaiting the results. The only reason I started looking at the F7 is the consensus was the F7 is just as fast as the ZR 900. So I figured if it is just as fast and weighs less then I would go that route.
BUT
You make the good point on the handling. Everyone says the ZR 900 will out handle the F7 on the trails. I was looking for something that handled well, took the bumps well and when you hit it pulled you right out of the corner QUICK LIKE. Sounds like that is a job for the 900.
My other option a friend mentioned is get a 04 Viper clutch it and put triple pipes on it. I just wonder if that would be an upgrade in power over my SRX or the same? Sounds like it would be the same. But I would just be getting a better suspension.
We meant some guy on the trail and he had a VMax with 10K on it and said he has done nothing to the motor. I was like holy
Thanks
BUT
You make the good point on the handling. Everyone says the ZR 900 will out handle the F7 on the trails. I was looking for something that handled well, took the bumps well and when you hit it pulled you right out of the corner QUICK LIKE. Sounds like that is a job for the 900.
My other option a friend mentioned is get a 04 Viper clutch it and put triple pipes on it. I just wonder if that would be an upgrade in power over my SRX or the same? Sounds like it would be the same. But I would just be getting a better suspension.
We meant some guy on the trail and he had a VMax with 10K on it and said he has done nothing to the motor. I was like holy
Thanks
Johnnysrx said:
srx4ever
New member
i am not a cat fan but i will say this,IF i were to own a cat it would be a ZR 900 over anything else new or old that cat has made. the ZR 900 is the best handling sit down sled that any manufacter has made. the zr chasis has contiually evolved to the point of almost perfection. with that 900 its got TORQUE wich is what you really want in the trails. and as far as fuel mileage its snowmobiling for god sake. my srx is great on fuel IF i drive at a moderate pace. but thats not how i drive,i drive it like i stole it. snowmobiling is all about fun. for the price youre getting that ZR id definatly buy it. but only if its a black one with red graphics, i cant stand that snotty puke green.
