If you think Arctic Cats will be better in 2014..read this first

bluemonster1

bluemonster1

LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
Joined
Dec 30, 2005
Messages
12,690
Age
68
Location
Howden ,Manitoba,Canada
Last edited:
feel sorry for the guy..at least he is calm here


what we need in the video is the Angry Ontario Snowmoblier with his downed Cat..then the words would just be flying.
 
Last edited:
would you buy a YamaCat if this problem exists,not even mentioning the reverse issues also..I hope the Vipers will use Yami clutching..but still they will have Cat chaincases..I don't know about that with Cats past history..its your money.If I were looking for one,I would stay away from the 1 st year..um even the 2nd year models coming out until they fix the issues.
 
no.it is a dual chain and the chaincase's were it could switch into reverse will your are riding 70 mph forwards...

yamahachaincase.jpg


If any of you guys see a new 2013 Cat,try to have a drag race with him..he probably won't be able to finish the race.
 
That ad on kijiji is hillarious.. One of the guys I ride with has that same Cat m1100 turbo and he goes through belts, belt gaurds, panels, ect. like crazy 280 bucks a belt for him..lol.. My Venture beats him because he is stopped fixing his sled as I pass him..lol..
Yamacat has yamaha clutches on it, not cats..
 
wow what is wrong with Cat engineering then..why can't they get things straight.Now I am beginning to see more and more that it was Cat who Approached Yamaha to get them out of bad situation.But damn Cat owners will still keep buying the new Cats..that part I can't figure out.If a belt is $252 to $280 times all the belts he blew..you are into like $3000 pus worth..I hope Cat pays for it and not him.he will go bankrupt for sure.lol
 
They do not warranty the belts but do fix the rest under warrenty. He gets so mad when it happens..lol.. The cat version of the Viper is using cat clutches, they did not get the yamaha clutches with the motor.. Should be interesting.. And Doug, I backed out of the Viper deal because the tunnels on those things suck. They are cats and they buckle with ice build up. Same tunnel as that m1100 and my riding freind has had his changed 3 times because of that.. I am now looking at a Polaris Assault.. Way cheaper and alot more machine for your dollar.. Didnt think I would go back to polaris but they are nice machines and a few guys I have talked to really like them.. Wish Yamaha would make something comprable..
 
well that says it all..Cat is cheap Crap..those who buy them deserve the hassle then..Lighter sleds mean nothing if they don't hold up right..How the Hell does your friend take all these issues..them sleds will be hard on a re sale for sure..guys will lose a lot of $$ on them..oh well thats what you get when you bash Yamaha for being to heavy,,a Crappy Cat...lesson learned .Yeah Polaris seems to be doing ok and if I had to switch Brands..it would be a polaris.My cousin been riding Polaris all his life and his son has a Turbo Polaris and that thing flies. told me they had it GPS'ed at 126 mph which is good enough for me....CAT IS SCREWED IT SEEMs..they should be gone soon really..why did Yamaha have to come in to save them..oh yeah..to get an assembly plant in North America..guess Yami wins this time..
 
I just sat on a 13 yesterday and they seem to be built like crap compaired to my sxr! Like the throttle for example it felt and looked like something that comes out of a Chinese vending machine! Yuk! I hope Yamaha has better quality!
 
bluemonster1 said:
feel sorry for the guy..at least he is calm here


what we need in the video is the Angry Ontario Snowmoblier with his downed Cat..then the words would just be flying.
Click to expand...

I wonder if that's the same guy that had the M 900, or something like that?
 
Cat always had issues with quality/reliabilty.Now with this new chassis it seems to have gotten worse.The 2005 fusion almost killed polaris in the sled industry but they seem to have it right with the pro-ride chassis(but there powerplants only last 5000miles at best,deal breaker for me).Told my local yamaha dealer the other day to study the arctic cat chaincase,got a feeling many yamaha service departments will be taken those apart on the new viper(what good is a three-five year warranty if the parts to fix it are on back-order :whine: ,can,t sled in july when the parts arrive :o| )
 
Last edited:
thing is..did AC not do testing on their sleds before selling to the public.Did they not notice a belt breaking every hour or so,did they not notice tunnels buckling..Come on now what is up with this.How in the world do they come up with a belt that cost so much to replace.I would like to see what they mean by a tunnel buckling..how ?? A little ice build up and it de- forms..but how??Are they made up of tin foil or something,I don't understand this.As a company why are you not caring about the product you make..did they only test in a wind tunnel and not under real circumstances.This boggles the mind..this is the year 2013 model and going into 2014..are they going to mend the issues because if people think they are buying a great product with the new Viper..they will be thoroughly unhappy and very upset knowing their new sleds will be in Dealers shops more then on the snow.All the more that Yami riders not get rid of they older Yami sleds.
This is like you buy a new house and the roof caves in from 2 cm's of snow on it,it is like your furnace breaks down every week,plumbing pipes burst every month..hot water tank flood the basement every 3 months..who would put up with it after all the money you have put down.
If in reality if you cannot make a new sled last more then a few hours on the snow..WHY are you still in Business...AC guys give your head a shake..If you can't even solve breaking belts or clutch's exploding..why are you in business.My cousin many years back was always blowing belts and clutch's on his Wildcat also..this is many years ago..and today Cat still can't solve it.How do you expect to solve things for 2014.. Seriously guys I would not purchase a new Viper..you will be very disappointed .Maybe someone should write a letter to Yamaha and tell them what problems Cat is having and they should pull out of the deal ASAP..
I just don't get it how a Company can survive the Future with a bad track record..it is human nature that we don't like to get screwed over and over..loyalty means nothing here.Its your hard earned money and time that is important.

PS:

I am glad I am riding true Yami sleds that never break a belt in 10,000 miles...lol..My tunnel is still fine and never blew a chain case or clutch yet..am I lucky or what..
 
low slung said:
Cat always had issues with quality/reliabilty.Now with this new chassis it seems to have gotten worse.The 2005 fusion almost killed polaris in the sled industry but they seem to have it right with the pro-ride chassis(but there powerplants only last 5000miles at best,deal breaker for me).Told my local yamaha dealer the other day to study the arctic cat chaincase,got a feeling many yamaha service departments will be taken those apart on the new viper(what good is a three-five year warranty if the parts to fix it are on back-order :whine: ,can,t sled in july when the parts arrive :o| )
Click to expand...
ain't it the truth.Man Yami dealers are going to go insane..hope they have good people skills and can handle a bunch of Yami customers screaming at them if all this come true..
 
blown belts lead to blown engines all the stress on the crank can't be good. i've put 4 belts on my srx in 8 yrs and 20,000 km and never blew one yet. i'd burn that POS on the trail if i owned it and collect insurance . I expect that's going to be the future for many of these belt burners.
 
burn the POS and collect the insurance..now there is the solution..good one..lol

Can't see guys trying to sell them..I will keep an eye out in Kijij and will see how many AC come upo for sale..lol
 
Last edited:
interesting write up from a Yami to Cat buyer

you should find this interesting as this guy jumped to Cat from Yamaha.

his comments at the very end says it all..should of bought a Nytro...lol


Almost End of Season Turbo Report
I haven’t posted anything recently on my experiences with my sled the last part of the season. With that in mind, here are a few updates on some of the things I’ve found:

Track ratchets like a mofo. This has been reported multiple times by folks but mine is getting worse as my drive sprockets wear. The leading edge of the drivers are worn way down and my inside lugs on the track are getting torn off. I was able to get some info to confirm that Cat does have a complete 9T Exvolute (Extrovert) drive axle assembly for the 2.86 pitch track but your dealer really has to do some digging to find the part. I was able to finally get a hold of Kent in customer service today and he didn’t even know about the part but when I gave him the number he confirmed that they exist but are on backorder. I probably only have a ride or two left this year so I’m going to have to baby it and demand new drivers as soon as my dealer can get them. Anyone who has a 2013 I’d recommend taking a peek at your drivers because they are really wimpy and aren’t wide enough and are made of really soft material. Extroverts are definitely needed on the turbos. Hopefully this won’t turn into a fight because I’m studded but so far I’m feeling okay that they’ll take care of me.

The fuel surge (hesitation and backfiring) at low fuel level didn’t happen for me until about 1300 miles. The root cause is the smart valve springs. The old style are straight springs, the updated ones are cone shaped. This swap by the dealer fixed my surge issue. I got lucky because apparently the smart valve assemblies were backordered but the dealer got the updated springs and was able to repair and get me running.

The hyfax wear is ridiculous right under the front shock mount. I installed an extra set of idlers up front so I have 3 sets in a row but it didn’t help. The wear is between the front most idler and the middle one. You can see they identified a fix for this on both the Viper and the 2014 Cats because there’s an outside idler right at this point. Unfortunately there is a cutout in the rails on the older sleds that is going to make it tough to modify but I have an idea that will work. If you look at the side shot of the ZR9000 Limited in black/white on the Cat site it is missing this set of idlers and you can see where they put the mounting holes just behind the front shock mount. They did at least go good for a set of hyfax for me and I’m going to make an idler mount to duplicate what they have for the 2014’s.

The belt issue continues to irritate me but I had decent luck until my dealer performed the secondary update. He had issues getting my helix bolts out and we’re thinking he may have heated it too much and warped something because I got over 1000 miles on my first belt and then pulled outside cords on 2 new belts after 300 miles and 150 miles. Here’s some stuff I do know to be fact. These sleds do not like going slow. The 150 miles belt was when I was putting through the woods with a group of people who were slow riders. I could smell belt all day and knew I was in trouble. The other belt happened on a ride where I developed a huge ice dam under my intercooler behind the Frogzskin vent in the front. I could feel my left foot getting hot as this airflow was blocked off and I think I overheated the belt. I confirmed this theory last night as I finally got Frank’s guard, belly pan plate, rotor cover and heat shield installed. I was curious to see what would happen if I ran the heat shield with no extra venting up front and the result was exactly like I thought. The heat shield installed with no extra venting makes a really bad situation. I rode for about 20 miles and my clutches were hotter than they ever have been before. I’m not sold yet on the heat shield idea but I have a bunch of 3” Frogzskin vents I’m going to cut in tonight and see how it works. The belt guard and the rest of the stuff is awesome and ultimately I think the heat shield with extra venting will prove to be a good thing but you can be assured that the air from the front of the sled does cool your clutches, even with the hot turbo right there. I also got my clutch kit (primary only) per mobilemike’s recommendation last night so I’ll be throwing that in tonight to see how it runs. I’ll definitely post results as soon as I ride it. I won’t be able to give performance results since I’ll rip all my track lugs off but at least can comment on the clutch temps with the kit.

So, what are my thoughts after about 1600 miles on my first Cat? Well, it’s an awesome sled when you’re riding it however it’s the most needy sled I’ve ever owned. I’m fairly confident I’ll have all the bugs worked out over the summer and be able to ride it next year and not just work on it all week for a weekend ride. I’m still pretty happy with my purchase because it is so much fun to ride but my wife confirmed for me last night what I’ve been feeling guilty about all winter. She saw the last 2 boxes arrive (Frogzskins & clutch kit) and asked if that was about the last of my modifications for the year. I assured her it was. She said, “Boy, for a new sled, you sure work on that thing a lot”. Well, she’s right, I work on that friggin’ sled all the time and it’s now become a challenge. Has this former Yammy rider been converted to a Cat guy? Probably not...at least not until they have a better track record with the recent issues. If I had to do it over, I’d be much more likely to buy a Nytro and put a turbo on it. Having said that, however, they have been pretty responsive on the warranty issues so that is at least commendable and I have been lucky to have a sled with minimal issues compared to some others who have had horror stories. Anyway, I’ll report back any info on the clutch kit after I give it a try.
 
Low slung, I don't see how you can say Polaris motors don't last more than 5000 miles. I've got 12k on a 488 fan, 6k on a Indy 500, and seen several more with a lot of miles. The only fusion that really had issues was the 900, and even that after the updates was a totally reliable sled. At least Polaris fix their issues. Heck even Yamaha has not been immune to zero problems on new sleds. O8 nytros, 97 600 twins, and probably a few others. Bottom line is they fixed them, well, mostly at least on the next year's model.

Cat, I don't know what their current deal is, but the pro cross sleds eat belts and have had a ton of problems like the chain case that they still have yet to be able to fix. Fit and finish and quality control have always been a problem for cat. They seemed to fix the fit and finish on the pro cross, but all the issues they have show that they probably spent to much time on looks fit and finish, but nothing else.
 
U guys r all wrong the new polaris sleds r the wave of the future once u go pro ride u will love it. New pistons every 2000 miles and nothing but computer problems. So step right up and get u handful of problems. What a joke for a company like Polaris and cat. I will stick with my old srx for a few more years.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.


Back
Top