Looking at getting a crossfire 700 or an M7 141 track. Do more off trail riding and ditch riding and i guess some trail but very little. My concern is will the M7 be too much track and can it handle the bumps. I know the crossfire is a great sled for all types of riding. The guys i ride with have older arctic cat mountain machines like the 2002 800 and 700. they tell me to go with the M7-----I need some help with this decision. I like to ride standing up aswell so which would be more comfortable. I am 5"8 180 pounds. Thank you in advance. Also what kind of mileage does either sled get . thanx for your opinion :ylsuper: :beer_cheers: :question: :1zhelp:

if you honestly will NEVER go to the mountains....get the CF
the CF will be better set up for you for ditchbangin
worst case scenario, you can put a tunnel extension and/or a track with bigger lugs if you want to seek the deep stuff

The 141 will only be 2 1/2" longer so i doubt length wise you won't notice a differnce. But if you would rather have a more plesent trail ride get the xfire. Also if you get a 05 or 06 M the skid is not very good for trail riding & bumps without some re-valveing of the shocks and a front arm relocation bracket. Another thing if you get the M make sure it dose not have teh attack 20 track they are a horribale track nop matter how you run them IMO. But if you You do mostly ditch banging get the Xfire.

i'm a ditchbanger myself, personally i would go with the M7. i found the Cf to be a pain in the ditches, the torsion bar is a pain in the ass, so is the 1"1/4 lug track. this year i've invested in a 2" challenger track for my sled, removed the torsion bar and threw it in the woods. i should have just picked up a M7.... 2"1/4 lug challenger track, no torsion bar, rear suspension set up for deeper snow. hind sight is 20/20 i guess.

the M's arent that bad on the trails. i'm sure the trail riding you will be doing is going from point A to point B. most likely point A being your house and point B being various offtrail riding areas. distance of a few miles each trip. The M's are a little squirrely on the trail, nothing terrible. and you can't powerslide corners going mach 10... big deal. your ditchbanging and offtrail experience will be ten fold over the CF.


P.S. if your heart is settled on a CF i know where you can get one, possible trade for a M7

I'd go crossfire! I bought a CF1000 and it is an animal on the trails and it climbed well out west. I put 400 miles on it last year and probably 250 was trail/off trail riding and 150 was mountain riding in the snowies. I've got a pretty good feel for what it is and what it is cabable of doing and It's a good all around sled. A 141 track will fit in the tunnel on a CF and It might even tighten up on the same skid. The 1 1/4" track is pretty good, I'm gonna bump up to a 1 1/2 and see if that makes a difference. I would look seriously at the gearing/clutching on both before making a decision. I've done some ditch banging with a mountain sled and I'm not ready to switch completely over.

Get the Crossfire. It is built for ditchbanging and off trail riding. Riding with your buddies 02 sleds will make the Crossfire look even better. Plus, the rear skid on the M7 is built lightweight compared to the
Crossfire. For example: The mounting of the front swing arm onto the rails. The M7 is mounted directly into a hole in the rail. Potential of elongating of the hole with a lot of ditch banging. The Crossfire
is mounted in a more tradition trail sled mount bracket. A lot stronger set up. You say you like to stand and ride. Well, at your height, the Crossfire would suit you perfectly. I have a Crossfire and I wouldn't
trade it for a mountain sled for the type of riding I do. Which is pretty similar to how you ride.

Thanx for the advice. Another issue i have with the m7 is that if there is a shortage of snow is the 2 1/2 in track to much... Right now I am leaning toward the crossfire. Thanx again everybody and hope to have some great snow this year. Great riding