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The new Arctic Cat

44K views 210 replies 63 participants last post by  Greg B. 
#1 ·
I wish the new Arctic Cat gave us something to talk about.
Too many secrets, not enough hype.

Tell us more about this new 800
Tell us more about the new front suspension
Tell us more about what's going on in Thief River Falls and St Cloud MN

I miss the days when John S @ Arctic Insider would feed our passion for Arctic Cat products, rumors and gossip.

I don't care that it comes in this or that color. I want details, I want tech.

Recreate the excitement that once accompanied Arctic Cat
 
#160 ·
I love the blue on the riots and the white on the RRs. Finally something different and not just black and green. The purple was hideous and the brown spindles are nasty. Obviously these are all personal opinions and they can’t please everyone. Poo has a big selection for sc sleds. That pretty nice.
 
#162 ·
Does that unit also have the new exhaust vent piece that you can see on the mountain sleds? Rams air from the exhaust side front intake and shapes/forces it directly to the muffler

Cheers,

Chris
I'll know Wednesday when I pick it up
 
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#172 ·
It has always been said that Textron bought Arctic Cat to expand their dirt products
Where are the vehicles?
If you go into an Arctic Cat dealer they have very little ATV/UTV's and they are normally older machines
I notice if you look at Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's and Tracker dealerships they have a lot of 2020 Tracker Off Road inventory.
Seems they are filling that order first.
Will they eventually start filling the Arctic Cat dealer floors and will the machines be labeled Arctic Cat or Tracker?
 
#173 ·
It has always been said that Textron bought Arctic Cat to expand their dirt products
Where are the vehicles?
If you go into an Arctic Cat dealer they have very little ATV/UTV's and they are normally older machines
I notice if you look at Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's and Tracker dealerships they have a lot of 2020 Tracker Off Road inventory.
Seems they are filling that order first.
Will they eventually start filling the Arctic Cat dealer floors and will the machines be labeled Arctic Cat or Tracker?

Tracker will be lower level private label eventually (wont have a yamaha motor)



Ac will be peak performance and amenities - kind of like GMC and Chevrolet.
 
#200 ·
My buddy and I have been coming to Big East since day one. Sucks Cat will not be there! Yamaha is done! They've hitched there wagon too Cat and have been phoning it in for years! :wall: If the Big East Show is any indication of the health of the snowmobiling, IMO it's dying a slow death! :cry:
 
#185 ·
You do cover a lot of miles. I do love the look of my new sled, haven’t ridden it yet.
I bought a cat 4 year extended warranty, now wondering if I should try to cancel it if I can get a refund, I really do hope they pull through and survive but it’s hard not to get caught up in all the info that keeps coming out.
 
#191 ·
I'm not 'in the know' but that is basically the same conversation I had with my dealer who was told that they needed to clear out all old inventory and took the route of Pre-Order Only to stabilize and optimize the build and delivery process, eliminate dealerships that consistently overbought and underperformed thus hurting the 'good' dealers. The promise from AC / Textron was ONE YEAR on the Pre-Order Only and then it's back to business with a whole new focus (and possible blockbuster lineup).
 
#192 ·
You guys that are complaining about the ancient Pro Cross chassis (8 years old).

Do you actually own one?
Have you ridden one for more then 15 min?
Was the sled setup for your style/weight?

If you want it to ride like a Poo or Doo buy a Poo or Doo.

Not to many sleds after a 15 min spin will have me saying oh my god I need one of these right now, especially if the rider bleeds for a different brand, they will look for the negative things instead of the positive and wont admit its a nice sled. That's why we need 4 manufactures staying in business its what keeps snowmobiling a fun sport to have competition for new and improved designs.
 
#193 ·
Good point. I had a 12 f8 128 i liked. Rode a 14 xf cross country and it sucked because its a mountain chassis. Rode like shit steered like shit. Rode my 17 137 ltd with qs3 and actually a trail sled. Rides like a cadillac. After ski alignment it is great in the corners.

Ride a well setup procross trail sled and you will be surprised how nice they are
 
#196 ·
A buddy and I switched for a full day of riding (170 miles) in the UP. He rode my very well setup 18’ 8000RR and I rode his 2018 doo 850. I think it’s the xrs. Not sure but it’s the bad ass one for doo trails I guess. We both hated them for the first 15-20 minutes. And by the end of the day we were both surprised at how nice they rode but in a different way. I kept an open mind and ended up really enjoying it. We let each other make adjustments to our liking and it’s funny how way off we like the sleds setup. So at the end of the day it really doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about how a sled rides. It’s how you like it. It’s a stupid debate to be honest.
 
#197 ·
I don't think anyone wants to see AC go away. But when the people that have made AC, AC have all been fired. When Racers that have put AC out front year after year get left without even a sled to race, When your generations old dealership gets one phone call to say they are done. When there is nothing but secrets from textron of what the future holds. I think people have the right to ask questions and say WTF Textron
 
#198 ·
Cat had just as big of a booth as the others at haydays. Doo had a seating area for viewing a large screen but even the yamaha area was pretty big. They had about 15 racers signing autographs I think. Like some others had said, Cat is just cleaning out the excess old inventory and trimming the fat before a new revolutionary chassis(hopefully) releases and then all those old models will really never sell.
 
#199 ·
Also wanted to add that I see a weird dynamic with dynasty level racers and manufacturer's losing sight of production units mirrored in the motogp world with honda and Marquez for instance. It seems like innovation slows and they play the safe card with bikes and now have fallen behind in tech and race options. If/when Marquez retires Im certain that honda will be scrambling and revamping their entire race program also for a couple years.
 
#208 · (Edited)
I agree, Rob. It will be interesting to see how the next year goes. I actually hope they continue with the discounted prices for spring orders, but it would be nice to see dealers with current inventory again.

Regarding the previous post, I know a lot of people's eyes will glaze over when they start trying to follow the rambling answer that the CEO gave to the analyst.

I have already talked a lot in another thread about the meaning of the second half of his answer, where he talks about dealers who rely on rebates to move ATV's and how that's not profitable. I really don't want to do it again.

The main takeaway is that for both snow and dirt they are happy with the way things are going. Again - BOTH snow and dirt.

Before you think that the CEO was just blowing smoke up everyone's you-know-what to keep his job or whatever, there are very real consequences for lying in public.

Textron is getting sued by investors who have been misled about how much money Textron said they'd make from the Arctic Cat acquisition. Whether there's any basis for that claim is not for us to decide. But, the point is, this stuff happens and lawsuits aren't the only concern - the SEC could come crashing down on Textron for lying, as well. These are high stakes.

I'm not siding with Textron, who I consider to be greedy bean counters who couldn't care less for the lives of real people that are used, abused and possibly ruined because of their decisions. But, I am saying that they said they're happy with snowmobile sales this year - in public, and with real consequences for lying.
 
#210 ·
Not sure what to say but I know cat is not going to say what’s really going on it’s September they still have snow check sleds being shipped and lots of over stock to sell no way they say anything other then see you next year is very vague just like there were not done racing don’t believe what you hear and look it will definitely be some answers come February or March and I think the Yamaha deal is all done my opinion maybe work a deal for the Yamaha powered thunder cat
 
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