[Bontz]

With great hesitation, and a lot of nerves after reading all the horror stories out here, I took my F7 up to Ironwood, MI this weekend. Took the sled off the trailer, and the first thing I noticed was that I definitely had to let it warm up before riding it anywhere ... there were a few bogs before it finally warmed up. After that, I can't even begin to list the problems ...










BECAUSE I HAD NONE!!! :lol:

I had burped the sled thanks to the great recommendations on HCS (thanks Rob!) and that was about it. We put on 120 miles Friday, and that was enough to get my first tank of pre-mix burned up and get the sled broken in. The next day we put on 180 miles, and it was a mix of excellent trails with some fairly poor trails.

I have NEVER been on a sled that sucks up the bumps as well as the Firecat. I used to think my old ZR was the "cat's meow", but it feels old compared to the F-chasis. There were several occasions where we stopped and the guys I was riding with would make the comments that they were getting sore. I just laughed at them and basically said "What bumps?". Well, after they rode my sled they were all complaining to me saying I was cheating because the Firecat was so amazing. One of my buddies was going to see if he could find a left-over F7 and see if he could get to OK from his wife to trade in his ZL B)

I never experienced the "push" that some of you guys have talked about. In fact, I have 8" woody's on my factory skis (no studs yet) and I turned inside of my buddies ZL which had new 6" carbides. Maybe I'm just a fat-ass and make the front end hook up more

I don't have enough time in the day to brag about the horsepower. For you guys (and gals) that are waiting to ride ... it's definitely worth the wait. Never, EVER, have I been on a sled that pulls as strong as the 700. I never really raced anyone up there, but my buddy's MachZ 800 had a hard time staying with me when I got on the throttle a little bit coming onto the lake in Wakefield. I never held it WOT, but I hit 95+ very quickly.

I just love this sled, and can only applaud Arctic Cat for giving us such an awesome ride this year! :wub:

And THANK YOU Rob for putting this site together for all of us F-Cat owners. All of you guys deserve a thank you for the input and suggestions on these sleds.

OH!! By the way ... if the gentleman from Silver City that showed me where my toolkit was is reading this. Thanks again! Yes, I'm a moron and didn't think we got a toolkit with our sleds :wacko:

Have a great ride guys!

Chris

 

[Bontz]

Oh yeah ... forgot to mention the "tippyness" issue. Sit closer to the gas tank and lean into your corners. When I started doing that more, I noticed a greater reaction from the sled in turning.

Now everyone go to Church this coming weekend and PRAY for lots of snow for ALL of us (not just your area)

 

[02zr440snopro]

How was the riding up there?

 

[BlackSaber7]

Its hard to beleive how awesome the F7 is until you ride it. I would have to say that was well put. The only time I experinced the "push" was when I was tryin to ride easy. If you sit back & enjoy the scenery, it takes more to ride the sled. Like Labonte says above, sit Closer & it RAILS the CORNERS. If you move 'da ass a little while you ride, you'll never know about the pushy feeling. Its AWESOME.

 

[Bontz]

Overall, I'd say the riding was good up there. Gogebic was NOT recommended to be ridden according to the locals, so we stayed off of it. However, there were some people that did try it (successful, thankfully). Between Ironwood and Wakefield the trail was more or less "snirt". All the trails had their fair share of spots that were great, but there were also a few spots with mudholes you'd have to ride around (or through).

Silver City had little snow, so the ride into town wasn't a whole lot of fun. But the ride up to Lake of the Clouds was awesome. The F7 just FLEW up the hill and back. If I were to recommend any particular trail, I'd say 11 had some of the best riding, as well as 2 from Marenisco to Wakefield.

Sad thing is, all the snow is going to be shot by the time this weekend rolls around for the Red Light. We're still going up, but I have a feeling we'll be trailering East. We never made it toward Ontonogan, but that might be the best option this weekend. And I don't know any firelanes up there, so sorry ... can't comment on those. Although, from speaking with some of the guys up there ... the firelanes were pretty darn nice.

Hope that helps,
Chris

 

[The snowman]

So where is the toolkit? I didn't think it had one either.

 

[Bontz]

Ha ha ha Lift up the front of your seat by the gas tank. You'll see a little strap-like thing. Give it a tug and .... presto! There's the toolkit. Needless to say, I felt pretty bright when I had a guy pointing this out to me in front of 20-25 people! <_<

 

[Captainkev]

Hey Labonte,

Glad to hear you had a good opening ride weekend as well.
It sounds like you were happy with the 8 inch Woodys on the front end?
Are you planning on studding now? I did't like being limited without studs on mine this weekend.

Kevin

 

[Bontz]

Kev,

I'm studding it out with 170 sometime this month. I wanted to ride it w/o studs just to get an idea of how it hooked up. That's the first time I've ridden w/o studs in 8 years, and I sure missed the instant hook-up. And there were a few spots that I could really feel the track spinning which I hate. I'm planning on ordering from richmotorsports.com. He's got 1.150" studs, including backer and nuts for $1.40/piece ... free s/h.

Chris

 

[ericsno]

Did yours seem to wander a little in the front end i just had the stock carbides on.As for lake geobic i kept betwwen 75 and 90 when we were on it this weekend i bet it will be alot worse.