Catalyst demo day in Revvy

[Mountainman52]

Easy bro, Cat hasn't had a Mountain sled in the game since the 900 king cat. It will be nothing short of a miracle if they can even deliver the 20 or 30 that get ordered. And if they do deliver, they are going to get spanked by the 80% turbo population on the mountain. That 858 cat is going to end up some chicks back up sled.

EH FLAKE, smoken the crack PIPE again...........LMAO

 

[8675-30-9]

CATALYST DEMO DAY - REVELSTOKE, FRISBY RIDGE - March 30, 2024

12 Sleds on mountain all consisting of:

• M Mountain 858 154 & 146 (Alpha)
• M Sno Pro 146 (Alpha)
• Riot 858 146 Crossover (Twin rail skid)
• M Mountain 600 (Alpha)

I cannot speak to the Ascender platform or compare to it unfortunately. The conditions for this ride were far from optimum as we were not allowed to take the sleds where we would have liked on the mountain and were confined to one of the small areas that was already rode hard and put away wet. The area had maybe 6” - 8” powder and solid ice underneath. I’m a 265 lb rider and live in the BC area and avid sledder. Albeit not a pro or even close, but been doing this for 20+ years. I own both Cat and Doo’s - the glory generations, which are 2 generations behind this Catalyst platform era. I might add that I also maintain all my own sleds personally and meticulously. My sleds have 10,000kms on the Doo and 8000 on the cat with NO engine work, and will still be riding these next year as they both have lots of life left in them. I have test rode both the New Poo’s and Doo’s when they came out.

I can say this on the Catalyst after speaking in depth with engineers and dealer owners and actually riding both the M MOUNTAIN CAT 858 Alpha1 154 and the RIOT 858 Dual Rail 146 :

• As we all may or may not know, the 858 is a brand new design. An engine designed and built by Cat. This engine has more power than I can handle in these conditions. Reminiscent of the Arctic Cat 900 era comparing the pull.
• Instead of the coolers being located low at the front of skid, they still start there, but are then extended up and partially around the front of the track to extend cooling surface. I personally have never had many problems with overheating on any of my sleds, so I could only think this would be a positive.
• 858 Comes stock with belt drive chain case. Has 3 torque adjustments settings designed into it to accommodate different track heights/lengths and/or torque settings on existing set up
• Running boards are a polymer/steel hybrid and remained clear and have more open area stock than any other previous year. Cat also offers an upgrade to tube style that are bolt on replacement, no cutting of the tunnel
• Mid-tunnel and running boards are supported all the way down to the top suspension arm giving more support to the running board
• Seat is quite high, I found my 30” inseam got snagged on it a couple times
• Response of the Alpha skid side hilling is IMMEDIATE. It takes direction with a simple lean of your torso, if you jump on the hillside rail while sidehilling you will turn 120 Deg immediately
• Electric start and pull start equipped. Smaller battery.
• Side panels and hood are all quick release clip-in mounts
• Fuel Gauges wouldn’t work on most of the sleds there - Still haven’t fixed that from the Sno-Pro platform sadly
• One dead sled on the hill out of 12 - was not aware of the reason
• Alpha skid remains unchanged
• 600 Engine remains consistent since 2018 c/w applicable upgrades over the years

INNOVATION

• All new 858 direct injected engine
• Removable tunnel
• Mixing oil in the gas will not make any difference on the crank bearings of the 858 as it is direct injection in 2 separate places. Oil in the crank case and gas in the cylinder. No throttle body injection.
• Upgrade option exists for Magnetic Ride Control Shocks
• Tunnel replacement should one get bent is easier and separated from that of the bulkhead

M MOUNTAIN VS RIOT
One of my riding buddies said he really enjoyed the Riot’s dual-rail ride in comparison to that of the Alpha because it felt similar to his current older sled and I second that opinion as I tried this sled as well. However I am of the mindset that I need to learn how to ride the new platform with the Alpha - the tippier-the better, it’s my centre of balance that needs adjustment I feel in order to get the most out of the sled.

I forgot to discuss primary clutches and look at the underside of the sleds to assess vulnerabilities etc. my bad. But there will be many fixes out there for this i am sure.

Sadly I cannot speak to the display deeply, it seemed very informative and was in color and rather eye catching. Other than that was too busy riding as we only had a short time and shi!!y conditions.

All in all it’s like riding any new toy, for me it will take some adjustment on my part no question, but that’s expected anytime you make that kinda switch! 858 was a sh!t ton of power and is very responsive.

 

[snoflake]

EH FLAKE, smoken the crack PIPE again...........LMAO

Eh Muffinman52: The only thing in my pipe is 180hp of doo power.

 

[rknight111]

^^ good review, thanks for the in depth post.

 

[tex78]

Easy bro, Cat hasn't had a Mountain sled in the game since the 900 king cat. It will be nothing short of a miracle if they can even deliver the 20 or 30 that get ordered. And if they do deliver, they are going to get spanked by the 80% turbo population on the mountain. That 858 cat is going to end up some chicks back up sled.

Ummmmm , hey the alpha was a over achiever, and was right with the 850 doo and 850 poo , 165 or 154 tracks

And the kitty alpha track is still the king of the hill pow track out of them all to this day , even the new poo 3.25 is still not past it

Sent from my SM-G991W using Tapatalk

 

[mountianguy]

Eh Muffinman52: I only think about me and Maxi's 1.80 inches of doo power.

There I fixed it for you!

 

[snoflake]

There I fixed it for you!

Oh thanks, guessing things like that keep you up at night.