Looking for help, Cat, Doo, Poo????

[Lund]

Hi girls, i'm looking for some advise and help in finding a good choice or even the choice sled for my girl. She now currently running a Cat M8, 07 model with a 163x2.25 and i'm looking into upgrading her to newer. We are not brand specific so Doo XP or XM, Polaris Pro or even another Cat M8. The only must have for the sled is a 163x2.5 and electric start.
She is an avid backcountry mountian rider, so not new to the sport. Just mostly want to know what popular with the mountian backcountry riding lady's out there and likes and dislikes..THX

 

[MOMMA]

Hi girls, i'm looking for some advise and help in finding a good choice or even the choice sled for my girl. She now currently running a Cat M8, 07 model with a 163x2.25 and i'm looking into upgrading her to newer. We are not brand specific so Doo XP or XM, Polaris Pro or even another Cat M8. The only must have for the sled is a 163x2.5 and electric start.
She is an avid backcountry mountian rider, so not new to the sport. Just mostly want to know what popular with the mountian backcountry riding lady's out there and likes and dislikes..THX

I wrote an article a month back on snowmobile choices. I rode a Pro RMK 800 for three seasons and ended up switching to cat as I moved dealerships. My experience is the Proclimb, the Pro RMK and the XM are epic choices for an aggressive mountain riding peep. Let her try the machines out, but make sure that it is set up for her weight and height. I can help out, and supply a cat for her to try, and I'm certain other dealers would be eager to let her try their rides as well. I transitioned into a Cat Proclimb pretty easily, even after riding a pro for 3 seasons. I prefer the 13 chassis over the 12.
though.

What do you ride? My husband and I try to maintain continuity with our rides. Look for your dealer support. What dealers in your area provide the best customer service. She'll rock it.

If you want to bring her out riding with us, we usually have a blend of machines out on our Bettie Rides..

feel free to give me a call at t and t 780-826-6121

 

[DragonDiva]

I ride a 2013 ProRMK 800 163" and love the machine. It is so light...and yes that makes a huge difference for women. I am not tired at the end of the day. I have tried the older XP's and personally struggled with the steering of them. I did briefly ride a Proclimb with Trish late this spring and my greatest struggle was with the seat height. The ProRMK is significant lower than the Proclimb and I had more issues swinging the legs over moving side to side.

The best would be to let your girlfriend try the sleds out for a weekend (like Trish said) because what one woman likes, someone else wont.

 

[Skadi]

Luuuuunnnnddddd!! Hi buddy!! how in the heck are ya? This sled gonna be for Kare??

Shoot me a message and we can set up a time to just talk... would be great to catch up with ya anyway! I'm on a Polaris now but have spent time on and around most of the new chassis!!

Hope all is well with ya, my brother is still running that RT1000 and lovin it and the 860 motor I built is STILL out there (a few new top end refreshes later) kickin butt! Take care!

 

[ferniesnow]

I know of a gently used 2013 XMX 163" with ES that will be very reasonable. It also has 2+ years of warranty remaining. This is not Bev's tree machine, it is mine. Belly pan and a screen kit are the only changes. It only has 110 hours on it!

 

[Lund]

Luuuuunnnnddddd!! Hi buddy!! how in the heck are ya? This sled gonna be for Kare??

Shoot me a message and we can set up a time to just talk... would be great to catch up with ya anyway! I'm on a Polaris now but have spent time on and around most of the new chassis!!

Hope all is well with ya, my brother is still running that RT1000 and lovin it and the 860 motor I built is STILL out there (a few new top end refreshes later) kickin butt! Take care!

Hi Em, yes its been a while. So your enjoying the Pro, yes its for Kare. We've looked at them and undecided. She realy like's her M8, best sled she's ever owned she said in performance and reliability. I like it because its been trouble free in everyway and she can keep up with no worries, i can't say that about the Doo's she has had.
She kinda has her mind on an XM, mostly because alot of the peeps we ride with ride them so nothing for her to realy compare too. We will see, but i'm leaning towards either the Pol. Pro or Cat Proclimb. This is why i'm trying to get some feed back from these from a womans point of view. It was hard to get her to change from a DOO to Cat a few years ago but i knew the Cat M8 would be a far better sled for her, today she totally agrees the Cat was a better option in every way.
Glad to hear your bro is realy enjoying his RT1k, i still have mine but its been collecting dust for 3yrs now, i sold a bunch of aftermarket parts off of it and put it back to stock. Going to sell it this fall, like i said it hasn't been riden in 3 years.
I ride a Yamaha now, have been since 2010, will run it one more season and then MAYBE replace it with another new one. Got my eye on the new 2014 Viper from Yamaha, would be a great base for another build.

 

[Lund]

I wrote an article a month back on snowmobile choices. I rode a Pro RMK 800 for three seasons and ended up switching to cat as I moved dealerships. My experience is the Proclimb, the Pro RMK and the XM are epic choices for an aggressive mountain riding peep. Let her try the machines out, but make sure that it is set up for her weight and height. I can help out, and supply a cat for her to try, and I'm certain other dealers would be eager to let her try their rides as well. I transitioned into a Cat Proclimb pretty easily, even after riding a pro for 3 seasons. I prefer the 13 chassis over the 12.
though.

What do you ride? My husband and I try to maintain continuity with our rides. Look for your dealer support. What dealers in your area provide the best customer service. She'll rock it.

If you want to bring her out riding with us, we usually have a blend of machines out on our Bettie Rides..

feel free to give me a call at t and t 780-826-6121

Do you ride Revelstoke/Sicamous, if you do i will definitly keep that in mind let me know, thats home for me. I'm on a Nytro.

 

[Lund]

I know of a gently used 2013 XMX 163" with ES that will be very reasonable. It also has 2+ years of warranty remaining. This is not Bev's tree machine, it is mine. Belly pan and a screen kit are the only changes. It only has 110 hours on it!

Replacing it with a 14 model? I told her about it, waiting for her now.

 

[MOMMA]

Do you ride Revelstoke/Sicamous, if you do i will definitly keep that in mind let me know, thats home for me. I'm on a Nytro.

Absolutely we do!! I love Sicamous. I'll be traveling more this year now that we live in Northern Alberta, not smack dab in Bc lol. K we'll keep in touch!

 

[MOMMA]

Lund here is my article called Switching Teams. I went from a Pro to a Cat this season.. It was a good transition.
SWITCHING TEAMS | joydigger.com

 

[ferniesnow]

Replacing it with a 14 model? I told her about it, waiting for her now.

That is correct. She didn't really give Bev's machine a good ride. You saw how Bev tried that big hill and with a little more experience she would have made it! That Etec is bullet proof and there are no maintenance issues.

 

[white6]

I'm born and raised on a cat so I'm a little cat biased lol but as a female rider i've loved my cats! And the transition from my 10' m8 into my 13' m8 was nearly seamless. I have also had nil maintenance issues with all my cats (Other than self inflicted tree damage). I havent been able to give the other brands a real - honest try. Last time I got on a pol pro, i was on my 10' chassis and it felt really tippy, now that my 13' is more tippy I would probably adapt better. Like others have said she really needs to get the seat time on them *with the sled set up to her size*. Too bad you guys never visited the dealer demo rides at the end of the season. I usually ride the revy area quite a bit so i may be able to help her try one out if she wants. If your thinking doo and revy, perhaps get a hold of stephanie laroy shwartz, she's a revelstoke local whom works with/rides for skidoo. She's a great girl, fantastic rider, and surely would have some good pointers about the doo for female riders. Seat time and she will adapt to likely any machine, so finding a solid dealer to work with may be a good way to help in your decision making.

 

[jeepchic]

I have been fortunate to have been on a few different machines over the last few years: Polaris and Arctic Cat being the main 2. MY opinion of both comes down to 2 things....reliability of the machine and the after sales service of the dealership you will be dealing with. My experience is that although a very comparible ride and very easy to just jump on and go, the Polaris Pro is still having alot of issues with their motor. Not completely reliable but a great machine when it is running well. I do love them. However, I have riden the Arctic Cat Proclimb 2010, 2012 and 2013 for the last 3 seasons, have never had motor issues or any issues for that matter. I put 2000++ miles on a season. I find the machine extremely easy to ride and extremely easy to teach new riders to ride. The machines I ride are demo's so I do let most of the women I encounter give them a wirl. I have had nothing but amazing responses and excitement from all of them in that they feel like Pro's themselves just getting on the machine and going. I had a lady that has riden Skidoo all her life and is an avid agressive rider...I let her ride my 2013 proclimb for the day and then promptly got and email from her man that he was told she wanted to be a Cat Girl now!!!

As the other ladies said though is absolutely correct....make arrangements for your wife to go out and try each machine for a period of time....at least a full ride or 2 before she desides. There are a few Arctic Cat demo's out there in our group that she could easily get out and try!!

Good luck in the shopping and have fun!!

 

[Lund]

Ok, so i'm hearing alot about Cat's...good. But how GOOD are they realy. NO BS, i heard of LOTS of clutch issues and experienced it my self with other's and chassi issues, possible upgrades needed. Explain.
I'm not concern about the motor as i know the 800 Cat is solid. We have one but in the older M chassi.
The new Cat chassi looks questionable and from what we've seen the older last generation chassi, actualy out handles the new one in the backcountry(mountian)????
Yes the new one rode much nicer but is that why girls like them?

I would like to hear a little more about the Polaris, i'm realy not aware of any issues with them other then the belt drive IF you like jumping or turbo up, it can be a problem.
I have heard many mixed feeling's about the motor, some say they are great, some say they blow up???
As for handling, i heard they are easy for a woman, any thoughts?

How about you DOO girl's, the XM get's good reviews, you girl's liking them??

THX

 

[mtnlite]

Hi, I had to get in on this, after being a Yammi girl (mostly as a flatlander) for 19 seasons and loving my mountain lite 500 for the last 6 of those, I had to be convinced that I needed more power and more track, and after 8 days in McBride with snow every day it didn't take much (hubby has a nitro which is not for me, poos are not for me either)...as luck would have it a friend lent me his 10 ski doo summit 800 xp at the end of the 11/12 season and I took advantage and put 400 kms on it...I was sold, but he wasn,t selling ) I was to try a cat at the beginning of this season but then doo came out with the 2013 800 summit sp 154 xp ptec and I have not looked back (does not have the xm but easy enough to get installed, I,m happy without, who knows though a few more birthdays and whos to say ) anyways it was a deal too good to pass up. I thought it would be tough going from a sit down sled to a stand up sled but that transition was too easy and it so much better on the body (except when hitting big holes who knew holes could hurt so much) Also as previously mentioned the fact that it was set up just for me and my weight makes a huge difference on how easy it is to handle. I put on 2600 km mostly in and around north buck/skeleton/long lake...but did get to spend 5 days in McBride, oooh can't wait to get back there!!...I love this sled, also the linq system is amazing, I have the big bag and the gas can, I don't even know they're there and they stay on!! you just have to remember to zip up the bag!!! The only downside that I have found is it is very tippy, we are going to widen the ski stance for next season, which can,t come soon enough ooh soo many things I can,t wait to doo!! Are we there yet? OK I,m done gushing.

 

[jeepchic]

I rode the 2010 M8, 2012 proclimb for the season and then the 2013 proclimb for this season. I also have many riding buddies on Pro's...2011, 2012 and 2013. I traded sleds with one buddy and the 2012 Pro for an afternoon and for the most part both were extremely comparable rides. I was able to do everything on the Pro as I am on the Proclimb. I am an avid mountain rider all terrains and both machines stand up well to the challenges I put them through. Yes each machine has its "issues" I for one have never experienced issues with any of the 3 Cats. My buddies with the Pro's have almost all had motor issues. Mostly the cylinder skirts cracking and rider not realizing, 3 in our group alone. We have a 2010 motor that has blown 2 times now. The Cats had small issues also all easily fixed, the clutching issue in the 2012 was a shim fix and then it was golden, the 2012 issues were all changed this season. The main difference other than machanical is the seats....guess one has to test that out for comfort individually.

 

[white6]

Some find the cat seat tall. 2012 as it was new chassis year had most problems for cat. Nearly all those bugs were fixed. I put 1300miles (all mtn) on the original belt this winter no issues, just re-shim along the way (reminder i was on a 13 cat). I chose to re-gear my cat to a 19 tooth (comes 21), most go with the 20. My brother has a 12 163' cat and has had some issues (chains, tensioners, now drive shaft). There are only a few other guys he has found amongst the forums to have these problems, which occur while jumping and dropping at a decent height. We used manual tensioners when we re-geared and it fixed the first 2 problems, now his drive shaft broke. Cat recalled the rail tips on the 13's which was good bc 1 of mine was nearly worn out. Seems the 163's required additional venting where as the 153's seem to temperature out ok. Losing one of the coolers for weight was great but the sled runs an avg 5-10deg hotter and you notice needing your scratchers on the trails more (or thats what i found). Powdercoated tunnel and rails also worked out much better than just aluminum for snow clearing/sticking it seemed, sounds stunned but I only had 1 or 2 days of real rail kicking frustration out of an entire season.

Rarely any doos in my group so no knowledge there. Primarily polaris' in my group. Older models (pre-pro chassis) had major motor issues. Just stay away. Go 2011 and up. Boyfriend has a 12' that he has ran very hard in the mountains. 50' drop to 50' launch, tight trees and hill climbs. The machine stands up to it. Suspension on them stock he doesnt like, doesnt seem to last for him, so he has changed that all out. Rails he cracked near the end of this season (multiple little cracks) so now has ice-age. Changed out the running boards which was huge improvement he found. Bumpers and tunnels seem to be weaker on them. Cracked 2 carbon fiber rear bumpers until he put somethin else in. front one pulled out. Heard of a few tunnel issues. Motor blew this season in the spring. Also had high compression head and re-geared it. He loves the machine but seems he did a lot of upgrading for it to be what he wanted and to stand up to his aggressiveness. Has a 14' on order. In honesty that 12' has been more reliable than his 10' dragon was on any trip. IMO its a pretty solid machine and like JC said 'they all have there issues'. And some tweak them out more than others to be to there comfort. Panels arent the best secured but they stay on. Its a lot more user friendly to get at and work on than a cat haha He doesn't care for my cat much.

Other major difference he finds between the two is the bottom end throttle response. Cat has a bit of a bog/lag compared to the pro. Once you get the cat to mid rpms she pulls hard, harder than the pro does in the mid-high it seems. But the bottom end is touch an go, you need to carry momentum with you in the slower moving stuff it seems, bc the response isnt there. But now that may just be mine because he has ridden others and says its there, but not as noticeable.

Now a days they are all pretty solid. Find a good dealer and spend some time on the seat to find out what you enjoy to ride. Some will help you grow as a rider more, or faster than the others is all, really. Hope my further blabbering helped haha

 

[MOMMA]

Some find the cat seat tall. 2012 as it was new chassis year had most problems for cat. Nearly all those bugs were fixed. I put 1300miles (all mtn) on the original belt this winter no issues, just re-shim along the way (reminder i was on a 13 cat). I chose to re-gear my cat to a 19 tooth (comes 21), most go with the 20. My brother has a 12 163' cat and has had some issues (chains, tensioners, now drive shaft). There are only a few other guys he has found amongst the forums to have these problems, which occur while jumping and dropping at a decent height. We used manual tensioners when we re-geared and it fixed the first 2 problems, now his drive shaft broke. Cat recalled the rail tips on the 13's which was good bc 1 of mine was nearly worn out. Seems the 163's required additional venting where as the 153's seem to temperature out ok. Losing one of the coolers for weight was great but the sled runs an avg 5-10deg hotter and you notice needing your scratchers on the trails more (or thats what i found). Powdercoated tunnel and rails also worked out much better than just aluminum for snow clearing/sticking it seemed, sounds stunned but I only had 1 or 2 days of real rail kicking frustration out of an entire season.

Rarely any doos in my group so no knowledge there. Primarily polaris' in my group. Older models (pre-pro chassis) had major motor issues. Just stay away. Go 2011 and up. Boyfriend has a 12' that he has ran very hard in the mountains. 50' drop to 50' launch, tight trees and hill climbs. The machine stands up to it. Suspension on them stock he doesnt like, doesnt seem to last for him, so he has changed that all out. Rails he cracked near the end of this season (multiple little cracks) so now has ice-age. Changed out the running boards which was huge improvement he found. Bumpers and tunnels seem to be weaker on them. Cracked 2 carbon fiber rear bumpers until he put somethin else in. front one pulled out. Heard of a few tunnel issues. Motor blew this season in the spring. Also had high compression head and re-geared it. He loves the machine but seems he did a lot of upgrading for it to be what he wanted and to stand up to his aggressiveness. Has a 14' on order. In honesty that 12' has been more reliable than his 10' dragon was on any trip. IMO its a pretty solid machine and like JC said 'they all have there issues'. And some tweak them out more than others to be to there comfort. Panels arent the best secured but they stay on. Its a lot more user friendly to get at and work on than a cat haha He doesn't care for my cat much.

Other major difference he finds between the two is the bottom end throttle response. Cat has a bit of a bog/lag compared to the pro. Once you get the cat to mid rpms she pulls hard, harder than the pro does in the mid-high it seems. But the bottom end is touch an go, you need to carry momentum with you in the slower moving stuff it seems, bc the response isnt there. But now that may just be mine because he has ridden others and says its there, but not as noticeable.

Now a days they are all pretty solid. Find a good dealer and spend some time on the seat to find out what you enjoy to ride. Some will help you grow as a rider more, or faster than the others is all, really. Hope my further blabbering helped haha

The Cat that I transitioned to had custom clutching to deal with the hesitation. I love love loved my pros. They were wonderful, light, agile. Transitioning into the cat I noticed more power, once I got the hammer down.
I loved my pros pep. In all honesty, I'd ride either in a heartbeat. If I was to think long term, I love the Cats longevity. The elephant in the room for the Polaris sleds is the longevity of the motor, Drive Shaft and perhaps the integrity of the belt drive on the 13 pro models. I didn't have any problem with my belt drive though. I did break it in with love. I didn't like the running boards even the "upgraded burandt" edition.. I opted for B and M boards that were wicked. I had a bit of a struggle with the 2012 Cat. I just didn't enjoy the geometry at all. The 2013 was awesome though, once I rode one with the suspension set up for me.

 

[0neoldfart]

Lund, it really boils down to finding a good dealer - any machine can be setup for a particular rider's preference. My wife used to ride Doo, had an M8 162, and her current ride is a ProRMK. She likes the current Pro, but bar height was too high (new bars), she didn't care for the Polaris track (Challenger Extreme installed), suspension too soft (Kmod rear skid, Z-broz spring package in front installed) and motor felt soft (Carl's cycle big bore now installed). Too be fair this was a 2013 600, so hoping the 660 will pull the sled around much better. We are on the second Quick Drive Belt (blew at 393 miles), and simply due to lack of faith in the system it is getting a C3 belt drive. The chassis is fun and nimble, but then again she has ridden my Proclimb without issues other then weight (it's a turbo 4s). As far as clutching issues on the 800, not everyone has an issue - most are good when set up (again, this is where a good dealer comes into the equation). Every single sled out there is mass produced, and there is always a possibility of failure, no matter what color the machine is. But a good dealer like T&T in Bonnyville is there for the customer after the sale, too...it seems that the smaller stores tend to care more about the customer.

 

[jeepchic]

I must agree whole heartedly to the above comment. It really boils down to what dealers you have close to you and the service they provide...mainly aftersales service is what you need to look at. Another thought is the popularity of the machine in your riding group, although not a great big deal but it is nice that if something goes wrong someone will know what to do. Good luck, ride hard and safe...let us know what you decide!!