I was at Pat's in Greenland this past week and WOW was he selling sleds. He is in a total hotbed there. Some Japs from Yamaha were there and were having a meeting with the owner. I guess the Apex machine was discussed and he told them put the 200HP motor in it and it will sell like hot cakes.
IMHO, go with a naturally aspirated 185-200 HP motor and put in a better rear skid like an R-Motion, some premium front shocks and a few other ergo upgrades like taller seat foam and a slightly taller bar allowing quicker standing transitions with a medium ht, but decent looking windscreen and it would be a great seller.
I talked with a family.....die hard Yamaha folk.....from Chicago the first day in the Rosseau Bar. He was looking at our Apex sleds and drooling over my buddies SC'd Attak with the new sled wrap. He was saying that last year he came up and his high mile Attak (15,000 miles) had the studded Ripsaw come apart and did a bunch of cooler damage. His machine was going to be in the shop all week and he needed a machine so he traded for a 2014 Viper LTX. I asked how he liked it. He said it rode and handled decent but had been a total lemon, in the shop constantly, gearbox took a crap, bolts and other stuff coming loose on the machine, had starting problems, ignition was re-flashed several times but still has weird running quality gremlins. Bearings going out of it.......just a lot of NON Yamaha type issues. Not to mention how disappointed he has been in the power and speed.
Had another guy tell me Cat has a whole new chassis coming out next year. If true what does that mean for the Yamaha/Cat venture??