2020 Release

[sxr70001]

I still say we will see a new equivalent to the Bravo or ET. An 880 would certainly stick it to the big bore heads.

Last weekend I was out riding with my daughter and her husband and we were eating at Coyote Crossing up by Cadillac and I looked out the window as a few sleds came in and there were 3 little kids all riding nicely cared for Bravo's behind the other sleds. It was the coolest thing to see those kids out riding with their parents and it was cool to see those little sleds still rocking down the trail. We need to see more of that IMO.

 

[jjmoneysauce]

Last weekend I was out riding with my daughter and her husband and we were eating at Coyote Crossing up by Cadillac and I looked out the window as a few sleds came in and there were 3 little kids all riding nicely cared for Bravo's behind the other sleds. It was the coolest thing to see those kids out riding with their parents and it was cool to see those little sleds still rocking down the trail. We need to see more of that IMO.

Super cool. Bravos are awesome gap sleds. My youngest started with one and then moved up to an Excel. These size of sleds are much needed in my opinion. I have a fat skinned 2011 Bravo that I use mainly for deep trail breaking, and it is amazing. You don't need to get into big bore and wild mods to have fun! In fact, I think it's more fun riding the vintage sleds!

 

[murdered141]

My buddy has an 89 exciter and it's a blast to ride, makes me feel like a kid again, even though I still feel like a kid if that make's any sense.

 

[SumpBuster]

Last weekend I was out riding with my daughter and her husband and we were eating at Coyote Crossing up by Cadillac and I looked out the window as a few sleds came in and there were 3 little kids all riding nicely cared for Bravo's behind the other sleds. It was the coolest thing to see those kids out riding with their parents and it was cool to see those little sleds still rocking down the trail. We need to see more of that IMO.

That deserves a Darn Tootin'!

Oops...lost another tooth!

 

[Sasquatch]

there is yamaha 2 stroke dna in artic cat engines, i think the 600's were designed by yamaha engineers...chris reid posted about it years ago without directly saying...i would believe him from all others!!!

If they did then why does Cat say Yamaha and cat are competitors in the two stroke field? If Yamaha designed the engine then why the secrecy just drop it in already? I still think if you have to buy a 2 stroke, Cat Yamaha's partner has two of them. Its funny that those who think the Pro Cross is the best on the snow and they just have to have a 2 stroke cause Doo has them are so resistant to Cat two strokes.

 

[Sasquatch]

Last weekend I was out riding with my daughter and her husband and we were eating at Coyote Crossing up by Cadillac and I looked out the window as a few sleds came in and there were 3 little kids all riding nicely cared for Bravo's behind the other sleds. It was the coolest thing to see those kids out riding with their parents and it was cool to see those little sleds still rocking down the trail. We need to see more of that IMO.

I think that is why we are where we are with sleds, we have been going full blast with more and more power but forgot to train the next generation. Without the next generation sledding dies with us. My Dads Bravo is in the shed, has not moved in years. We need entry level sleds, cause 20,000 dollar sleds are built for a small crowd of people.

 

[blueironranger]

I think that is why we are where we are with sleds, we have been going full blast with more and more power but forgot to train the next generation. Without the next generation sledding dies with us. My Dads Bravo is in the shed, has not moved in years. We need entry level sleds, cause 20,000 dollar sleds are built for a small crowd of people.

There is the catch 22, There is a definite need for entry level but there isn't any/much money in building them. The money is in the Big Bore/Hyper class. It even seem manufactures are trying to phase out the 600 class, since it really doesn't cost anything more to build an 800/850 but the 800/850 sells for 2500$ + more. The timing might be coming though to sell some new "entry" sleds soon though as I've noticed not nearly as many clean/nice old 440/500 sleds on craigslist lately. They have the Sno Scoot, which isn't even on par with an old 250 single power wise, maybe the next step is a 340/440 class sled. The Kodiak 450 recently got upgraded to EFI and is around 28hp, certainly enough to move a proper size chassis at acceptable trail speeds.

 

[Deeppow16]

Just a heads up. I read this over on a doo site.
Probably a load of crap but im not a crap expert.

"dpach, on 05 Jan 2019 - 4:18 PM, said:

Was just in speaking to my Cat dealer who happens to sit on the dealership board in Canada. Says Textron and Yami just signed a new agreement and have a big announcement coming in March. Another dealer on the board from down east is saying Yami is bringing a 2 stroke back to their sleds in an 880cc and Cat is likely to have it also. Yami wanted their 4 stroke inventory cleaned out before this new 2020 hits so that is why no 2019 sleds as stock. Cat also just added $2K rebate on 2019 800's and $2500 on 2018, $3k on 2017s. This likely means the ctec 800 will be phased out over the next couple yrs and Cat gets the new 880 phased in.

Again, dealer info so take it for what it is."

Boy if this is true I might be the first person in line to put my down payment on one. This is something that could easily happen. Arctic Cats 800 has great torque but lacks a bit in HP compared to the 850's out there. They need a larger motor to stay competitive. The monorail was a huge help for them but just think if they had the monorail an a 850cc+ sled. That would be a huge game changer. Yamaha already supplies engines to Arctic Cat whats 2(600 & 850+) more? Arctic Cat could prefect the chassis and Yamaha could perfect the engines. That sounds like a good partnership.

 

[03RX1-ER-LE]

This is something I quoted in 2018. This is on another past post


Well, as for 2 strokes and Yamaha. If you travel out North America, Yamaha builds and sell so many different 2 stroke motorcycles. While at Yamaha Service school we observed a 899cc Twin PWC motor with HPDI fuel injection. These are making their way to the racing stand up PWC This motor would be an easy fit to a sled. As for the Big Block 4 stroke, how about the 1800 cc supercharged motor? This has been in many machines for several years. Upwards of 300hp. Don’t ever give up on Yamaha.

 

[journeyman]

Boy if this is true I might be the first person in line to put my down payment on one. This is something that could easily happen. Arctic Cats 800 has great torque but lacks a bit in HP compared to the 850's out there. They need a larger motor to stay competitive. The monorail was a huge help for them but just think if they had the monorail an a 850cc+ sled. That would be a huge game changer. Yamaha already supplies engines to Arctic Cat whats 2(600 & 850+) more? Arctic Cat could prefect the chassis and Yamaha could perfect the engines. That sounds like a good partnership.

I work with a guy that grew up in the Thief River Falls area. This morning when I walked into work he stopped me and said a relative up there told him yesterday that 2020 is the last year of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. It's just hear say but I found it interesting. I have heard Textron is not interested in the sled portion of the business.

 

[Deeppow16]

I work with a guy that grew up in the Thief River Falls area. This morning when I walked into work he stopped me and said a relative up there told him yesterday that 2020 is the last year of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. It's just hear say but I found it interesting. I have heard Textron is not interested in the sled portion of the business.

That's hard to believe with the release of the Alpha last year. That sled is a game changer for the backcountry. Nothing but praise from the guys riding them. If Textron does drop Cat then someone(maybe Yamaha) will pick them up.

 

[journeyman]

That's hard to believe with the release of the Alpha last year. That sled is a game changer for the backcountry. Nothing but praise from the guys riding them. If Textron does drop Cat then someone(maybe Yamaha) will pick them up.

It's just what someone told me so IMO it's just a rumor but an interesting one at that. I guess we will know in about 7 or so weeks.

 

[20/80]

I work with a guy that grew up in the Thief River Falls area. This morning when I walked into work he stopped me and said a relative up there told him yesterday that 2020 is the last year of Arctic Cat snowmobiles. It's just hear say but I found it interesting. I have heard Textron is not interested in the sled portion of the business.

I have seen on a post on this forum that the sled line of Cat was in trouble, if it holds true your buddy maybe right, Textron did this to Polaris back in the day, so the big announcement for 2020 maybe that Yamaha is taking complete control and ownership of the Cat plant and their line of sleds, now does this mean that the Cat sticker on the pro cross is gone or does Yamaha keep going with the old pro cross chassis with the Cat stickers on it and produce a all new chassis just for Yamaha and fade Cat out down the road, Cat brand sleds does have a big brand loyal costumer base, but the sled department still seems to struggle, Yamaha will gain more market share for sure if all this holds true.

 

[biffdotorg]

What it may mean is that Arctic Cat as we know it today is gone. And Yamaha snowmobiles as we know it are gone. It would explain all the Yamaha house cleaning this year and next.

Then a new line of the merged company can be released, and the AC faithful and Yamaha faithful could possibly co-exist. This is the perfect time to release a new chassis, and possibly a new powerplant that was co-designed under a new name. That way nobody can pull the "we designed it" "they designed it" card or blame card for poor design.

Yamacat, or Catmaha may be closer to reality than we want to admit.

BUT PLEASE, let's move away from the late 80's Dayglow, purple and Ditch Pickle colors!!! For F-sake!

 

[Mileage Quest]

I have seen on a post on this forum that the sled line of Cat was in trouble, if it holds true your buddy maybe right, Textron did this to Polaris back in the day, so the big announcement for 2020 maybe that Yamaha is taking complete control and ownership of the Cat plant and their line of sleds, now does this mean that the Cat sticker on the pro cross is gone or does Yamaha keep going with the old pro cross chassis with the Cat stickers on it and produce a all new chassis just for Yamaha and fade Cat out down the road, Cat brand sleds does have a big brand loyal costumer base, but the sled department still seems to struggle, Yamaha will gain more market share for sure if all this holds true.

I’ve posted that something similar to this will happen twice in this thread... I hope that it’s true and Yamaha now will transition over to manufacturing sled here in the US