To heavy is always the complaint but you cant find a better more stable at high speed sled out there then the Apex Rx models. Its what trail riders want but not what Mountain or off trail riders want. They want a lighter more agile Apex but my biggest fear is they will kill what makes the Apex an awesome trail sled.
So with the Catamaha turbo mountain sled maybe they can find what the steep and deep guys want. They are two different sleds the Viper and the Apex, Do whatever it takes to make the Viper a Mountain sled but please leave the Apex an Apex. Shave some weight add some HP but if you mess with the what is fundamentally a Apex you ruin the sled for good. Its a High performance trail sled it likes long straights and sweeping corners, it excels at them. Turning it into a twitchy corner turner would loose that one thing that sets them apart from the rest.
Ever ride or follow a Rev? They can't run in a straight line but where touted as the revolutionary sled, then changed to the XP which improved the twitchyness a bit. Then the XS that did nothing to change the twitchyness. The Apex is being held up to the 1200 Doo by Supertrack's but even though I like the 1200XP it still has that twitchy feeling that I do no like, throttle lag and less power. Weight its always about the weight, its the only fault the two stroke faithful can find and even Ski-Doo who now sells four stokes pushed. Notice how quiet they got when they started making the 1200! Maybe the RAS2 changes that or maybe its a band-aid to fix a chassis flaw. Time will tell but kudos to Ski-Doo making it backwards compatible, that will make them a few bucks.
On trail the weight is not as big of an issue as it is off trail and Doo's 800 152 monster is a awesome sled for what it is, well if they can get the clutching right for flatlander's below 5,000ft. Maybe toughen up the chain case at the same time (does lightweight and durability go together?). Now the 800 Renagade while a nice sled is tippy and twitchy and no where near as stable at speed as my XTX. So the consensus is that we as 4 stroke riders have to give up weight strength and stability to be like a two stroke as per Supertrack Magazine.
I don't buy into that thought process! I love my heavy Apex and don't see a problem with its design based on its intended purpose. Its not a Mountain sled its a HP trail sled and in the case of my XTX has some capability off trail don't ever take that away from it! Want a Mountain sled buy a Mountain sled don't fall for the hype that the Apex is junk because Mags and other Manufacture's say so. That is what has happened, people bought the rocket and can't keep up in the twistys or off trail so they want to change the rocket into something its not rather then admit maybe they bought the wrong sled in the first place. Maybe the Cat merger will give them the sled they dream of. My only wish is that they all back off and leave the Apex to the Apex faithful who bought the sled for what it is knowing what it was.
Four cylinders of screaming High Performance with High speed stability, durability and reliability. Sorry the Viper with a Turbo is not that sled! In fact no one else builds a sled like that. Only Yamaha and if they screw that up then they lost their roots and their faithful! IMHO!
