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Yamaha and Arctic Cat making kittens

CaptainMusky

By CaptainMusky
in Snowmobile Users

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Central Bassman Grand Master

Central Bassman

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I think this partnership is great for the sport of snowmobiling. I think it's smart on AC's part since Yamaha is known for having great motors and Yamaha has invested all of their RND into the 4 stroke market. With how hard emissions are I think this is a great idea for that reason as well. AC has nothing to lose and a lot to gain.

With Polaris still having issues with their motors, AC and Yamaha have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I will say... and I have always been a 2 stroke guy... A 4 stroke is getting more and more inviting...

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CaptainMusky Grand Master

CaptainMusky

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Yamaha gave up the specs for there 4 strokes and and they will be made in st. cloud by cat.
This is the first I have heard this.

I doubt this is true. I do know the Viper models will be produced in TRF to Yamaha specifications, but the engines themselves I am sure will still be built in Japan or wherever they are currently.

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randerson Proficient

randerson

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It sounds like there is a lot OF Yamaha Canada guys and Yamaha USA overseeing this process in TRF and it is rumors that the St.Cloud plant will be building some new snowmobile powerplants but I would guess for Cat only. Either way this is a Win Win for the Consumer One of the best chassis in the industry with the most advanced snowmobile engine in the market. With Arctic Cat showing no interest to take there manufacturing elsewhere MN will also be a winner here

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MN Mike Mentor

MN Mike

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I think Musky is right, the engines coming from the St Cloud plant will be Cat's rumored new 2 strokes that will be replacing the current Suzuki motors. Maybe the new 2 strokes might have some Yamaha influence, I've heard the 600cc will have some funky cylinder wall fuel injection and the 800 will be DI....... from what I've heard anyway.

We will find out next week.... maybe it's all B S! grin

Mike

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MNUser Proficient

MNUser

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Rode the 128 and the 141 today at Zorbas.

All I can say is this is a nice sled. They both handled great. The steering was effortless and it had that familiar Nytro pull. I though they were comfortable to ride. There were a couple things I noticed.

1. I did not like how my knees banged against the plastic. Had to adjust for that in sitting sytle but is was manageable.

2. I asked about the fit and finish and the rep told me there were only 27 of them that were being shown around the state. There are adjustments being made because he said it was not up to yamaha standards. They would all be easy fixes when they go into production.

3. I asked about the chain case and here is what I was told. Yamaha was aware of the issue with the cat chain cases and this case has been engineered a little differently and they have not had the issue cat was seeing. It had two chains in the case one for reverse. I did not try the reverse feature and I wish I would have. He said it functions with a servo like the Phazer but does not have to be rocked like the Phazer does.

4. He thought yamaha was going to be offering 3 year warranty, 2.9%, a free duffle bag and a jacket. Just for your info. He said adding the extra 2 years would be an option.

5. He mentioned the final mapping has not yet been done and the clutches and being fine tuned. What we rode is not the final production.

6. Back to the steering. The steering was very easy. You could tell they have reliefed the pressure on the skis with this front end. I though it was a little squirrelly on the straight aways. One on stretch I pulled it to 65 and it darted some. I think that would be an easy fix. Maybe because it is soooo lite when it comes to steering. I did love how easy it was coming off an 08 Nytro. One guy who has a 11 Cat said it handled just like his Cat which he likes a lot.

7. I asked him about taking it out west. The rep said he had ridden it out west and he said all you had to do was put gas in it and ride. I asked about clutching and he said there was no need with the 141 inch track, I could see you enjoying it while out west and riding it here in MN. The 1.6 paddles were not an issue on the hard and rough trail we rode. I thought you would be able to tell since the rails are not tipped but you could not. When you hit the throttle it hooked up.

8. I could not get the inside ski to lift when I hit the gas coming out of a corner and believe I tried hard. This thing stayed planted to the ground. Even with the motor set up high it did not feel tippy. I was surprised.

If the mountains are your thing and you are into the best possible performance, I'm sure you would tweak it and make it better.

I thought the 141 was a funner sled. Hooked up really nice and did not push through the corners like I thought it would. I had 5 buddies with me and they all really liked it. 3 were on Ski-Doos and one on a Yamaha. I though the chassis was really nice. It handled the rough trail well.

We were encouraged to take it easy on them since they did not have parts with them. We jumped them on road approaches and I had the 141 up to 80 across the lake. It pulled all the way to 80 and had throttle left. I ended up passing the lead rep and he asked me when I got back what I thought of the motor. We rode them hard.

All in all, a nice sled, I would not have a problem buying on this fall. I might just go in within the next month and order one up. After riding the 141 and the 128, I would get the 141. The rep mentioned that the 141 has been the most liked.

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CaptainMusky Grand Master

CaptainMusky

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MN, what sled you running now?

The darting was caused because Yamaha chose not to go with the staggered carbide setup that AC uses. I was told they are going to change that, but the pilot models you rode I am sure were to their original configuration.

The rear skid on the 141 is the same as in the XF or M series cats. The 129 is what is in the F series. Im sure calibration may be different, but its same design.

The main thing you will notice other than the obvious length difference between the 129 and 141, is that the xf/m skids do NOT have torsion springs in there. It cuts considerable weight. For trail riding, better handling the 129 would be the better choice overall, but they have improved the xf/m slide considerably for 2013 (and probably moreso for 2014). Initially it wasnt calibrated well and was really not very good on trails.

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