Artic cat

[starmac]

I wound up with an artic cat atv today, I have mostly messed with old hondas and these things are not all that popular up here. Does anybody know anything about them, are they worth having??

[Bo1]

Not bad bikes.. My uncle had a side by side, and it was comparable to my Polaris Ranger...
Bo

[AlaskanGuy]

They are junk, just bring it to me when you come fishing, i will use is as a Boat anchor... Or maybe just use it.. He he

:kidding:

[starmac]

I would hate to see it down there where the salt air would probably even rust the plastic. lol

[starmac]

I hope this works out to be a decent ride. I have been looking for something so the wife and I could both have a ride or something to ride together. I have seriously been looking at the side by sides, so if this works out it potentially will sve me THOUSANDS. lol

[AlaskanGuy]

Them new side by side jobbers will run close to 20k, so hope it does"...

[dakotashooter2]

Made in MN so designed with cold weather in mind. Seem to be pretty good.

[dtknowles]

My Brother in Maine got one, he is happy with his. He replaced the tires with tracks and used it this past winter as his snowmachine and to plow his yard.

Tim

[Bullshop Junior]

They are junk. Not as bad as Polaris but I wont ever own another.

[Loudenboomer]

They are built about 35 miles from me. I had a 2007 366 "Lemon" a few years back. I currently have a 2009 550 efi no complaints. had a few problems with rear cv joints but warranty had that covered. What model and size did you get?

[starmac]

It is an 04 650. They only made this model for 2 years which makes me wonder if they had problems with it.

Akguy, you must be looking at the loaded side by sides with electric windows. lol So far the one I like best is the ploaris, and a basic model is running around 11 grand, and goes up to as much as a guy wants to spend. lol

[Bullshop Junior]

Polaris is junk. Arctic cat are junk. Suzuki are junk. . Yamaha and honda are good.

The Subaru ones they sell at Home Depot are better then Polaris.

[Superfly]

DANG Looks like we are neighbors. loudenboomer I am about 1 hr from TRF .


There is really nothing wrong with Arctic Cat or Polaris It is all in how you treat them now. It does not matter if it is a honda or a Kawasukie or a Suzukie If you treat them like shiit you will have Shiit.

Most of the Polaris problems was from untrained people Who Thought they knew what they were doing working on there own Stuff. Seen it way to many times. Some people think they are Mechanics When they should not be anywhere near a tool. Just becuse you bought snap on tools means nothing if you don,t know what you are doing.


Do your self one Favor Wash the Rad out with simple green BEFORE it is Soaked with **** Mud dust debris etc. Then wash it out again to be sure.

Now Start the Machine let it get warmed up and have the fan cycling on the RAD make sure it is Dry and when it is Spray a few cans on Silicon spray into the Rad letting it dry between coats. Then when dry Hose it in there real good. this will help keep the cooling system clean on the outside. Yes it works and it works rather good.

Now for the inside get your self a pint of water pump Lube Just like in the old days Add it to the coolent system it will help keep the internals going alot longer.

Now take the rest of that there silicon spray and spray everything under the ATV it helps to keep the mud and **** from sticking to everything.









They are built about 35 miles from me. I had a 2007 366 "Lemon" a few years back. I currently have a 2009 550 efi no complaints. had a few problems with rear cv joints but warranty had that covered. What model and size did you get?

[Superfly]

I belive the O4 650s had frame problems look it over real good as the frames would break on them real common. Yes you can weld them back up and re gusset them stress point but you have to catch it before it is toast.

[starmac]

Well this one does have a frame problem, but it was not a manufacturing problem. lol I got the frame straightened last night, but will need a new lower a arm. lol I have it stripped down cleaning everything up as we speak, what brand of silicone do you suggest?? It has always had a carb problem after it ran for a while, but I may have found it, the vent from the tank was routed next to the heat shield for the muffler and had melted into and closed off. This was a manufacturer, or more likely an engineering fault.

From all I gather they have weaker frames than others, but I don't get too crazy on them anymore, it is way heavier than my honda, so the winch is not an option on this beast.

[Superfly]

What ever silicon spray you can get ahold off i use about 2 cans on 1 atv. Yes the closed of atmospheric vent line will make it run like ****. run all the vent lines and breather lines into the handle bar stem if you plan on water crossings it does help.

[Goatwhiskers]

I've had two, a 454 and now a 300, both second hand. In my limited experience I found that if you pull apart every connection in the electrical system, clean it, and apply dielectric grease you won't have electrical problems. Also I used a grease needle to pump every booted joint full of grease, no CV or ball joint problems. GW

[41 mag fan]

Bought me a 400 back in '04. Only problem I have had...knock on wood...was I fouled out the spark plug by hitting the throttle while trying to start it.
Of course it's like anything...you get what you pay for and the length of its life depends on how hard a life it had.
I bought mine for 2 purposes...hauling deer out of the woods and to haul wood we cut out of the woods.
I will say this Artic Cat can haul...I've loaded up the trailer heavy many times and it never missed a lick.
Oh...and being 10 yrs old...my odometer only shows 164mi ...thats another thing...i think my odometer is off, it reads fast ...I'm probably closer to 75mi on it.

[terry]

I have an 06 sxs 650. love it. I put street tires and legalized it for the street. still climbs the hills as well as with the original tires. take care of it and you will like it.

[Wasalmonslayer]

Hello all
I have been workin on cats for 13 years. On the new ones anything 450 and down are china cats joint venture with kymco.
The older ones like you have are bullet proof. We have some that only plow snow and have over 4000 miles on the original belt.
Up until that 650 all cats ran suzuki motors. They were ultra reliable. The only issues we have are fuel varnish.
Drive train is maintenance free and bullet proof.
From the point on they are arctic cats motors. They are an exact copy of a suzuki except they build more power.
I own an 04 400 4x4 I plow snow, haul elk, haul deer, spray weeds.
Every time I push the button it starts. Just keep an ethanol rated fuel stabilizer in and you will have 0 problems.
Shoot me a pm and I can fill ya in on the inside scoop.
Wasalmonslayer

[starmac]

Wow Wasalmonslayer, it sounds like I need to pick your brain a little, well maybe a lot. lol

[osteodoc08]

I've had 2 polaris models. A 500 and a ranger 800 XP. Both ran without any major issues. I took good care of them, kept them clean, lubed and was a fanatic about fluid changes. Never had a problem. I had to sell them late last year when I was in between jobs. I miss them, especially the Ranger.

My understanding is that Polaris and Arctic Cat share a similar beginning and being owned by brothers or family of some sort. They're the only ones with a single brake lever. Some like it, some don't. It never bothered me.

My favorite ATV was the 2008 Yamaha Grizzly 700 EPS model I had. Put that thing through hell and back and always started no matter the temp down to 10*F, which was the coldest I was able to test it in. Loved the 4WD diff lock set up.

My best friend still has his 1996 Honda 300 4x4. May not be the latest and greatest, but is probably the best quad ever made as far as reliability and capability in a manual shift package goes.

[starmac]

I hopefully will always have my 99 honda 300 4x4. Just from getting this cat ready to ride, I can see it will not be taking the hondas place, at least not on back country rides just yet. It has the 2x4 t04x4 and the diff lock, along with a low range, all of which is nice, but there is way more to go wrong than there is on the honda. lol

[Wasalmonslayer]

You need not worry about that stuff. Just put it In 4x4 and go. Hi low is a solid linkage to a shift for set up in the gear box. If you ever drove a manual tranny car it is the same stuff.
In all the years of electronic 4x4 shifting 2 actuator motors. The belt drive is a tight belt set up it has an internal oil bath clutch that slips to get you going. Never replaced one yet. The only very important thing with that set up is you have to use atv motor oil. I would stick with the cat acx full synthetic. It has the correct stuff in it and you can run it 600 mi between services.
Front and rear diff are bellow sealed no way for water intrusion. Changing the motor oil does the transmission also. Very easy machine to maintain.
It has a serviceable foam air filter made by k&n.
Our routine maint service is oil, filter, clean air filter, new plug, and you are done.
Machine does not have a fuel filter do yourself a favor and put one on it.
It takes us less than an hour to do a full service.
Oh and on a side note I have owned several Hondas great product for sure my last one was a 350 foreman 4x4
It was rock solid!
The cat suspension is hard to beat I have a funny I tell people when they ask about the ride and handling I tell em it rides like a catillac.

Wasalmonslayer

[starmac]

This one has a clutch like a snow machine. I made the mistake of checking the belt yesterday, and unplugged the belt switch, now the belt light is flashin, which by what I have been able to determine means it is in limp mode. It also has some sort of electric motor on the belt cover that is unplugged. When I plugged it in, it will sometimes constantly cycle even with the key off.

Yesterday when I reinstalled the tank it fired right up then died as the fuel pump was not running, for some reason it had lost ground. I pulled the pump again and checked it it, then run a ground to it and then I didn't have any spark. I then unplugged the cdi and plugged it back in and had both a ground to the pump and spark for a minute or two, then lost ground to the fuel pump again, but not the spark. does this mean I am probably loosing the cdi?

[Wasalmonslayer]

I almost forgot about the 650 v twin. It is a Kawasaki prairie motor set up.
We only sold a couple of them and they were plagued with issues.
I would not trust it to ride to the mail box and back!
Everyone we sold we almost wore them out working on them.
That was the one red headed step child in the line up.
I thought they would have all been recycled by now....
There is a special reset procedure for that belt switch it requires a special plug. They came with it check under the seat to see if the tool kit is still there.
It will not run until reset. It should idle but it will not take throttle.
They also require a really good battery. A weak battery will trip that stupid belt light issue also.
Cat had 3 updates for that issue.

Wasalmonslayer

[starmac]

Man you know how to make a guy feel good. lol
It does have the original tool kit, so I will check, BUT I know my luck so am not holding my breath. lol
I will find a way to bypass the switch, as I don't need it tripping in the middle of nowhere. lol

[Rangefinder]

I had an Arctic Cat 500-I for a few years. It didn't have all the cushy bells and whistles like most others at the time. What it DID have was serious power, the highest clearance, slightly wider wheel base, more travel in suspension... You know, all the things that really matter. The beast would climb a tree if you could hold on till the top. Traded it in towards my road bike though.

[starmac]

Well I did have a little luck. The special plug was in it, so I am no longer in limp mode, at least the light is not flashing. lol

[RugerFan]

My buddy has a 1995 Arctic cat 500. The main problem with it was water getting into the belt drive area during creek crossings which caused belt slippage (Another friend had the same issue with an older Yamaha). Once he got it water proofed good, it's been a pretty solid bike. Personally, I'll stick with my Hondas. No belts to worry about and they have been bullet proof for me.

[starmac]

From what I understand some of the 2014 hondas will have the front diff lock everybody raves about.

[osteodoc08]

From what I understand some of the 2014 hondas will have the front diff lock everybody raves about.

Only on the Foreman. And the switch looks like it was lifted of a Zuki.

To be very honest, I never had a diff lock get me unstuck after being stuck in 4wd on my Yamaha Grizzly 700 EPS that I lost during my divorce. But if I started through a nasty section with it on to begin with, it would get me either through it, or just more stuck. LOL.

[starmac]

Well I got the A-arm in and on, a new rear seal in the motor/transfer case (what a pita, but it stopped the oil leak) and the new instrument cluster came today, so with a new battery, she is back together as of 11 pm. Went for a short ride, and she seems like a powerhouse. As soon as I can get time and someone to ride with me, I will take it for a fifty or so mile ride, and see if she is going to cut the mustard.
I also took the winch motor apart and cleaned it up, got it working good, and installed a new synthetic rope on it and got rid of the cable.

[Lloyd Smale]

ive got a neighbor with an older one and its been a good bike. A little crude in the fit and finish compared to yam and hon but and the ride is a bit rough. My best friend just bought a new one last year and fit and finish on his has come along way. Its as good as any machine ive seen. Still doesnt ride as well as my grizzly and ive road others that made my grizly seem a bit rough.

[starmac]

This one has some real aggressive tires that you can feel pretty good at slow speed on hard ground, but it rides like a cadillac compared to my honda, of course newer hondas ride better than my old one too. lol

I owe a lot of thanks to Wasalmonslayer with his help on this rig.