3 Old Guys Ride to Alaska

suzuki wrote:

Sounds like the old guys did a lot better that the Arctic Cats……

im not a cat fan but im impressed they made it that far. show me a sled that will make it that far and do that much work without issues.

Coletrain27 wrote:

im not a cat fan but im impressed they made it that far. show me a sled that will make it that far and do that much work without issues.

Right, they did their homework though which undoubtedly helped in their setup. Regardless its a dang impressive feat.

tswoboda wrote:

ding ding ding I miss the Bearcats, Cat has definitely neglected the utility segment but I suppose there’s just not enough sales there. Which is ironic because used ones are worth their weight in gold

My buddy has a 2017 and that is an absolute beast. He is well over 300 pounds and at the time I was probably 260 (208 now) and we were flying across lake of the woods and never bottomed out and it felt like we were riding on a cloud. I want to upgrade my 1997 to a new one, but they havent come out with one. I think the new pantera might be a widetrack again, but not 100 percent sure. Otherwise I will have to settle for a just new to me one. Though the 97 starts first pull and runs excellent.

AS far as brands, I admit I bleed Polaris. They all break, but if you watch these Alaska & Yukon shows where they live off grid, they have either Polaris or Ski Doo. Just sayin

Coletrain27 wrote:

im not a cat fan but im impressed they made it that far. show me a sled that will make it that far and do that much work without issues.

Doo or Yammi 4strokes would have at least avoided engine issues and used half the fuel. 20k is pretty regular on the doo Ace engines is. Suspension breaking down and wrecking stuff is still going to happen though.

big_g wrote:

AS far as brands, I admit I bleed Polaris. They all break, but if you watch these Alaska & Yukon shows where they live off grid, they have either Polaris or Ski Doo. Just sayin

Are those real or sponsored? I don’t watch those shows but just thinking of Alone where the first seasons they were all rocking well worn woolies and now every person is fully decked out in Sitka or Kuiu, clearly sponsored.

I would guess the way they try to hide the brand, they are not by the show at least. I guess if sponsored, some of them should ask for something newer than the 70’s & 80’s models they have.

big_g wrote:

I would guess the way they try to hide the brand, they are not by the show at least. I guess if sponsored, some of them should ask for something newer than the 70’s & 80’s models they have.

Producer: We’ll get you any snowmobile you want
“I’ll take a 1994 Tundra II 277 or 72 Elan 250”

Ha like I said never watched those shows so had no idea what they’re on. The only one I watched was trappers in the Alaska NWR and of the 2 guys riding snowmobiles one was on an old school Tundra and the other was on a newish Bearcat.

tswoboda wrote:

the other was on a newish Bearcat.

That was Heimo Korth. I really miss that show these other shows I dont even watch. He is originally from Wisconsin I think and the younger couple was from Duluth I think. It was a great show, but I am sure filming challenges is what ended it, but that sucks.

I know for a fact some of these reality TV shows get product from manufacturers. The Hoffmans on Gold Rush were hardcore arctic cat people with snowmobiles, atvs and side by sides in the first few seasons. When the show took off they suddenly had brand new Polaris Rangers.

CaptainMusky wrote:

I know for a fact some of these reality TV shows get product from manufacturers. The Hoffmans on Gold Rush were hardcore arctic cat people with snowmobiles, atvs and side by sides in the first few seasons. When the show took off they suddenly had brand new Polaris Rangers.

The Hoffmanns were morons lol

Bearcat89 wrote:

The Hoffmanns were morons lol

Not disputing that at all. Man they had some dandy blunders.

Bearcat89 wrote:

The Hoffmanns were morons lol

lol those guys would mess up a wet dream! everything they did was a complete disaster

Coletrain27 wrote:

lol those guys would mess up a wet dream! everything they did was a complete disaster

Ha! With the help of Freddy Dodge they did build a helluva wash plant that Parker is still using today. That has to be going on 10 years. Well, I will give all the credit to Freddy because he is a genius when it comes to that.

And in steps the new Hoffman… Fred Lewis.

Ha yea he’s painful to watch also. I haven’t watched much of it for the last couple years

Coletrain27 wrote:

Ha yea he’s painful to watch also. I haven’t watched much of it for the last couple years

Me neither. But I always did enjoy watching Parker grow up and be successful.

Coletrain27 wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
Sounds like the old guys did a lot better that the Arctic Cats……

im not a cat fan but im impressed they made it that far. show me a sled that will make it that far and do that much work without issues.

You’re crazy if you think Im going to miss an opportunity to rip on Cats! All in good competitive fun.

suzuki wrote:

You’re crazy if you think Im going to miss an opportunity to rip on Cats! All in good competitive fun.

Ironic considering Cat’s were Suzuki powered for a long time

tswoboda wrote:

Ironic considering Cat’s were Suzuki powered for a long time

Haha. Sad day when that partnership ended.

I just hope somebody was able to take some pictures of the local guys SkiDoo pulling the broken down Cat 80ish miles out of the bush on a sleigh to the cabin last week. I dont think that the Cat/Textron crew will post that though…

Maybe Doo will send some Expedition LE 900 ace’s up there to make the journey next

some one mentione the ski doo Elan………my mom had one back int the day. man that thing could float through snow……..if there wasnt a trail she made one!!!!

tswoboda wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>suzuki wrote:</div>
You’re crazy if you think Im going to miss an opportunity to rip on Cats! All in good competitive fun.

Ironic considering Cat’s were Suzuki powered for a long time

I have a Suzuki powered Cat quad. Runs great.

suzuki wrote:

I have a Suzuki powered Cat quad. Runs great.

Those were very good, but the new cat engines are a lot better, but yeah that was a long time ago.

Cat did nothing for years, lost a entire following. Everyone else stepped up and competed. Cat has a long ways to go to build that brand again. After looking at the line up at the deer expo, I would have 0 interest in them

Are the CAT engines still assembled in St Cloud ? I know they used to be off opportunity drive.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Cat did nothing for years, lost a entire following. Everyone else stepped up and competed. Cat has a long ways to go to build that brand again. After looking at the line up at the deer expo, I would have 0 interest in them

They really did that wildcat XX a huge disservice by not making the 4 seater they had in development or a adding a turbo. They would have sold like hotcakes. The whole Robby Gordon lawsuit is a damn joke.

I’ll agree that any brand could’ve met the same fate as those Cat’s did after the punishment they’ve been through over 38 days. But, ya gotta think those at Arctic Cat were like “Are you freaking kidding me?!” The image of those 3 riding triumphantly into Fairbanks would’ve been dang good advertising. That said, I don’t think it took anything away from what they accomplished.

Joe Jarl wrote:

I don’t think it took anything away from what they accomplished.

It really is too bad they were not able to. Fantastic journey though.

Any machine that can survive that kind of abuse on a hard core trip like that is very impressive.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Any machine that can survive that kind of abuse on a hard core trip like that is very impressive.

Agreed.