Arctic Cat...RIP

[GrassLakeRon]

There are a few large companies out there that have destroyed smaller ones when they bought them. Briggs & Simplicity come to mind. The notion of profit margins has always bugged me. My family owned Evinrude till the very end. Sxs vs Jeep was always an issue. I went with a jeep. Always wanted a sled but in Michigan the snow is all but gone in most places. Last year the UP had "the year without a winter". Most folks around me sold their sleds. One person said this, "buy a $15000 sled, $3000 trailer, spend $200 in gas both ways and drive 8 hrs just to see snow. Goodbye toys". BTW: he bought a jeep and uses it more.

 

[bird dogger]

Yes sir, I agree. There is a reason there are so many "barely used sleds" though. There has been a serious lack of snow around these parts in the last few years, and the places that do get it, are jammed packed (Butt to Nut) with sleds......

Jammed packed trails that get the hell beat out of them in the first 20 hours, is not my idea of a good time.......


For me personally though, I have never actually "wanted" a sled. I know....I know.....a guy like me that loves machines in general has never wanted a sled?.........it's crazy, and difficult to explain.

I have had street bikes, dirt bikes, atv's, trucks, tractors, boats and so on, but for some crazy reason, that I still can't explain, I have never actually "wanted' a sled.

Oh sure, I have mentioned it in passing once in a while, but the 'sled bug' has never bitten me.....yet.

I have a 1970's... ('77?)... 440 Scorpion Whip in my storage shed that's looking for a new owner. Just sayin'......

 

[Tughill Tom]

I have a 1970's... ('77?)... 440 Scorpion Whip in my storage shed that's looking for a new owner. Just sayin'......

Just needs the carb's cleaned. LOL

 

[JimmyJazz]

Sled sales are and have been down for years. As a powersports dealer I see a lot of the things that the manufacturers put out, sales numbers, etc--and sled numbers ARE down. Way down, across the board. We think that the state of the economy has a lot to do with it, along with the fact that the sleds don't sell at all once you get south of about Nebraska. As the planet slowly warms there is less use for them. Sales were UP in 14-15, have been down in the last few years. Cost has some bearing as well. Everything has gone up and hasn't come down; in fact stuff went up again starting today 1 jan 2025. Lots more reasons as well and it's not just arctic cat.

Arctic cat's SxS market is slow (almost dead) in this area, and unless they decide to make changes to "fix" that, they're not going to go anywhere. I actually had an interview with another dealer the other day who sells arctic crap SxS's. Offer was good but there is that "stability" question mark. Arctic cat sent out a letter a while back to the dealers that suggested some incertainties. That dealer's bread and butter is AC Side by sides and ATV's, and suzuki. Suzuki isn't really doing anything either. So I think I'm gonna stay where I'm at for the time being and watch that dealer go slowly downhill, and who knows, we may end up with their stuff too....my boss is a go-getter for sure and he likes to grow. We (dealer I work at) desire to become the biggest, best, ORV dealership in the state. It may take a while but that's the goal and that's why I came on board-to help the service guys learn how things need to be done.

Yamaha rep told us a few years ago that they were going to get rid of snow equipment. So we knew that was coming. It was explained to me that the resources that went to snow were going to be redirected to the ORV and to an extent the marine markets. I'd like to see that happen. Yamaha builds great equipment across the board, although sometimes they fall short of some of the rest of the competition in some ways, but if they can redirect those snow resources to ORV's, I think they can do something with that. I just wish Kubota would do a better job with their gas SxS offerings. The 520 is a joke which does not even begin to compare to the Mule SX (which is it's direct competitor) and the 850 sidekick has so many issues plaguing it from many different angles that it's just not competitive with anything.

Similarly to the snow market, the motorcycle market. In this region motorcycle sales are down ~96% over the last 10 years. That's significant if you couldn't already tell. When I started in the business in 1992 the dealer I worked for typically sold 125-150 motorcycles a year and out of those, probably 85% were street bikes and 15% off-road. In 2020, the last year I did motorcycles, they sold 2 from Jan through October. Both street bikes. Dealer agreement is that if you want to carry ORV's (SxS's) you also have to carry motorcycles. The dealer I used to work for is getting out of the Yamaha business and we (where I am now) are working to acquire their yamaha dealer. The biggest challenge so far is that they (yamaha) want us to carry motorcycles and we are NOT set up for it. I've got experience with them (obviously) but motorcycle customers are COMPLETELY different than SxS customers are so that in itself is gonna be a big challenge for the guys and gals I work with.

Maybe you can handle their guitars. Reasonably priced quality instruments.

 

[22R]

Evinrude exists again as an outboard motor/engine. Johnson existed on the restart until 2020.

Maybe Arctic Cat will show back up.

I wish I was wrong and you right but Evinrude is gone. BRP pulled the plug on Johnson/Evinrude about 2021. BRP makes a underboard for their Sea doo switch but is in not called a Evinrude and is a goofy looking propulsion system. I am and always was a Mercury guy but I still hate they BRP killed such well know American icons due to mismanagement.

 

[Tpack]

I had a 2006 Arctic 500 ATV. Shipped it from Minn. to Texas, I think. Only one I ever owned, but it was a beast. Could buy and have it shipped cheaper than buying in Texas.

 

[WFM]

Another open winter here in Maine. I've plowed three tiny storms. Snowmobiling, cross country skiing ect is all affected.
Lately I'm either getting soft or it's cold as hell. I used to ice fish at -20*f , now 0*f seems brutal.
And firewood, I've burned more then any past winter I can remember. Will be bringing up more this week with the kubota.

 

[lugbolt]

Maybe you can handle their guitars. Reasonably priced quality instruments.

that is another hobby I'm burned out on.

 

[ItBmine]

Heck we haven't got decent snow in New England in about 5 years...

sleds are an expensive hobby.. it's a $1000 weekend when you go up north to ride.
between gas/food/lodging/beer/brandy and whiskey.....

not to mention the sleds/trellers and permits ..... gotta pay to play.


Then all summer they sit and make happy homes for mice and chipmunks.

Not to mention the ridiculous price of trail permits here in northern Ontario.

 

[ItBmine]

Sled sales are and have been down for years. As a powersports dealer I see a lot of the things that the manufacturers put out, sales numbers, etc--and sled numbers ARE down. Way down, across the board. We think that the state of the economy has a lot to do with it, along with the fact that the sleds don't sell at all once you get south of about Nebraska. As the planet slowly warms there is less use for them. Sales were UP in 14-15, have been down in the last few years. Cost has some bearing as well. Everything has gone up and hasn't come down; in fact stuff went up again starting today 1 jan 2025. Lots more reasons as well and it's not just arctic cat.

Arctic cat's SxS market is slow (almost dead) in this area, and unless they decide to make changes to "fix" that, they're not going to go anywhere. I actually had an interview with another dealer the other day who sells arctic crap SxS's. Offer was good but there is that "stability" question mark. Arctic cat sent out a letter a while back to the dealers that suggested some incertainties. That dealer's bread and butter is AC Side by sides and ATV's, and suzuki. Suzuki isn't really doing anything either. So I think I'm gonna stay where I'm at for the time being and watch that dealer go slowly downhill, and who knows, we may end up with their stuff too....my boss is a go-getter for sure and he likes to grow. We (dealer I work at) desire to become the biggest, best, ORV dealership in the state. It may take a while but that's the goal and that's why I came on board-to help the service guys learn how things need to be done.

Yamaha rep told us a few years ago that they were going to get rid of snow equipment. So we knew that was coming. It was explained to me that the resources that went to snow were going to be redirected to the ORV and to an extent the marine markets. I'd like to see that happen. Yamaha builds great equipment across the board, although sometimes they fall short of some of the rest of the competition in some ways, but if they can redirect those snow resources to ORV's, I think they can do something with that. I just wish Kubota would do a better job with their gas SxS offerings. The 520 is a joke which does not even begin to compare to the Mule SX (which is it's direct competitor) and the 850 sidekick has so many issues plaguing it from many different angles that it's just not competitive with anything.

Similarly to the snow market, the motorcycle market. In this region motorcycle sales are down ~96% over the last 10 years. That's significant if you couldn't already tell. When I started in the business in 1992 the dealer I worked for typically sold 125-150 motorcycles a year and out of those, probably 85% were street bikes and 15% off-road. In 2020, the last year I did motorcycles, they sold 2 from Jan through October. Both street bikes. Dealer agreement is that if you want to carry ORV's (SxS's) you also have to carry motorcycles. The dealer I used to work for is getting out of the Yamaha business and we (where I am now) are working to acquire their yamaha dealer. The biggest challenge so far is that they (yamaha) want us to carry motorcycles and we are NOT set up for it. I've got experience with them (obviously) but motorcycle customers are COMPLETELY different than SxS customers are so that in itself is gonna be a big challenge for the guys and gals I work with.

Yes, motorcycles too have been pricing themselves out of most peoples desire to buy one also. I paid over $14,000 Canadian for a DIRT BIKE 2 years ago.
As far as snowmobiles, the way winters are now, I'd rather invest on tracks for my ATV.

 

[lugbolt]

I wish I was wrong and you right but Evinrude is gone. BRP pulled the plug on Johnson/Evinrude about 2021. BRP makes a underboard for their Sea doo switch but is in not called a Evinrude and is a goofy looking propulsion system. I am and always was a Mercury guy but I still hate they BRP killed such well know American icons due to mismanagement.

BRP screwed themselves. What, how? While other manufacturers embraced the 4 stroke technology, Evinrude (aka ETEC) kept the old 2 stroke "alive". Yes it met emissions standards. Yes it was smooth, wasn't real quiet but smooth. The engine itself had fewer moving parts; but that was the extent of the 2 stroke simplicity. where things get more complicated was the fact that ETEC's cost more, they weighed more, they used a little bit more fuel (that in itself is a big deal with offshore fishing), basically everything that a 2 stroke was supposed to be (cheap, and lightweight) they were the exact opposite.

I am a lover of the 2 stroke engine but I will say this much. After buying my first 4 stroke in ~2007 or 8, I do not want another 2 stroke. although I did buy a boat last year with a Yamaha V max carb 150 on it, gas hog to be honest and if I can find a F150 to go on it, I will repower it. The 4 stroke doesn't make the noise, it doesn't make the smoke but from there on out, it is a much better design overall. I did a lot of smaller outboard repairs and had a hand in product development input for another major manufacturer of the 25hp engines. In about 2007, I was speaking to Yamaha rep about my dislike of the current 4 stroke 25hp's weight. From 98 through 07 (gen 1) they were about 140 lb dry (manual start tiller short shaft model) and they redesigned them in 08 (gen 2), and they gained almost 50 lbs. Yes they ran smooth and really quiet but that weight, changed a 25hp engine from being classified to "portable" to "mid size"--because at 185 lbs they were no longer portable by anyone but maybe a strength trainer or a squatch. At the time ETEC was selling their 25hp as well, 2 stroke. The ETEC 25 was 165 lbs on our scale, where the gen 1 yamaha was 139.8. 20 lbs heavier for a 2 stroke which was supposed to be simpler and lighter, also about $700 more expensive at the time. And that high pressure fuel pump was UNRELIABLE, failure prone was an understatement. If you own one that hasn't failed, just know that it probably will-and when it does, you ain't going anywhere. So around that time I was talkign to the rep, I had mentioned to them that if they could get away from the mercury built engine, they could get the weight down. It took them a decade but the designs that I (or we) talked about came to fruition for the most part. I wanted a small displacement 3 cylinder, we got a small displacement 2 cylinder 360 degree parallel twin. It is light, at 129 lbs (mine is tiller steer electric start short shaft and the manual start model is 4 lb lighter). It does not run as smootly as the gen 1 and gen 2 do, but at 50+ lbs lighter, I'm ok with that. I actually bought one and use it as often as possible. Geat little engine. ETEC hung onto that 2 stroke and tried to market it as "simpler" but it really wasn't and it required their special oil (or their tune so you could use whatever oil you want), it was heavier, more expensive, more complex, and for that reason ETEC lineup became known as such, unreliable expensive heavy old 2 stroke. When owners had to repower, they put 4 stroke back on from the other manufacturers. I did a bunch of them and had a slew of ETEC's on pallets out back that we eventually just scrapped.

Sales numbers dictate profits and if profits are down, they have to make decisions, be it outboards, cars, houses, whatever. In the case of BRP, they've had some issues. ETEC's issues listed above, ORV's the distributor in Mexico had a huge fire which destroyed a lot of stuff and that's another expense that BRP has had to deal with. It's almost as if BRP is just cursed. Snow lines have been receding for years so add that fuel to the same fire. They're going to have a lot of catching up to do, IF they can do it. And that's questionable.

 

[Tughill Tom]

Looking as if CF Moto will be picking up Arctic Cat. Most likely to beat the import tariffs to build in the US.

 

[Hkb82]

I have been snowmobiling my entire life and like so many other places winters are no more. We will get a foot of snow then be back to grass by the next week. Don’t really see snow start to stay and accumulate till mid January into February. Then home by March. I have owned a bunch of different sleds over the years and currently have Arctic cats parked at my place. They are getting older now 2008 f8 2 stroke and a 2010 z1 1000 4 stroke. We use to really enjoy it but stopped upgrading ten years ago or more. I had a feeling it was only a matter of time that both artic cat and Yamaha were in trouble when they joined for production. One supplied the motor and the other the chassis. Don’t remember what year but it wasn’t that long ago. Also not keeping the Arctic Cat name on atvs was another sign. Sad to see them go but nobody is gonna make them what they were again. I think BRP and Polaris are owning the power sports in the sled and 4 wheel classes.
Another thing not helping the snowmobiling sport aside from weather is the amount of local trails being lost due to some folks bad behaviour and not following simple rules or signs leaving trash opening gates etc. Lots of the farmers around me got sick and tired of it and I don’t blame them. Now people are left with running roads to connect trails or trailering the sleds farther north to actually get a good day ride or find some crown land hills to play in.

 

[The Evil Twin]

Looking as if CF Moto will be picking up Arctic Cat. Most likely to beat the import tariffs to build in the US.

Well hopefully they don't ruin the quality.

 

[Tughill Tom]

Well hopefully they don't ruin the quality.

Oh, they will all their ATV's and UTV's are cheap clones of Can-am. Can't say what's going to happen with Snowmachines but it not going to be good.
It's kind of sad to see Cat die like this back in the day they made great machines that were stupid fast and reliable to a point. It's too bad they couldn't build a 2 stroke motor in the last 20 years that would not blow up in 500 miles.

 

[lynnmor]

I snowmobiled over 40 years in nearly every snow state from Washington to Maine as well as some Canada provinces. What made me quit is the wasted trucks and trailers from the needless road salt. Crawling under these vehicles in the winter with a pressure washer that didn't do much spoiled the fun as I got older.

 

[ItBmine]

I snowmobiled over 40 years in nearly every snow state from Washington to Maine as well as some Canada provinces. What made me quit is the wasted trucks and trailers from the needless road salt. Crawling under these vehicles in the winter with a pressure washer that didn't do much spoiled the fun as I got older.

Welcome to my hell, LOL

 

[ItBmine]

Oh, they will all their ATV's and UTV's are cheap clones of Can-am. Can't say what's going to happen with Snowmachines but it not going to be good.
It's kind of sad to see Cat die like this back in the day they made great machines that were stupid fast and reliable to a point. It's too bad they couldn't build a 2 stroke motor in the last 20 years that would not blow up in 500 miles.

Happy with my CF Moto Z-Force 950 HO EX. No issues and I like driving it better than the RZR's and Can Am's.
No, won't beat them in an all out drag race, but it has more room, more comfortable, quieter and way more features for thousands less.

 

[Moose7060]

Happy with my CF Moto Z-Force 950 HO EX. No issues and I like driving it better than the RZR's and Can Am's.
No, won't beat them in an all out drag race, but it has more room, more comfortable, quieter and way more features for thousands less.

You must be happy with the winch as well as it appears you need it to get unstuck

 

[Sidekick]

Years ago a buddy of mine had a tiny Artic Cat Snowmobile for his kids. They loved it and it never stopped or broke. I think it was called a kitty cat. Surprised other companies didn't make something similar for kids to learn on and get hooked on the sport.