Zertrider

This is exactly what I believe as well. And Nutter, I agree while I agree with the theory of having everyone who owns a sled having an operator card like the boater example, I would see it causing more people to leave the sport who have been riding all their lives, due to feeling intruded upon. Some way of grandfathering would be required, but that would cause WAY too many hoops to jump through and new issues.

Devils advocate here, but how many of you were riding sleds before you were 16 and able to legally operate one? I get the idea of having a operators licence for legal reasons (liability and all that), but the online aspect will make riding much more easily accessed for families to participate. I know for myself, my kids birthday is early December. For that past 5 yrs, the courses were always offered in Nov. locally. That would mean another full year before he could ride with me, which sucks. Even though that date is still 2 yrs away, he already rides with me at home and locally on our property (50acres) and neighboring property for the last 4yrs on his own machines. I am excited for the day he turns 12 so that I can take him north, and put on some miles.

It is kind of Toronto "Lite". Not like you are heading downtown for this.

I had the last app, and when you could get it to work, it was OK. Did the job when a paper map could 't tell you where you were, and you were in unfamiliar territory. $4 sounds good if the new one actually works when you want to use it. And the ability to use it offline would be great, you know, when there is no cell service to open it up.

It's really too bad someone didn't have GoPro footage of the F800 jumping driveways on the end of a tow rope.

Have towed a friends Apex and my brothers F800 with my ZR6000, both times probably 10 miles or so. That was 1000kms ago and I am still riding the same belt. Didin't expect a thing from either of them, as there were days in the past that I was the one on the losing end of the rope. Both of them were a bit frightened at the speeds that I was towing them at.

That is just ignorant. I know that when someone signals there are riders behind them, I will make an effort to stay back from a blind corner, just so that I do not put myself somewhere that could result in a collision. If a rider in your group apexes a corner, I want to know he is coming.

And in the end, if I hear a few rocks scraping under my skis, who gives a crap, I am riding.

I do believe you may be right. One was definately a Sidewinder and on was an 850, but not sure of what else there was, it was a group of 5 or 6 twits with small dicks.

Just got home at 10 last night from staying at the Crows Nest in Restoule for a couple of days. Trails were great everywhere. Rode to Port Loring, then south to Sundridge, and up to Restoule, and trails were fresh and flat. Yesterday rode over to Bonfield, then east on up across the Mattawa River Provincial Park, and into NB. Had lunch at the Crown and Beaver, then a quick ride back to the truck at the Crows Nest, and only a few spots that were not fresh groomed. Met a few hooligans tearing up the trail unnecessarily on the jaunt back into Restoule, proving all the power their sled had by blowing all of the snow off of the ice base on the trail, but I guess some people dont care what happens to the conditions after they have been through.

The Cat 600 c-tec has a great reputation for longevity so far. And that is pretty normal for oil consumption. I believe O figured mine out to something like 70 or 80:1 fuel/oil ratio.

I would agree. Many older sleds will corner better than the new equipment. The old zr440/570's would hardly even lift a ski while cornering, no matter how hard it bit in. For corners, lower is faster. But I still prefer the ride of the newer stuff.

I would think you would need to compare it to a new Cat 800 to be a fair comparison though. Of course the Viper was heavier in the twisties. There is an extra 40lb over the skis. Glad to hear you like the sled. Cousin went from Cat 800's to the 850. Thought it was great until the engine blew. Not sure if he stayed with it or went back green.

So then get 2 exact same model sleds with same rear suspension and shock setup, one shorty and 1 136 or longer and verify that. Guesses are that the difference will be imperceptible.

I have a 129in zr6000 and my brother has a Crosstalk 600 which is 137in and swapping back and forth you cannot tell any ride difference through the bumps. Steering on the other hand is different, more so due to his 1.6in lug to my 1.25in.