stoney

What makes ya so sure hockey is over in 2 years. Should be perfect timing to buy a 858 cat with one year under its belt.

Yep, those days aren’t returning.

LOL, that is about what I dealt with - my cat cost me $3,300.00 for the 9 years I owned/rode it!

If the 4-stroke is also going in the new chassis along with the 2-strokes as mentioned, and that chassis is as light, well balanced and as good as suggested, things might get a whole lot more interesting. Lacking in the accessory department though. I am looking forward to seeing and hearing about the new Cat's on the snow this winter with the 600 and next winter with the 858 & potentially the 4-stroke. And they all suck at times - only as good as their worst day on the trails! But our winters have definitely sucked......

I watched a YouTube video of the release and I’m sure something along those lines were mentioned , but it was directed more towards Canadian and US official snowmobile trail maps.

wrong thread.....lol

I always had cats up until 2022 and had no issues really. I wanted to buy a 4-stroke and was concerned that I would be disappointed with a Cat purchase seeing where things were at so bought a Doo, no regrets, but like you, I also want to see Cat succeed and continue to be around. With the new chassis and that really nice gauge they have now, that might end up being the best in the industry, things look good, but we will see how things perform on the snow. I did some looking around and it seems the Cat 800 they had was pumping out between 155 and 160 HP, so if you take 11% of that as advertised, that puts the new 858 at 170'ish HP, with a lighter sled to boot - that as well might be a real competitor for the turbo 2-strokes from DOO & POO, without the added components, but that will not help them in the mountain segment. Things are looking good, just late for sure, but that might not matter if things are as advertised!

This is the 2 stroke 800 series motor for the new chassis. Nothing mentioned about possible 2 stroke turbo like Doo and Poo have - maybe next steps as I cannot see they come out with both a new 858 mill and a turbo, break that up. No idea what the plan will be for 4 stroke. They have a potential engine issue and a new chassis that I don’t how it will fit a 4 stroke. I don’t think the engine will be an issue for Cat with Yamaha exiting the market, they already have that tooling, chassis might be harder, but nothing some wider body panels cannot fix like Doo does. I imagine the procross will be around for a bit to still be able to offer the 4 strokes models, touring sled, etc…which I don’t think is all that bad.

I’m not seeing anyone mentioning the new cat 858 engine release for 2025 and the new gauge, so figured I would. 11% more power over the 800 across the entire power band, I’m sure someone knows the estimated power of the 800 so can take an educated guess on numbers for the 858. I always thought I read the 800 class engine was an overachiever the last few years as well, if so, the above sounds very promising.

That seems like a good loop/route......like others, sticking to near the 300km per day is a good number. The map I posted was just some random things I googled when I was making the thread about Gaspe - good to know trail along the South shore is not a must see. Thanks for sharing the above.

Curious, why do you not take 595 all the way from 5 to la cache and than over to Murdochville - do you prefer staying on 5 and ride along the St Lawrence or other reasons? Sounds like taking the interior trails around Gaspesie National Park is really good.

Lol, I think we did only one QC trip in Jan over the years and you are right, it was frigging cold, never rode in such cold temps before, and with a mx helmet to boot, duck tape came in handy that year. Each year I remember that but other forget and suggest Jan trip, I’m like, no way, let’s aim for Feb

Can anyone confirm why mid Feb to early March is the most popular for this region? Is it due to conditions or the bitter cold that Jan can usually bring or other reasons. Thank you!

They are both real nice looking sleds. Do they both not come in the blue/white colour scheme? How about the new colour scheme that is black/gold, both models have that? Looking them up I see SRX Sidewinder noted as a model - not well rehearsed on Yamaha, so what’s the deal.

Yamaha sidewinders….

There has been a few on here that have mentioned possible trip this year to this region thus far, myself included (hopefully), so figured I would start a thread that those with experience and knowledge of the area based on past trips could share to help others looking to make this bucket list trip!

The number of people that care less about this are huge compared to the small numbers that do - so why bother with changing labels, etc....

I am thinking this fuel also has E - nothing stating it does not on Shell website and based on regulations, it is supposed too. Just a higher grade to compete with Sunoco/Petro Ultar 94, IMO......that has always had E in it. https://www.shell.ca/en_ca/drivers/my-fuels/shell-v-power-nitro-plus-premium-gasoline.html

Ya, that is the old sticker we have seen on shell pumps for years - most places they are now gone. But sounds like they now offer a new bland of 93 with no E. Not sure how they are doing that though - I always thought the shell gas stations had two gasoline tanks in the ground, one with regular (bronze) and one with 91. Regular (bronze) had E, silver was a mix of both gasolines, so half the E in it and 91 had no E.

Now, yes.....and it actually ranges from 24 hours and up (48, etc...), but we are talking about northern parts of ON & QC, in the past, surprisingly, many places did not charge you if you could not make it due to break down, etc......,you called, explained the situation and all good. So I am wondering if the Gaspe region that seems to have a higher rate of these things happening due to weather patterns, play by the same new rules as many other places do now since Covid.

Thanks PLC! Can you or perhaps others comment on the policy now a days on a now show at a lodge/hotel? It seems since Covid many places are charging for no show where they never used to since they understood things can and will happen on saddle bag trips, but that seems to no longer matter - you are not the first to talk about the good possibility of a storm rolling in and causing unplanned delays.

Gaspe - maybe this year!!! On the list but not experienced yet.

Done many northern ON saddle bag trips, that were all great, as I am sure many have on this site, but they are not the same as a saddle bag trip in QC - hospitality is one huge factor, more snow for most of the rides, other than one year in QC, it is just a better experience in my opinion. Not what this thread is about - both locations are good, but QC comes out on top for me too based on past experiences to date. I am sure who you ride with can make the difference too.

Agreed - plus you tend to meet up and talk with more people in the shacks there as well......but they have more shacks too.

I heard the same thing last year on the same trails that I rode and wondered what people were complaining about, we had great trails most of the time - cannot expect 100%, nice but not possible. I think it can be just timing - you missed the grooming schedule by a day. And talking to a few places we stayed that groomed, they will only go out I think it was twice a week, regardless - that is what they had funds for......