scottyr

The Cat was the better sled of the 2. Yamaha skis suck and Cats clutches work better. The Cat is faster every time across the lake according to my buddy who is a Cat/Yamaha dealer.

Yes. I think you are correct. I am jumping the gun with crazy conspiracy theories. We are getting to the point that all the OFSC is concerned about is "risk management".

I dont know why this is bugging me so much? But I am really pissed about this. I just bought a brand new Garmin Zumo XT2 and was assuming that I would be using it on my new sled this season. I may have even considered paying the extra for the crappy 10.25 gauge on my new sled if I knew that I couldnt use my GPS this season and was stuck with BRP GO. So now I have a $900 GPS that is pretty much a paperweight (in Ontario). I wish I didnt sell my old Montana 680 with my sled as it had the Ontario maps downloaded into it. I know I am jumping the gun, but this is really making me think about just buying a Quebec permit and riding there exclusively this season.

Something makes me think that BRP is paying HUGE money for the data to run BRP-GO and in turn has said no else can have access to the trail updates.

Just read over on DooTalk that the OFSC is no longer sharing trail updates with Trakmaps. This is total BS IMO. I know the OFSC app is cool and everything but I want the option of using my GPS instead of having my iphone out in the cold all the time.

998cc Yamaha is gone after MY25. 1100cc triple turbo coming in a wide body Catalyst for MY26. Engine designed by Weber. Built in St Cloud by Cat. I have a buddy who is a long time Cat dealer and very well connected inside TRF. He has known about the 858 for 3 years.

Without sounding too negative, my gut tells me this Hotel isnt going to happen unless the mine guarantees them a certain $ amount of business per year.

My buddy has a 21 (?) red and white SRX and it pains me to say it looks awesome. The all black one was pretty boring. I know the black/gold is the retro look, I just don’t like it as much as the blue.

SRXs should only be blue/white. Anything else is just wrong.

Because it’s generally cold AF in Jan. 😂

Agreed. That trail is possibly the best trail to ride in the entire province of Quebec.

For sure. I generally ride pretty hard/fast and after a full week in Gaspe, my max speed on my GPS said 129km/h. I buy a CAA RV Premier Membership and have used it 2x to have a sled picked up with a flat bed and taken back to our truck.

Here are my tips for planning a big trip, especially if you are going with a large group. 1 - Dont plan super hi mileage days. I can put on iron man type of miles no problem with 1 other guy. Once you get 6+ guys in a group, I try to plan all my days in Eastern Quebec the 250kms range. With 6-8 guys, everything takes a long time inc getting gas, smoke breaks, pee breaks etc.... I try to plan everything so we will be at the hotel by 5pm. This way if we have an issue we will be at the hotel by 7pm (hopefully). It gets pretty cold there once the sun goes down and as we get older no one can see as well at night. 2 - Make sure everyone in your group has a serviced and well maintained sled. On this Gaspe trip we had 2 sleds break down and continously fought with a starter bendix on an older MXZ800 that just wasnt serviced properly. 1 of our break downs was on a brand new sled so sh-t can just happen but if you have a well maintained sled, the chances decrease dramatically. The chase truck is awesome on a long saddlebag ride. It is so nice to not have to carry around all your crap for an entire week. I just rolled a suit case into the trailer every morning and had a big rubbermaid tote with all my extra oil, parts etc... I brought my Macbook in my suit case and could answer emails at the hotel every night. I even did a Zoom meeting before we left one day. I would not have brought it otherwise. We were in constant contact with chase truck as we had a couple of SPOTs with us and we could see where he was and he could see where we were. We actually needed him when the new sled quit. It turned out we were only 25kms apart. We towed the sled to the nearest crossroad and there he was waiting for us. Dragged the broken sled onto the trailer and jumped on the spare. We were on our way in 15 mins and the chase guy took the sled to a BRP dealer who fixed it that day. Turned out there was a wire shorting on the frame causing the sled to go into limp mode. I lucked out when it was my turn to drive the truck. I had to drive from Amqui to New Richmond and left a bit earlier than the rest of the guys. I got to New Richmond, checked us all into the hotel, bought beer and snacks at the Metro across the street and decided to pull my sled out and go for a rip. I knew the route everyone was taking so I just hit the trail and started riding towards them. I ended up stopping at a club house about 85kms in and just waited for the rest of my crew to show up. I had a snack and a beer while waiting with some guys I met from Woodstock ON and rode back to New Richmond with my guys so I drove the truck and still got 170kms on for the day. If your guys ride at different speeds, dont be afraid to split up and meet at the hotel. We did that 1 day and it was great. Part of our group liked fiddling around on their Backcountrys off trail and the other guys were on pure trail sleds and couldnt go off trail. The trail guys just went our own way 1 day on a completely different route and knew where we were meeting the other guys that night. No hard feelings with either group. I was in the trail group and we had an amazing day riding along the St Lawrence. * There will be other things that will come to mind and I will add to the list *

We did it in 2020 and it was a great experience. We started in RDL and left our trucks at Hotel Universal. We had 8 guys in our group and made the decision that we were going to have a chase truck/trailer with all our stuff and a spare sled on board. We drew cards and the 2 best cards didnt have to drive the truck. We didnt have big mileage days. We are were on the trail at the crack of 10am and always were at the hotel by 5pm. Our trip was as follows. RDL to Amqui. Hotel Universal - Auberge L'Ambassadeur (buffet dinner but no issues). Amqui to New Richmond - Hotel Francis (excellent dinner) New Richmond to Murdochville (the best trail of the entire trip - possibly the best trail I have ever ridden!) - Hotel Copper - You have to say you stayed there but it was the worst place we stayed all week. Bar food Murdochville to Kap Chat - some of the guys went back country riding with a guide for the day. The rest of us sat in the cabin and played cards, sat in the hot tub, drank etc... We rented a cabin Auberge Nature Chic Choc and got food from the grocery store to eat in. Really nice cabins with hot tubs Kap Chat to Rimouski - I cant remember where we stayed? I think maybe Comfort Inn? We went to a Single Moms Fundraiser that night so everything is a bit of a blur. Rimouski back to RDL (we were back to the truck by noon) We could have easily knocked 1 day off this route but you never know what kind of weather you may run into. My buddy got stuck in a motel for 2 days on the same trip a few years earlier. It turns out that we did get storm stayed on the way home and spent the night sleeping in a high school gym in Montmagny.

We ended up sleeping in a high school gym for a night as it was storming so bad and everything was closed.

We are looking at leaving on Jan 27th and back home on Feb 2/3. A lot of the wives are going to Costa Rica that week so it just is easier for the guys to be away at the same time. I really have zero interest in riding in Perth County anymore. Riding through a stubble field at warp speed and then crossing a side road every mile and a quarter gets old fast. If we actually get snow, I like riding up to Bayfield or somewhere for wings but thats about it.

We tentatively have Gaspe booked for the last week of Jan/1st week of Feb. Havent done in since 2020 and have covered pretty much everywhere else in Quebec so its time to go back. Its a great trip!

The trails around Cochrane are smooth thats for sure. They are also boring AF once you have ridden there a few times. Pinned down a hydro line gets old fast. I really like riding around Rouyn, Amos area lately. Same kind of snow/terrain as Cochrane, just not a wide and straight. The warm up shacks are a nice touch to break up the day as well.

The Ontario permit is a deal IMO. Our trails are not as good as Quebecs are but the $220 could easily be $300 and I wouldnt complain. The thought of buying both Ontario and Quebec permits this year x 2 sleds is starting to hit my tipping point though. $1400 in permits is a big pill to swallow.

Next weekend? Nothing on their website about a sale this weekend?

Thanks for the heads up but I doubt there are too many 850 Turbo R owners in Ontario.

My 2012 Larson 2150LX went to sh-t with osmosis. I generally leave it in the water from June to the end of Sept though. I sold it and bought a pontoon and now I fight with filthy logs instead.

Flipping those cams around on the RMX skid does very little and it’s a total PITA job to do.

I honestly don’t think that the R-Motion X is necessarily better. You lose so much transfer to gain a tiny bit more comfort. If you like the skis to come up a bit you will be disappointed with the RM-X skid. This is a lot of the reason why I went with a Lynx for MY24. The RAS X front end is definitely better than the RAS front end though.

Polaris owns Indian.