New Tom Cat is Home!

[boondocker97]

After 2 failed trip attempts, 3rd time was the charm! My new-to-me 2021 165 Boost Rooster Alpha is finally home! This was Jason Nethercott's machine last year. He and I are about the same height, weight, and ride similar elevations so overall should be setup pretty close for me.

It's still in the trailer, but here are some pics. I'll try to get some better ones at some point and put up the build list. Have some ideas for personalization and to pull a couple more pounds out of the front end, but other than adding a trail tank and my tunnel bag I'm going to ride it as-is for the first few trips to baseline it. Feels surprisingly light on it's feet from what I can tell on the flat ground. Now we really need mother nature to crank up the snow program!

 

[Barcode]

Any idea how much taller the seat is to the stock seat?

 

[boondocker97]

No I haven't had the chance to throw a tape on it to see. Friend of mine has a similar 2019 sled he bought from Jason that has the stock seat still. He's also putting a Trail Tank on with a Skinz seat. So we should be able to get measurements from the running board up to the stock, Skinz, and this Cat accessory seat to compare. The stock seat is pretty much worthless to me to sit on as a big and tall guy. I'm always sitting on the very back and falling into the storage area. This one is much better in that respect. Feels very similar to sitting on the stock 2010-2011 M-series seats for height. Jason did say that the cover material used on it gets pretty slick with snow on it. Also said Riley and Dave cut theirs down 1" to 1-1/2" then put the covers back on when they run them. I have the old super low WRP one with trail tank on my prolite so If I find this one too high I'll cut it down and have it re-covered with some gripper material, or just replace it with another low Seat Concepts one (same as old WRP).

 

[sno*jet]

Nice ass LOL
i like those seats, sat on them before. I was trying to figure out what is different up front that I cant stick one on my 17MC easily? Country cat gives some measurements for reference on them.

 

[boondocker97]

I should be able to compare once I get it side by side with my Proclimb if the seat could be easily adapted over. Going to come down to the interface by the tank neck I think.

 

[slash]

At least it has the best skid money can buy in it ..

 

[boondocker97]

At least it has the best skid money can buy in it ..

I had the option to get the stock alpha skid with bracing or the Kmod for a few dollars more. I'm pretty hard on suspension components, and I had serious reservations about converting to the Alpha rail setup due to durability concerns. I also have a Kmod in my other twin rail sled and had to do a lot of work to get it to handle how I wanted. Had transfer and traction issues on anything but deep powder snow. Front end was too planted even in coupler setting #1. After lengthy discussions with Jason he confirmed the Kmod skinny is much less planted than the old twin rail design. He had also worked with Kevin at Kmod trying several shock packages to get the rear to not bottom too much with larger riders. You can actually see the rear shock has the factory Fox stickers while the front track shock has a decal that matches the rest of the wrap on the sled. So I decided to give the Kmod another try. Sure hoping it's everything it's promised to be!

 

[Sage Crusher]

You will be impressed with the skinny even over a Gen 3 dual. Lot's of work went into shock placement and coupling blocks that are different.
#1 is super playfull, and #4 is not super firmly planted and sluggish, but is perfect for the trees or the big shutes.

Ride is super controllable in the whoops

 

[JackSprat]

I knew I recognized it. Thats one Bad Ass Buggy!

 

[ridgelinerunner]

the ascender seat is roughly 1.5" taller

 

[boondocker97]

I uploaded some additional seat info here: https://www.snowest.com/forum/threads/seat-comparisons.460318/
Figured it would be easier to search down the road for people looking for that type of info if it was in its own thread.

 

[boondocker97]

Any idea how much taller the seat is to the stock seat

the ascender seat is roughly 1.5" taller

From where I was measuring just behind the chassis spar attachment on the tunnel I got 1.25" taller. Might change based on where you measure.

 

[boondocker97]

Some more details, build list, and some better pictures as promised!

History:
This machine started life as an early build 2021 Red/Black Mountain Cat 165 w/ATAC shock package. Dave McClure rode it spring 2020 for photoshoots and the remainder of that season. Jason took ownership of the sled after that. It had pre-production, proprietary, prototype (pick your word) engine internals and ECU mapping, and before Jason could work his magic on it Cat took the engine and ECU back for analysis. Cat rebuilt the engine with new OEM crank and pistons and reprogrammed the ECU. Jason also prefers his own shock setup to the ATAC shock package so he had them program the ECU without those features. By that time it was well into December. With the Rob Kincaid tribute sled build and other sled work going on it was January 2021 before he really got to start on this build. Unfortunately, once complete he was only able to put very limited miles on it before the season ended. Right now the gauge reads 64hrs and 64 miles on the odometer. The total hours are from new would be my guess. Someone wrecked a track and driveshaft on a trip nearby so the original track and driver was sold off of this machine and new ones eventually replaced them. The current track only has 12 miles.

Normally I don't consider buying "used" powersports equipment, and I also prefer to do my own mods since I enjoy doing it. However, I don't have the time I once did to regularly maintain and repair the little things that often pop up on used machines. That combined with an unknown history just turns me off a bit. However, having seen multiple other machines in person that Jason has built, his close connections with Arctic Cat, Speedwerx, and the race teams, and his honesty with the machine history and informing me what he does and doesn't like, I felt pretty safe with this one! I have a high level of praise and respect for anyone that can build machines of this caliber with the fit, finish, and attention to detail that Jason does. Anyway on to more about the machine!

Build list:

1. Speedwerx Pump Gas Supercharger kit
2. Speedwerx lightweight recoil cup
3. Speedwerx lightweight spar inserts
4. Speedwerx lightened and balanced clutches
5. Speedwerx lightweight billet primary spider
6. Speedwerx lightweight helix
7. Venom spring washers
8. ZRP billet primary cover
9. ZRP billet secondary spring cup
10. ZRP lightweight machined brake rotor
11. TKI belt drive
12. TKI aluminum oil reservoir
13. TKI brake protector and lever
14. TKI 10" wheels
15. TKI billet ski spacers
16. TKI/Nethercott/Hibbert/Kaufman upper a-arm kit and Riot spindles
17. SLP Powder Pro Skis
18. Racewerx front RC Pro Bumper
19. Racewerx rear RC Pro bumper with additional tunnel taper
20. Mountain Fit hood and upper intake
21. Arctic Cat extruded running boards
22. Arctic Cat Ascender Pro seat
23. Arctic Cat extreme low windshield
24. Octane Ink wrap with sparkle
25. Carbon snow flap
26. Tail light delete
27. Custom powder coating
28. Polished bare aluminum surfaces
29. Kmod Skinny Skid
30. Arctic Cat QS3 shocks with custom valving
31. Lightweight aluminum fasteners
32. Billet pull handle
33. Billet throttle block and stop switch cleanup
34. Canada Sled Parts steering bushings

I'll do some additional posts about some of the individual components as I have time.

 

[cbc24]

very nice build, That sled has some meaning behind it!

 

[PaulAnd]

Wow!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Sage Crusher]

Very nice diamond !
Question with all they hype these day's ... (and I have my own reservations) you thinking of an elevate in the future?

 

[IDspud]

The riot spindles on it are taller.

 

[NHRoadking]

What are the ski protectors you have on that sled?

 

[Clark42]

What are the ski protectors you have on that sled?

looks like SLP

 

[boondocker97]

Yep SLP ski slips. Can buy them through Cat too. Part # 6639-829. They go on/off pretty quick and can be put on backwards when in reverse. I usually run carbide runners, so I'm used to having to put them on all the time to protect the floor. This sled actually just has hardweld wear bars. I'll see if grip well enough for a few trips then swap them back to carbides if needed.

Very nice diamond !
Question with all they hype these day's ... (and I have my own reservations) you thinking of an elevate in the future?

Friend has a similar sled with the Elevate spindles the last couple years. They feel ok to me, but only rode it in fresh snow. He went another route this year looking for better all-around handling in spring snow. As IDspud said the Riot spindles on this are already taller than stock and it tips side to side noticeably easier on the shop floor than my buddies sled with a different brand raised spindles. Easier to hold the sled up on edge as well. We are going to put them on the scale to compare sled weights though before I can definitively say it's the front end. Be interesting to compare them side by side on the snow. The skis also don't try to change steering angle on me when rolling it up on edge. This is a trait stock cats have had over the years that I think contributes to their stability tracking across hills in the rough. Ski-doo steering changes a little as you roll it up and there's always been a little twitch in them on setup snow for me. Elevate spindles do this a little bit on my twin rail when I tried them last year (thoughts on that can be found here: https://www.snowest.com/forum/threads/elevate-on-the-38-front-end.455511/).

While we are talking about the front end the riot spindles do have steering stops to help prevent bent tie rods like the Ice Age ones. ZRP spindles do not. They barely clear around the big end caps on the mountain QS3 shocks at full lock so not looking like I'll be able to add evol chambers as easy as I originally thought.