Opinions on a 2008 Arctic Cat 500?

[stricker76]

Good things, bad things, weak links, anything?

[Rubberdown]

No opinions, but are you thinking about a new machine? Theres a cat dealer here with 08 thundercats for around $9500, thats almost double the CC's... just a thought...

[stricker76]

NO, definatly not me. Well, i am looking but not for a cat. My dad is looking at a cat, but for all the wrong reasons. The place he works for used to be a cat dealer, so all the guys there are telling him they are the best bike out there. They say not to go efi because they have problems in the cold?? I bought my efi because i figured it would be better in the cold weather. And he says it has the best ground clearance out there, which i pointed out could be easily fixed on a popo with a lift. I just don't want him to get into anything that I will end up working on more than my own! And of course, are they easily lifted??

Oh, and i think a Thundercat is a bit much for him, but i am trying to talk him into a MudPro....those things look SWEET. What dealer are you talking about? Apparently he was looking at a place in Welland.

[stricker76]

Well, he bought a 2009 H1 EFI 550 2-up. I have to go pick it up on wednesday. Guess we'll see how this thing does.

[Rubberdown]

Where did he get it, was it the guy in Welland? I think he has the BEST prices...

[stricker76]

Yeah, Performance Atv & Liesure. Seemed to be a pretty good deal to me. No one else could touch his price with the plow and everything included.

[hampster_rancher]

A bud that I ride with has a 500 carbed 5spd, and he loves it. Its been drowned out and beat on and it still runs strong.

[stricker76]

Well, my dad don't ride very hard...i think he wants it more for the plow and trail riding with mom. BUT, when my brother gets his hands on it and comes riding with me he will definatly put it through hell.

[hampster_rancher]

The only thing I didn't like about it was the way it handled. It kinda wallows at speed (His has no sway bar on it) and it kinda pushes in the turns..

[Rubberdown]

The only thing I didn't like about it was the way it handled. It kinda wallows at speed (His has no sway bar on it) and it kinda pushes in the turns..

If I remember correctly, they dont come with a sway bar system, thats an "EXTRA" you have to pay for. I think I also remember not liking the high speed handling too much when we tested them on ATTV a couple years ago. We tested a 650 and a 700 on the show.

[06POPO800]

i can attest to the 500 manual being bulletproof i had an 07 that i mudded and snorkeled and swamped several times and never missed a beat and made it through a TON of mud! Cats are the best if you ask me!

[850PoPo]

My buddy bought a 700 it replaced his Yamaha Grizzly,he is very pleased with it run's good and strong.He is very rough on any machine he rides no problems with it yet!

[jturkey69]

the 550 is almost equal to the 650 h1 in power, I love my cat, it has 3400 miles and still on the stock belt..lol and wish I had a trv...maybe tax returns..who knows. First thing I would do is get an extra set of decnt rims and tires...not so much rims, but definatly 6 ply tires, like GBC dirt commanders, or deirt devils...stock tires are really only good for snow and slow trail riding..not good on rocks, or speed riding, they are way soft.

[stricker76]

Yeah, the power seems pretty good on it.....more than enough for my dad. Keep telling him he needs some tires and he keeps telling me its already got tires. I'm just going to give up on trying to talk him into modding it at all. Maybe once he gets it burried a few times in the spring he will change his mind. The only pain in the butt thing is that the dealer put on a take-off set of 14's at no extra charge so he doesn't have a ton of cheap options for tires.....wish he had 12's.

[jturkey69]

yep, 14's will be a pain...another thing you can do is play with the shock settings, it will lift or lower the machine, but it sounds like he really only wants the ride quality. invest in a bottle of green slime just in case, but he may never need it. I have been wanting to ride the 550, but I have my heart set on a 650 trv in lime green...have seen 08's new for 6300, but maybe I can find one a lil cheaper.