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@@robertsanborn1056 hello Robert! switchback XC is a great all around sled for on and off trail. Most bigger guys like the Switchback or the XCR as the suspension on both is a bit stiffer. The Switchback is not quite as good through the tighter trails as the XCR but it is better off trail with the extra length. For a rider your size, I would switch out the torsion springs to the HD (220-350lbs rider) or XHD (310-425lbs rider) to prevent it from wheelieing all the time and also it will prevent it from pushing the front end and in the turns. The 650 is a great running engine so that should be fine. Most people are surprised how well the Switchback performs on the trail so I would say it would be a great sled for you if you rip the trails and play off trail from time to time

@@Levi_LaVallee Thanks for getting back to me.

@@robertsanborn1056 no problem. If you ever have questions on sleds I’ll do my best to help 👍🏼

He's tough. 💪🏻

I love hearing it!

A trip I won't forget because my broken heel reminds me every morning haha

Pumped to be able to do the 3 things I have been passionate about for so many years

I love it! Days like that you will never forget.🙌🏼

Absolutely, after skiing and ripping on the sled at my age I'll need the hot springs!! Lol

They might survive in the Cain's Quest race. But one thing they will not last in is the nearly 2,600 mile Iron Dog Race in Alaska which is easily hands down the hardest and most grueling snowmobile race in the world. With the cold ass -30F temperatures at times I'm sure these shocks will be an issue and with basically everyone having to replace shocks before the halfway check point I'm sure there would be issues with programming them each time as well. Can't beat Walker Evans for that reason. And if you dare think about racing the Iron Dog then you and your partner should be prepared to spend an easy $35K each. Practice sleds and race sleds, upgraded titanium parts, carbon belly pans, saddle tanks, paying for the fuel, entry fees and the list goes on and on. The guys that race and place top 10 up here are a whole different breed

97 mph is fast for a mountain sled today i had a 2001 800 rmk bought it new. Twin piped it do all my own work and tuning. I know it had a 136 1.75 lug use to get 116 mph lol!! Wish i never sold it man i miss that sled. I wonder how it would compare to todays sleds use take me anywhere i wanted to go. U have a tune on ur boost.

The 9R is super fun to ride! The boost will go faster on top end so if you do most your riding on long fields, big open trails where you are going really fast, I would suggest a boost. The 9 r is fun because it revs so quick so it you always have power.

What!!! R u high or something lol!!

Funny because the Yamaha sidewinder and thundercat still has the fastest sleds on the snow. Arctic cats dominated the XC race scene for 2 decades lol!! Arctic cat has more terrain race wins and championships than anyone out there. The 858 catalyst will have the best power to weight of any NA 2 stroke built. Ski doo is the number one selling snowmobile out there building reliable and great performance sleds. Doo and cat have way less updates every year. Now maybe cat and doo don’t have the answers on how to stop all the problems that polaris plagued with almost every year lol!! Haven’t been paying attention to SX like i use to but cats had so many championships in the past 20 years with tucker. Ski doo has a lot in the past few years since tucker retired. Cat has had more innovations that all the manufacturers use today. Trailing arm suspension, A arms, Slide rail suspension, long tracks, mountain sled, aluminum tunnel, engine in front of the rider, roller secondary. Battery less EFI, 4 stroke, turbo, alpha skid, auto track tension and more. Cat was first with smart suspension in 2002 didn’t work well but they had it lol!! The rev was one of the biggest innovations of all time. Doo also had first direct injection 2 stroke clean burning engines, power valves, and the R motion rear suspension is still the best rear skid out there for trail riding. Polaris had first hydraulic brake and calibrated clutch is all i can think of right now. Cat had a 900 back in 2003 nothing new there and doo had the first 850, first with 2 stroke turbo lol!! Lots of answers out there for polaris for many years now. Polaris just started catching up a few years ago they were behind for many years 2003-2019 almost 2 decades. Not bashing Polaris finally making good sleds again but no way have they led the way for many years now. Still not leading the way if anyone is leading the way its ski doo im saying this and im a cat guy. The new catalyst is probably the best chassis out there now but needs to be refined. Lots of competition out there from all manufacturers, all building great sleds today.

Thank you. Appreciate the kind words

@@Levi_LaVallee Yes we're trying to decide which 9R to order track lengthwise unsure yet mostly trails so maybe the shorter one can't wait till next year Polaris dominates again

Says the guy watching Polaris videos on an all Polaris channel. 😆

​@@flyin427ford maybe he had a bad experience 🤷‍♂️ I have, my Doo buddys first Polaris blew up in under 200mi. He'll never buy a Polaris ever again nor will I recommend one to the guys I ride with. I'm fine being the only guy in group with a Poo

When was that? 1984

You can but different colors. I’ve mix and match hoods and side panels over the years

yea, but you got money...and like 50 snowmobiles...i got the bank yelling at me for late payments....so putting more into a sled really isn't that easy for many. plus this isn't about me, its color theory and marketing...if consumers could do what you say there would be piles of grey panels littering the ditches. Meis equipment is my dealer, and they sell both Polaris and Ski-doo, and this last fall/winter you walk in there and one side is washed out pale colors and grey and drab.....the other side is bright yellow and popping and happy...how many sales did Polaris loose cause of that? i would bet one of those new 9r sleds the lost sales would be measurable. even here you didn't defend the colors, you suggested different panels...which kinda says it all maybe. 😜

@@ericlismumze9932 I look at situations and try to fix them. You said you didn't like the colors which is your personal preference. so I brought it to your attention that there are other color panels you can get to make it your own. Not trying to argue, just trying to help.

@@Levi_LaVallee i am not trying to argue either, i love you man...i mean, in an appropriate sort of way...not in a creepy way....oh crap...i made it weird didn't I? if it was just my personal preference i would never have bothered commenting, its not me...i am nobody...i don't matter and can't afford a new sled anyway...important hurdle here for understanding...this is not my personal opinion... what i am saying is based on the responses i have gotten over the last year from social media posts i have made and other's comments i have seen, along with talking to sales staff at the dealer, and with fellow riders...from this the general consensus informed my comment...its not me...not me.

what about torque? what were those numbers? and where in the powerband was this HP and torque? every review of the 9r talks about responsiveness...even Levi says it here, holeshot...so there is more than just an arbitrary number here, you have to put the number in context.

@@ericlismumze9932 same maybe 2fpt than 850. All on Dynotech Research. $35 a year subscription been a subscriber for 35 years definitely worth the money. Levi is payed by polaris don’t forget that

the 850 from day one was designed for the turbo thats why the crank is much heavier. the 9 r has the 650 crank which is much lighter rotating mass. the result way more responsiveness! and its 7 to 8 % more then the 850. 850 is your all around trail sled . 850 boost 8s for your lake runner 9 r out of the gate will eat both the 850 and 850 boost until the top end

Cheapest quote I got was 2400$ more then same set up with 850. For 2400 I'll send it to indy specialty when it's ready to freshen up the top end and mod it then

​@@JohnSmith-uy2jg9r vs a Boost in deep snow is kinda lame. The boost and the turbo doo makes them look like 600s in deep snow

Power to wight the 858 has the advantage but who knows how 858 will be clutched. Clutching is something that can always be changed of course. Be nice if cat actually has the clutching figured out on the 858 but they didn’t on the 600. Clutching been a problem on cats for years now. There fast to 80-90 then stop pulling. After some clutching there really fast though. I know a guy with a stock 2013 800rr sled it’s super fast actually beats a lot of 850’s with the old cat clutches. Iv owned cats and raced cats since 2003. Ever since cat went to team clutches top end speeds just wasn’t there anymore. But iv worked the clutches found the speed with softer springs sometimes more weight. Love the new catalyst besides how hard seat is. I think cats softened up the seat for 2025. The 600 catalyst rides really well idk about all shock packages but the atak is a little stiff at low speeds to moderate. High speeds its absolutely awesome though.

@@joshgessinger4509 I have not been on a catalyst yet but love the design, I’m assuming there is aftermarket clutches for the 858 coming out

@@Timcanniff311 858 has a updated clutch but who knows if its calibrated correctly. Clutches haven’t been the issue on cats just the calibrations. Cats hit hard just stop pulling but its all calibration. Iv gotten the 8000 to shift out correctly hitting speeds up to 110 mph. Stock was lucky to see a 100 on perfect conditions. Same with my 600’s couldn’t break a 100mph. My 17 ZR 6000r XC couldn’t get over 89 mph. With softer springs adjustable weight im now hitting 105mph. Iv seen guys iv raced XC against hit 110mph idk what there secret is wish i new lol!! The 858 will be a rocket off the line one thing cats clutching has been good at. Have to wait and see maybe they will have everything all figured correctly. My fathers 600 catalyst we put 800 64 gram wights in it pulling then no problem. Haven’t had enough time this winter to see what we gained because it sucked lol!! Highest speed i saw before on trail was 87 mph with stock clutching. I do know the 858 is going to feel like a monster on bottom end because the 600 is unbelievably quick for a 600.

@@joshgessinger4509 I don’t care for top speed performance, I like deep snow flatland off trail riding, or ditch banging, I’m personally not a high speed lake bomber, but I know what you mean with the calibrations, I’ve heard good things about the 600, my nytro I geared down for low end power I think mine only goes 85-90, but I also have a 2” backcountry track on it not exactly a speed track

@@Timcanniff311 actually pretty fast for a 2 inch track lol!! I like it all very competitive dont like to get beat in anything haha. After i clutch bottom end is just as good or better. Clutches run cooler something cat use to be great at was clutching. When they used the reverse cam clutch like on the first firecats clutching was awesome. Even the crossfire with diamond drive had good clutching. The first pro crosses were good. When ur paying the money we do now for a new sled really shouldn’t have to do much to anything hahah. Its not a deal breaker for me because i love my cats. The support i got from cat was great no other company that helps racers like cat does. So im loyal for that and i believe there great sleds. I broke not enough parts racing to hardly mention. Rode polaris in the 90 early 2000’s i broke everything. After i put 2000 miles on my Polaris’s back then they were basically junk. Bought my first cat in 2003 F7 sno pro been cat ever since. All sleds good today my father owns cats and doos spend enough time riding his doos and love them. But for me its still cat just wish they get there clutching better. My buddy has a 2019 ZR 8000 with 8000 miles on it. Besides a bad roller in the clutch not much else to say about it. Thats the sled iv clutched now hitting 110mph. Likes to backfire he hates that but doesn’t bother me. He has had problems with the stater once in a while dont engage correctly. I have 2 Z1 turbos making up to 300 hp. One has 6000 miles been great to me very fast 130mph. Picked up my other Z1 2011 sno pro with 180 miles on it over the winter still building it with all the good stuff lol!! Then i have my 2017 ZR 6000r XC my last race sled but don’t ride it much. Actually modding that out now to heads porting pipe mod reeds and more. Do all my own engine work including porting. Ported my first sled at age 13 with little help from my father. Haven’t bought new im a while because lifes been kinda hard past 10 years. Now there so much money id rather just buy a nice low mile uses sled. But if i could buy a new 858 riot this season i would lol!! I love my Z1’s very comfortable ride great SLP skied with duel runners it steers so easy u would swear it had power steering. Enjoy beating up on new sleds with it people sometimes don’t no what to think lol!! Working on my new Z1 right now. Happy trails bud

That is exactly what I’m going to do to mine when I get it. 1.75 so I can wheelie on demand

Right on wheelie all day with that track love all the videos you make miss you on the track racing bro

That last section was so awesome! I went back and forth through it probably 4 times!

@@Levi_LaVallee It did look pretty fun. Especially on that XCR 👍

He does not know and he keeps secrets. 😮

It was in a snowy spot some time I don’t recall. 😂