OK so there is no reward but I would be mighty grateful. First off I thought I seen some info on how to lighten the steering on a pre 2000 500 Cat awhile ago. Man those things steer like bears compared to mine.

Next is there someway to override the igntion cut out that occurs when you are trying to get decent wheel speed in reverse on an Auto Cat. SUPER ANNOYING!!!!!!!!

 

Thump:
Hey, long time no see, glad to have ya back! I seem to remember the same thing about the steering, quite a while back. If I remember right, somebody took both brackets where the steering arm rods hook into the arms, then drilled a hole about 3/4" inside of that? Can't remember exactly, but I think it was something like that.

I do remember that whoever came up with this had the 'Cat for a short while, then traded for a Sportsman, so I would think either Atving, or MikeSlaby would be good to talk to as far as possibly knowing who it was for sure. I'm pretty sure though that it had something to do with drilling new holes and mounting the steering rods in a different location. Something about it removing the 25% oversteer if that sounds right?

Anyway, if you find a way to eliminate that pesky reverse safety mechanism, PLEASE let me know! Man, I hate that thing!

Take care!

Mike

Oh, glad to hear you are happy with your new Bugs. I kind of pulled a complete 180 with my thoughts and ordered a set of 27" Bi/Tri Claw combo's this morning from H.L. They called back and said they were out again, but that they had a truck coming in first thing in the morning, so they'd ship them out tomorrow sometime. I was hoping they'd be here before Friday so I could mount them and use them on Saturday for deer season, but somehow don't think that will happen now.

 

Cowboy,

What you are decribing actually makes the steering harder but it does make it turn sharper.

Thump,

Best thing for making steering easier is to get narrow front tires with larger lugs that way there is less ACCTUAL rubber on the ground wheen turning. Look in to 27" Bi Claw, 9"-10" wide vamps, 10" wide Mud bugs, 9" Wide 589s,or pretty much any other large lug tire.

I find vamps steer the easiest on hard pack cause of the lack of actually fubber on the gtound, but you pay heavily in power loss, weight gain, and hard pack ride.

 

Cowboy,

Good luck getting your Claws. Mine took 4 weeks from HL but, I finnaly got them last Friday, ran with them on Saturday and really think they are wonderful. Mine are 27" 9.75 Bi and 12.5 Tri's.

My brother got a set too but found that the rear tires rub the mud flaps so he's going to go ahead and get a lift kit for his 2001 AC400 Auto before he uses them.

I have spacers on the rear for stability and to assure suspension clearance but, I have not installed the front spacers because I don't seem to have any contact with the Bi's.

As for the ride it's not as bad on hard pack as I expected. I was not able to put them to a true test in the mud though. Also, steering was not as negatively impacted as I expected. My 2000 AC 500 Manual steers harder than the newer auto anyway and that take a little getting used to.

As I get more experience with them I'll keep you advised.

 

Boner:
Oh, OK. I couldn't remember for sure what exactly it did, and now that you mention it, I think you're right, it was for steering sharper. Sorry, my mistake. Great pics by the way. Hopefully I'll get a few good ones as soon as I get the 'Claws.

DreyMac:
4 Weeks! Damn, hope mine don't take that long. He did mention to me a few weeks ago that they had a large order for the 27" 'Claws all of a sudden. I guess they sold out everything they had, and were then put on back order. He said that one guy had purchased two sets at the same time for the AC 500's, I wonder if that was you? I ordered them yesterday and they called back today to tell me that the truck was coming in today, and that they'd be shipped out tomorrow, at my door in 3-5 days. Kind of ruins my plans for opening day of deer season, but oh well, I'll at least have them for the next weekend, and for elk season for sure-I hope anyway.

I would like to hear your thoughts and impressions though, as you get more time on them. After looking at the site that Boner had posted earlier of the actual Mud Machine site, I think they'll be perfect for what I do. Can't wait for them to get here!

And once again, I'm sorry for posting the wrong info there about the steering thing. Wasn't thinking right, guess I should have gone back a few months and found out for sure before I stuck my foot in my mouth. Oh well, live and learn I guess!

Mike

 

I would really like an Arctic-cat when I get a new ATV...I hear so many good things about their machines...are the prices of them reasonable??...are they cheaper then Honda's prices???.

 

cowboy,

Thanks for the info any way. I'm considering doing this to my cat to try it after the warraty goes out, that and fliping the tie-rod ends over(to reduce bump steer).

 

Yep, that was me and my brother Doug. We were pretty impatient and I became pretty good friends with James at HL (called him every other day;-). DuraBlue shipped the wrong stud extenders with one of the spacer kits and he made it right. I can't complain about HL service.

Here's how it went. The first week James did not tell me they were back ordered. The second week he said the truck came in but they ran out filling the earlier back orders. The third week the truck came in too late to get them shipped to me by the weekend. In week four 5 of the 8 tires were delivered on Thursday and fortunately, the rest arrived on Friday.

I had obligations on Friday and Saturday and was only able to put about 20 miles on them Sunday. Can't wait for this weekend. I'm heading to a place called Deepwater near Clinton, MO. I was browsing the "Where to Ride" forum and found that one of the best places to ride in Missouri is about 15 minutes from my place. Can't wait to show off a little this weekend . . . as soon as I get out of my bow stand Saturday morning.

I'll let you know Monday how the Claws perform or if they let me down in any way.

 

ATV_MAN:
I haven't checked prices here lately, but when I bought my 'Cat's, I got pretty decent deals on them, as I bought two at the same time. They were a lot cheaper than Polaris, and right around the same price as the Honda 450's, depending on where you went. As much as several hundred dollars cheaper than the 450ES, depending on the dealer. One thing to consider though, Honda has a pretty strong name for reliablilty, and usually won't budge much on prices. I found a deal on the AC 500 Auto in a neighboring state that was $300 cheaper than in my own state, then went to another neighboring state with the price, and they beat it by another $100, which turned out to be $500 cheaper than their own retail price. Basically, if you shop around and dicker a bit with the salesman, you will usually do pretty well. With Honda's, from what I found around here, they wouldn't even give me the time of day when I asked for a better deal. Just something to think about.

Boner:
Still under warranty? Did you have the two year extended? Probably wise, considering the extreme mudding you do all the time! Heh Heh Heh. Oh, and Fourlix was the one I was referring to earlier. He posted something on another question about steering. I hadn't seen him in a while, and had completely forgotten-kind of feel bad, he usually always had good, usefull information, was an assett to the forum, I thought.

Drey Mac:
Yeah, James is who I've been talking to at H.L. I've spoken to him several times now over the last couple weeks, before deciding and finally upon ordering the 'Claws. Seems like a real nice guy, and try's to help out the best he can too, so that is nice to see. While I was kind of dissappointed that I wouldn't have them here for opening day of deer season, I really appreciate working with good salesmen that actually try to take care of you, and get everything squared away as quickly as possible. He's been a great help, and I would recommend H.L. as a source for atv equipment. In today's world, recommendations speak for themselves. You don't find that too often anymore.

Best of luck with Saturday, hope you pull out a big one. I'm eagerly awaiting saturday as well. Probably head up to set up camp on thursday night, scout aroud on friday, and hopefully be lucky enough to find one on saturday! This will be the first hunt with the big 'Cats, so I'm hoping they'll get the chance to do the job I bought them for!

Take care,

Mike

 

Hi Cowboy, Hi Thump, Fourlix here. yeah, I been gone, sold the Cat, havin' a good time with the sportsman and feelin' kinda like I should stay with "my own kind" for fear of being accused of
"bashing". But I do remember that the Arctic Cat
Forum is the most civil, mature, intelligent and respectful of the bunch. You guys are great. The Polaris bunch is pretty good, and I can always find hot young tempers and comprehension problems over in Honda and Yamaha land.
Steering-wise you have it right. I redrilled the paw on the front hub to relocate the tie rods
3/4 in. closer to the pivot to quicken the steering, which made it a little harder not easier. Mine was a 2000 model 500 Autocat, and I was willing to trade steering effort for quickness. This may be the difference between the 2000 and earlier models in the steering. Maybe this is why the Arctic Cat engineers built in this mechanical advantage, people wanted easier steering. But don't criticize your memory, you had it right.
Hey I got a wild one for you, and it also explains some of what I've been up to. I went to England to be on a TV show called "Junkyard Wars". It airs on The Learning Channel in January
It's a cross between Mad Max-Tim Allen-and Monty
Python, where two teams of 4 guys each have 10 hours to build some incredible project out of a well stocked pile of junk. We had 10 hours to build a powerboat. We pulled a diesel engine out of a LandRover and made an outrigger canoe out of 55 gallon barrels. We got a drive shaft out of a North Sea Survival vessel and just barely got it together by the end of the 10 hours. We had a blast. We had a faster boat than our competition--but we flipped it in the race the next day and lost. Oh well, there was no prize, even for the winner, other than a free trip to England. We had so much fun with the other team and the TV crew that we've been invited back for next year..even though we lost..so I guess we won too. Our Team is called the "Metal Medics" cause we have an E.R. doctor on the team (he flipped the boat!)
Next time I'm driving. Silly Later,,,,Fourlix

SP500,425EXP,325Mag