I was always under the impression that AC first came out with a 97 model in 96, and that was their first quad. A crappy 2wd and the Bearcat 4x4. I even have the brochure for that model that I got when a friend of mine was in the market for a Honda 300. The Foreman was brand new and on showrooms at the time, and this was in 96. This was the first I had ever seen of an arctic cat. Maybe they did make a 96 model, but it hadn't gotten this far south yet. Who knows.

 

Andy,
I'm thinking that since there was obviously so few 96s made, that maybe not all dealers got one. It seems to me that dealers received 96s and 97s in their first shipments.

BTW, you can't get much further south than Louisiana. ;->

 

not to bash but I really would not listen to a die hard Honda person when buying other than Honda they can be very prejudice against other manufacturers. From what I have seen and heard, they hold up well people really like them. How a machine holds up is luck sometimes and how the owners treats the machine, that line between enjoying a machine and torturing it is blurry to allot of people.

 

I must have gotten a lemon cause I bought my AC 250 2x4 new in 2000 and had nothing but problems with it. All I wanted for my first new bike was something reliable that I could ride for a couple of years until I decided to go for something a little bigger, I wanted to make sure I would use it before I dropped a lot of quid, then I would have something to trade in on a more expensive machine. Well in the last year between mine and my girlfriends machines (same bikes, different colors) we have done the following repairs

Fisrt of all the two of them stalled and backfired for the first 4 months with about 20 trips to the dealer to try and solve the problem until we personally called Arctic Cat and they sent us 300 muflers which seemed to lessen the problems to the point where we could live with it.

About 5-7 new light bulbs $20 a piece (horendous water proofing)

4 new plugs $3 each

3 boots, I think they were around $100 installed each

1 new battery around $100

1 axle $300

1 set of bake pads, around $100

electrical problem $75

That is all that comes to mind right now. Remeber these prices are in Canadian dollars and some of the prices stated may be a little off, and some of those parts were at cost because my dealer felt sorry for me. Keep in mind I ride with my girl friend at all times so they are not ridden hard and are cleaned and dried after every ride and the oil is changed every 50 hours. So after my last visit (another electrical problem) my dealer told me that I was going to need new bearings all around in the next couple of weeks. So that was the last straw, I traded it for a little recon he had taked in on trade, I know that the recon is smaller and has less features than the cat but I was at my wits end. Anyway thats my story, and I promise not to turn into one of those annoying honda owners that think Honda rules the earth, but so far that little think is a hoot to ride being 150 pounds less than the cat you can really throw it around pretty easy.

 

What I mean is lately you seem to be blowing up in a way. I noticed in a few other topics you and someone else got into it. Then you seem to give me a cocky answer when all I did was ask a question. I'm not sure if you need to lighten up or I'm reading it wrong, but if I am I'm sorry. IF not, I recomend that you chile out alittle.

 

Quadless,

I was talking to your aunt today. She confirmed that there was REALY a few 96 models. I need to call tomorrow and talk to Joe about fixing my cat. I need his expertiese.

BTW: Your aunt was braging about how smart you are and said you were on the dean's list and top of your class. What are you going to college for??

 

BONER,
Sorry to hear that you're having trouble w/ your 'Cat. What seems to be the problem?

I'm currently a mechanical engineering major at LSU. I'm thinking of going to law school for corporate law after I get my BS in mech. engr. I can't decide if I want to be an automotive engineer or an attorney. Oh well, I still have plenty of time to decide, I'm only a freshman.

 

Not seem rude, But a pair of $30 stick stoppers would of saved you a bunch on your boots and axels. As for fouling 4 plugs and back firing, sounds like your dealer doesnt know how to jet a carb correctly. The head lights, I have to agree with you there horrible for not being sealed tight. But all it takes is for you to shut off the lights when going into deep water or deep mud. And far as brakes go they go out on every quad. But you made a good choice on the recon they're a great little bike. Hope it works better then the cat for you.
matty

 

I don't remember what question I gave a cocky answer to, unless it was the one where you started it with "WTF". You want a cocky answer, then I think you meant "chill out". Chile is a country in South America.

Back to the point. Which guy did I get into it with? I had some guy come in a few weeks ago, and in the middle of a long topic, he contributed one post, and that was something towards me about bitching about ****** blocks. I had an arguement once like this summer with T.F. about that, and that was old news. I nailed this guy back for bringing up old garbage with no reason.

Then there was some guy that didn't like my review of Arctic Cats. I think I said something in there to the point of if anyone tries to whine about the rocker shifter, tell them to F-off. That was a generalization of how overblown that shifter complaint is, and that maybe one AC owner on here ever disliked it enough to post about it. He said something about my attitude, but I think the real thing was that he was a honda guy, and he didn't like the part where I said that I now think that AC's are every bit as tough as Honda's.

Thats all I can remember as far as folks getting into it with me lately. Both times, the other guy just popped something off at me, without me ever giving them any real reason. Of course, like always, I had to come back at them.

If you got pissed about me saing you would tear up any bike, you shouldn't have. I was just going by what you always post on here. The point of that was to say that the only way you are going to really mess up an AC is to ride the hell out of it. Same with most others, but what I meant is that they don't have stuff falling off or malfunctioning all the time like Polaris quads do.

You don't see many AC guys making posts about something tearing up, and you see that all the time in the Polaris forum. Another reason I never could trade for a Sp500 even though I wanted it really bad.

 

We did have the stick stoppers, and did turn out the lights.