Cat 6000 vs Cat 7000/Yamacat

[Hoosier]

Anyone rode them both and compared them? One of the guys I ride with is looking into them. From what I've seen, the 600 is about the same on gas and speed but is obviously much lighter. Oil is probably a wash since the 600 uses so little in a season. I've read the early Yamacats were sort of dogs but they got them much better set up later. 600 is supposedly to be reliable as far as 2 strokes go...

Really looking for input from people who rode them, as I've just read about them. Another guy in the group has a ZR8000, which has been a great sled for him,

 

[shelby369]

I have ridden both and currently ride a 16 7000 limited, yes the 6000 is lighter but performance ( gripping the flipper) felt pretty equal... I do 95% of my riding on trail so weight wasn't a huge factor for me..... the daily performance of the 7000 is awesome.. turn key and ride, and that the whole season. I rode 3400+ miles last year and the 7000 didn't miss a beat. I tend to ride my sleds well past 10k miles ( those were 2 stokes) and I look forward to running this 4 past 20k miles........I was a huge skeptic going from 2's to 4's, but I am sold..... way easier day to day to season riding and reliability piece of mind.... I was so happy with the 4 stroke 7000, I spring ordered a 9000 for next season.

 

[Hoosier]

I have ridden both and currently ride a 16 7000 limited, yes the 6000 is lighter but performance ( gripping the flipper) felt pretty equal... I do 95% of my riding on trail so weight wasn't a huge factor for me..... the daily performance of the 7000 is awesome.. turn key and ride, and that the whole season. I rode 3400+ miles last year and the 7000 didn't miss a beat. I tend to ride my sleds well past 10k miles ( those were 2 stokes) and I look forward to running this 4 past 20k miles........I was a huge skeptic going from 2's to 4's, but I am sold..... way easier day to day to season riding and reliability piece of mind.... I was so happy with the 4 stroke 7000, I spring ordered a 9000 for next season.

Thanks for the input.

How did your 16 7000 do on gas?

I know someone will chime in that if you're asking that, you should get a different sport, but I'm curious. We passed up a few play areas in Ontario last year because we were concerned on gas. I see the 7000 has a smaller tank than the 6000.

 

[Wyelde]

I have also ridden both and am trying to decide between the two myself, I currently have an XF1100 and am a bit disillusioned with it. To me, the 7000 feels real planted and has an excellent ride on trails. the 6000 also has an excellent ride, but feels lighter in the turns, and a bit less planted. Of course, that could just be setup differences. Shelby369 is right, the 4 stroke engines will far outlast any 2 stroke, the only downside is periodic oil changes.

 

[shelby369]

Averaged 17mpg pretty consistently

 

[garyl62]

I rode them both on rental weekends last year. I'm coming off a f8 and expected the next sled I would buy would be a 7000. Even though I'm a trail rider I felt the 7000 was just not what I had been expecting. Maybe it was the set-up of a rental, but I never felt confident hitting turns, or jumping off into a field to run a couple circles in some powder. I got used to the engine braking and liked that, but the 6000 just seemed more like what I was used to, and felt more confident riding. I was looking to make the 4 stroke jump because I felt like it could be a long term hold for me and give me the reliability I wanted. I talked with Chad at MM quite a bit about them both and he ran rental 6000's for 2 years, some with 10,000 miles on them and never had a motor issue. I figured that was a good enough test for me so I picked up a 2015 6000 from him at the end of the season. It was a rental, but only had about 5,000 miles and still has 1 year of warranty left. He looked it over very well and replaced anything that needed to be done and said to bring it back before the warranty is up and we'll check the engine over with a fine tooth comb to be sure it's still in great shape. So my rental experience only lasted one season, and I'm back on a 2-stroke. I never thought that would have happened.

 

[shelby369]

When I bought my 7000, I hated the sled during the break-in (1st 500 miles) because I felt it wouldn't turn and rode like a dump truck.... I put the sled on a scale and it turned out the sled was setup from the factory with 70/30 weight back to front......we made shock, springs, strap, and overload block adjustments and got the weight 60/40 front to back....the 7000 was a totally different sled and handled/rode like a rocket ship on rails.... setup is important when making a big dollar decision.

 

[Hoosier]

I rode them both on rental weekends last year. I'm coming off a f8 and expected the next sled I would buy would be a 7000. Even though I'm a trail rider I felt the 7000 was just not what I had been expecting. Maybe it was the set-up of a rental, but I never felt confident hitting turns, or jumping off into a field to run a couple circles in some powder. I got used to the engine braking and liked that, but the 6000 just seemed more like what I was used to, and felt more confident riding. I was looking to make the 4 stroke jump because I felt like it could be a long term hold for me and give me the reliability I wanted. I talked with Chad at MM quite a bit about them both and he ran rental 6000's for 2 years, some with 10,000 miles on them and never had a motor issue. I figured that was a good enough test for me so I picked up a 2015 6000 from him at the end of the season. It was a rental, but only had about 5,000 miles and still has 1 year of warranty left. He looked it over very well and replaced anything that needed to be done and said to bring it back before the warranty is up and we'll check the engine over with a fine tooth comb to be sure it's still in great shape. So my rental experience only lasted one season, and I'm back on a 2-stroke. I never thought that would have happened.

That's good info. If you can get 10K on one of those 600's, it seems hard to beat unless you are putting 5K on a year. The gas and oil use is probably close enough to the 700 to not matter. Riding in Ontario last year, carrying or finding oil for a carbed 2 stroke was a pain, but with one of these 600's not using as much, it wouldn't be as bad.