Sport Bumper????

Turbo11T · Dec 30, 2011

So I am sitting here trying to decide fully if I should shell out the big money to get the racewerx bumper for my m1100t. It is not an issue of if I like the racewerx bumper or if I think it is overpriced. As I think it is a awesome piece and after talking to doug last night I know he has a ton of time into designing a awesome pc to not take away from how nice the sled looks.

What do you guys think?

CatRyder88 · Dec 30, 2011

I decided to go with a sport bumper and it cost me a couple grand when I smashed a tree. Not sure if any bumper would have helped but after seeing the pics Racewerx put on their facebook I think it might have.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk when I should be checkin wells!

KSH · Dec 30, 2011

I decided to build my own bumper, RaceWerx looks like a good choice.
But I'm worried about a branch to the intercooler.
So mine will wrap over the hood and be removable with-out removing the intercooler hose.

Boostfreak · Dec 30, 2011

I cancelled my sport bumper and ordered one from Kevin at mountain magic. Can't wait!

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Turbo11T · Dec 30, 2011

arcticcat_88 said:
I decided to go with a sport bumper and it cost me a couple grand when I smashed a tree. Not sure if any bumper would have helped but after seeing the pics Racewerx put on their facebook I think it might have.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk when I should be checkin wells!

See the thing Is I have insurance. . . But still if the bumper can keep me riding rather than waiting for parts even if the bumper is destroyed I would be further ahead.

izzni · Dec 30, 2011

A ductile bumper is an energy absorbing bumper. A rigid as hell bumper passes that energy on. What makes people think that someone has done crash testing and proven that the sport bumper could be more rigid without having the frame be damaged before the bumper.

Just like you have to increase octane to run higher compression after a certain point, you,ll need to stiffen the frame after a certain point for a stiffer bumper. I doubt Arctic Cat put too much testing in the bumper, but with the racewerx one, besides ensuring that it looks good and is stiff as hell, I bet they have no idea how much energy the frame can safely absorb.

KSH · Dec 30, 2011

An energy absorbing bumper and insurance to fix it afterwards are great.
My concern is the ability to limp a sled out versus a extraction of a dead sled.
The 800 will be a little more forgiving to a tree hit than the Turbos.

JMO

Turbo11T · Dec 30, 2011

izzni said:
A ductile bumper is an energy absorbing bumper. A rigid as hell bumper passes that energy on. What makes people think that someone has done crash testing and proven that the sport bumper could be more rigid without having the frame be damaged before the bumper.

Just like you have to increase octane to run higher compression after a certain point, you,ll need to stiffen the frame after a certain point for a stiffer bumper. I doubt Arctic Cat put too much testing in the bumper, but with the racewerx one, besides ensuring that it looks good and is stiff as hell, I bet they have no idea how much energy the frame can safely absorb.

Izzni, What i see with the stock bumper is a hook. Now if cat made a skid plate to go up at least half ways from the bottom on the outside that would be enough to help deflect most rocks, stumps, limbs. Currently it is a good place to hook those things rather than be able to deflect over them.

I am not looking at a Racewerx bumper to ram things with. I like it best for the skid plate feature that is gives the sled. Also doug said that he designed it allow the side plates to flex, bow or bend depending upon the hit.

I think I shall go ahead with ordering one. I drive 1100 miles to ride and I don't want a stump the first hour of the day causing me to not be able to ride my $13000 sled.

izzni · Dec 30, 2011

KSH said:
An energy absorbing bumper and insurance to fix it afterwards are great.
My concern is the ability to limp a sled out versus a extraction of a dead sled.
The 800 will be a little more forgiving to a tree hit than the Turbos.

JMO

Underneath the intercooler it is completely dead space all the way back to the bulkhead. The intercooler itself is held by rubber mounts. I would guess in a mildly big crash that pushed things back to the bulkhead the intercooler would breakloose and go up. You'd probably have to put the charge tubes back into the bottom of the intercooler, but otherwise it would probably be fine.

Turbo11T · Dec 30, 2011

izzni said:
Underneath the intercooler it is completely dead space all the way back to the bulkhead. The intercooler itself is held by rubber mounts. I would guess in a mildly big crash that pushed things back to the bulkhead the intercooler would breakloose and go up. You'd probably have to put the charge tubes back into the bottom of the intercooler, but otherwise it would probably be fine.

Dang it . . . All I am saying is that the sled needs a skid plate. . . . HAHA.

KSH · Dec 30, 2011

Sorry, Turbo

Did not mean to destroy your thread.

Turbo11T · Dec 30, 2011

KSH said:
Sorry, Turbo

Did not mean to destroy your thread.

Ha ha. . . Not ruined.

I am going to try to work on a little skid plate this weekend to go on the stock bumper. I am not sure I "NEED" the racewerx bumper as much as I "NEED" a skid plate which I would get with the racewerx. But maybe can get with the stock bumper as well.

Schmeg · Dec 30, 2011

I called Doug today and ordered one for my XF8. Here in the Maine, I run ungroomed logging roads in and around the Allagash Wilderness. Yes it's flatland, but it's real remote. The loggers like to leave **** strewn around on the sides of roads like small stumps and small logs that don't make it on the truck. I need the protection from that stuff that I can't see. The factory one wouldn't do squat.

Turbo11T · Dec 31, 2011

First of all I am going to say I really want the racewerx bumper. Here is a pic of what I think could make the stock bumper 200% better though. If there was a skid plate that went up half way between the front bars and maybe about midway from the middle bars back to the side bars.

I know it is a rough photo.

And I know it may hold snow but. . . at least it would better than stock and deflect up and over.

Turbo11T · Jan 2, 2012

So i did some work today on my skid plate for the stock bumper.

Hope to have something to really look at tommorrow. Will be aluminum. I have wings that go back to the back bar on the bumper now but not sure if they do any good. I am going to probally build a couple different ones and decide what one I like best and run that one and maybe sell the others.

Turbo11T · Jan 3, 2012

Here is what I ended up with. I had a beefy one made but I felt as though it was likely beefier than the bumper would be able to take.

XFIRE800 · Jan 3, 2012

Nice idea. I have an MM Sports bumper on mine that has a built in skid plate. Took a healthy hit from a rock and the rock claimed a chunk of aluminum, but nothing else was harmed, the bumper did its job! Finally got my ski plate from cat too.

Turbo11T · Jan 3, 2012

XFIRE800 said:
Nice idea. I have an MM Sports bumper on mine that has a built in skid plate. Took a healthy hit from a rock and the rock claimed a chunk of aluminum, but nothing else was harmed, the bumper did its job! Finally got my ski plate from cat too.

you got the front skid plate? Can you post a pic of it? IF cat did it right it would go over the bumper like mine and off to the sides. But I cancelled mine cause I didn't have much faith in them getting the skid plate how I was hoping.

Jeff C · Jan 5, 2012

Turbo583 said:
First of all I am going to say I really want the racewerx bumper. Here is a pic of what I think could make the stock bumper 200% better though. If there was a skid plate that went up half way between the front bars and maybe about midway from the middle bars back to the side bars.

I know it is a rough photo.

And I know it may hold snow but. . . at least it would better than stock and deflect up and over.

You are 100% correct. I wrecked my sport bumper in cooke yesterday. I hooked a rock on the gap in the bumper spokes. That bumper saved my lower a arms though. I'll post a pic of the bumper tomorrow. I think I wrecked a plastic piece at the bottom of where yhe bumper attaches at the lower portion. I am going thru Fargo as I am typing, and it sucks typing on my phone.

Bottom line, bumper saved my Bacon, but it could use a skid plate, and could be built much stronger, and still bend

ps700 · Jan 5, 2012

Jeff C said:
You are 100% correct. I wrecked my sport bumper in cooke yesterday. I hooked a rock on the gap in the bumper spokes. That bumper saved my lower a arms though. I'll post a pic of the bumper tomorrow. I think I wrecked a plastic piece at the bottom of where yhe bumper attaches at the lower portion. I am going thru Fargo as I am typing, and it sucks typing on my phone.

Bottom line, bumper saved my Bacon, but it could use a skid plate, and could be built much stronger, and still bend

They could be built alot stronger since i managed to crack mine just moving my sled around in the shop and mine being an 800 I cant see the bumpers lasting long on the 1100s.

Sport Bumper????

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