My opinion on the 858 catalyst (long read sorry)

[arcticridr]

I have 320 miles and 13.5 hours on it as of tonite .154".
Well after a kinda crappy snow year and nothing even challenging this sled here is my take .
Power wise it rocks pulls like a train ,
Don't have any misfire or weird burbles ,mid range 6200 -6800 egts climb as they have always done on cats efi sleds 1225-1250 blurp it and it cools right down immediately. Routinely see 8250 in any given condition so far .
To me the clutching seems good (3-4 feet of fluff will solidify any different ideas I have on clutching (looks like next year for that)
The ride after dickin with air pressures is great
Handles 10 times better than my 20 hardcore 165 which I still have, with clickers on medium to firm almost feels like a twin rail to me on the trail out , not like the 2020 at all. Definitely is a rider neutral chassis, get forward it will kick ur azz , back and it will wheelie till the sun goes down.In the tight steep tree pulls it is kick azz super responsive, power and handling wise (usually what I am doing )
Cooling issues seem to be cured thanks to a mod to a mod of MTNVIPERS snowflap idea (thanks mv) ran a lot of hard pack and soft this weekend and all year ,temps 125-135 so I can live with that don't like the long flap but better than over heating . Love the seat position when I sit which on a 50 mile ride mite sit 2-3 miles only . The 5.5 bar riser does fit and works well for my height 6'1" .
Controls better than before easy to get at hand and thumb warmer switches , reverse switch so-so .
G8 gauge amazing!!! awesome to be able to put all the different engine parameters on the display and be able to read it !! The mapping is great haven't downloaded the last 8 gig update (wow) haven't messed to much with group ride did link an inreach to it so that worked well .
Headlight is bad azz
Running boards um so-so not bad not great deep pow will tell on that one .
Fuel gauge appears to have about a 4.5 gallon IDIOT factory built in ??light came on coming out Saturday took 5.8 gallons to fill gotta recheck that one . Shed 20 pounds with the Jaws race can which sounds great, a little to quiet for me (DDECKER PMd ya about your rowdy can like 3 times ) and a Lipo battery . Only thing I need to get used to is when coming down steep steep stuff ya gotta watch the clutch engagement it's how should I say almost track skidding positive engagement ,kinda spooked me first couple of times different than any of my other cats like a super granny gear!! Could get ya in trouble quick !!
Oil consumption good, more than the 20 ctec 800 that thing sips oil rather use more and live longer !!
Skis hmmmm jury is definitely out on them thinking I may go to the slydog Attacks seems a little heavy steering at times not bad but noticable (could be our junk snow this year) pretty much sums it up . Contacted the dealer 8 hrs away and they are sending me the chassis saver plates that were omitted on some . Mine is a late build think October or November for what that's worth !
arcticridr

Ps . I really think this motor is getting stronger with every ride !

Edit now have 370miles and still getting stronger , rode in heavy spring snow ran 50 miles 40 in the trees and wide open pulls other 10 on the trail used 4.8 gallons not bad for sticky yukky spring stuff , temps were 118-127 all day only bitch is the flap kicks so much snow back on ya it's hard to ride in shorts

 

[spoon]

Nice to hear a postive amongst all the negatives out there. Talked to a few owners myself and other than a few glitches mostly happy 858 riders out there. First year will find the flaws testing missed.

 

[volcano buster]

I ran into a guy on one on my last trip out. He had derailed the track off the back. He disassembled the rear idler unit and realigned it.
He said something about a reinforcement kit for that setup. Otherwise he was pretty excited with the sled.

 

[arcticridr]

I ran into a guy on one on my last trip out. He had derailed the track off the back. He disassembled the rear idler unit and realigned it.
He said something about a reinforcement kit for that setup. Otherwise he was pretty excited with the sled.

Yea I heard of someone making an aftermarket rear end for the alpha skid , track tension is critical on this skid more so than a twin rail , no issues on my 20 did the bolt upgrade to the rear pivot keep tension at spec 1000 miles and good to go ! Don't do big drops not my gig so am easier on them than all these young bucks !! As they say older and wiser makes it back to the trailer every nite

 

[goforbroke]

Hope to see someone making them in 2026

 

[Vern]

335 miles and around 30ish hours on mine and I’ve been happy overall. Runs great so far, especially after dumping the clutch kit and going back to stock weights and helix. Can’t say ive noticed this midrange issue people are talking about, maybe a little pop out the exhaust every once in a while in on and off throttle riding, but nothing you can actually feel. I tend to ride pretty throttle heavy, so maybe I’m just bypassing that rpm range. I feel like this sled has allowed me to step my game up quite a bit vs my previous ‘ 20 alpha.

 

[Chewy22]

I have 320 miles and 13.5 hours on it as of tonite .154".
Well after a kinda crappy snow year and nothing even challenging this sled here is my take .
Power wise it rocks pulls like a train ,
Don't have any misfire or weird burbles ,mid range 6200 -6800 egts climb as they have always done on cats efi sleds 1225-1250 blurp it and it cools right down immediately. Routinely see 8250 in any given condition so far .
To me the clutching seems good (3-4 feet of fluff will solidify any different ideas I have on clutching (looks like next year for that)
The ride after dickin with air pressures is great
Handles 10 times better than my 20 hardcore 165 which I still have, with clickers on medium to firm almost feels like a twin rail to me on the trail out , not like the 2020 at all. Definitely is a rider neutral chassis, get forward it will kick ur azz , back and it will wheelie till the sun goes down.In the tight steep tree pulls it is kick azz super responsive, power and handling wise (usually what I am doing )
Cooling issues seem to be cured thanks to a mod to a mod of MTNVIPERS snowflap idea (thanks mv) ran a lot of hard pack and soft this weekend and all year ,temps 125-135 so I can live with that don't like the long flap but better than over heating . Love the seat position when I sit which on a 50 mile ride mite sit 2-3 miles only . The 5.5 bar riser does fit and works well for my height 6'1" .
Controls better than before easy to get at hand and thumb warmer switches , reverse switch so-so .
G8 gauge amazing!!! awesome to be able to put all the different engine parameters on the display and be able to read it !! The mapping is great haven't downloaded the last 8 gig update (wow) haven't messed to much with group ride did link an inreach to it so that worked well .
Headlight is bad azz
Running boards um so-so not bad not great deep pow will tell on that one .
Fuel gauge appears to have about a 4.5 gallon IDIOT factory built in ??light came on coming out Saturday took 5.8 gallons to fill gotta recheck that one . Shed 20 pounds with the Jaws race can which sounds great, a little to quiet for me (DDECKER PMd ya about your rowdy can like 3 times ) and a Lipo battery . Only thing I need to get used to is when coming down steep steep stuff ya gotta watch the clutch engagement it's how should I say almost track skidding positive engagement ,kinda spooked me first couple of times different than any of my other cats like a super granny gear!! Could get ya in trouble quick !!
Oil consumption good, more than the 20 ctec 800 that thing sips oil rather use more and live longer !!
Skis hmmmm jury is definitely out on them thinking I may go to the slydog Attacks seems a little heavy steering at times not bad but noticable (could be our junk snow this year) pretty much sums it up . Contacted the dealer 8 hrs away and they are sending me the chassis saver plates that were omitted on some . Mine is a late build think October or November for what that's worth !
arcticridr

Ps . I really think this motor is getting stronger with every ride !

What did you end up with on clutching setup?

Overall I'm a huge fan of this chassis. And yes the motor gets stronger with time. I'm glad AC did not fold to the pressure and stuck with the alpha rail, it just flat works on this sled. I rode the 19 elevate twin rail a couple times this year, it's still a fun sled but man is that sucker front-end heavy compared to the catalyst. I spent two years chasing clutching on the 19 and kind of lucked into a setup that is awesome. I'm hoping I can get close to the same on the 858, but it's a Team setup vs Adapt and I can't get a similar primary weight for the Adapt. The Cycle and Sleds 858 clutch kit is close, but still need to do some more testing.

It's kind of a pain, but the MTNVIPER snowflap just flat works. I just leave it attached to the bumper and flip it up and bungy to my tunnel bag when we get to the good stuff.

 

[MTN_VIPER]

I really like mine, it's so easy to ride which I find more important as I get older. It will take me wherever I want to go and has the capability to easily go places that I have no interest in going to. Now that I've figured out the ATTAK shocks I really like being able to adjust on the shocks on the fly.

The G8 gauge is cool and while I've played with the GPS a couple of times, I mostly like the large display and how you can customize the IPC to display the information that I want to see. Still haven't used the group ride or radio functions though.

The overheating in marginal snow was kind of a PIA, but a removeable snow flap and the scratcher mod has pretty much solved that. It now runs cooler or just as cool as the other mountain sleds that I ride with.

Only issues so far are I did adjust the power valve bracket when I first got the sled. The only thing that required a trip to the dealer was the ECM reflash, tunnel re-enforcement, update and I did have the fuel level sensor replaced due to the gas gauge reading empty once the fuel level was below a full tank. The engine does vibrate more than my 8000 did, not really a complaint but more of an observation.

I think that I've finally got the clutching dialed in to how I like it. I didn't have a huge issue with the stock clutching, but I'm kind of picky about clutching and if I can improve it all the better.

I really hope that someone buys Cat, as IMO the sled is a winner, and it would be a shame to see it discontinued after only one year.

 

[arcticridr]

Chewy I am all stock on clutching ? Maybe I got lucky !? but like I have said I NEVER got to go play in 3+ feet only day we had that I was in the pb400 Back shift is good doesn't lay down on long pulls( 1 foot fresh,) 82-8250 rpms so to.me and the way I ride and what I rode in as far as snow it works good?

 

[tswan]

Only clutching I did was drop to 60grs. 6000-9500 ft Montana/Wyoming snow. Almost 700 miles and it runs great. Did change the belt at 600 miles brought rpms right back up. Great sled!!

 

[Hawkster]

Found a protected spot for fresh air that doesn't hold snow or under the hood like the factory one.

There is also a pair of frogzSkins up alongside the hood ones, there are inside the vents, probably not a bad idea to check on them, one on each side. You can see them from the outside, you'll just have to work at it.
Didn't even know they were there till I pulled the air box off the hood.

 

[Deltasherpa]

Nice to hear a positive review! Good job!

 

[arcticridr]

Small update