New Record Set for ArcticInsider’s Longest Comment

After sifting through the spam filter, we found, hands down, ArcticInsider’s longest comment, left by an anonymous someone with the handle, “B-D”, which was intended to be left on the Arctic Cat Going Fishing? announcement.

We typically don’t share this type of thing in a Feature section, but this person, whom we don’t know, spent some considerable thought, and time, on their comment, and it was far too large to house in a comments section.

We welcome you to read the comment below. As a reminder, from the humble beginnings of this website, we’ve always welcomed opinions, so lets keep comments thoughtful, and civil, towards all parties. Thanks for being cool. -ArcticInsider

B_D Opinion for the New Year of 25.

Hello,

All here on this forum have good thoughts regarding the AC issue at hand. But there’s something much deeper going on. The whole industry AND press have a cancer that’s eating away at the sport of snowmobiling. And nobody wants to talk about it or even realize it. Let me explain. I affectionately call some of this the “Industry Wh#res” and “20,000 Press.” ($20,000)

The industry is dying right before our eyes. Sure some of it is weather/snow related but a lot is also a declining demand, shrinking real numbers, club participation and several other factors in maintaining the infrastructure of the sport. Rather than everyday folks supporting the snowmobile industry, what we now have is totally supported by “hard core” riders. You can’t sustain a manufacturing factory base, in real numbers, and all other aspects of a healthy industry with this sort of rider. Don’t get me wrong, there is a place for this and we should thank them but it will only slow the bleeding. The patient is still dying (i.e. Arctic Cat & Yamaha). And its definitely not because of a lack of product innovation. The sport has shrunk to the point in sheer numbers that it can only sustain maybe 1-2 manufacturers. In 10 years with sleds costing $25,000+ and declining participation maybe we’ll be at 1 sled company or 2 with a lot fewer models.

Case in point. Over the course of recent time the snowmobile media has lost Snow Week, Snowmobile, American Snowmobiler and so many others. The ones that remain are hanging on by a thread. Lose an ad or two (Yamaha) and they may be gone forever. Not a lot of new advertisers either. The aftermarket has lost Tucker Rocky (snowmobile), Marshall Distributing (bought out), Bell Industries (mostly), Western Powersports (new management) and a host of others including smaller players and including in Canada, Motovan (reorganization), Steen Hanson and so many more. PU is not what it used to be in the snowmobile business as well as are the so called “mail order” companies (Shade Tree comes to mind). The small aftermarket manufacturers that actually truly made stuff for the masses was the underpinning of a healthy network of support that are all now mostly gone as well. Some retired and others couldn’t justify the declining sales (plus competition from internet foreign sources like China).

The “Industry Wh#res” are sled manufacturers that continue pushing the envelope, partly they think, by the need to supply consumer demand, media wrath after Snow Shoot or perceived competition but also a lot of it is age old biblical greed. Just look at the current H-1B visa debate. Remember when you could buy an Indy 500 or XLT, anything pre-Rev, Phaser or ZL series sled and then load it up with customer specific aftermarket parts for whatever aspect you were trying to achieve. Be it suspension, motor or whatever. The money you spent, the O.E.’s figured was lost revenue to them so they simply started adding it themselves for increased margins. Sure the end product was better but at what cost to the industry players as a whole. Do the remaining “soft” riders (and the masses of those that left in droves) really need what the O.E.’s are peddling. The media loves it.

Then my friends we have the “20,000 Press” who right after Snow Shoot will comment that if an O.E. didn’t reinvent the wheel will tell their readers nothing new here, just “BNG” (bold new graphics) or that an O.E.’s product offering is getting long in the tooth. Or you need to sell your new snowmobile you just bought last season by way of a 2nd mortgage because its now obsolete. Sounds like the same mindset of people who want to rewrite the U.S. Constitution or the Holy Bible because its the same old thing. Nothing new here to report. It used to be a manufacturer would add a thrust washer here or strengthen a bolt over there from a Gr. 5 to an 8. Or maybe just an easy calibration update. Stamp out a tunnel, add a simple trailing arm bulkhead. Add a cool decal or two and shazam! A new model year sled of similar cost from last year. But the media would crucify a manufacturer for such a thought today. And if you think no one today would buy such a sled in that price range, then if true, the sport will unfortunately continue to decline due to high cost.

There is a certain snowmobile mentality promoted by the “20,000 Press” that looks down on anyone, especially seasoned riders, even thinking about a fan cooled or liquid 56HP class sled. Its not manly don’t you know. Here’s a novel idea… Don’t accept any press units from the OEM. If the “20,000 Press” wants a sled(s) to run, go buy it like we have to, then trade it in for another every year. Tell readership about your experience and if you lost money through depreciation on next year’s purchase. Try another manufacture the following year. Continue commenting on the others from press releases. Your doing it now anyway. Show us you’ve got skin in the game like the rest of us. Maybe with some enlightenment you’ll be known as the “10,000 Press” at some point.

Innovation breeds cost increases. And cost increases breed fewer units sold and less sport participation. Some of you will say, we had low cost type sleds like that and some mfg’s still do today and it didn’t do anything. True to a point but you fail to add into the equation the “20,000 Press” and their influence with so called manly images of the sport along with cleaver mid-air photos and slick copy verbiage and full page O.E. ads promoting the insane just to name a few. Remember we are trying to increase in numbers, retain what we’ve got and grow. Not sing to the choir.

How to make AC #1 again! Right after Textron bought Cat if you noticed the MSRP was quite attractive and down $1000’s less than the others. After noticing I figured they realized rather than compete tech for tech, they were going to flood the market with product that would reignite the masses back into the industry and buy an Arctic Cat. Sadly the “20,000 Press” fought against this with the above mentioned press coverage. Promoting instead Space X rocket equipped snowmobiles with horsepower exceeding your average automobile. And Textron I think got greedy and/or changed market strategy the following years and as such, MSRP was right back on top with the rest. Remember the Blast! Too high of a MSRP and decades old stigma of a one lunger. A small 292 or 340 twin calling it a Puma or Lynx may of been a better choice. And maybe a small Yamaha 4 stroke option. The Chinese would of sold them at or above cost as a leader just to gain market share and then migrate your growing base up to a higher margin choice later on. Cap the tech at a certain point to retain a less MSRP than the others. Don’t forget about the “20,000 Press.” They kept complaining about “better shocks with remote reservoirs or that the Blast was an entry sled or Woman’s sled or young teenager sled not for the real Man of the house. The “20,000 Press” wouldn’t be caught dead or seen running a Puma or Lynx all year long. Or even purchasing a few. Right?

Silicon Valley tech/cell phone companies practically give stuff away (apps or hardware) getting you hooked on their product similar to a drug dealer. Once your addicted, you migrate to something higher if you wish. Smart. But never do they, by way of press outlets, denigrate the masses or base. After all, who wants to buy a product, then read in the media, its for Children, Women or entry level only but definitely not for a real Man… “A real Man needs HP between his legs and arm straightening acceleration with his thumb on the loud handle cruising down the trail at 50 or 60 mph hitting the apex and launching his machine mid-air while taking a selfie for his social media page wearing chrome goggles.” What a mess we have become (adjectives taken from real past press conversations). No wonder we are experiencing near misses on the trail today and have contributed to the masses of abandonment. Who wants to risk it?

My perspective only. I’ve been in this industry for a number of years and have known a lot of the players. So yes, I have had and still do have some skin in the game (but have decided to remain anonymous). I live where there used to be constant snowmobile activity and trail usage but sadly now you seldom even hear a sled running a near by lake or down a corridor trail that has very little use as well. The industry knows this but won’t talk about it. Rather, they talk about turbo’s and led lighting and mogul bashing, etc. The “hard core” are keeping it alive, barely, but this will not grow the sport and why your seeing a slow decline. Did I mention it has also become a rich man’s sport or as some in the industry say HNWI (high net worth individual). Further alienating the masses who were the underpinning of support we had. I once spoke to a well known racer (in the Hall of Fame) everyone would recognize by his name and he talked about how snowmobiles needed to be more like modern day versions of trailing arm Jags, JD Spitfires, Citations, 440 Indy’s, Enticers, etc. Something like a commodity. Not a specialized Ferrari.

Then again some will say well, we are just giving the consumer what he wants. So let’s analyze this… If the NFA law changed allowing full on AR-15 machine guns without any tax stamp and they were selling like hot cakes, the consumer would be getting what they want, right? Then with cooler minds the law changed back to non NFA regulated AR-15 semi automatics, the consumer would bitch and complain and stop buying firearms? The snowmobile industry needs to get back to semi automatics. A $20,000 sled sure is fun but so is an AR-15 full auto. Just because Smith & Wesson can make one doesn’t mean its especially good for your crazed neighbor to have one. Or for the sports survival in promoting a $20,000 snowmobile.

Can it change and survive? Yes. But only if we admit the damage, only then can we rebuild and prosper and bring back the patient from life support (weather permitting). The O.E.’s and media both have a huge responsibility in this. Will they? And also the State or Provincial snowmobile associations. They very simply could put their collective foot down and say enough. Or mandate a trail permit requiring machine insurance based on MSRP and not HP. Allow certain exceptions for older sleds or other criteria.

In closing, the snowmobile industry product line need to return to being a commodity again for the common man… Not a privilege for the few HNWI. Think long term. Not short term profit margins. Don’t be greedy or our grand children won’t have a sport. And the press needs to stop nursing on the OEM nipple. Nobody purchases a snowmobile on what the media says anyways. Just give us the specs and photo angles and we will decide. Like our fathers did before us. Buy the sleds you actually report on with a revolving bank credit line (like the rest of us) and acquire an attitude adjustment, setting your mind straight on the way things ought to be for the sports survival. AKA “financial skin in the game.”

B_D