| Author | Message | ||
     No_rice |
(sorry its long winded, i started reminiscing) its getting to be that time... so... after far to many years without MY OWN snowmobile, i finally picked one up a couple weeks ago. growing up i was bigger into snowmobiles then i ever have been into anything else, and apparently that doesnt go away! some of my most well remembered and fondest memories are spending weeks in Wisconsin, Minnesota, and the UP riding snowmobiles with my dad. lots of sleds over the years, from my first $75 440 chaparral(late 60's early 70's vintage) i picked up at auction when i was maybe 8-10 years old. had that thing for probably 20 years and it never let me down when it was needed. then a 76 340 arctic cat el tigre with 440 dual carb dual plug heads, built arctic cat race motor dad and i shoe horned in it. it was super light and very fast(helped that i was a scrawny little bastard too). it would run down the 650 and 700 big bore sleds in the early 90's when i was riding it. no one liked being passed by the little shit on the beat up looking old el tigre! eventually i stepped up to my true loves... Arctic Cat big bore 2 stroke triples. my 95 zrt 800, then my 98 zrt 800, and on to my 01 thundercat 1000. lots of my friends kept ragging on me about how they are to big and heavy... you cant trail ride them fast... they are only good for lake racing... etc... they were all running around on there quick little twin cylinder trail sleds. especially big was the only few year old skidoo rev chassis they all started buying up. its funny how quickly they would get the hell out of the way though when the "over weight cant make a corner" old thundercat of mine was literally shoving them through the corners trying to hurry them up. that piped triple motor just bellering through the silencers(which do almost no silencing!) man i miss those days... i had sold off the old zrt 800's (well ok the wife got one in the divorce) and the thundercat went out in one humongous blaze of glory... oh yes it did. it was quit the spectacle... friends saw(and most definitely heard it) it from over a half a mile away. my dad and i were on a poker run a couple hours from home with another friend. we had stopped in a wide open bean field along the groomed trail we were following to check on some people we knew from back home that had blown a motor in one of the sleds. we chatted a bit and upon realizing that there was no way for us to repair the sled, and knowing they had someone on the way with a truck, decided to keep moving on. my dad was quick to his sled and i heard it fire up and away he starts going. i said there was no way he was getting the jump on me, said my goodbyes, threw my helmet on and burried the throttle. now take into account that this sled is 500 pounds put a solid 200 horse(little warmed up, stock was a not shabby 172) it spooled up and started screaming through the pipes for all it was worth carrying the skis the whole way. im only a semi's length or so behind dad catching him fast and still on the throttle... when all of the sudden all i see is the whole top side of his snowmobile(picture setting one on its tail and aiming the headlight and skis at the sky) there was no braking, barely even let off the throttle... just enough time to say "oh shit" inside my helmet and WHAM!!! i hit something(not my dad) and here come the bars straight at me. thats the last thing i remember until i open my eyes and im hurling through the air in a standing position, arms spread out to the side... i remember myself thinking damn im along was in the air... then i watched a stop sign go under me. i just cleared a highway a 10 ft deep ditch and am still going... next thing i know, i open my eyes again and im laying on my left side staring at my sled on its side, less then 2 feet from my face. i go to get up but couldnt seem to pick up my own weight so i rolled over onto my right side and pushed myself up. the chin bar on my helmet is completely gone(full face hjc) i bent back over and threw up. in all the hard hits ive taken, thats the first and only time its been hard enough to make me sick to my stomach. i grab whats left of the thundercat and try to get it back right side up. left arm was pretty sore so again had to use my right arm to roll it over i hear dad coming back on his sled, and then i can hear a heard of more sleds flying up to us(our friends said they heard my sled screaming and then just stop... complete silence... thats never good... and then they saw bits and pieces flying in the horizon lol) dad comes running up asking me if im ok. i said sure no problem, is he ok? he had been going just slow enough for the back end of his sled to catch the ground just enough to bring his front end back down and not flip it so he lucked out. again he asks me if im ok, i said i was fine just had the wind knocked out of me and pretty sure i broke my nose since i could only see the left side of it... lol and my front teeth were a little loose... nothing to big... his response... "well you sure dont look to good" thanks dad...! asks me how my shoulder feels, i said it was fine. he says, "if its fine why is it sitting a couple inches lower then the other one?!" shit... thats why my arm isnt doing what its told all that well. oh well, walked away mostly fine again. funny how that keeps happening. it was saturday about mid day by this point. hitched a ride back with the people picking up my friends blown up sled. i refused to pay for an emergency room visit, so i laid in bed until that night and then thought well hell, a couple drinks will make me feel a little better so i went up to the bar with some friends... it did not lmao! laid around sunday, went to work on monday and hobbled around(was running a steel joist crew doing custom fab work at the time) had wrapped my arm to my chest for the day, but everytime i picked something up with my right arm, i could feel the bones move in my shoulder. yuck. finally went to the doctor after work on monday, begged and pleaded with him to somehow let me work. he made me take tuesday off and then went back on "light duty" wednesday. im doing steel work, there is no "light duty"! anyway, i worked a few days, got called into the office and fired for missing that one day of work. on top of that they tried to fight my unemployment. we ended up in front of a judge and he literally told them they were stupid for firing me. said he knew plenty of companies that would love to have someone trying that hard to work regardless of my reason for doing so(i needed the pay) i had let the thundercat go to insurance when they totaled it. they wanted stupid money to by the thing back, so off it went. we hadnt been getting much snow or much riding in those few previous years so i held off from spending the money on another sled and got heavier into motorcycles... anywho... dad just bought a vacation/retirement house up east of hayward wisconsin 2 years ago, and i didnt feel like continuing to borrow his sleds all the time. so.. i just bought another thundercat  although this one is a mint 1999.     | ||
| Kenm123t |
can you put wheels on the front? It looks like fun on sand ! | ||
| D_adams |
I had you semi-pegged as a little bit crazy back at HC 2010. Now I know it was justified. | ||
| Kenm123t |
HMM POT MEET KETTLE lol  | ||
| Sifo |
I grew up on these back in the '70s near Traverse City, MI.  Beat them to death in the winter. Cut my teeth wrenching on them in the summer. Barely any suspension on them at all. We ran them on back woods trails all over the county though. Sadly, it's hard to do that kind of stuff today. Fewer land owners allow the traffic on their land, and more and more stuff being built in the way. Having ridden modern sled, I can safely say that I have no desire to ride one of those old motorized toboggans though. Those fond memories are best left as memories. | ||
| Loose1 |
I sold my newer sleds and for the last five years or so I've only run vintage sleds. I restored my '71 tnt 640 two years ago. Finally got my '73 raider hawk running great, and last year I built a '71 sno-jet with a 292 Yamaha that I raced in the one lunger 100. The new sleds were getting too expensive and the fun to dollar ratio was off. We have a lot of fun with the old sleds and just about every weekend there is a run or race to go to. Here's a couple of pics. I have others too. Matt Tim, you better find one for the wife too.    | ||
| Sifo |
Damn, those pictures bring back memories for me.  | ||
| Thumper74 |
Terrible Color scheme, 1980's memories? | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
Great thread! Now that we have returned to a climate that has four legit seasons, I find myself whipping my head around to check out the different sleds. There's been an amazing evolution of technology in the twenty-five or so years since I last rode. Sleds were fairly low-tech back then...notsomuch now. Sifo-is that a ten horse ski doo? | ||
| Sifo |
They were 12 hp. Top speed was a bit under 35 mph on hard pack. Great sleds at that age though. My uncle had a 440 panther that looked exactly like the one Loose1 posted. We would look for places that he couldn't fit.  He did soup it up to run well past 100 mph though. I remember when he burned a hole in a piston and dragged it into the kitchen to fix it. Damn near caused a divorce! | ||
| Sifo |
I also remember my uncle making his 14 year old kid run it wide open in a field to get plug readings on it. My cousin was white and shaking like a leaf after the first run. He didn't want to do it again, but my uncle was a mean sob, literally kicking him in the ass to make him do more runs. I also remember when my uncle came home one night looking like he had just lost a huge bar fight. A ski hooked a crack in the lake ice at top speed. Suspensions back then just didn't do much for you back then. Today's sleds are soooo much more stable at high speed! | ||
| Loose1 |
That's my brother's '74 440 panther. That thing is fast. It'll do 100mph+ on the lake. Which is scary as hell on that technology. It's all stock. He bought it from the original owner. He's trying to buy the mate to his. Matt | ||
| Sifo |
I've done time on the TNT as well as the SnoJet too. Only saw one of those Raders in the wild though. That's got to be rare! | ||
| Loose1 |
Raider aren't as rare as you would think. You can get most parts for them. When I was putting together mine I blew a drive sprocket feet out of the garage. No one made replacement so I had to make some. Some one makes new ones now. They are a lot of fun to ride but a pain to work on. I've been looking for a sno blazer. I found one at hay days but it had a bad track, and by time I figured out how to get a round that it was sold. I like the weird and odd stuff. Different in every sense right? I really want a '76 sno twister, but I can't see spending $5,000 on a toy I would use 50 miles a year at best.  | ||
| K12pilot |
Ohhh Yea… The OTHER riding season is coming soon     | ||
| Hr_puffinstuff |
i recently looked up a friend i haven't seen in a few years, and he's developed quite a sled fetish. he has two modded machines, and wants me to hit the trails with him. however, i haven't been on one since the mid-70's. this begs a few questions... is my M/C helmet going to cut it? are leather gloves acceptable, or do i need to go with something more high-tech? i'm in the market for a pair of hunting boots that can pull double duty. suggestions ? and i need to figure out where we're going. what kind of miles can i expect to cover on a two-day ride? TIA, hotrod | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
Ooh it's good to know there's some experience I can draw on here, I expect/hope to be toy shopping next year. Well the Quebec riding season is quite a bit shorter than here & I'll need something to do in the winter won't I? | ||
| No_rice |
can you put wheels on the front? It looks like fun on sand ! yes people do sometimes. there is even a kit to turn them into something like a can am spyder. i used to do alot of water riding in the old days during the summer. I had you semi-pegged as a little bit crazy back at HC 2010. Now I know it was justified. i havent the slightest idea what your talking about :-) Beat them to death in the winter. Cut my teeth wrenching on them in the summer. Barely any suspension on them at all. We ran them on back woods trails all over the county though. Sadly, it's hard to do that kind of stuff today. Fewer land owners allow the traffic on their land, and more and more stuff being built in the way. Having ridden modern sled, I can safely say that I have no desire to ride one of those old motorized toboggans though. Those fond memories are best left as memories. alot of my wrenching and fabrication skills got honed on sleds back in the day. fix it where you are with what you have or you dont make it home. it is harder these days to find good riding, but there are alot of groomed trails around(not many in my area) if you know where to go. and there is no comparison to riding trails instead of ditch banging! but you are right, nostalgia wise my old sleds are great memories... but id rather not go back to them! Tim, you better find one for the wife too. luckily, if we go riding we can normally borrow one of dads for that! but he did just buy 2 different ones so currently has 6 total, and is planning on selling 2 back off. he has been trying to get me to by the old 2000 arctic cat zr600efi. he bought it with around 100 miles on it so i know its history... itd got plenty of miles, and will need a new oil pump(using far to much oil even though its been readjusted a few times) but other then that, it has been upkept well and just had $800 bucks worth of other motor work done(bearings etc) so we will see. the old vintage sleds are fun, but there isnt enough get togethers for snowmobilers around my area to justify that here. i recently looked up a friend i haven't seen in a few years, and he's developed quite a sled fetish. he has two modded machines, and wants me to hit the trails with him. however, i haven't been on one since the mid-70's. this begs a few questions... is my M/C helmet going to cut it? are leather gloves acceptable, or do i need to go with something more high-tech? i'm in the market for a pair of hunting boots that can pull double duty. suggestions ? and i need to figure out where we're going. what kind of miles can i expect to cover on a two-day ride? technically you could probably make it work. i mean i ride motorcycle in the winter, snow and all... but you for sure need something that will help direct your breath away from the shield. the nice thing about snowmobile helmets, are the fact that they usually have that, as well as double layer shield to help keep from fogging(or go all out and have the equivalent of a rear window defroster on the shield) plus they usually have less vents... which helps keep some heat  you dont need anything TOOO special, but leather gloves with no insulation will get cold quickly. bonus of most sleds are they usually have heated grips and thumb throttle warmer anymore. just a normal set of good thinsulate winter gloves works most times for me. on real cold days the best thing you can have is a pair of mittens! carhart type bibs etc will get wet and freeze. have a set of actuall snowpants if you can, and layer stuff. not sure on the boots. i always used to use those old norther green rubber winter boots for years! with a couple good pairs of socks. most rides at some point though your feet will get a little cold even when the rest of your body is sweating. we will see how my actual snowboots(i bought for hunting) work this winter. as far as miles, that all depends on you guys and where you are riding. ive done many 5-700 mile days, but then ive also done many couple hundred mile days. | ||
| Uncle |
Man, those are some nicely restored sleds. I had a 1972 Scorpion (26 hp single). I remember going to a snowmobile show in the early seventies in Boston at the Hynes convention center. Huge show. Back then there were probably 2 dozen different sled manufacturers.  | ||
| 86129squids |
Damn, Tim- having ridden with you in N. GA a few years back and witnessing you "walking" that 1125R over and over again, you're also into sleds?!!? Man, given the sheer amount of shenanigans you've surely done in your life, I'm glad you're alive! Fun stuff, even though as a TN boy I've never tried sleds. Dig the vintage stuff too, and 2smokes are kewl in any language! | ||
| Etennuly |
Oh that 640 TNT looks so beautiful to me! I had a '71 with a single carb that would top out at 85 on hard snow/ice, then I had a '73 640 TNT that would also top out at 85 mph on the same surfaces. That one had two carbs, it was a little quicker to top end and used nearly twice the gas! Maybe that is where I got used to carrying a spare belt! My buddies rode things like the super dependable Sno Jet 292 blue box, and a really fast SkiRule 400. They could not believe that my 18" wide steel body Skidoo could keep up on the trails. Man, that picture of the 640 above is exactly how mine looked! Awesome picture! My last one, a year before I headed off to places South, was a Yamaha 440 free air. Oh the stories that came with all of these machines! Man I wish I had pictures! My most spectacular 'event' was coming off the '73 640 TNT while power sliding sideways through a corner at over 80 MPH on an icy road into a 4' deep snow bank! It didn't hurt me or the sled, but we spent the better part of a half hour finding my moon boots, socks, gloves, 3/4 helmet shield, and the stuff out of my sled's trunk. I rode and worked on maintaining a few Artic Cats at a ski resort for three years before heading South also. Ahhhhh snow! It was fun. A few bouts of minor frost bite makes you glad to have moved to warmer climates though. | ||
| Cyclonedon |
I use to own snowmobiles but we don't have very many trails around where I live and it costs to much to always have to haul them to upper Wisconsin or the U.P. of Michigan to get the real good riding trails. I had two Yahama SRV's and two Ski-Doo Mach 1's which I liked the best but I decided to sell my sleds after I busted parts on both of my sleds riding out West of where I lived one evening. The snow wasn't deep enough and I caught a small tree stump which tore up one sled and te other I bent the front end on a curb going home to get my trailer to go back and pick-up the first damaged sled. Damaged two sleds in one night! That was enough for me. | ||
| Fast1075 |
Mark, it needs a set of nitrous solenoids, little wheels in the front, and a flat rubber track. Oh, and 1320 feet of smooth pavement. I saw a sled go mid 8's at nearly 180 at a motorcycle drag race even once. Man did that thing sound sweet! | ||
| Fireboltxb9r |
My how times (and technology) have changed. Got my heart set on the new 2014 Yamaha SR Viper RTX SE.     | ||
| Mnrider |
That Thundercat was a nice find. Looks like new.Nothing like the sound of a big bore 3 cyl 2 stroke all full steam! Love those vintage sleds but they weren't vintage when I was riding them . My brothers and I had a 71 Yamaha GP 292 when I was a kid that liked to foul spark plugs so you coudn't ride it if it wouldn't start so that's when I learned about drying and cleaning spark plugs. Had a 75 Moto-Ski 440 that blew the track off on the lake so I bought a 74 TNT and stuffed the engine from the Moto-Ski in it. Funny thing,when the track blows off you have no brakes! I live near a railroad grade trail that connects to all the club grant in aid trails in the area so I could ride from my garage to Canada or Eagle River WS or where ever all on trails. In March last we got enough snow to ride as the crow flies across fields and lakes to our favorite watering holes. I was drooling on the new sleds at the local dealer last week but I keeping looking at that RX thinking someday also. Here's my 2003 Edge SP 700.   Then this 94 Indy 440 we bought new. | ||
| Macbuell |
I grew up riding snow mobiles as a kid up in New York but then I moved to the south and traded them in for Jet Skiis and motorcycles. They are a ton of fun though and if I move to Colorado like my family wants to some time soon, I will have one in my garage. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
T-cat, the T stands for trouble! And you will find it with that horsepower! Have fun!! I grew up riding a '66 Johnson SkeeHorse. I got back into sleds in the early 2000's when I bought a Yamaha SRX 700. Triple pipes came factory and it sounded awesome! Spring ordered the '07 Yamaha Phazer FX, and now own a Yamaha Apex GT. Gotta love the sound of 4-cylinders and rear exhaust! 144 pics put 150hp to the ground really well and four-stroke torque is only compared to my Uly!!  | ||
| Arcticktm |
Didn't expect a sled thread here. Cool. Literally. Spent 5 years as a Product Team manager with Arctic Cat, about 2002-2007. Good folks. Most of them have the same drive we associate with Buell/EBR. EVERYONE rode, and most of us were into dirt bikes, street bikes, ATV's, whatever as well. While I was there we were rolling out the early 4 strokes, including the first turbocharged sleds. For fun, we took, a widetrack utility sled (called a Bearcat) and made an asphalt drag racer out of it. Did it mostly with leftover parts we had lying around. Big injectors, turbo, blow off valve (just for show, no real point on a drag racer). Even had 2 custom slick tracks made up in our utility size by Soucy (20" wide by 164" long IIRC). It was fun. It still weighed over 700 lbs (it was a work sled, remember), but it did about 11.2 in the 1/4 if memory serves. Some of those guys are nuts. 110 mph on a road is one thing. 100+mph in a Minnesota ditch with bumps, debris, etc is crazy. I always prefered the woods trail riding where the trees kept you speeds more sane. When my son gets older I keep telling him we will go out to West Yellowstone (where AC did a lot of testing) and rent some nice new sleds and have at it. Miss the people and the riding, but the pay and weather is sure better now. Beautiful Thundercat, BTW. Awesome to still be able to find one in that condition. A real classic. (Message edited by arcticktm on October 18, 2013) | ||
| Macbuell |
We took our sleds on frozen lakes up in upstate New York. Broke 90 once (indicated) ... that was the fastest I have even been on a snow mobile. It felt like you were going much fast and man, was it cold. | ||
| Sifo |
I had the opportunity, during a very heavy snow storm when a small airport wasn't even trying to clear the runways, do do some drag racing on the runways. That was lots of fun with about a foot of fresh powder on top of dead flat pavement. Smoothest ride I ever had on a sled. |
