| Author | Message | ||
     No_rice |
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! that was just play! very fun play at that! its much easier to REALLY let stuff hangout at the track! and yes surprisingly im still alive. my friends, and even my parents told me id never turn 21 at the rate i was going... i turned 36 this year and still keep trying to crank the dial up a little bit more every year. im not dumb though, its only a matter of time before my reflexes cant keep pace with my will to push things. 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. one of the biggest problems in snowmobiling... there is always something under the snow to hit, that there is no way you could know is there. that thundercat i totaled was just rebuilt the night before(all nighter) because i caught a chunk of steel under the snow and turned the left a-arms into pretzels. i tore it apparent and built new a-arms for it during the night so i could go the next day... maybe i should have let it sit for a few days... 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! ive seen some of the pavement drags. they get booking. my 01 had a nice shot of n2o on it on top of the mild motor work. it would really boogy. That Thundercat was a nice find. Looks like new.Nothing like the sound of a big bore 3 cyl 2 stroke all full steam! no there isnt! pure evil! and yes its extremely clean, not even a nick worth mentioning on the belly pan or even under the tunnel from any of the spikes. this was the wifes sled, they had matching his and hers. the other one was just as clean, but had a few goodies on it, that for the price difference between the two, i wasnt really concerned with having. its good i drove the saturn hauling the 5x8 bike trailer to go get it though or i proably would have brought both home(one of the reasons i took the car and small trailer lol) 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. i could get WAAAAY out of hand if i lived near the mountains and started getting onto those high performance long track mod sleds! T-cat, the T stands for trouble! And you will find it with that horsepower! Have fun!! lol, i think alot of it finds the thundercat. everytime i was stopped someplace with the last one there would atleast be one or two people come up and try getting you to race... almost never failed. 144 pics put 150hp to the ground really well and four-stroke torque is only compared to my Uly!! i keep trying to like the 4 strokes, but even being a big arctic cat fan i cant get myself to REALLY want one of the new turbo sleds... i mean, of course i want one... after it has been modded and the turbo worked over  but i think that psychotic on off switch pull that the big 2 stroke triples have is a hard fix for me to give up. Spent 5 years as a Product Team manager with Arctic Cat, about 2002-2007. Good folks. 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. that i would have enjoyed!! besides Buell, thats one of the only other companys i thought i had an interest in working for. ditch banging was my main snowmobiling outlet growing up. if you wanted to ride, your options were ditches, fields, and rivers. all of them with the throttle buried. and as for taking the son(age?) to yellowstone. DO IT!!!!! i can not say this enough times. you do, and he will never forget it. we may have never headed to the mountains on our snowmobiling trips(and i never have been, although dad has) but i'll have the memories of our trips etched into my head until the day i die. long after most other things are forgotten. the same goes for the skiing trips to colorado(with both parents before the divorce, and then with my mom after) | ||
| Biffdotorg |
Amen! Get your kids involved. Our 12 Year old is on her third season driving full-sized sleds. (first legal year with certificate) I helped her customize her sled a bit, and she loves the attention from the others. She has become quite the rider, and is very excited about the upcoming season.  | ||
| M2statz |
I started off by buying the neighbors SKI-BRULE, that sank, yes sank crossing the the open water of the near by lake. As far as I know, it is still there. My next sled was a RUPP 440 Nitro. Coolest sled at the time. We used to ride them to school. If I had the time and money I would find one to restore!! After collage I bought a semi-new John Deere Liquifire. Semi-new being a fresh return to the dealer with less than 100 miles BUT the controls where all on the left, brake and throttle, that is why the price was so good. That sled was fast, rode like the kitchen table but fast. We sold that sled, my Honda CB750F and fishing boat when we move out west. I now have an MXZ700x and a MXZ600xp. Both clutched and piped with Camoplast Iceripper tracks. As far as I am concerned, there are two seasons, riding and riding(just my .02 worth). | ||
| No_rice |
im soooo ready to break this thing in! i dont think its probably ever been correctly ridden in anger called the dnr here about snowmobile classes for the kids to get their "permit" and they had no idea when a class would be held, if at all. they also said "they dont do those very often" so who knows when it will be available... supposedly it can be done online... | ||
| Biffdotorg |
Call you local sled club. Most are running classes right now. In MN, you have to be 12 to carry the permit, but you can drive under "close adult supervision" before that. There are still laws about crossing roads etc. Check with a club, Iowa cannot be much different. Good luck! | ||
| M2statz |
It is getting close Tim!! Many places reporting snow falls of multiple inches!! Let me know when you are ready and I will meet you some where!! | ||
| No_rice |
the clubs are pretty thin here... not alot of groomed trails etc. there are some, but not many! that is a good idea to check with them though, thanks, not sure why it hadnt crossed my mind yet. the kids are 12 and 14, so if we do get a chance to go on a snowmobile vacation it would be nice if they could ride a sled themself... legally atleast lol. It is getting close Tim!! Many places reporting snow falls of multiple inches!! Let me know when you are ready and I will meet you some where!! oh i know, i keep seeing snow landing, just far away! most any time i make it up there im pretty sure will be fairly last minute, leave friday night come home on monday stuff... if they get some decent snow up in hayward! | ||
| Buelliedan |
I ride a 2012 Polaris Pro RMK with a 163" track. My wife rides a 2013 Polaris Pro RMK with 155" track. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
Wow, 8000 miles of groomed trails in Iowa. I would have never guessed. Now if you get the early snow that you got last year, there may be some riding to be had. http://www.iowasnowmobiler.com/regions/ Each of the 12 regions on the Iowa map above list the sled clubs for that region. They each keep up their own maps and programs. But GPS maps are downloadable for the entire state. I saw one sled program on TV last season that ran Iowa for a weekend. The found some really nice riding. Who knew!! | ||
| No_rice |
yep, there are plenty of trails in the state, but just like with good motorcycling roads, i live in the area the area with the least of it! lol. I ride a 2012 Polaris Pro RMK with a 163" track. My wife rides a 2013 Polaris Pro RMK with 155" track. mountain riding would be a ton of fun! | ||
| Biffdotorg |
I guess it is all relative to how bad a person wants to ride. Look at Buelliedan with two mountain sleds. He lives in CO, so he can use them all the time. There are guys here in MN/ND that own the same thing and drive to the mountains maybe 3-6 times a season! That's crazy. We can ride out of our garage and be on trails, but we many times will trailer 45-90 miles to be in the woods or lakes area of central MN. It's cool to have variety as some days I want to crank tight twisties all day in the woods. The next day, I may want to put on my TekVest and ditchbang like a SnowXer. And then there are the days when triple digit lake runs or railroad beds fit the bill. It's all about pulling a throttle in as many seasons as possible! We have trailered to Michigan as well as a couple hundred miles up into Ontario to see new country. It's all a blast! | ||
| Biffdotorg |
We live for groomed trails as smooth as a baby's butt! Rolling trails through the woods just waiting to be ripped up! WOO WOO BRING THE SNOW!!!   | ||
| M2statz |
Am I the only lucky one that can commute to work by sled? My commute is one of the only reasons that I stay where I am. My commute is less than 10min. by Jeep, anywhere from 6-10min. to 70-90min by motorcycle and 20min. to 90min. by snowmobile, depending on which route taken. We live for groomed trails as smooth as a baby's butt! Rolling trails through the woods just waiting to be ripped up! Biffdotorq, That is what I usually get to ride to work. I have good friends that run the groomer, so for a couple of six packs of their favorite beer and maybe a bottle of whisky or two, they groom just about to my garage door. (Message edited by m2statz on November 01, 2013) | ||
| Biffdotorg |
It is good to know the groomer! We are going to miss our buddy. He was the president of the sled club and stored the Pisten Bully at his shop. He just moved to AZ this summer. We called him on the super-secret-batphone in the groomer at 6am for the trail report. He would tell us what was just groomed, and what should be setup already from the night before. There is a time for off-trail deep snow fun, and there is a time for the high-speed roller coaster in the trees. It's all good in my book! I would love to ride my sled to work, but it just would not happen in my neck of the woods. I love your description of the time by bike or sled can vary from 20-90 minutes! That's the way it should be! 4-7" of snow in the forecast for south-central MN tomorrow night!!! We just finished setting up my buddies new trailer yesterday. Ski guides and stud mats.  | ||
| Fltwistygirl |
"WOO WOO BRING THE SNOW!!!" +1 "He lives in CO, so he can use them all the time." I'm a recent transplant to CO but not so sure about that statement. There seem to be places in the high country where snow exists year round, but here at 5K elevation, snow does not usually stay but for a few days, even in the dead of winter. On our drive to Steamboat in March, we saw a lot of front range area vehicles that towed their sleds up to areas near the passes to snowmobile. Seems most that own sleds from around here can't count on consistent local snowfall and trailer to higher spots in Colorado and Wyoming. Or, maybe they head out to the grasslands. Other than the ranches, shooting ranges, and Kansas, not sure what else is out that way! Living vicariously thru y'all, please keep up the posts! | ||
| No_rice |
anyone get out for a ride yet? i know ive seen pics of people out but nothing within a day+ drive of me... currently debating on buying the 2000 zr600 efi my dad is going to get rid of. he bought it in 2000 with around 100 miles on it(farmer bought it as a tax write off for "checking hog sites") seems like last time i remember it had 6 or 7000 miles on it. has new clutches on it, motor was just apart and resealed. but its main problem is oil consumption. its using damn near twice as much as it should. the oil pump has been re adjusted a couple times but i believe it is toast. (atleast when they wear out the add more oil instead of less...) from what ive been finding apparently its common as it ages and gets plenty of miles on it. the pump has some little nub inside it that is supposed to meeter flow, but it wears down and no longer works correctly. there is no rebuild kit for them, and a new oil pump is $4-500. sure i can pick up used ones on ebay and such, but whos to say it isnt worn just like the one i have! | ||
| Buelliedan |
I definately have to trailer my sleds to get the good snow. My normal places are Snowy Range, Rabbit Ears and Steamboat. I use a trailer like this: http://www.rttrailer.com/sites/default/files/styles/1024x768_scale/public/products/p2220099.jpg?itok=N75pG9CB Groomed trails are just a mechanism to get me to the deep powder. They are not for real riding!!!  (Message edited by buelliedan on November 07, 2013) | ||
| M2statz |
}Groomed trails are just a mechanism to get me to the deep powder. They are not for real riding!!! That's just not right!! It is like saying the tubers don't make good track bikes!! Some of us are not blessed with elevation to ride mountain powder BUT we have plenty of fields with drifts that we can ride here(with the farmers permission of course). Plus you have to learn to walk before you run, you said it your self, you have ride a trail to get to the deep stuff. I don't care if ride in circles on the frozen pond in your grandma's back yard, at least you are out riding. | ||
| No_rice |
i love groomed trails, but i would love to go playing in the mountains. my cousin in colorado was just back to visit a few weeks ago and mentioned something about having me and another cousin come out and rent some sleds to go play for a few days(assuming he recovers from breaking both ankles on the motocross bike while he was here by then). i think many people would be surprised at how much skill it takes to go ditch banging and come out in one piece most of the time. especially when your "racing" your buddies! you never know if a drift is hard, soft, or hollow. plus the severely odd angles that you approach them at or drop off. and plenty of those get big enough to bury a semi(and have) ive ridden over top of cars and not even known they were there until you drop off them on the other side. ah good times! | ||
| M2statz |
I think the key to fun ditch banging is a sled that is set up for it. You can not ride your sled in the ditch with the same set up as for the trail. Too much weight forward will sink you right into a culvert if not careful. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
No Rice, you may want to consider just pre-mixing your oil/gas. It's a pain, but at least you would know you were burning the right mixture. I have seen plenty do that with watercraft that were having oil pump issues. They just bypass the oil pump and pre-mix their gas. M2statz, you are so correct. Being setup with 10-18" of suspension out front and rear allows for plenty of air time, and the ability to soak up the surprises. I run a 1.5" snowcross track as well on one sled. This isn't like the big 2.5" mountain tracks. This one will bite on the hardpack, but still give me some grab in the fluffy snow. That rear-end has 17" of travel! That doesn't mean it won't get sucked up in a drift if I case a landing, or the light is just flat and I do something stupid! These are the dual sport sleds for us flatlanders!  | ||
| No_rice |
No Rice, you may want to consider just pre-mixing your oil/gas. It's a pain, but at least you would know you were burning the right mixture. I have seen plenty do that with watercraft that were having oil pump issues. They just bypass the oil pump and pre-mix their gas. many of my old sleds were premix and i was fine enough with that simply because thats the way it was. the problem as i see it with eliminating the oil pump is that from what i see it also oils the bottom end of the motor. to do things(as correctly as seems possible) you either have to tear apart the motor to drill some blocked off passage ways, or there are some block off plates that have a grease fitting in them and you grease the bottom end every couple of rides(both options apparently have been seen to speed up the wear as compared to normal longevity) | ||
| Biffdotorg |
Grr, that sucks. No cheap solution for you then. | ||
| Mr_grumpy |
No Rice, That oil pump is a Mikuni item so may be fitted on other stuff too. | ||
| No_rice |
havent done anything about the zr yet... but snow HAS to be getting closer!!! | ||
| Loose1 |
It's snowing here right now. Wont amount to much though | ||
| Biffdotorg |
we got shelled with snow! And we have the least amount of anyone in the region. The Northern half of MN is now white with snow depths ranging from 5" to over 30" on the North Shore! WOW! The Buell has officially moved to the back of the garage!   | ||
| Loose1 |
We got about 6" in St.Cloud, and highs near 0 this weekend. | ||
| Biffdotorg |
I'm good to about -15, then I will usually skip riding. We did some -10 last couple years. It can be done, but it's not ideal. The sleds don't mind. I had a bit of exposed ski on a -10 ride and that left some painful frostbite. I have learned my lesson time and again. I heard word of over 40" reported on the North Shore. We are heading towards Detroit Lakes tomorrow hopefully. Looking for some groomer action. All this snow will be bulletproof after -15 this morning! | ||
| Biffdotorg |
Freakin' -28 degrees in the Fargo-Moorhead area on Saturday morning. That's not Celsius, and that is not calculating in wind. That is just plain all out, nipple ripping cold! I was not about to go out in that cold. There will be warmer days for riding soon. |
