Snowmobiling pics

[Jerry]

This is the "other" riding I do when its to cold to take out the XJ:

Sled is a 1996 Arctic Cat Bearcat 550, a long-track utility sled. Not all that sporting, but the long track does float nicely over powder snow.

Photos taken yesterday on the top of Grand Mesa in Colorado. This area is about 34 miles from my house. Trails have not yet been groomed, but it was some good riding! Top photo is at the Land's End lookout point.

(Yes, sled does have reverse and was backed into position for the bottom photo.)

The Yamaha V-Max 540L I had been riding since 1998 was sold last spring after it dropped a cylinder late in the riding season. I had purchased this Arctic Cat for $100.00 about a year ago, not running. Had only 1,336 miles on it. Needed a used stator plate and flywheel; a bolt had come loose, chipping the magnets under the flywheel and messing up some of the stator components. Bought used units on E-Bay, parts cost was around $225.00. This season is the first riding I have been able to do on the Cat, seems to go well even though the 550 is small by today's standards. Great to be outside again. I'm not a skier, so snowmobiling is my primary winter recreation.

[John]

That brings back some old memories

Back in the early 70's some of my friends had sleds, and the area in Maine where I lived had some nice trails. Many kids from out in the crountry would ride to school on theirs. We could ride for miles and not see a town. Many of the trails had warm up shacks, trail markers, and bridges over some of the streams. It's just so serene out in the woods in the winter. In the summer we would ride dirt bikes on the same trails.
Some of the hot sleds of the day were the Rupp 440 Nitro, the Ski Doo 640's, Arctic Cat El Tigre and Yamaha had a pretty hot sled back then, but I don't remember the model name.
Anyone remember the Ski Doo Alpine, the one with one ski and two tracks? How about the Moto Ski MS18, with the Xstra wide 18 inch track? Both of those sleds could go almost anywhere. How about the AMF machine from back then, anybody remember those butt ugly things?

[trbig]

I've only been on a sled one time, but like John said... Winter in the mountains is serene. When you get where you're going and kill the motor.... very cool.
I remember when I was a teen, I was at a buddy's house. His neighbor was drunk one night and took off down the street on his snowmobile.... it was the middle of summer! Pretty sparks! We laughed so hard we cried.. he was hootin' and hollerin' the whole way up and down the streets. No telling what that night of drinking cost him...

Tod

[dragxs11]

Beautiful pics Jerry!! We don't have snow here yet, but here's a pic from last year out of Hope Valley South of Lake Tahoe. The weather wasn't the best. Dads Skidoo 800 Summit, and my 583 Mach 1.[IMG][/IMG]

[Ken Talbot]

Gee, Jerry, if you thought it was fun up here last summer, you should bring your sled back for some winter riding. The local club's info page today reports 2 feet of fresh powder on a 9 foot base.

[Dragonrider]

Way cool! (heh)

[rneal55555]

And the Polaris Colt and Mustang we had a couple of those. I had that Mustang out once bouncing across the Moguls broke every bogey spring in it, That was one of them times the old man threatened to beat my A-- till my nose bled.

[Jerry]

Yes, Ken, I keep thinking about those Revelstoke area mountains...

DragXS11, I need to get down there or you need to get up here to get in some snow time! How about an XS Snowmobile rally?

I got into snowmobiling about 40 years ago, and have owned several sleds. The '86 Yamaha V-Max I ran for 10 seasons was considered a performance sled in its day. Picture below is from last spring, taken on The Flattops near Glenwood Springs, Colorado.



Biggest problem with this sled is that the track was to short for powder snow, and I kept getting stuck. When it lost compression on 1 cylinder I took the opportunity to move up to a long-track sled. Now I need to find a 12-foot trailer to accomodate the extra length of the Bearcat.

Anyway, the XJ sits in the corner of the garage, waiting for me to get started on a list of maintenance and upgrades. Snowmobiling is the next best thing!

[Dragonrider]

Well, I've gotta admit...if I didn't live somewhere where I could ride 374 days out of the year (everything's bigger in Texas) then I'd have to live where I could put the bike up one day, and get the sled out the next.

Ride on guys!

[skippy344]

Ditto, Danny!

I totally agree. I have never been snow mobiling, but it looks way cool! (heh, sorry Dan.)

Nice pics of the sleds and scenery. America really is beautiful!

greg

[dragxs11]

I would love to come and throw some powder over there. I'm sure dad would too. This is his favorite sport, even more than riding his xs11. I wish I could say we were on the way, but you know how it is. We're waiting anxiously for a storm that just came into the forcast, but for now I'm jelous Jerry.
Glad to read your a seasoned veteran. We started with a 1970 Scorpion for $200 about 10 years ago for pulling small logs out to make furniture. We were hooked instantly. We wore that one-lunger's cyl. egg-shaped. Next was an 86 skidoo safari for $400 which makes a cute little trail sled. Dad stepped into the big time in 96 with a 670 summit, then traded up in 03. My Mach 1 is a fairly fast "brick".... I usually let popps plow a trail or it's full throttle and don't stop. Can't complain, it was basically free.

[Ken Talbot]

Here's a shot one of the boys from the office took last spring when they were out on a routine field inspection. The trailhead for Boulder Mountain is about 10 minutes from downtown, and the local club maintains an extensive network of access trails up to and beyond tree line.



Did I mention you can even rent sleds here and go on guided trips?

[mro]

Last picture

I'm getting cold just seeing that.
Snow is something I could not live in, after about two weeks would go bonkers..........



mro