Snowmobiles - how fast?

Supposed to get 4 to 8 inches Friday night .

Moj,
That's exactly what it was like every time I rode. The colder the better. I got off the machine and was sweatin' like crazy. I just had to put my handwarmers on the first 30 miles or so just to take the chill off. Once you started running pretty close to the envelope, you needed all you had just to keep the shiny side up. That was just the way we rode. Had to admit, that really cold weekend, when you really leaned into a turn anything over 50MPH that initial air blast out from behind the windshield definitely got your attention! Man, the sleds run so good when it's that cold! Had to make sure that you changed the jets so you didn't burn it down. Definitely the worst part of that whole day. Changing jets at 5AM when it's -35 out! Now that did suck.

The only way I can afford the sleds is to buy from "distressed" situations... usually late winter/early spring, when the guy that bought the sled last fall realizes he still has to make payments on it thru the summer.

The '02 Viper Im currently riding came with the invoice.... over $8600 delivered.
I bought the sled 3 months old and paid $4200 with 1100 miles on the clock and two years of warranty left. Had a buyer for my 97 700sx at $2900, so actual cash to upgrade not that big a deal.

I dont ride that much anymore, just a way to get out of the house in the winter.

   btw, predicted record high, 65 today! .... man gets me in the fever for the boat... BUT, snow again this weekend. reality check

62 wood wrote: Eddie, All the obsolete sleds...only the "big P" is still around out of that group.... there are 4 main sled manufacturers still around, however I dont think any of them are doing great on sales the last few years... maybe the 10G price to get a hi-po sled is part of the problem? how long has it been since you've ridden?

Yeah Steve, he sold each brand until they went bust then just moved on to the next one. He may have sold Rupp for a while too. He'd been selling Polaris since Scorpion folded in the early to mid-80's I believe. My Scorpion Sidewinder was a '81 or '82 I believe and that was one of the last years that Scorpion was around. I owned three different Polaris machines. They were pretty awesome. My SP was a screamer and I had reworked the suspension with Fox gas shocks in addition to the engine work so the handling and ride were just incredible. I can only imagine what the performance is like now on the new machines.

The last year I rode was 92. It was just getting to be so expensive. I rode with a bunch of guys who were very hard aggressive riders and we averaged 300 miles/day. When you run like that, there's no time to be sitting in the bars until we were back at the hotel at days end. Then we lit it up though!!!! The only places that were good riding were northern WI or MN. The travel time to northern WI or the UP was 4 to 6 hrs. and every trip to MN was at least 12 hrs. The only time it paid was to take at least a four day weekend. By the time you paid for lodging, food, gas and of course the bar, we figured it cost about $100/day (then). That was after I dropped $8K on the sled and the upgrades. Just couldn't afford that while the family was sitting at home. Got rid of it, bought the boat and never looked back.

The family time and memories far outweigh the sled trips. Whoever said owning a boat was like throwing money into an open hole in the water never owned a Hi-Po sled. I'll take the boat expenses any day.

last winter we were all dragging on lake ossipee my mxz will hit 110 when i touched on that( fast enough) my 16 yr old blew by me like i was standing still . the jerk had his best friend on the back
I could have killed him.
does anyone remember how hot sachs motors were? i had a 440 that was so precious to me when the track broke i used pliers to get the motor off, jumped on the back of my buddies sled and it was all that returned that night. we passed that enginless sled for yrs in the woods and always smiled

My father-in-law owned two different small full service gas stations that I helped him at on weekends for about 20 years until he retired and sold them. He sold Allouette, Fox Trac, Scorpion and finally Polaris sleds since they were practically first invented. I had a number of different sleds through the years. The last one I owned was a 91 Polaris 500SP. I bought it brand new and immediately tore it down and had the motor ported and the carbs overbored and then put twin pipes on it. Got gunned at 117 with it. I could hang with any 650 out there at the time. We routinely went riding in northern WI and MN.

Up in Bimidgi, MN one trip we left the hotel at 6AM and it was -35 degrees. We got back at 7PM with 375 miles logged and the temperature never got above -25 the whole day. Great times, but I don't miss the sleds at all. Much happier now.

Ha! I still have my old Rupp grass racer(Jbears kind of sport-hot and loud) up in the rafters above the shop. I haven't seen it in probably three years and haven't run it in over 15. The last time we ran the Rupp was across 200 yds of open water at Sauble Beach.
My first machine was a 399 Nordic and a pocket full of plugs.When we got married we bought a new Blizzard 9500 and a Citation SS. Those machines hold memories to us like the early Mustangs and Nautiques do for most of you. Today I run a GSX 4Tec and my wife has a Fan and they are pretty sweet but that Rupp was scarey. 100 mph today is just part of a run. The way these machines handle and ride and cost I doubt that I will ever replace them. I honestly never get cold when we are out. Hand heaters, bum heaters liquid heaters and dress appropriatly- I find I sweat just as much skidooing as summer 4 wheelin'.
I have a client coming in from Arizona today and I plan on taking him out for an afternoon of riding for our meeting. Tough day eh!!

jbear wrote: I bet Pete would come if he could!

PeteB won't be attending, the time-release door on his Y2K bunker he's presently in, waiting out the winter, is set for sometime in late March!

reidp wrote: Actually "North" Carolina is almost too far north for me. I'm gradually coming down with jbearitis, and I hear when you get older, there is no cure.

You know Reid, I thought in some of the pictures I saw of you that were taken this summer something was changing...I just couldnt put my finger on it..... til you explained your condition.. "jbearitis"...

Now I understand...

05 210 wrote: ^^^^^^^^^ that's cool Pete! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ You still got it? I see the carb throat is aimed strategically at the rider so you smelled like a gas can after riding it all day!    Mike

All the early sleds had the carb intakes pointing at the driver. When the racing sleds started to use jack shafts allowing the engine to move forward and lay down lowering the center of gravity it put the carbs up under the shroud. Then of course, it caught on with the regular trail type sleds. Yes, the carb intake in the drivers crotch was a problem. One of the hot upgrades was to remove the choke plate and shaft reducing it's restriction and then replace the intake grill with a aluminum venturi. With the solid aluminum venturi strategically located, it wasn't long before someone came out with one made out of rubber!!! The other problem is they did suck things like scarves up in them.

No, I don't have it anymore. Wish I did as there is quite a following of old sleds. They even race the old ones in there own classes.

^^^^^^^^^ that's cool Pete! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

You still got it? I see the carb throat is aimed strategically at the rider so you smelled like a gas can after riding it all day!

   Mike

   The new Yamaha four strokes (1000cc-150hp) will hit close to 130 in the right conditions.Most of the big 800 twins are done around 108-110mph. Maybe Phil(lfskizzer) will chime in on this.His dad just got a new Arctic Cat Z1 turbo 170HP.....I'm curious if he's rung that out yet. I'm more of a deep snow backcountry guy now, I got tired of meeting guys in corners at 80mph that can't stay on their side of the trail

     Mike

Pete,
It is 2/16/55 Meet me in Astor next weekend and lets have some cake!

Thanks Reid, Pete and bj...you guys got my back.

'Course now that I think about it...we are all kinda in the same place...age-wise. Definatly I got a "warm climate attitude"...had to turn the furnance on this week when the temps went in the 50's.

john

When I lived up North, in a previous life, my snowmobile had a Hemi, or was that a Cobra Jet?! Anyway, the speedometer wrapped around three times so no telling how fast it would go. Actually "North" Carolina is almost too far north for me. I'm gradually coming down with jbearitis, and I hear when you get older, there is no cure.

We actually had a dusting of snow here last Weds and it's supposed to be 68-70 degrees here today.