All in wait…

It’s been a long summer. At this point, it’s been a very long summer. April 17th was the last snowmobile ride for us. Here it is, in the waning of November, we haven’t seen enough snow to ride… Granted, it IS still early… but that’s not the point. And after watching countless hours of sled films, I’m chomping on the bit already.

As far as sleds, the ‘72 Elan is ready to rip. Over the summer, I custom-mounted a gas tank from a somewhat more modern sled, and did away with the stocker. It’s only about twice as big, but it sits right under the rider…just like the modern craze. Apart from that, it got a new airbox, a cut-down bumper, and a slightly less abused hood.

Now, as far as the big sled… It’s at the shop (as in an actual dealer, a first.). It pulled a code over the summer, so we were going to get that cleared – since we can’t do that ourselves yet. But, as we went to load it up, it changed it’s style from “just a code”  to “won’t run at all”. Darn modern, sophisticated equipment.

Once again…

Sorry folks, but it’s due time for a rant…

Unfortunately, this one of those years that decides to snow a little bit early in the season, and then clear up and lets up and clears off… Meaning there’s enough snow to keep one from dirtbiking, and nowhere close to enough to sled on. That’s right, it’s like spring all over again – no motorized fun. So until it snows, we’re stuck to walking. That’s fine for a day or two – but not weeks. And while it’s usually a good thing, sun is all our forecast hold for quite a while…

Until next time think (or in my case, dream about) snow…

When opportunity knocks…

Have dirt, will travel...

First of all… I’m back. Sorry for the longer-than-expected delay on writing. Such is the price for having an extremely different school schedule – and trying to get ahead now, so I have more time in the winter to ride (although I don’t see what’s wrong with that!).

Anyway, there’s no snow yet here. Which allows for fall projects – including dirtwork.  And when there’s dirt piled up in berms, there’s only one thing to do: build it up a little, and then jump it on dirtbike.  Sounds safe enough, right? Of course, there are always fun little variables. Like having a 7-foot deep trench you have to clear…

Until the dirt gets pushed back, it’s good fun. Once that does happen, it’s onward to find new terrain… And continue getting everything ready for winter. Which, oddly enough, never comes too early here!

A different perspective.

that time of year…

shredding it on the "trainer" sled (aka the '72 model)

 

Every year, about this time, our snow withdrawals hit about the worst. Mostly, because it could snow any day now… but it won’t. Secondly, this is the time of year when all the sled videos have been released for the year. Monkey see, monkey (want to) do.

After that, we start looking at winter pictures to find new lines and terrain to hit. It gets so bad; in fact, that I start scoping terrain out on our dirtbike rides now… Gotta be prepared, right?

And then there’s the problem of being a growing teenager: most of my gear only lasts a season before I outgrow it. At this point, I have to choose my gear wisely – because it will most likely end up as hand-me downs for my dad (no joke!). Hopefully he likes Slednecks gear.

Mod Season

The end of summer. After all the work’s been done (or at least the biggest part), it’s that time. Time to tear down the sled, and getting ready for the next round of winter.

There are two sleds in our shop, my dad’s and mine. My dads has remained under its cover since the snow melted. And then mine has been torn down to the chassis, and put back together with various aftermarket parts. Not to say one way is right and the other wrong, it’s just two different styles (like you’ll see one of us go for the trees and technical terrain, and the other cornices).

So, with that said, i’ll give and update on mods… Apart from keeping my sled together (hopefully), i only got in a couple mods so far. The biggest one was a lightweight muffler – which knocked off 10 LBS. of weight. As far as smaller mods, a new taillight and a smaller top sprocket (to gear it down). Oh, and a little bit of paint – nothing fancy (i’ll try to get a couple pics up over the weekend of the somewhat final product!). We’ll see how it does this winter!