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lenny
Guest
Daniel is doing well and likes living out in Norfolk. He is married and lives off the ship,,,no complaints at all!
Everybody says to go long
- Thread starter indy_500
- Start date
Hey, looks like we have the country protected coast to coast, Kristin is in San Diego, married, to Chris who is also serving, and even had time to give us a grandson. We are a couple of proud dads for sure!!!!!...........Sorry about the thread hyjack Indy.....
indy_500
Well-known member
no problem not like the thread served much purpose anyways! point of this forum is to communicate and have fun, people get their panties in a bunch too often around here!
polarisrider1
New member
Sux to be them! Indy not everyone is happy like us. Many of these "cry babies are un happy with their lives so they kick their dog, beat their kids and wife. Are for the most part cowards. Some folks just can't be helped or do not want to be helped. Some just think they are funny by stirring up the pot. Others just have mental illnesses and are unaware of the world around them. But it does make the world go round and keeps our prisons full.
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I have a question for the guys that subscribe to the "longer is better" mantra. I'm not trying to be a smart *** or boast about my "mad skills", I'm just curious. What is the draw for you guys to ride off trail in the U.P.?
I understand a lot of people ride their mountain sleds out west also, and it doesn't make sense to have two different sleds. I just don't understand why anyone would bother with off trail riding in the U.P., if the point isn't to be challenged. I ride a 141 x 1.5 lug. I find it to be MORE than plenty for the U.P., and it "gets by" out west. I find myself searching high and low for anything challenging enough to be fun for me in the yoop. The only thing that really ever gets me in trouble is picking lines up through tight trees where I'm forced to get out of the throttle. It's the challenge and the adrenaline rush of not knowing I'm going to make it that is the draw for me, personally. Also I find that a shorter sled is a LOT more fun to whip around.
So if you have a sled that will take you anywhere you want to go, unchallenged, then what is the draw for you? If you just want to cruise around, take in the scenery, be outdoors, all without the threat of getting stuck or being challenged, why not just stick to the trail?
Is it age? The older you get the less you want to deal with big stucks and broken parts? Will I "see the light" in a few more years when my bones and joints don't behave like I ask them to? I do have days when I just don't feel like working at it myself. On those days I take it easy and just enjoy being in the woods, but I don't go home with the same feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction as a day when I hit it hard, and got into and out of, nasty situations. Does that desire wear off with age? What am I missing about the long track phenomena?
Like I said, just curious.
I understand a lot of people ride their mountain sleds out west also, and it doesn't make sense to have two different sleds. I just don't understand why anyone would bother with off trail riding in the U.P., if the point isn't to be challenged. I ride a 141 x 1.5 lug. I find it to be MORE than plenty for the U.P., and it "gets by" out west. I find myself searching high and low for anything challenging enough to be fun for me in the yoop. The only thing that really ever gets me in trouble is picking lines up through tight trees where I'm forced to get out of the throttle. It's the challenge and the adrenaline rush of not knowing I'm going to make it that is the draw for me, personally. Also I find that a shorter sled is a LOT more fun to whip around.
So if you have a sled that will take you anywhere you want to go, unchallenged, then what is the draw for you? If you just want to cruise around, take in the scenery, be outdoors, all without the threat of getting stuck or being challenged, why not just stick to the trail?
Is it age? The older you get the less you want to deal with big stucks and broken parts? Will I "see the light" in a few more years when my bones and joints don't behave like I ask them to? I do have days when I just don't feel like working at it myself. On those days I take it easy and just enjoy being in the woods, but I don't go home with the same feeling of accomplishment or satisfaction as a day when I hit it hard, and got into and out of, nasty situations. Does that desire wear off with age? What am I missing about the long track phenomena?
Like I said, just curious.
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polarisrider1
New member
Wow, that is a lot of questions. The easy out would be to say, "If I have to explain....you would not understand". But to shed the light of info on a guy who I suspect knows many of the answers to the questions he asks, I would have to say, I can give you my version and it will differ from others.
The draw for me is it is safer, I can limber up the old bones for my "real" trips west. A 155 RMK Pro is way over kill in the UP. I have rode with many of the regulars in the Keewenaw. You really have to look to stick that sled. I will attach video of a 155 whipping around on my last trip to Brooke Lake. As far as the challenge, it is there in Cooke City, Island Park, Togwotee/Lavs Mtn., Revelstoke, and many other Rockie Mtn. range areas. That's why my sled is called an RMK (Rocky Mtn. King). Next question why do we ride them in the UP? well location, cost to get there is lower then going to Wyoming, Still is fun in UP. Age in relation to stucks and broken parts??? well I am 18 years older than you and broke a few parts this year (all above 10,000') Stucks are still part of the equation. Your in your prime and the desire only wears off if you lose interest. Key is to have the right group of guys to ride with. As far as the long track, it is currently the only sled I own and or desire to have at the moment. The Pro clutching can be changed in under 15 minutes if you go at it. I speak a bit about off trail in Ontario, this is as close to the Snowies (minus widow maker) that I can get to in an 8 hour drive. The Badlands and power lines north of Wawa are quite the challenge. 4 hours north yet still south of the bridge (LP) I have found steep and deep thats right up with the UP (you have to be ready to go when it is great). I just can't give it out. each year there is less and less of it to ride.
Get your self setup on a trip out west to say, Cooke City and you will figure out the phenomenon or your pulse needs checking!
one of the last videos we shot with Skinner Bell http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vodMxV4_9Ow
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polarisrider1
New member
Some of your questions are answered here on this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPBv51NLeTc
skiroule
Well-known member
Boy, Snoluver1, you sure ask a lot of questions for a guy from Illinois (sorry, I keep forgetting you’re East Coast – you’ve assimilated so well). As you know, I’ve moved up to a 155 this year and I’ve mostly solved the challenge problem by being a really sucky rider.
This year I had the benefit of riding both the 155 and my old 144. It wouldn’t be completely fair for me to compare both until I’ve had the same 8 years on the 155 as I’ve had on the 144 but then I’ll be, like, 90.
Normally, without the monster snows of this year, if I were forced to pick a sled for a day to ride in the U.P., I’d take the 144 every time. In part for the maneuverability, but also the ability to generate some track speed without uncovering some bubbling crude. But as many have said, a 155 could be a real asset by the end of this season.
In northern MN, the equation shifts somewhat for me. A lot of the terrain is a little more wide open and in the sugar snow conditions up there I’ve found the 155 to be an absolute blast. I have to say that standing that thing on end coming out of a creek bed is just pure fun and blasting down a power line pruning tamaracks in deep snow is a good as it gets.
What does this all have to do with answering your question? Probably nothing, but your point is well taken. A lot of rider satisfaction has to do with the challenges that are met by rider skill. As machines become more and more capable, it stands to reason that the degree of difficulty has to increase to maintain that sense of satisfaction. Is that wrong? Not at all, riders are doing some amazing things with long track machines. But, by the same token, I’m not going to feel inadequate because I often find my challenges on a smaller scale with a smaller sled and one of these years I’m going to reach the summit of the end-loader snow pile in my front yard with my 121x.82.
This year I had the benefit of riding both the 155 and my old 144. It wouldn’t be completely fair for me to compare both until I’ve had the same 8 years on the 155 as I’ve had on the 144 but then I’ll be, like, 90.
Normally, without the monster snows of this year, if I were forced to pick a sled for a day to ride in the U.P., I’d take the 144 every time. In part for the maneuverability, but also the ability to generate some track speed without uncovering some bubbling crude. But as many have said, a 155 could be a real asset by the end of this season.
In northern MN, the equation shifts somewhat for me. A lot of the terrain is a little more wide open and in the sugar snow conditions up there I’ve found the 155 to be an absolute blast. I have to say that standing that thing on end coming out of a creek bed is just pure fun and blasting down a power line pruning tamaracks in deep snow is a good as it gets.
What does this all have to do with answering your question? Probably nothing, but your point is well taken. A lot of rider satisfaction has to do with the challenges that are met by rider skill. As machines become more and more capable, it stands to reason that the degree of difficulty has to increase to maintain that sense of satisfaction. Is that wrong? Not at all, riders are doing some amazing things with long track machines. But, by the same token, I’m not going to feel inadequate because I often find my challenges on a smaller scale with a smaller sled and one of these years I’m going to reach the summit of the end-loader snow pile in my front yard with my 121x.82.
I love riding off trail in the yoop for a couple of different reasons. I love carving up an untracked logging road, climbing hills, dropping into creek/river bottoms and seeing where they end up, every aspect of it. Do I need a 155 for carving logging roads? Nope. Do I need a 155 for climbing something steep? Yep. I am 45 now and my enthusiasm for riding off trail has not wavered one bit. I do not mind the stucks, I do not mind the work that getting unstuck entails, but, I have had a lot fewer stucks since I went to a 155 in Dec 2006. I would say I have average skills for a 45 year old short chubby kid, and having a 155 helps me do things that I might not be able to do with a shorter tracked sled.
As I have gotten older I have noticed I have lost some of my quickness, and reaction time. Sometimes my brains says, quick, hop over to the other side, but my body says "what, huh, you want me to do what?" and by that time I am stuck, or on my side, or upside down LOL. Now, I could start working out, working on my cardio, which would help when I am riding, but, after 10 hours at work, I just can't find the energy to do that LOL.
I like being challenged, but I also like to succeed in what I am tring to accomplish, as in climbing up a steep hill, and with a 155, I have a better chance of doing that.
As I have gotten older I have noticed I have lost some of my quickness, and reaction time. Sometimes my brains says, quick, hop over to the other side, but my body says "what, huh, you want me to do what?" and by that time I am stuck, or on my side, or upside down LOL. Now, I could start working out, working on my cardio, which would help when I am riding, but, after 10 hours at work, I just can't find the energy to do that LOL.
I like being challenged, but I also like to succeed in what I am tring to accomplish, as in climbing up a steep hill, and with a 155, I have a better chance of doing that.
skiroule
Well-known member
As I have gotten older I have noticed I have lost some of my quickness, and reaction time. Sometimes my brains says, quick, hop over to the other side, but my body says "what, huh, you want me to do what?".
At 64, I think these two things are communicating via smoke signals.
Great post though and some good stuff on this thread!
I get that longer tracks work better. I also don't expect anybody to feel inadequate because they ride a long track. Just about everyone I have ever ridden with rides a longer track than me. I am by no means exceptionally better than anyone I ride with, yet I find the longer the track, the less fun I have. So I guess my curiosity boils down to, why am I such a minority in thinking shorter tracks are more fun to ride?
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polarisrider1
New member
Not sure why you feel as a minority other than you may really never got yourself into the truly steep and deep. Maybe your still challenged by the shorter track sleds. As the skill levels and daring grow then the tougher challenges also grow in many of us moving us to the next level. The longer tracks take us higher and steeper and through much more narly terrain. Even to the point that most of us Pro riders say, "That sled is way better sled then I can ride" (safely). Thus it get's my respect and yet the incentive to master it's capabilities. I guess another way to put it is the 121 is no longer a challenge. I went from a 121 to a 136 to a 144 to a 151 then I met a better sled than I am rider... my 155. I suspect that will be my peak. The 155 RMK Pro has a learning curve and in 2 years and 2600 miles of riding it I am still at the baby steps level with it. The sled is miles ahead of me. I like the learning and the challenge.
I have to admit, those Pro's sure look like you can whip them around like a shorty! I may have to try one of dem things next year. Maybe the Pro would change my mind about going long?
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lenny
Guest
keep in mind that if you live here in da UP you get the luxury of riding right after the big dumps and having to park the sled downhill and getting stuck in silly situations goes away as the track gets longer. Easier can mean two different things, less stucks and more successful lines
Snoluver1, anytime we can get together you're more than welcome to give mine a test run. Just try to remember where you got it.
That is a pretty generous offer Skiroule! One that I just might have to take you up on!
You say goofy, I say BAD Asz
