My First Snowmobile was a .....

gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
Not to steal any thunder from Skiroule and his Mutt Mod thread as there's many of us following along with his adventures. It got me thinking of my first snowmobile, the 69 Arctic Cat Panther. She was slow and she was heavy but as someone else said on here, it didn't matter what make or model, if you had a snowmobile you were living the High Life! I was just a young whip at the time, had to get Dad to start it as I couldn't pull that rope fast enough to get it to fire. Me and my brother would ride around in circles, eventually heading out on the farm fields of Wisconsin. No gear, no groomed trails, but we'd come home grinning from ear to ear. That old Cat gave us lots of memories, how bout yours!
 
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euphoric1

Well-known member
1972 Bolens Sprint, As stated in previous post at that age didn't matter what you had...as long as you had, It had a JLO Cayuna engine with one of the most finicky carburetors I have ever known, Walboro WF which was a marrige bewteen a float and diaphragm carburetor, was and still is the biggest POS carb I have ever dealt with. It also had a morphadyted slide rail suspension which I believe was custom made it had 2 separate slide rail assemblies and it ran within an all rubber track so there were no windows for snow to get in, there also were no nylon slides so it was metal against rubber. I would carry a bottle of dish soap and squirt under rails for lube. I have been snowmobiling since I was old enough to ride but this was my first sled that "I owned" so it really didn't matter. Two things happened because of that sled, one.... I had to work on it for an hour to ride it for a half so it sent me down the career I have chosen which eventually led me to be a successful business owner in the small engine repair and outdoor power equipment industry, second... It made me want better and here I am today still riding and plan on doing so until my body tells me I cant. Wasn't the greatest thing but I owned a snowmobile and at that age... made you the cool kid.
 
heckler56

heckler56

Active member
1972 Yamaha EW433 with two speed transmission. I ran what is now trail 417 between Munising and Marquette before it was a trail complete with train rails still present. Great sled other than starting issues. Low gear allowed for deep snow and woods riding.
 
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nytro_rtx

Active member
I started out on a '72 Kitty Cat (still have it) then my 1st big sled was a '80 Enticer 250! I had to have put a million miles on that sled, wish I still had it also!!
 
mezz

mezz

Well-known member
I didn't have my own sled until I was 16, worked my butt off saving $ for it, but, better later than never. My first sled was a '73 Suzuki XR440 purchased used in 1977. Fan cooled, twin carbs heat & 2 stroke blown right on you, I was never cold! Boggie wheel suspension that you could ride in any conditions. Heavy sled, but it was a blast & I put thousands of miles on it. Sold it for what I paid for it in 1981. Good memories & good times. '73 Suzuki XR440.jpg
 
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BigSix

BigSix

Active member
1971 Ski-Doo Nordic 399. Tough sled and the ride was also tough and rough with only about 2" of travel. Next I bough a 1973 Artic Cat Panther 340 with the Kawasaki engine. The Cat was a huge upgrade over the Nordic.
What I really grew up on were my dad's sleds; 1967 Johnson Skee Horse with a whopping 14 HP and then a 1971 Evinrude Skeeter.
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
1983 Yamaha SS440. I don't currently have the same exact sled but I had one restored and looks brand new. Can't wait to ride it this winter!
 
skiroule

skiroule

Well-known member
It’s really fun to read about the first/early sleds people owned and the memories they have of them.

The first sled I can actually claim to owning was a 68 Johnson Skee-Horse that I managed to put back together from a bunch of boxes of parts and a chassis. At best, it could manage 16 mph downhill on an ice -covered road with a tail wind but I would pile my wife and daughter on it and off the three of us would go. I’m not sure if it was the soothing hum of that opposed twin or exhaust fumes but our daughter would be sound asleep in about 15 minutes.

I eventually sold it to my uncle, who rode it for a couple of more years. To this day, it still sits out in the woods on his original farm homestead.
 
hermie

hermie

Well-known member
1978 Yamaha Exciter. Made payments to the guy all summer flipping burgers to pay for it. Bought it with 4000 miles has just over 11,000 when I sold it. That sled was bulletproof.
 
pclark

pclark

Well-known member
rph130 said:
1969 big, heavy, round, single cylinder, yellow, Skidoo bumblebee.
Click to expand...
You forgot to add Loud! I had one as well and my ears were always ringing for a day after riding that thing. Rode it one winter, sold it, and just kept moving up to nicer models.
 
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wiviperman

Active member
1975 Yamaha GP433, technically wasn't exactly mine as it was my Dad's, but I almost put more miles on it than he did. My Grandpa had a 1975 Arctic Cat Cheetah that I did actually put more miles on than he did, so I kinda thought that sled was mine too!
The 1st snowmobile that I actually bought with my own money is a 1996 Yamaha V-max 500, I currently still own/have it.
 
BigSix

BigSix

Active member
skiroule said:
It’s really fun to read about the first/early sleds people owned and the memories they have of them.

The first sled I can actually claim to owning was a 68 Johnson Skee-Horse that I managed to put back together from a bunch of boxes of parts and a chassis. At best, it could manage 16 mph downhill on an ice -covered road with a tail wind but I would pile my wife and daughter on it and off the three of us would go. I’m not sure if it was the soothing hum of that opposed twin or exhaust fumes but our daughter would be sound asleep in about 15 minutes.

I eventually sold it to my uncle, who rode it for a couple of more years. To this day, it still sits out in the woods on his original farm homestead.
Click to expand...
Your description of the speed of the Skee-Horse brings back some memories. My dad bought a wooden sled with wooden water skis to pull behind the 1967 Skee-Horse. My dad and one of my brothers would be on the Skee-Horse, my mom. sister and other brother would be in the sled and I, being the oldest sibling, would stand on the tail of the skis and hang on to a bar mounted to the sled like a dogsled! Granted, the weight of us 4 kids probably didn't exceed 150 lbs. but that Skee-Horse would pull us all around eastern Brown County at 15-20 mph (mostly in ditches or fields as there were no trails back then) and I can't remember being stuck more that once or twice. The Skee-Horse had only 14 HP but it must have had lots of torque.
 
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