Snowmobiling by the Numbers

[old abe]

Actually snobuilder is more right than wrong about this. And if you want to back up even further I would bet money that the guys that built the first sleds had consistent BAC levels that would now be considered illegal. I remember many of the early cross country racers and factory guys for both Polaris and AC. They were all guys that you were much more likely to meet in a bar rather than a church. There have been threads all winter about clubs short on help because there are no new hands to help and the old guys are gradually going away for one reason or another. The old guys were there from the beginning when snowmobiling meant going as fast as you could from bar to bar. Like it or not that is how it all started. There is just a different mindset now. But the current mindset never could have done what the guys in the 70s and 80s did. They are not as hardcore or committed. Some are but most are not.

Grub I have to agree. But there were also more whole families involved too. Many more club trips, maybe not as organized though.

 

[1fujifilm]

Grub I have to agree. But there were also more whole families involved too. Many more club trips, maybe not as organized though.

Oh yeah, the after school/work rides when I was a teen was the highlight of my day. I rode the 335 Olympique, dad had the 440 TNT and my uncle had the cool Puma with the rear skid "lift kit" to raise the rear end a few inches and the custom painted big-mouth hood. When I saw it I thought what the heck are cleats and slide rail as our doo's still had bogies.
I was well aware of how to fix broken bogie wheel springs at 14 as my Dad transferred that duty to me as we broke one on every trip (plowed fields). Also, getting the muffler welded needed to occur once a month as that single cylinder vibrated them off.

Bear

 

[Tracker]

Yep, Sea&Snow!!!

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Tracker????????????????????????????

DATS RIGHT old abe....it was LARUE'S LOGGERS and some makers mark that opened up the entire NORTH WOODS in da U.P. 25 years ago.....grubs right...if it wasn't for us REGULATORS going bar to bar at WOT there would only be 1/3 the trails we now have......LOL...and....we never stayed right....literally......ROTFLMAO

lookin fer ever little rarebit hole....9 years ago flashback with a cross cut saw...ah the memories

 

[old abe]

DATS RIGHT old abe....it was LARUE'S LOGGERS and some makers mark that opened up the entire NORTH WOODS in da U.P. 25 years ago.....grubs right...if it wasn't for us REGULATORS going bar to bar at WOT there would only be 1/3 the trails we now have......LOL...and....we never stayed right....literally......ROTFLMAO

lookin fer ever little rarebit hole....9 years ago flashback with a cross cut saw...ah the memories

Tracker, I was talking about some 50 years back!!!!!

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Oh yeah, the after school/work rides when I was a teen was the highlight of my day. I rode the 335 Olympique, dad had the 440 TNT and my uncle had the cool Puma with the rear skid "lift kit" to raise the rear end a few inches and the custom painted big-mouth hood. When I saw it I thought what the heck are cleats and slide rail as our doo's still had bogies.
I was well aware of how to fix broken bogie wheel springs at 14 as my Dad transferred that duty to me as we broke one on every trip (plowed fields). Also, getting the muffler welded needed to occur once a month as that single cylinder vibrated them off.

Bear

I hear all that fuji!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we sure did have fun doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll never forget my uncles first Merc, it was as big, and as heavy as a locomotive. My first was a "silver bullet" TNT.

 

[1fujifilm]

Tracker, I was talking about some 50 years back!!!!!

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I hear all that fuji!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And we sure did have fun doing it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'll never forget my uncles first Merc, it was as big, and as heavy as a locomotive. My first was a "silver bullet" TNT.

I remember both; did the mercy have a rear gas?

Bear

 

[snobuilder]

I first did a test to see if DRUNK would come out of the machine as ***** on here.

 

[snomoman]

Ah the memories of days gone past... Back before wheels were round, I had an old skidaddler. This thing was a beast.
My friends nicknamed it "Dork-A-Saurus Rex" Is was as primitive as it gets.
I could stop at 5 bars within 10 miles. It seemed kind of like a marathon run back then.
We didn't have many trails here in the western suburbs of Illinois in the late 70's
so I took what I could get. There was a heck of a lot of snow back then it seems
compared to today