Vilas and oneida
- Thread starter pclark
- Start date
indy_500
Well-known member
It will be a treat after the new snow and cold!Nice keep advising buds Vilas doesn’t need 2 feet of snow to be good.
hermie
Well-known member
In St.Germain we could definitely use a minimum of 6 to get things decent again. Snow was pretty mushy like mash potatoes. We need the cold more than anything but the snow first will definitely help. They marked Big Arbor Vitae lake. A friend drilled a hole in his lake near 3 lakes and the ice was 8" thick. Glad to see you are back up here Indy maybe our paths will cross again but this time maybe we can stop in time to say hi to one another. If this storms pans out looks like a good chunk of Wi.,will be able to open up.
indy_500
Well-known member
Surprised BJ groomed everything last night. I’m assuming, to smooth everything out before the snow and cold. Debating going out for another small ride before we leave.
We did run down to Stillwaters in star lake last night. Boy what a difference in snow depth in the ~5 mile run from the 7/8 intersection down to Star lake. was still very rideable, but the snow depth varies a lot across vilas right now.
We did run down to Stillwaters in star lake last night. Boy what a difference in snow depth in the ~5 mile run from the 7/8 intersection down to Star lake. was still very rideable, but the snow depth varies a lot across vilas right now.
indy_500
Well-known member
Brought the little man up this morning! (I should probably stop calling him that since we’re the same height now). Started in BJ and went east across 8 and down to Star Lake. Stopped at Stillwaters for a soda and to warm up, then west across 11. And back up 15 for a total of around 50 miles. Majority of our riding was east/west. Those trails were PHENOMENAL. The north/south trails were a little choppy. Shocking eh? Great start to a great weekend! Enjoy the pics!
venturenorth
Active member
nice......trail 7N WAS right in my old neighborhood.....sure miss that Star Lake run from Vinchi's up to 8 and beyond.....
we'll be riding it in 2 weeks
indy_500
Well-known member
Photo dump from today! Took a 40 mile solo cruise this morning on all freshly groomed from BJ. 8 west and south, 10 east, then up 11/15. All fantastic. Then with the fam went north on 15, east on 6, and up 5 to bents camp for lunch. Came back down 6 and west on 8 back to BJ for another 60 miles. Couple chopped spots from traffic but pretty dang good for new years weekend!
Trails have been excellent! I was on some of the same trails today 2 East from MW to BJ was a 10 before noon. Lunch at Boulder beer bar. Lot of traffic out, but everything held up really good. Surreal scenery with the sun hitting the snow covered trees. More fun tomorrow
2 East from MW to BJ was a 10 before noon. Lunch at Boulder beer bar. Lot of traffic out, but everything held up really good. Surreal scenery with the sun hitting the snow covered trees. More fun tomorrowAttachments
indy_500
Well-known member
Last post from our trip! First pic from a little 20-25 mile solo rip this morning to the south, second pic from a 40 mile loop to Mani Waters. Took 2 west across and then followed hwy 51 on 8 back east to BJ. Near town in BJ was getting roughed up around 1pm which is to be expected on Saturday afternoon after new years, but majority of that loop was fantastic. Great trip! Little man got 150+ miles of riding in, I did another 60+ solo, definitely great timing with the fresh snow in the trees, and the cold weather keeping the trails tight making it a memorable one! And yes, he is wearing my red CKX mission due to fogging issues on his. Don’t think the heated shield was working so I had the joy of wearing it (we wear the same size LOL)
indy_500
Well-known member
Can’t believe I forgot to mention, saw a wolf on trail 8 early this morning near old 51 rd and Hoffman rd in the Gresham lake area this morning! Came over a small hill, staring right at me in the middle of the trail and I was on the throttle pretty good at the hillcrest to pop the skis and he bolted into the woods. No, I did not slow down to try to get a pic.
Indy, I noticed you have ski mounted scratchers on your sled, I have been researching scratchers extensively and those have caught my eye but dont know of anyone personally who uses that style, what are your thoughts on those. Id rather not attach anything to my rear suspension and a ski mounted scratcher to me seems like it would benefit the entire undercarriage as far as lube and cooling goes
indy_500
Well-known member
Just installed them on the little dudes 19 TNT 600 before the trip (I rode that sled on my early morning solo rips). We tried riding out of Conover a couple weeks ago and it was thin and bumpy and he couldn’t go fast enough in the conditions to cool the sled, and had the temp light go off, so I wanted to install something for him. That sled doesn’t have a temp gauge (other than the dummy light) so it’s hard to gauge how well they work, but they throw A TON OF SNOW! Can’t say it all makes it up to the heat exchangers because like I said, no temp gauge. We rode to Bents camp on Friday, which involves a lot of road riding, and our blizzards got up to 140, so we pulled over and dropped scratchers on all 3 sleds. We have the Doo rail mounted scratchers on our blizzards (just 1 on each sled because I’m poor LOL), and then the OTTP ski scratchers on the TNT. Our blizzards cooled down immediately, and he had no issues with the TNT either. They are extremely easy to install, at the moment happy with them thus far.
interesting
Thanks indy! always good to hear first hand, noticed them right away, now that have G8 guage, it has actual temp and was surprised on good trails wouldn't break 100 degrees, i forget the trail number but heading down to 173 some road running wasn't bare but not like trail was in the 120's. Ive gotten away without them for all these years but was looking at options if I do decide. Thanks for the response! much appreciated!
I've been running the OTTP ski mounted scratchers since 2019. This was on my '17 XCR and didn't want to drill into my rail.
They work pretty well. I also put them on my '18 XCR and my '24 XC.
A couple very small negatives. All these are uncoupled skids, so if you're jumping or picking the front skis up, they will sometimes flip backwards and I need to get out and flip them around. And if any deep snow, they throw a lot of snow with them still being up.
I like the replaceable tips also.
They work pretty well. I also put them on my '18 XCR and my '24 XC.
A couple very small negatives. All these are uncoupled skids, so if you're jumping or picking the front skis up, they will sometimes flip backwards and I need to get out and flip them around. And if any deep snow, they throw a lot of snow with them still being up.
I like the replaceable tips also.