What Is Fun On Snowmobiles?

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whitedust

Well-known member
I have been exposed to the more conservative snowmobiler this year & WOW is there a huge divide to what is fun on snowmobiles. To me the powder riders can get on it & high mark have a blast not my thing at my age but understand why it is fun. The big mile trail riders are in my wheelhouse of fun and some like to do that a lot faster than others. You want to trail ride under 45mph fine by me your right to do so. On the other hand other trail riders like to haul balls also their right to do so & their idea of fun. Both fast and slow trail riding can be done safely no problem with that. Then we have the straight liners like to go as fast as possible mostly on lakes..... no problem I see the fun in a lake blast. We also have the playful types that like to ditch bang or find stuff to jump & launch also aok with me very much is fun to do that kind of stuff too.

The powder riders, straighliners, bangers & faster trail riders are tolerant to each other & don't seem to care who does what type of riding just want to do their thing & be left alone. The slower trail riders under 45mph trail riders that I have been exposed to this year are the most intolerant group of riders I have ever met. They think anyone that rides faster, likes powder, blast lakes at triple digits & likes to bang & jump on sleds is stain on the sport of snowmobiling and they just can't understand why that type of riding is fun. I come away from these conversations with my head spinning & I just don't understand their intolerance to others? Why do they even care?
 
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xcr440

Well-known member
Its the same mentality on the roads and people sitting in the left lane on a highway trying to control traffic. I get the argument from them that "Its not a race", and I tell them they are correct! Its not a race, so why not just let me go by!??!
 
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skidoodoug

Member
I like to do all of what you said except for the off trail/powder, prob for the same reasons. I am mostly intolerant of people who are intolerant of the people who aren't doing what they want them to do. I am really getting intolerant of anyone who is intolerant of me stopping at bars to have a beer or 3.
 
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G

Guest
Still don't understand why people buy mirrors. Nobody ever pays attention to them anyway. Came up on three groups on our trip this year. All had mirrors. Nobody stopped or pulled over. Followed them each for a couple of miles. Didn't try to pass on the trail. Good way to get in a fight these days. So we waited until a lake and then gave them a wide berth when we did go by. I will never understand why a person would go 35 or even less on a nice wide rail with no sharp turns. If you have seen one pine tree you have seen them all. To me it would be eternally boring.
 
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groomerdriver

New member
grub said:
I will never understand why a person would go 35 or even less on a nice wide rail with no sharp turns.
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Maybe that was me and my two kids and it was their first or second time on a trail. They just weren't comfortable yet.

Sorry for wrecking your ride.....NOT!

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skidoodoug said:
I like to do all of what you said except for the off trail/powder, prob for the same reasons. I am mostly intolerant of people who are intolerant of the people who aren't doing what they want them to do. I am really getting intolerant of anyone who is intolerant of me stopping at bars to have a beer or 3.
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Well stated Doug!
 
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snowshoe

Member
+1 to what groomerdriver just said. Sometimes those slow trail riders are wives or kids just learning the ropes.

I'm usually the high mileage rider. A 300 mile day is a great day! That said my favorite ride this year was 80 miles with the wife and kids. She may have hit 45mph in an open field. It was a change of pace for me and I couldn't believe all the deer, turkey, etc I saw at that pace.
 
scoot

scoot

Member
Firing up the Kitty Cat and vintage 250/300 cc sleds and riding around the family farm till dark with the grandkids. Then roasting marshmallows at a bonfire on the hill that overlooks the lights of town. Then riding back to the house for chili and hot chocolate. We used to do the same (minus the KitCat) when I was young, but we'd ride the trail into town. Today on 250cc sleds with no mirrors, we'd be considered a nuisance to be pelted with ice chunks.
 
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timo

Well-known member
me personally am all about fast trail riding. trying to jump my sled on moguls or road crossings also appeals to me.
riding fast on a trail is a rush i've found can't be replicated with anything i do in my life, its a blast.

i have no problem with the slow trail riders, just wait for a safe place to pass if they don't pull over. we all learned at some point.
i have no interest in off trail, riding 5mph thru a woods on a 60 degree hill digging my sled out every 200 yards don't appeal to me.
 
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zimmer1310

Member
I don't like riding without mirrors and to your point Grub, there are still bleep holes that if you are doing 50 down a grade, cannot wait 3 miles for the next stop and want to pass a group no matter what it takes. never understood the huge hurry. There is always 5% in every sport or hobby that you just cannot make up!
 
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snobuilder

Well-known member
You guys pleading the riding with kids case surely will pull over and let the faster traffic go past....right?

I have taken relation and friends with young riders as well as my own family out for their first riding experience.

I try to ride low traffic areas and my head is on a swivel when doing so to make sure we are not putting ourselves in a situation that is dangerous or holding up ANYONE.

Easy peasy...why cause a problem? pull over and have a hershy bar.
 
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snobuilder

Well-known member
on a side note....whether on a trail or on a 2 lane highway, when getting passed the slower driver always seems to find a way to speed up....at least for awhile.
 
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fcat700

Member
whitedust said:
I have been exposed to the more conservative snowmobiler this year & WOW is there a huge divide to what is fun on snowmobiles. To me the powder riders can get on it & high mark have a blast not my thing at my age but understand why it is fun. The big mile trail riders are in my wheelhouse of fun and some like to do that a lot faster than others. You want to trail ride under 45mph fine by me your right to do so. On the other hand other trail riders like to haul balls also their right to do so & their idea of fun. Both fast and slow trail riding can be done safely no problem with that. Then we have the straight liners like to go as fast as possible mostly on lakes..... no problem I see the fun in a lake blast. We also have the playful types that like to ditch bang or find stuff to jump & launch also aok with me very much is fun to do that kind of stuff too.

The powder riders, straighliners, bangers & faster trail riders are tolerant to each other & don't seem to care who does what type of riding just want to do their thing & be left alone. The slower trail riders under 45mph trail riders that I have been exposed to this year are the most intolerant group of riders I have ever met. They think anyone that rides faster, likes powder, blast lakes at triple digits & likes to bang & jump on sleds is stain on the sport of snowmobiling and they just can't understand why that type of riding is fun. I come away from these conversations with my head spinning & I just don't understand their intolerance to others? Why do they even care?
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Great attempt at a post to discuss what we like about the sport whitedust.

First and foremost I enjoy riding, mostly with family, sometimes with friends. I've had the best times and the worst day of my life on a snowmobile. I enjoy a nice trail through the woods, an open unplowed road, three or four wide across a lake with my kids along side and a railroad grade. I enjoy stopping for the best breakfast and lunches ever. I enjoy talking about where we're going, where we've been and what we saw along the way. I enjoy the prep and the maintenance. But most of all I just enjoy the ride.
 
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polarismike

Member
whitedust said:
I have been exposed to the more conservative snowmobiler this year & WOW is there a huge divide to what is fun on snowmobiles. To me the powder riders can get on it & high mark have a blast not my thing at my age but understand why it is fun. The big mile trail riders are in my wheelhouse of fun and some like to do that a lot faster than others. You want to trail ride under 45mph fine by me your right to do so. On the other hand other trail riders like to haul balls also their right to do so & their idea of fun. Both fast and slow trail riding can be done safely no problem with that. Then we have the straight liners like to go as fast as possible mostly on lakes..... no problem I see the fun in a lake blast. We also have the playful types that like to ditch bang or find stuff to jump & launch also aok with me very much is fun to do that kind of stuff too.

The powder riders, straighliners, bangers & faster trail riders are tolerant to each other & don't seem to care who does what type of riding just want to do their thing & be left alone. The slower trail riders under 45mph trail riders that I have been exposed to this year are the most intolerant group of riders I have ever met. They think anyone that rides faster, likes powder, blast lakes at triple digits & likes to bang & jump on sleds is stain on the sport of snowmobiling and they just can't understand why that type of riding is fun. I come away from these conversations with my head spinning & I just don't understand their intolerance to others? Why do they even care?
Click to expand...


Fun to me is spending time with family and friends enjoying the outdoors and most importantly having everyone come home in one piece safely and live to ride another day. You think your the only one that has been held up by a slower group or passed by a faster one? I don't know where you come up with this stuff. So what are these conversations and intolerance you have experienced? It must be a pretty good story to make a post about, so why don't you share the details?
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
snobuilder said:
You guys pleading the riding with kids case surely will pull over and let the faster traffic go past....right?

I have taken relation and friends with young riders as well as my own family out for their first riding experience.

I try to ride low traffic areas and my head is on a swivel when doing so to make sure we are not putting ourselves in a situation that is dangerous or holding up ANYONE.

Easy peasy...why cause a problem? pull over and have a hershy bar.
Click to expand...

I agree. When I ride 2 up with my wife or back when my son was a rookie on a sled by himself I'm always looking in the rear view mirror so I'm not holding anyone up. I was riding solo the other day and we had someone in our group that was not quite as fast as us but not a slow poke. I held back in the twisties from my son (now 24 and not slow) to help make the slower member in the group who was behind me feel somewhat connected to the group. Sure enough the group we saw at the previous intersection ended up passing the guy behind me and was up on my tail. I immediately let them through because sometimes that's me wanting to get around the slower groups. For me I understand how it is when people refuse to pull over so I want to give them the respect I hope to get in the same situation. When I took my car onto a race track in Illinois they bring you to a class to learn etiquette. One of the things they teach you is if you see someone in your rear view mirror and on your tail that means they want to go faster then you...MOVE OVER! I wish more people would honor this both on the trails and on the highways.

And we should be teaching this to everyone...wives, children, newcomers to the sport or anyone who wants to take it easy. It's just common courtesy.
 
dfattack

dfattack

Well-known member
polarismike said:
Fun to me is spending time with family and friends enjoying the outdoors and most importantly having everyone come home in one piece safely and live to ride another day. You think your the only one that has been held up by a slower group or passed by a faster one? I don't know where you come up with this stuff. So what are these conversations and intolerance you have experienced? It must be a pretty good story to make a post about, so why don't you share the details?
Click to expand...

come up with what stuff?? and why do you want to hear details?? That's personal. Whitedust is making a general comment for conversation. Just look at the other posts who don't need details and who are chiming in. I usually ignore the back and forth banter between a few on JD since it's none of my business and I don't want to feed it, but this time I feel it's unnecessary on your part to say what you did. I happen to know the details what Whitedust is talking about and he has made it a general comment and left out specifics I'm sure for a reason since some may be on this site. The intent was not to hurt anyone's feelings but to simply talk about it. What's wrong with that?? I probably wouldn't have brought it up, but that's me. To each his own.
 
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