Minnesota is making me MAD URRRR!!!!!

[kc0myy]

This is the land of 10,000 lakes. Some lakes are not even froze over all the way. And we don't have any SNOW yet to go riding. Is this Minnesota? This is the 1st year I have a nice sled to ride but there is no SNOW. URR!!!! I think you guys know the pain I am feeling right now. Its just a sad sad year for Minnesota.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Road trip is the only cure. Go to UP to ride for now. About 5 hours ride to decent snow. That's what I did this weekend and enjoyed it.

[SledNeck]

Quote:

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Road trip is the only cure. Go to UP to ride for now. About 5 hours ride to decent snow. That's what I did this weekend and enjoyed it.

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I rode 127 miles this weekend on some pretty good (uncroweded also)trails in Minnesota.

[iceman16]

i put on 57 miles tell the neck of my gas tank snapped off and had to bring it to the shop on the first day of my week vacation now i just have to wait to get it back. saw one group the whole day.

iceman

[WalleyeGod]

Sled Neck:

How are the trails doing this week.

[Uncle Bill]

SledNeck,

My sled is studded.

In N. Minn. (North of Hwy. 2) Do I have to worry about which trails I can ride on, and which ones I can't ?

For example, William Munger trail. (No studs)

This is the main reason I seldom ride in Minn.

[SledNeck]

Ive heard that there are trails that outlaw studs, but Ive never seen one in Minnesota in my life.

[Macgyver55]

The only ones I know of that dont allow studs are those multi use trails that are paved.

[Reynolds]

Ten or twelve years ago it would have been hard to imagine that we don't have decent snow in central MN in the middle of January. There's a reason why reason why all those trails have signs on them "Open Dec 1-Apr 1," you could actually snowmobile three or three and half months out of the year. There used to be a time when I was looking forward to the 1st of December because that meant the crater-riddled trails would be groomed. Thinking back ten years and beyond it seems like we were always riding at Thanksgiving. These past couple of years have been absolutely disheartening. I came home from Florida a week before Christmas last year to 8" of fresh snow. I was thrilled! I went out and bought a brand new sled. Five days later the snow is an afterthought due to the unseasonably warm temperatures and rain. This year has been no different. Well, today I sold my sled and I am glad I did. I cut my losses now and got out while my sled was still worth a dime.

[MikeYager - Suzuki]

Plenty of trails out there that ban studs. That's why I no longer ride around Brainerd/Nisswa and Park Rapids. Between stud rules and regulations over the years and the 50 speed limit I quit taking trips in Minnesota and stick to Wi and Mich.

[kc0myy]

I am dead aginst studs. Why do you need studs. To get up and go just alittle faster and maybe rig up the trails alittle bit. I don't know why people need studs. Now remember I am a new user to sleds and this is my opinion.

[SledNeck]

You are against studs because you are uninformed.

Studs are a safety issue as well as a performance issue.

Try stopping on ice without studs. Try even making across a lake with little snow without dangerously fishtailing.

If anything the unstudded tracks make more bumps in the trails due to more track spin.

Flatland sleds are incomplete without studs. Your wasting the power of your sled by not running them.

[kc0myy]

I don't go out there to go as fast as I can. I go out there is ride and enjoy the nature. Why would you even go out on the lake and only a little bit of snow. You'll burn up your track. Also about stopping on the ice. If you can't slow down in time don't go too fast. What do you do in your car when you just spinning your tires. You stop and start again. but you don't floor it. You start out slow and gain speed. If people would use your head insted of a hat rack people would not be ripping up the trails. Just my 2 cents.

[SledNeck]

Youre right.

You are new to snowmobiling. Get some experience then come back with an educated opinion.

[kc0myy]

Well this could get kinda ulgy so. I can't change the way you think. You can't change the way I think. So lets just end this on a good note. If I made you mad. I am sorry.

[Reynolds]

KC, I liken studs to using cleats when there is not a whole lot of snow out of the ice. Can I stand up on the lake with wearing just regular boots? Of course I can, but I can also fall down a much easier and break a tail bone or arm, so I use cleats. That's not say that studs are only a benefit to riding on lakes with little or no snow. Quite often corners in wooded snowmobile trails are formed into icy berms by the end of weekend with heavy traffic. It's a lot easier than you think to end up sideways out of one those corners. I guess I don't care much for careening out of control when there is an option out there that can prevent that.

[MN Mike]

I'm with Reynolds and SledNeck 100%, Studs are all about saftey and having control of your sled even if your just a mild mannered trail rider.

I've been one of those riders that has hit the corners on the trail where in my case it was loose snow, front skis stuck with the new skegs but no studs in the track, backend came around and the sled rolled right on over, scares the livin' you know what out of you and I hate bustin' up equipment. I was lucky, a little faster and I would have easily made it into the trees.

Mike

[Steve Bakken]

I would compare running a snowmobile without adequate traction equipment to driving a vehicle with four bald tires. Sure with a little care and responsibility, you can get around just fine, but it's the unexpected that will get you. With all of the unpredictabilities both on the road and on the trail, I want to have control of my machine in either situation.

I ride way more aggressively than my wife does, but guess who's sled I put studs on first?

[Bigbartguy]

back to the orig post- I wish we had some snow!

I keep waiting for an 8 inch snowfall.

[skidoorocks]

Maybe everybody should do a snow dance tonight. That would help.