Ride on the 16th

[Roofer]

Looking forward to seeing the 800 in action. I only got to see one run once before and there were too many people. I really wanted one instead of our 500, but she didn't want to ride such a big machine. Maybe a good thing.

You will get to see the mileage it gets also with tires. I'm interested to see how it does. Spinning in the snow may rack up a few extra miles for all of us.

[Scott K]

Have fun, and be safe. I will be here back at home thinking of you all tomorrow! Keep the tire side down!

[Roofer]

What?? Did you hear something. Oh yeah, a squeak I heard from someone bailing out.........

I guess I bailed on you once too. Sure wish you were coming along.

[Scott K]

I know I wish I was also, butits one of them things, the wife made other plans, and wants me there also. I will make the next one though!

[Dave S]

OK everyone.

All systems are a go. It looks like things will be a bit chilly first thing in the morning only to warm into the mid 20's by afternoon.

I double checked the DNR site and nothing has changed since the last DNR update that I posted earlier. Be sure to wear a warm pair of gloves.

I might have to make a run down the road to verify the trail is definitely posted open where we plan on entering.

We still plan on gathering at the Riverside in Duquette at 9 a.m. Don't blink or you'll miss it.

We'll more than likely make a few stops out on the trails so bring something to eat and drink along the way.

We'll see you guys in the morning.

I'm the guy with the Rincon.

[Dave]

Have fun guys!

[Dave S]

Thanks Dave. Good luck in Mankato at the basketball tourny.

[Dave]

Thanks. Last weekend's "basketball" tourney resulted in six stitches above my son's eyebrow. Maybe I should bring his helmet with..

[Roofer]

Thanks Dave. Will try to get some pictures for everyone.

[Augusta]

How did the ride go guys? Was there alot of snow?

[Roofer]

Was about 4-5" of fresh snow. It made the ride go from good to great just because of the fresh powder. IMO

There may be a few short stories to tell, but I'll let the other guys chime in when they get a chance.

I have a few pics and some video. My batteries went dead without me knowing part way through. I'll see what I can put together. May need to steal some pictures from Fishy.

The weather turned out very well.

I clocked just over 72 miles, maybe a little bit of spinning.

[SomethingFishy*]

Had a great time riding today minus the small mishap

I'll post the ride pictures first..... and then the "mishap" lol.

[SomethingFishy*]

Tree V.S. Atv my little mishap. Nobody was injured, was going only a few MPH and slid catching the corner of the brushguard on the tree shattering the lower box on my Sportsman. Was able to drive the rest of the day without any hiccups. The damage looks worse than it is, The box will need to be replaced and a new right hand side light bulb. Should cost under $200 to fix. The box itself is around $160 and then any miscellaneous parts that would be needed.

[Dave S]

It was an excellent day for a ride. The 4-5" inches of virgin snow was a blast to ride in.

Some of the trails that are ATV only we a lot of fun as well. It was stop and go in some areas but for the mos tpart, we didn't have any major issues with getting stuck.

There were a few other riders out there on ATV's and there wasn't too much animosity from the snowmobilers. Most waved on their way by...........with all 5 fingers!!!!

The weather warmed as expected into the high 20's, but there was a good breeze.

All in all, we couldn't have asked for a better day to be out on the trails. We met some new people and had a great time.

As for the pictures, I didn't realize that Honda was so much smaller than the rest of the machines and the mishap sounded far worse than it looks.

Thanks to Roofer, somethingfishy, titelines, and Dozer for coming along for the ride. We'll have to figure out a way to choose a date that works for those who wanted to come along today. Maybe we have a gathering at the parade in Silver Bay. I'm still thinking about signing up for that, but this summer is very busy for me.

[Roofer]

Wow, you've been hard at work tonite already. I didn't realize that box was busted up that bad. Glad to hear you can fix it. It was great meeting you guys finally.

Am looking forward to future rides!

[Dozer]

Yup it was a great day for riding! Great trails, even a couple deep enough to make it a challange to get up the hills!

[Dozer]

Looking forward to next time!

[jltimm]

You must of hit the tree just right to get beyond the brushguard and into the plastic?

[SomethingFishy*]

 Originally Posted By: jltimm

You must of hit the tree just right to get beyond the brushguard and into the plastic?

Just caught the tree with the very outside corner of the bumper. The corner of the brushguard bent into the plastic, I think the cold plastic was the biggest factor.

[SomethingFishy*]

 Originally Posted By: Roofer

Wow, you've been hard at work tonite already. I didn't realize that box was busted up that bad. Glad to hear you can fix it. It was great meeting you guys finally.

Am looking forward to future rides!

The box/front end only took about 10 minutes to completely disassemble.

We will definetly have to ride together again. Spring would be great before things get dusty.

[Dave S]

we all had a good laugh when we were toward the end of our day and we were sitting at the end of the Yellow Birch by the Gandy Dancer (where the photo of the machines was taken) and along comes a couple with their 5 and 6 year old (guessing age)daughters. The daughter that was riding with her mother was out cold with her head on the handle bars. I'm convinced she could sleep through a nuclear explosion.

[SomethingFishy*]

The sleeping child on the snowmobile was priceless.

[Roofer]

Thanks for posting the pictures Somethingfishy. Now I can show my wife why we need a brush guard for her Sp500. Thinking about the motoalliance one. Looks the same for half the price.

[Dave S]

It was fun with the diverse brands we had along. I think each had the hi-points for the day, but overall, I think Roofer's machine was the most capable. Those Bighorns sure seem to allow you to turn around almost anywhere.

I have to admit that I am envious of Somethingfishy's set up with the heated seat and hand/thumb warmers. But if the DNR wouldn't be so anal about what the definiton of an ATV is and allow tracked machines on the trails, it would have been a blast to have all tracked machines yesterday. That would have limited us to certain trails though as we found out some trails weren't wide enough . I was just glad that no one was hurt.

[Roofer]

That was interesting with the tires. My bighorns are far from new, but performed very good. I was impressed. I have always had best luck with brand new tires, especially stockers with all the small lugs and sharp biting edges. They work well in the powdery stuff, and that's what we had after breaking through the crust.

I thought for sure that fishy would be leading in the deep stuff, being his tires were brand new. All the machines did very well considering their own situations. Titelines was dragging the plow mount through most of it and still got through the trails pretty good. I felt really confident anyhow with the group we had. Tracks would have been cool to see in action. Not sure if they would have kept up very good though in the fast trails.