EUP Sledhead

Can anyone measure the actual rail length from front to back on a 137 skid? DuPont from grip n rip says 36” of inserts. Just trying to see how much that actually covers.

Get the longer ones made for the summits from BRP and cut to length for the 137. Longer ones have more inserts.

My father Spring order was made in Michigan at a small dealer today. No issues with cut offs. I’m going to venture to say dealers credit lines have a lot to do with early cut offs.

I was riding with a neighbor a few weeks ago in UP. We said our goodbyes for the day as we left our last break along the trail heading home. Following the neighbor at a few hundred yards behind as he was running harder than I was down a rail grade. Two county deputies jumped out between us at a stop sign and they attempted to catch up to him. I wicked it up following the cops to see my neighbor get a ticket lol. I was running 95 mph. And couldn’t catch their snow dust. 5 miles later at next stop sign the cops were waiting for me with my neighbor nowhere to be found. The cops came up to me laughing said your buddy has faster sled than us do give him a message. We don’t care how fast he was riding as there are no speed limit in this trail but tell him to stop completely at stop signs. He was in the right side of trail the entire time and in control so no issue with the speed said the officers. They asked if my buddy had studs in his sled like I did. The officers were really cool and we bs for 20 minutes and left. With that being said the safe and reasonable is a judgement call and if it was me I’d go to court. Especially if you have pics of the conditions at time of ticket and running traction products. The officer may not show up in court for it anyways which will go in your favor. However I do have access to free legal advice with a lawyer that is a die hard snowmobiler so I would feel comfortable chasing ticket. So only you can make that decision.

Years ago two buddies and I left a gas station after topping off. Trail was Saturday afternoon rough but we were still hauling the mail. I got about five miles and realized my buddy wasn’t there so I turned around and went back. I about wrecked I was laughing so hard. It looked like the scene of Ricky Bobby in Talledaga Nights running around in his underwear. My buddy was stripped down to his underwear running around in the trail screaming in his underwear with a trail of clothes behind him. My other buddy finally tackled him in snowbank and started rolling around. He forgot to put gas cap on his cat which had a wide neck filler and hitting the moguls fast gas burped out and soaked his junk. His clothes was ringing wet in gasoline. My other buddy donated the jeans and I donated the bibs so he could ride the 45 miles back to my house. By the time we got back he was begging me to take him to the ER. He was “out of commission “ with his wife for a month and didn’t walk right either. From where I was sitting it was hilarious watching his trail side strip down I couldn’t imagine what the people riding by was thinking especially the ones with kids. Double whammy we were at a highway crossing so cars were driving by also . I’m leaving my plastic piece in gas tank after watching that.

Snocross was ran in Detroit a few year ago

My father is 77 and rides a 1200 tnt. Last year he started having some issues and it finally got him as he blew a corner and did minor damage to sled. He had been riding the same sled for 4 years and just started to have issues. I was scratching my head so I followed him for several miles and watched to see what was going on. I picked up a lot just watching his riding. Getting older and getting stiffer and sore more along with losing some strength he was stretching out legs sitting further back which taken enough weight off front sled was pushing bad with that arms were stretched losing bar leverage. I ended up stiffening up rear suspension to get weight back on skis and added a handle adjustable bar riser to get a tad higher and titled back to get his arm leverage back along with adjust bars and controls to match. It worked great and issues disappeared and he got his confidence back at riding faster clip. Might be something you can check out.

Sad, just sad.

I confronted a group that was riding off trail where it was clearly posted and attempted to explain this is why trails close. They surrounded me and became aggressive.

Fortunately my two Sons and their two friends showed up. (all over 6'4"). The trespassers decided discretion was the better part of valor and left.

Not sure how this would have turned out if I had been by myself.

Don~

X2 on how sad these issues have become. From a volunteer and a landowner standpoint.

I phone inside pocket in my tek vest. With a small external power bank hooked up. Being inside pocket and external power no problems with cold and lasts all day not in airplane mode. Mainly in case of critical call that may come in. Last year I had to call 911 for medical response due to a sled accident and I was very grateful my phone was up and running hooked to a tower already and didn’t have to wait to power it up and phone search for one.

X2 of putting helmet on inside with glasses no fogging issues. I’ve had a lot of helmets over the years the oxygen is by far the best helmet for me to wear glasses. I don’t wear a balaclava just a neck gator and that helps a lot with fogging.

Myself wife and son wear the tek vest super sport wearing them under coats eliminated a layer to keep warm. The super sports take shape of your body after a couple rides and don’t really notice it now. 15 years wearing them. Thankfully haven’t been tested yet outside of a couple minor hits that could be worse but being high mileage riders at faster speeds it a matter of when not if. Here is a good read from the snow tech editor experience.

https://www.snowtech...r-all-the-time/

Married almost 40 years. If she's not happy or wants something she'll let me know! :-) If I hear "this would be a lot more fun if I had a better sled!" then I know what's next!

Seriously though, even thought we have been married a long time and since we were quite young, if I'm into something she isn't... oh well. And vice versa. Support doesn't mean that she needs to be "into it" either. But let's face it, it's best to get some level of participation or "buy-in" right?

Down south, it's drag racing. I spent many years dumping almost endless amounts of money into building several cars, super duty trucks and trailers, all of the money pit stuff. $500 bucks just to go Test and Tune on a Friday night. Eventually sold it all. But if my career had allowed me to be up here it probably would have been sleds instead. So I retired and then moved back. Problem is now is that I am retired. I didn't get to start buying my gear when I was working or at the height of my earning power. I'm starting my sledding life kinda late in my financial life. There will be no big trucks, multiple sleds and trailers. I could, but I simply got tired of paying for everything. And I'm not going back.

If she proves to like it, we'll pick up a much better sled. But if not, we don't have problems doing our own things. It's always been that way. If I had been into sledding in my younger days, I'd probably be like I am with cars. I'd get a 850 turbo then crank that up even more, or build my own. I'd get the software and start going nuts. I never want to take anything to somebody else to work on. Sometimes you have to. But I don't like trusting others. I saw two kinds of drag racers. Those that knew what they were going top to bottom or learning to. Then the "check book racers". Don't want to be that guy. It costs a lot more and you don't learn anything.

BTW, ever notice that a lot of auto racing wives have nice racks? You will now.

Thank you all,

Ed

Yep agree 100% on all accounts I’ve seen several guys go about the sport wrong and it ends up destroying their enthusiasm and then wonder why. That’s why we have been married so long understand different interests are a good thing. If your saddlebag trip materializes and in EUP and run into needing a hand for some reason PM I’ll see what I can do to help out.

Like others have said don’t skimp on warmth or equipment and you got a shot at your wife enjoy it. Women hate hand me down sleds or equipment. Especially if it’s from another female. lol. Yes I had Ride buddy that tried that and he went down in flames. On my first date with my wife i laid out up front that I snowmobile is my passion and warned her I’m gone all winter. Her response was I’ll try anything once. Did right by getting her the best I could afford at the time. Twenty five years later any sleds or equipment money spent On is never questioned and she even payed to build a new cottage in the UP. Talking about a hobby getting expensive. Lol.

I wired my direct do it stays on when I shut sled off at trail side breaks.

There is a lot of valid points made I thought I would add to them. I have researched this subject heavily as I’m AtV safety instructor to kids. I spent time on the phone with the people from Snell to understand the differences. I’m being basic here without getting into numbers.

DOT rating is worth about the decal used out in the helmet.

ECE is much much better is becoming the standard global with more stringent than DOT.

Snell unlike DOT and ECE looks heavier into slowing the speed of your brain down upon impact than energy absorption. Thus Snell helmets have harder shells but padding inside is thicker. Also the cost to get a Snell Rating is very expensive compared to the DOT ECE. Also Snell certifies every size helmet where as DOT can test one Size and certify that model all sizes.

I have 3xl head so I could find helmets in large Snell Rated but a 3xl would not be rated same model. This is where the weight of my brain being heavier has more force moving so harder to stop.

When mine jumps idle rpm it goes to a 1950 rpm idle. I’m not buying that’s normal. One of my 900T has never done it in 5600 miles. The other had done it since new and had 4200 miles. The one that jumps idle the throttle lever feels jerky compared to the other. If both machines acted the same I would write it off as normal. I guess I will find at end of season when sled goes to dealer.