Sunday morning the thermometer at Maple Ridge Resort was pointing
at -12 as we heard a new Yamaha fire up. One of the guys staying below us
reeved it up and tried to run it off their trailer. Needless to say it loaded
up, stalled, and then he could not get it started again. I sent our resident snowmobile
tech, Fred Jr., down with the propane torch I always carry. He heated the plugs a bit and
then fired it up nursing the throttle until it warm up. You don't want to
run those cold sleds very hard, he explained. Not only will you foul out the plugs put
one can crack the drive clutch as it heats to fast.
We rode close to base Sunday testing our sleds, making adjustments,
and breaking things on the back roads and hills. I got hung up in a railroad
switch for a while that afternoon. It took two guys on the 800 Polaris and a good
running start with a rope to jerk me out! Just a little lower A frame damage
and a broken tail light from flying stones pulling me out.
We did get a good feel for the back roads and two tracks
as I did some GPS mapping for our members section up in the Hurons.
The new system was working great in the cold.
Monday morning we had some work to do before we headed over to Lake Gogebic.
On the first start I bent a ski mount on my pack sleigh as it hit a rock. We had to
return and repack with just the minimal needed for our three day ride.
Around 12:30 we were on Trail 8 just past Nestoria on Old 41. There is a long
straight section where you can see a couple miles ahead just before the trail crosses
Hickory Creek. I stopped at the far west end past the bridge and watched for any traffic
as the guys opened up the sleds a little. If anyone was on the trail I could
tell them over the helmet radios. Every one seemed to be running smooth so a guess our
adjustments over the past couple of days worked out. I was carrying most of the weight
and had the rear suspension set up stiff but it rode realy nice for the load. Fresh snow
and a 100 miles ahead!
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