When it's too cold to ride the Duc --

[PhilB]

Went snowmobiling today – had a blast. I hadn’t done that since I was 12, and that was a while ago. A local friend invited me; we did a trail loop in the morning, then he picked his daughter up from play rehearsal and we had lunch, and the three of us did another loop.

That’s a pretty good workout; you use a lot of body English to keep those things level and get around the corners. It took about an hour for me to really get the hang of steering it. It’s a balance of the handlebars/skis, with the body positioning, and a fair amount of steering with the throttle – get your weight forward, hit the gas, and let the tail slide around until it’s pointed the right way.

After about 10-15 minutes of that, being cold is no longer a problem; sweating under all your layers is. On the first loop, my toes were a tiny bit cold. For the second loop, I put on extra socks, and was warm all over, even though it was about 10ºF (-12ºC) out. It was a beautiful day – sunny and bright. Good times. Thanks, Mike!

PhilB

[Whymista]

Lol awhile ago

[Electrical_Tech]

Sounds awesome Phil.

What kind of snowmobile were you riding?

I know what you mean by it being a workout. Man handling a 600+ pound sled is quite different from leaning a bike over. And the accelleration of some of those machines is quite exhillarating. My own is only a 600 Polaris, but it's touting a health 110HP roughly and it can skidaddle when you get on the gas. I shudder to think the power behind these sporty sleds ...

Glad you had some fun at least

[PhilB]

He's got a couple 2-stroke Polarises, so they're not quite so heavy. I rode a 340 twin; he and his daughter were on a 550 twin.

PhilB

[Electrical_Tech]

Mine is a 600 Edge Touring .. Dry is 587lbs. Add 12gal of fuel and 2qts of oil

[Alawicious]

Snowmobiles do look a little challenging to ride, especially if you're used to bikes I watched a snowmobile riding show on Pay-Per-View the other night and it looked like they were having to manhandle them some. The show was some kind of "snowmobile stunts gone bad" sort of thing

Glad you and your friends had a great time

[rockertom]

They are wicked fun to ride. Glad you had a good time. Can be addicting though. 100 on the snow is definatly not the same as a bike though.

[Electrical_Tech]

Originally Posted by rockertom

They are wicked fun to ride. Glad you had a good time. Can be addicting though. 100 on the snow is definatly not the same as a bike though.

+1

100HP bike and you're sailing through 100 without even thinking about it.

100HP sled .. if you have perfect conditions and gearing you can probably reach it, and when you do .. you KNOW how fast you're going

Mine will reach the century mark (indicated) on a lightly snowed pond. To 90 is wicked fast, then accel slows as you reach the hundred and if you still have room maybe creep past to 105. I can cruise groomed trails at 80 no problem.

[blurr]

oh hell you rode babies, some of the big boys can actually Wheelie now.

Glad you had fun, I take it you did not get buried

[Joe]

Originally Posted by blurr

oh hell you rode babies, some of the big boys can actually Wheelie now.

Glad you had fun, I take it you did not get buried

some!?!?!? most any 800cc or bigger pull the skis, My bro has a skidoo with a 1k rotax he blew it up last winter so when he rebuilt it he added NO2, good thing for him he's 6'5" and 315, my self I want nothing to do with that one