"CodyVella" (codyvella)
12/13/2018 at 02:34 • Filed to: None
0
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"CodyVella" (codyvella)
12/13/2018 at 02:34 • Filed to: None | 0
| 25 |
Growing up in the Central Ontario snowbelt, I pretty much lived on sleds as a kid. Granted they were old, beat up ditch bangers. I had a 1973 Alouette Mini Brute as a kid, then a 1979 Ski-Doo Citation 300, and on to a pair of John Deeres, a 1976 John Deere JD300 and a 1982 John Deere Trailfire LX. As a teen I had a 1979 Arctic C at Jag 340 the never ran right, not once.
However it’s been a solid 6 years since I’ve even been on a snowmobile. A few of my friends that live in Toronto expressed interest in trying out snowmobiling , so I pondered the idea of buying a few old and beat up, yet reliable sleds just for people to enjoy.
I managed to pick up a 1988 Ski-Doo Safari 377e Scout for a case of beer! It di dn’t run when I got it but it was complete and not in too bad of shape. After a bunch of fiddling around and trying to find out why it was flooding out , we opened up the end of the motor to find the key for the magneto had sheared off in the crank, so the ignition timing was way off. We knew of an old abandoned Ski-Doo Citation in the woods near my town that had the same motor (this sled has been out there for a solid 15 years) and pulled the motor apart and scavenged the key off that one. Once it was in and put back together it fired first pull!
So far this $45 sled has been an absolute blast. It runs mint, and everything works as it should (save for the bent ski). The plan is to find a few more beater sleds over the next month or so. I’d absolutely LOVE to find an old John Deere Liquifier 440 or Spitfire 340 .
Anyone else on oppo ride snowmobiles for fun?
AestheticsInMotion
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 02:56 |
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Never been on one in my life, but I'd love to try. Someone on Oppo posts snowmobile races every year, I seem to recall they all had to be fairly old? I think there was a cutoff date. Made for a good read!
pip bip - choose Corrour
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 03:08 |
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not even once, obviously
need to get snow first.
Wacko
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 05:29 |
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I have my 2007 Yamaha venture mp
I bought it in 2013 and it had 700 kms on it.
This year I bought my trail pass so I should add so miles to it. I think I had just over 2000 kms on it when I but it away last year.
Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 07:06 |
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I used to back before kids/wife/lack of time.
1st sled was a 1998 Polaris XCF 440, was a ton of fun throwing through corners with it’s 8" carbides and studless track:
That was replaced with a 1 992 Arc tic Cat 550 Special with a thoroughly worked engine. Topped 110 mph and would pull the skis off the ground anywhere under 70 mph. Cornering was a fast/sideways affair :
That was replaced by my last sled, a 2001 Arctic Cat 440 ZL. This seemed the perfect sled for me, light/tossable, yet plenty of power ( identical to this only a 440 ) :
There were a bunch of others I rode or had briefly, but those are the 3 that stick with me. The other honorable mentions were these:
Loved the color combo on the little Phazer II. Was quite a fun little sled too.
MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 07:54 |
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So far this $45 sled
And now I’m off to craigslist
StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
> AestheticsInMotion
12/13/2018 at 08:25 |
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That would be myself and my buddy Elkidmino! Don’t worry, I’m commenting with some links.
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StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 08:30 |
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My friends and I are on our 4th year of “Cheap Sled Challenge”. Pre ‘85, leaf spring suspension chassis. We have 3 classes, stock, mod and outlaw. Last year we had someone put a newer liquid triple in a old leafer, went 95mph! We’ve had turbo’s, superchargers, NOS, hell even a motorcycle engine last year! I currently have a ‘78 Yamaha Exciter 440 I’m working on for this years comp, last 2 years I ran a ‘73 Panther 440 that topped out at 45 mph. Check out this search for some of our stories! https://oppositelock.kinja.com/search?q=cheap%20sled%20challenge&u=5876237249235080851&zo=-05:00
Also, the 1st, 3rd 4th 5th and 7th videos are from us.
https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=cheap+sled+challenge
BJ
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 08:50 |
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I grew up with sleds like those. Had a 2-cyl 220 cc ( ?) Bombardier for years that I rolled hard, then I inherited a single-cylinder Yamaha that was a step up in ride comfort and quality, but less punchy. Those were good times. You could ride those things hard and never out-do yourself. I took some rough landings, though, on the short suspension...
As a kid, the fastest sled I ever rode was a buddy’s Fazer 440 - at the time, speeds like that were face-melting for me. Later, I rode some of my brother-in-law’s bigger sleds, but they were too much work... you had to stand off one side to get any lean, whereas the old classics you could just shift your butt a bit for the same effect.
I think it's been 15 years since I touched a sled now. I miss it but it's not a priority for me, especially since I'm a big-city dweller now.
Pickup_man
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 09:07 |
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I’ve always wanted a snowmobile but I just haven’t been able to convince myself to buy something that I can only use maybe 3 months out of the year and breaks every other time I ride it. /s
Eventually I’ll get a cheap sled, there are actually quite a few trails in the area, and the Black Hills are within a weekends drive, there’s also a lot of sled runs/vintage sled gatherings in northern Minnesota, which is still about 5-6 hours away, but doable.
In the meantime ATV’s have been all that I’ve needed, they’ll go through quite a bit of snow, and are great for river riding and ice fishing duty. Last year I even added a ski to it for extra fun in the snow.
fintail
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 09:21 |
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I’d really be into this if it snowed any appreciable amount where I live, and I didn’t have to trailer one a couple hours to use it. I recall a fun snowmobile exhibit at the Volo auto museum in northern IL (close enough to WI to be into it, I guess).
Mercedes Streeter
> MasterMario - Keeper of the V8s
12/13/2018 at 09:23 |
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And now we know how Mario dies in next year's Oppotinies!
RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 09:27 |
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We’ve got a slightly junky 1980-ish
Polaris, and we actually had enough snow to use it this weekend, but didn’t end up doing so.
bob and john
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 10:05 |
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you know, i’ve lived in canada for 20 of my 23 years. some of those years up in nunavut too.
I think I’ve gone snowmobiling....once.
AMGtech - now with more recalls!
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 16:14 |
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Originally from MN, so yeah, I've been a few times. Never had one of my own but have spent entire days exploring the backwoods near the Canadian border on borrowed ones. Heading back to MN for Christmas and I'm hoping there'll be enough snow to get on one again, my dad has a late 90's Polaris, don't remember which model, but I think it's in the 400cc range.
WRXasaurus
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 18:24 |
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I’ve had a bunch of sleds throughout the years. Started in a 1987 Arctic Cat Jag 440 and now have my first non Arctic cat sled.
It’s a 2013 Polaris Pro RMK 800. I live in northern MN and went out to Montana last winter. Now I want a little Arctic Cat Sno Pro 500
BaconSandwich is tasty.
> CodyVella
12/13/2018 at 21:33 |
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The last time I rode a snowmobile was back when the Polaris Indy 500 was popular. So maybe 18 years? They are fun machines. A family I knew had a bunch of old sleds - an Elan (one ski), a Scorpion (no idea of the full make/model, but it looked like an old diesel train), and I think an old Moto-ski where the carb was pretty much right in your groin, the track was really narrow, and the belt drive was mostly exposed.
Good times.
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CodyVella
> Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
12/14/2018 at 00:14 |
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There’s always a ton of old Yamaha Phazers and SRVs for sale around me. Definitely a wild looking sled for their time. My uncle had a 1981 Yamaha SS440 when I was a kid, whi ch I guess in some ways was the precursor to the SRV & Phazer.
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CodyVella
> Pickup_man
12/14/2018 at 00:15 |
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I have an old 1992 Polaris Trail Boss 250 that is damn near unstoppable in the snow. I love it but being an old 2-stroke ATV it is WAY too loud to ride around for long periods of time.
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CodyVella
> BJ
12/14/2018 at 00:17 |
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The single cylinder Yamaha wouldn’t happen to have been a Yamaha Bravo would it have? I rode one of those for awhile when I was younger, it was owned by a family member. It was reliable as hell and ALWAYS started first pull. Smooth, light and never got stuck. I think it was a 1984.
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CodyVella
> BaconSandwich is tasty.
12/14/2018 at 00:20 |
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My old 1976 John Deer JD300 was like the Moto-Ski. You literally straddled the engine, with the carb pointed up towards your face. There was a small access panel under the handle bars and if you tried to ride it with that removed, it would occasionally backfire out the c arb into your face. Those old style sleds were heavy as hell and always got stuck.
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CodyVella
> Wacko
12/14/2018 at 00:22 |
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There’s a number of unused fields and an old quarry around my town, so we’ve never had trail passes. But I’m contemplating buying a really clean 80s John Deere sled and getting a trail pass this winter.
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CodyVella
> StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
12/14/2018 at 00:37 |
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I watched every one of these videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. Y’all look like you’re having a blast.
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StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
> CodyVella
12/14/2018 at 10:30 |
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Yea we do. Elkidmino has a video of CSC18, but I think it’s only on FB right now. Going to the UP (Michigan) again this year for it, much better chance of snow and frozen lakes there.
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BJ
> CodyVella
12/16/2018 at 22:03 |
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Yamaha Enticer 250, based on image search. It was easy to start, and rather gutless. It ate belts, too, no matter what we tried to adjust/shim. I carried a spare belt on the handlebars, that's how bad it was.
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StndIbnz, Drives a MSRT8
> CodyVella
01/08/2019 at 09:05 |
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Here’s the latest update for ya!