264 Miles Yesterday

[freelance]

I haven't posted in some time so I thought I would share this ride review on TY that I posted on Hardcore Sledder. I still love this sled. I get every bit of excitement out of my 2014 SR Viper XTX SE as I did the first day I picked it up. 7800 miles on it now. 1 heated handgrip replaced on warranty. Starter replaced on warranty. Original factory chaincase issue fixed under warranty at roughly the 300 mile mark. Otherwise.....gas and go !! 75 PSI on front shocks, 115 on rear, 6" Slim Jim Dooleys. Ride safe y'all !!

All I can tell you is that was one hellava ride yesterday. A Yammie, a Doo, and a Kitty. Manitoba, Ontario, and a touch of Minnesota. 264 mile round trip from Woodridge through South Junction, Moose Lake, Northwest Angle, Lake of the Woods to Echo Bay, West Hawk, Falcon Lake and back. There is a ton of snow out there. Got sucked into the deep stuff twice and got hung up on a windrow once. Couple of tugs on the skis and we were off and running again. Thanks boyz !!!

It was a bright sunny day for the most part so seeing the trail and the definition in the snow was excellent. If it was cold I don't think we were feeling it. Dressed properly for -28 C weather and I added some gauntlets to my handle bars as the Viper lacks a real windshield. Boy did they work great. Rode most of the day with the handwarmers turned off. What a pleasure to not have cold hands on what was a marathon day in sub-zero conditions. I lead pretty much all day and trust me there was plenty of trail breaking. As a matter of fact I'd say that close to 200 miles of our total was breaking trail.

We thought we were in for a real treat as the trail from Woodridge to South Junction was freshly groomed and we were the first on it. It was smooth as silk and we made good time. Popped into see Toothpick and had a nice little visit. We left South Junction and got on the CanAm trail heading north towards NWA Inlet. Stopped at Moose Lake and gassed up and met the new owner of the campground. The pumps are open until 9:00pm....premium fuel.......and he said after hours just bang on the door and they will come and fill you up as they are living there. The trail had been packed with the groomer up to Janet's Shelter so it was a tad rough but easily passable. From Janet's Shelter we were breaking trail the rest of the day. We continued on the CanAm up to NWA Inlet where we jumped on Lake of the Woods and OFSC trail #106. We had said that if that trail was not staked then we would turn around and go up by land. Well, the trail was not staked, and we didn't want to backtrack so off we went across Lake of the Woods. Man, that snow was deep and underneath there was several inches of slush. At one point we had stopped for a mini break and Ross had a difficult time getting underway as the slush had him spinning and digging in. As you can imagine......slush, deep snow, cold weather, windchill......immediately had ice forming on all or machines and sucking the life out of the gas tank. We made it to FeeltheThunder's cabin at Echo Bay where Brad came out with a couple mallets and we chipped away at the ice on the machines. I definitely hauled around a lot of ice on my machine all day. Another nice visit and we were on our way. We made it to West Hawk on fumes, got gas, had a bite to eat, and took off on our return trip to Woodridge. We knew we would be busting trail all the way from Falcon Lake on the Tin Pan with no fuel stops so we topped up again in Falcon Lake just to be sure....a whopping $4.31 !!

The Tin Pan was untouched. We were the first on and the snow was really deep. My previous belt had 7000 miles on it and I had changed it at the beginning of this season and had it broken in before this ride. I'm thankful for that. 25 MPH at best at roughly 7000RPM for almost 80 miles !! Deep snow and probably carrying 75lbs of ice. Ross's Kitty was taking on snow and ice in the clutch and provided us with some nervous moments as it didn't want to stay running whenever we stopped. I was very happy to have a long track. Tin Pan was still good though with no debris or fallen trees to hold us up.

We made it into Woodridge with plenty of gas left and were loaded and rolling away by 10:30pm. 12 hr day.....264 miles.....a couple of real nice visits....no wildlife other than a rabbit crossing the trail......fuel and food.......just another excellent adventure !!

Thanks to RWS and Vinny for coming out and for tugging on my ski tips when it was necessary. No incidents, no breakdowns, everyone home safe and sound !!!

BTW.......I'm sore as hell.....headed to the hot tub followed by de-icing my sled.....lol !!

 

[Vilas]

I haven't posted in some time so I thought I would share this ride review on TY that I posted on Hardcore Sledder. I still love this sled. I get every bit of excitement out of my 2014 SR Viper XTX as I did the first day I picked it up. 7800 miles on it now. 1 heated handgrip replaced on warranty. Starter replaced on warranty. Original factory chaincase issue fixed under warranty at roughly the 300 mile mark. Otherwise.....gas and go !! 75 PSI on front shocks, 115 on rear, 6" Slim Jim Dooleys. Ride safe y'all !!

All I can tell you is that was one hellava ride yesterday. A Yammie, a Doo, and a Kitty. Manitoba, Ontario, and a touch of Minnesota. 264 mile round trip from Woodridge through South Junction, Moose Lake, Northwest Angle, Lake of the Woods to Echo Bay, West Hawk, Falcon Lake and back. There is a ton of snow out there. Got sucked into the deep stuff twice and got hung up on a windrow once. Couple of tugs on the skis and we were off and running again. Thanks boyz !!!

It was a bright sunny day for the most part so seeing the trail and the definition in the snow was excellent. If it was cold I don't think we were feeling it. Dressed properly for -28 C weather and I added some gauntlets to my handle bars as the Viper lacks a real windshield. Boy did they work great. Rode most of the day with the handwarmers turned off. What a pleasure to not have cold hands on what was a marathon day in sub-zero conditions. I lead pretty much all day and trust me there was plenty of trail breaking. As a matter of fact I'd say that close to 200 miles of our total was breaking trail.

We thought we were in for a real treat as the trail from Woodridge to South Junction was freshly groomed and we were the first on it. It was smooth as silk and we made good time. Popped into see Toothpick and had a nice little visit. We left South Junction and got on the CanAm trail heading north towards NWA Inlet. Stopped at Moose Lake and gassed up and met the new owner of the campground. The pumps are open until 9:00pm....premium fuel.......and he said after hours just bang on the door and they will come and fill you up as they are living there. The trail had been packed with the groomer up to Janet's Shelter so it was a tad rough but easily passable. From Janet's Shelter we were breaking trail the rest of the day. We continued on the CanAm up to NWA Inlet where we jumped on Lake of the Woods and OFSC trail #106. We had said that if that trail was not staked then we would turn around and go up by land. Well, the trail was not staked, and we didn't want to backtrack so off we went across Lake of the Woods. Man, that snow was deep and underneath there was several inches of slush. At one point we had stopped for a mini break and Ross had a difficult time getting underway as the slush had him spinning and digging in. As you can imagine......slush, deep snow, cold weather, windchill......immediately had ice forming on all or machines and sucking the life out of the gas tank. We made it to FeeltheThunder's cabin at Echo Bay where Brad came out with a couple mallets and we chipped away at the ice on the machines. I definitely hauled around a lot of ice on my machine all day. Another nice visit and we were on our way. We made it to West Hawk on fumes, got gas, had a bite to eat, and took off on our return trip to Woodridge. We knew we would be busting trail all the way from Falcon Lake on the Tin Pan with no fuel stops so we topped up again in Falcon Lake just to be sure....a whopping $4.31 !!

The Tin Pan was untouched. We were the first on and the snow was really deep. My previous belt had 7000 miles on it and I had changed it at the beginning of this season and had it broken in before this ride. I'm thankful for that. 25 MPH at best at roughly 7000RPM for almost 80 miles !! Deep snow and probably carrying 75lbs of ice. Ross's Kitty was taking on snow and ice in the clutch and provided us with some nervous moments as it didn't want to stay running whenever we stopped. I was very happy to have a long track. Tin Pan was still good though with no debris or fallen trees to hold us up.

We made it into Woodridge with plenty of gas left and were loaded and rolling away by 10:30pm. 12 hr day.....264 miles.....a couple of real nice visits....no wildlife other than a rabbit crossing the trail......fuel and food.......just another excellent adventure !!

Thanks to RWS and Vinny for coming out and for tugging on my ski tips when it was necessary. No incidents, no breakdowns, everyone home safe and sound !!!

BTW.......I'm sore as hell.....headed to the hot tub followed by de-icing my sled.....lol !!View attachment 125013View attachment 125016

Wow that sounds amazing. I ride in Wisconsin so I don't know any of those places except for Lake of the Woods. That sounds like my dream ride, all that powder! Thanks for sharing.
Ps...I have the same sled and same year and I love it. Getting ready to put a turbo on it next week...

 

[tapex_07]

Sounds like a great trip and a positive story for us! Thanks for sharing

 

[STAIN]

I am going to try those slim jims on my 2014 Viper---6900 miles