The trip to Grand Marais... lol

[Rockmeister]

Just had to share this one...

Ok, we decide we are going to sled from Munising to Grand Marais.
No biggie, have done it countless times...

On the trip is Myself, Raul, & Nick from TY.
Most of the rest of the TY guys had headed home from the awesome weekend of riding with the TY group!
Meeting us at the hotel is Nate, Matt, Kirk, Roger, & Scott, all friends of mine, up riding from New York. (Mostly on REVs)

We all head NE through Shingleton, past the Bear Trap & are heading up the RR grade towards Seney.
Running about 55 as it is really dusty.

All of a sudden Nate pulls over.
His 800 Rev dies...

Starts checking it out and one spark plug has piston remnants on it...
That lovely aluminum speckle...
Greeeeaaat...

He can turn the crank with a couple fingers WITH THE PLUGS IN THE ENGINE!
No compression left...

Hmmmm...
Can't help but give him some ribbing about needing a Yamaha that runs and you aren't afraid to hold open on a RR grade...
lol

Honestly... I am standing there on the trail thinking aloud about how much I DON'T miss being in that position, with another blown motor, dead on the trail!!!
I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY Don't miss that!!!

We start talking about belts etc & I find out that their belts cost about $100.
We tell them ours are about $50, that makes them feel good... lol

I sooooo wanted to tow him back with my Yamaha & get a pic, but the REV guys refused to let a Yamaha tow him back... laffin

End up towing him a few miles to the Beartrap.

We eat at the Beartrap & in the meantime I call the hotel & get ahold of Chuck.
Tell Chuck we need the REV ambulance/hearse.
She heads our way with my truck & trailer.

In the meantime, this is the first day of a weeklong trip for the NY guys to the UP, & Nate now has no sled.
Nate has been a good friend of mine for 15 years or so.
Tell him he can use my Attak for the rest of the trip, as I have to head home tomorrow, as long as he doesn't mind riding a sled that runs!
(I am having too much fun with the dead REV thing...) lol


Chuck gets there & the guys load the dead REV onto my trailer.
Nate gets a ride back to his cabin with Chuck, while Raul, Nick & I head back to the hotel since Raul has to head home.
The NY guys continue to Grand Marais.

One down...

We have a great ride back to the Comfort Inn & see Raul off.
Meet up with Gary & Dave at the Comfort Inn.
More friends of mine from Indiana, they just got there.

Soooooo, Nick, Gary, Dave, & Myself head toward Grand Marais. (Again)
We get about halfway to the Beartrap & no Nick...
Hmmmmmm...
It is pretty dusty so we tend to spread out & not be able to see each other much as we are riding, yet Nick is almost always right there at a stop. He's not...
Fly back to find him.
FInd him at a corner.
Turns out he slid into a snow bank, his sled stops cold & he gets tossed 20 feet or so.
(The snow has been greasy/slick for a month.)
He's ok, just a cracked windshield, & he is pretty sore.
So Nick heads back to the hotel to rest in the HotTub, tells us to keep going.

TWO DOWN!

Myself, Gary, & Dave head towards Grand Marais. (Again)
Stop at a stop sign, Dave shows up, no Gary...
Head back to find Gary on his Cat...
I'm thinking another 2-stroke just went ka-blewee!
Gonna find a piston in the belly-pan...
OMG! THEY ARE DROPPING LIKE FLIES!!!

Turns out, it is a repeat of what happened to Nick!

THREE DOWN!

We head towards Grand Marais. (Again!!!)
Get close to Kingston Plains & no Dave...
He is on a Nytro, so I know it is unlikely his sled has an issue...
Go back to find him.
His shield has fogged/frozen and he can't see...
Have some Cat Crap with me & let him try that.

We head towards Grand Marais. (AGAIN!!!)

Get to Kingston Plains & Dave has to stop again...
His shield is totally fubared...
It is un-believably cold, wind is blowing like crazy & the temp dropped 10 degrees in a few miles.
It is now sub-zero F.
Dave has to leave his shield open to be able to see...

FOUR DOWN!!! lol

We decide that permanently freezing Daves eyeballs is not worth a trip to Grand Marais.
It just isn't in the cards today... lol

Besides, I have to be back to the hotel at 8 to meet Nate & the guys from NY for dinner.
(Yes, the entire day has passed by now, we started all this at 10am, it is now 7pm...)
I must say, I know the trail between Shingleton & the Beartrap QUITE WELL now! lmao

So... We do a nice cruise back to the Comfort Inn in Wetmore.

We meet up for dinner and have a blast.
Suggest to Gary, that he needs to get rid of his Cat before it goes BOOM trailside, he says we are giving him a "complex" & suggests just cutting his wrists now... lmao
Waaay funny...

Back at Comfort Inn, I set-up Nate with my Attak.
Kinda hard to let my baby ride off without me, but know Nate will take good care of her.

I set-up Dave with my new G-max helmet & cords, so he has a working shield for the rest of his trip.
He likes it and buys it from me. lol
(Don't really want to sell it, but can get another one, and it helps him out.)

Load up the next day & head south across the bridge.
I try to sell the dead REV in my trailer multiple times.
Funny, no-one has any interest in it...
No-one would even look at it!
I even asked Randy @ T&R Yamaha in East Jordan.
His response was No. (Without even a minuscule of hesitation.) lol

All in all, it was a... well... "a day" lol
Fun seeing everyone anyway.

PS
Nate now VERY MUCH wants a Yamaha! lol
He loves my sled after riding it.
(Don't blame him, I love my sled too!)

Anyone want a dead REV???


:rules

 

[Teamblue4]

Anyone want a dead REV??? No!

 

[yamaman98]

Great story Rock. Thanks for sharing.

 

[smoothride]

have two fiends with ski doo's all we talk about is drive belt and motor blowing up. great posting.

 

[sleddheadd]

Wow!

 

[jlemieu1]

 

[moab11]

you better not have cursed that trail! lol

I'm heading down to Grand Marais tomorrow with two buddies on doos, fortunately there is three yamaha's as well.

 

[burgerbone]

Good Read.

I drove 5+ hours to pickup a sled from T&R, great bunch of guys.

 

[THKSNOW]

This was too funny Put the dead Rev in your front yard and plant flowers in it...

 

[ITHAPPENS]

Sounds familiar! Sat. was out for a big ride with 3 buddies, one rev, one xp and my bud with 2010 Apex GT, me on my SE. Great riding, nice trails all good until my buddie with the xp 5kms after a long lake, pulls over real quick and shuts down, making a god awful open pipe noise. Figured he blew a hole in his Y pipe but no, Rave power valve blew completely off one of the cylinder. Lots of pins, springs ect fell behind engine. Screws aparently come loose (never seen that before) and not recently cleaned so who knows why.
Needless to say the SE makes a great tow vehicle. Back to a bar we had lunch at and the Ski Doos waited for the Yamaha's to ride back to the truck for retreival.

But don't laugh too hard as with my expierience when you laugh at your buddies, your next!

 

[Mad Russian]

Great post, makes you wonder how ski doo stays in bisness selling junk?! lol They must brain wash people as soon as you walk in there dealership! LOL Evryone i know and me has blown there ski doo motor sooner or later.

 

[charger0926]

"Kinda hard to let my baby ride off without me"

I feel your pain Rock!!!lol

i did get to go up to lake tahoe a couple of weeks ago and ride trails to 8500 feet and look over the lake. Amazing views with 5 feet of snow...tough to beat that.

 

[Rockmeister]

Hahhahahaa!

Know EXACTLY what you mean Dude!
(Got the Attak from charger0926, he took impeccable care of her!)

So you know dude, the miles have been almost doubled, and Mr Sled threw a rock at her with his Supercharged sled...
(HIS fault! *points*)

Have worn the sliders off(replaced) & the bearings in the wheels are ready for replacement as soon as Nate returns her this weekend.
Blew the rear shock a couple weekends ago, Yamadog1 was good enough to let me borrow his.
The valving you had done on the rear shock is INCREDIBLE!
Works perfectly! Best riding/handling rear shock have ever had on a sled.
Know you said Pioneer did it, anything special I (or anyone reading this) should know about it?

The Attak & myself were the only rider/sled combo without issues on the fateful ride... lol

PS Glad I made everyone laugh & promise, >>>I<<< didn't jinx the trail...
(The others may have... lol)

 

[yam177]

I should give up on racing and come out with you guys sounds like way to much fun??

 

[burgerbone]

I saw this on youtube, thought it was funny and related .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvb-RtFUvIY&feature=fvst