Today's Ride

[Matt]

Harleysportster & I had yet to ride this year, and since upstate NY recently got some snow, we took the opportunity to go. We left yesterday morning, and I was planning on getting some riding done yesterday, but we ran out of daylight because of a slow start in the morning, thanks to me. Harley came to pick me up, and we headed over to my workshop to get my Sportfire, which is a half-hour round trip out of the way. We get there, and I realize I forgot the keys to my trailer, in which my sled is in, so back to the house to get keys, back to the shop, then back past the house to head north. It was dark by the time we got here, and not knowing the trails that well, we didn't want to risk getting lost in the dark.

This morning we knew there was a chance of rain in the forecast. It was going to be a warm day with the high in the 40s. It was overcast and damp driving to a public lot to unload. On the way it started raining, but we get there and start getting ready anyway. While we are putting trail permit decals on the sleds in the trailer, it starts pouring rain/sleet. We sit on the sleds in the trailer for about 20 minutes while the weather passes.

Once it finally stops, the clouds break up, and it ends up being a pretty nice day after that. We hit the trails. Trail conditions were decent - not great but not horrible. We stopped to take a break and Pat reports that his Liquifire was acting up a little with a mid-range bog. Another 5 miles later, the Liquifire goes flat, and can't get moving under it's own power because of the bog. Pat unhooks the rev limiter, and changes plugs, but no change. We let it cool down for 15 minutes or so. I look down at my sled and realize the back end is almost sitting on the ground - turns out I have a broken suspension spring. Then I notice the fuel gauge is way off, so I open it to find that the gauge is broken off. Then I see that I'm missing a hood hold-down bungee. Guess I was riding a little too hard!

After cooling off, Pat's sled starts and we drive away. We go down a trail to the fuel pump which is becoming total slush/mud. We get back to the trailer, and Pat drops his carb needles one position. Of course, I dropped the plate the retains the jet needle down into the pan and can't find it. We take the air box off to get a better look, but don't see it. Then Pat finds it under the clutches. The Liquifire seems to be running fine, and I don't mind the broken suspension, so we get fuel and head back out a different direction then the slush trail. We do about another 20 miles, but the Liquifire is acting up again. We stop for a few more minutes to change plugs again and let it cool down, but it's still go the the bog, so we nurse it back to the trailer. About 100 yards from the trailer, the Liquifire goes flat. Then, when starting it back up, the recoil breaks! We're both tired, and the sleds aren't cooperating, so that's it for the day.

Tomorrow morning, we're going to see about fixing the recoil, and try to get a few more miles in before heading home. The temp is dropping to 0 tonight, and the high tomorrow is only supposed to be in the 20s, so that slush might be rough ice tomorrow. I'm curious if the Liquifire runs better in the cold tomorrow, or if that's another issue. We'll see how things go. If the trail is rough, my lack of suspension might be a challenge.

[Danzig]

sure sounds like a CDI is breaking down on the Liquifire....its heat soaking...just my guess for now

[JDCornFlakes]

The way those 80+ Liquifires act is very similar to women and could be just that time of the month.

[Liquifried]

Hey Matt! I can sympathize with ya!

I am up in Minocqua/St. Germain and the snow is killer. I am with my kids and we brought up my 83 Sporty and 80 LF, both of which just got new motors since my buddy spent more time wrenching than riding this year and got them done. Had an 18 hour day busting butt with work, last minute wrenching, packing, 4 hours of sleep, up at 4:30, drive 5 hours, get settled and out to ride.

The 80 LF was doing great, getting it broke in, 83 Sporty was being broken in by my son. I was ahead of the kids, so I stopped, turned off the motor cause I wanted to see how it would restart. It has been 1-3 pulls. The kids catch up, so I go to pull the recoil and the knot slips through the hole So the kids pull up and I realize I don't have my tool kit and no clutch pull. We dug through the sleds, found a tie down and cut it off. Tried to get her going, but rope was too short to get a good pull.


So, I decide to tow it with an 82 Sporty and double back with my son. Well, I go to the pull the 83 Sport and it is making a rough clunking sound. Lift the hood to see the recoil cover missing two bolts and the oil inj cable is loose. We are way out in the woods on Trail 51 and luckily there was so much traffic. I dragged one sled to the highway and a father/son rode one kid back and pulled the other kid/sled to the highway. I got boys settled, drove 10 miles back to the garage, got the trailer drove back, manually loaded the sleds on the side of the road

Got back to the garage and pulled out an 82 TF and my other 80 LF and ended up riding 60 miles until about 9:00 PM. Had to quit cause my younger son had a headache for all the banging At one point I told my kids that I was selling the herd and buying new technology sleds. That lasted about 15 minutes

[Matt]

It's a challenge to ride vintage at all, isn't it.

Pat was up and moving early this morning. He said he was going out to see how cold it was, and he comes back in 15 minutes later with a recoil and tools. He rebuilds it there in the room, and it seems to be working properly, so we gear up and head out.

After we unload our sleds and start heading out, we get approached by someone, who turns out to be forum member "jdjason". We say hello and nice to meet you, etc, and get on our way. We head to the premium non-ethanol gas pumps, but they're out of order, so now we have to ride back into town the opposite direction from the trails to the gas station.

So, that's done, and we're back on track to the trails. Unfortunately, they're very rough, and there is a ton of sled traffic today making it worse. The groomers couldn't run because of how warm it was on Saturday. We did a small loop, only about 13 miles for the day, and called it quits. I was getting beat up because the lack of suspension, and the Liquifire was still acting up the same in the cold weather as it was the day before.

Overall, it was nice to get at least one ride in for the year. We got a lot of thumbs up as we rode, and a few puzzled looks too.

[400brian]

It's a challenge to ride vintage at all, isn't it.

if it was easy, anyone could do it.

[jdjason]

hey matt and harley , it was great to finally meet some members from the forum. we put on 162 miles yesterday on new sleds. it looked like it was going to be our last ride so we passed on bringing our herd and with the 2ft moguls im glad we did !!! it had to be very rough on your machines, but your were out there getting it done.
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[ammon]

I really live along way from you all, but can only wish to ride with you someday. My wife and I are going 20 miles from home today to dump off and will be riding around 100-120 miles is the plan. Many trails, meadows and mountains to ride here in Idaho and Wyoming. We ride Ski-Doo's.
I am trying to find me a trail worthy John Deere sled that I to can take out and have people gawk at me like you all do.
Thanks for you stories and pictures. It's exciting to see, and hear them all.