2012 Ride with the Champs

[400brian]

After each HOF weekend ends, I begin planning for the next years. The preparations begin slowly, then as plans firm up, and the months and days go by, the tempo increases and the anticipation mounts until in the final weeks I am in a sleep deprived frenzy of activity. Next year I’m going to get ready earlier...right Rainville?

I had been planning for months, that the 72 400 restoration would be debuted at the HOF, but as the deadline drew near, it became clear that I wasn’t quite going to make it. To take the pressure off, I decided to take the old green machine for the wife to ride, but as I’ve told in another thread, that didn’t turn out so well either.
Troy and I had decided quite early on, that this year we would take the wives. This was going to change the weekend for us a bit, but in my case anyway, it was in my best interest. She needed to see first hand what all the fuss was about, and why this was such a big deal.

The Whitetail rents out rooms on a three night basis for this weekend, so it made sense to arrive on Thursday night. I loaded the sleds on Thursday afternoon. I had a little snow on the shaded side of a little field near the shop, so each sled got a couple of passes before they were loaded. The X8 ran strong, but refused to idle. Prep for it was fresh fuel in the tank, a chain tensioner replaced, a battery installed, and the tail light bulb cleaned so that it would work. The green machine required a weeks worth of work; a mouse nest cleaned out of the engine, the carb cleaned, the plastic parts painted, an NOS hood installed, the skis painted and carbides installed.
After some carb adjusting, the beater went on the trailer running fairly well I thought.

Katy loaded the gear while I did evening chores. The hired man showed up late due to issues with a girlfriend, and a last minute email from Dan Larson had me calling Rainville, who was passing close by out on the Interstate. It was hilarious that he missed the turn off for I-39 while he was talking to me. I got the chores done finally, and we got on the road around 11 pm., which had us rolling into the Whitetail at 3:30 AM. I had talked to Troy around 10 pm, who was engaged in a raucous euchre game in Kevin and Ross’ room. He walked down to the desk and had them leave our room info in an envelope on the front desk for us.

I rolled out of bed around 9 AM the next morning. I wasn’t the freshest, I had been up the night before until 3:30 AM, getting the lights on the trailer functional. It had turned out to be an ordeal. The wife told me that she had been lurking in the lobby earlier, and that a guy called “Don” had been greeting everyone like a long lost friend. She said she had seen Rainville, but didn’t think he had seen her. After a hot shower to work out the kinks, I headed out to the lobby to see if anyone was still around.

Cari Rainville was sitting at the table with her laptop, and she filled me in with all the information.
They serve a lite breakfast there in the lobby, so I got a bite while Cari told me that Joe had left on the guide’s ride, and the rest had departed for the HOF, and the poker run. They were to leave around 9:30, and it was about that time. I called Troy, and the phone dropped the call after a few rings. The next attempt went to voice mail. Then he called me, but I couldn’t hear him. Finally I got him, and he told me that they were getting ready to leave. I asked where they would be having lunch, and after some consultation with Jeff, he told me “Knockers” in St Germain. Our host at the motel told me where “Knockers” was located, so we were good to go.

I was just about ready to go out and unload the sleds, when there was a roar outside. Soon this bald headed goof went tearing by on a LF with the number 621 on it. Cari observed that something must be wrong, as JDJR shouldn’t be back yet. I walked out to see what the issue was. When I got over to the trailer, Joe had the hood up and was pulling plugs out. He had the dreaded black goo running out the mag side. He’d had to turn back very early in the ride, when the sled dropped a cyl, and he couldn’t keep up. Joe’s buddy Adam Luebner and his Dad, Bill, were messing with a pair of cats nearby, and as I recall, Adam had a few barbs to toss Joe’s way.

Katy and I got our two sleds off the trailer, and a little carb tuning had me seeing around 45 mph indicated on the green beater. I didn’t really think that was good enough, but it wasn’t like the wife was ever going to see that anyway, so I declared victory and fired up the X8. By now Rainville had pulled his ‘84 LF off the trailer, and was suggesting that we run up to the HOF. He had read my mind, so as soon as Katy and I had suited up, the 5 or us headed up the road.

Here we are after arriving at the museum. You can easily tell which sled was being ridden by the woman, as the inability to properly park in line with everyone else is apparent.

[JDT]

Nothing wrong with Katy's parking there Brian.

She just did not want to be the shadow of that Tigger.

Nice ride!

[400brian]

I forgot to mention; when we left the motel for the HOF, we hadn't went a mile down the trail, when we began running through this debris field: wrenches, belts, hats, you name it. The wrench we recognized, as JDJR had just had it in his hand. He was tearing through the moguls, and emptying his tool box at the same time. One of the guys on the cats had a bungy cord, and they strapped the cover down with it.

When we walked into the museum, the first guys we saw were Wade and Chris. I had never met either of them before, and its always great to put a face to a name. Wade inquired where we were headed next, and when I told him we were working our way into town to catch up with the poker run gang, he asked if they could tag along? I replied; absolutely!

It was getting to be around 12:30, and I was hungry, so I yelled at JR to turn off the smooze machine and get on his sled. Its only around 3 miles into town, so it wasn't long and we were pulling into the park across the street from the main drag, and found a large group of vintage sleds parked there. As advertised, Knockers was right across the street, and Nick Freatman was at the BP station next door messing with his LF. It wasn't running, but I learned later that once they disconnected the rev limiter, it ran fine.

When we stepped into the bar, the first guys we saw was Troy, Kevin, Ross, Joe Wanie, and Mike Firehammer. They were working on a pizza, but some in the room were yet to be served.There was only one gal running the bar, so the first time she came by I ordered a couple of burgers. We then worked our way over to the other side of the room, and greeted the Ambers, Kieth Warning, and a number of other participants. JDJR hadn't been served yet when Jeff started yelling: "saddle up", he said go, I'll catch up.
The next stop was Fibbers Resort on big St Germain Lake.

It takes a while to get a large group of vintage sleds running, there's always one that is being difficult ( it wasn't a Deere ) but eventually we got going. The lead element just disappeared, but Don and Bob were up there carrying the torch. We stopped after a bit, and Bob consulted his GPS. We were on the east end of the lake, and while I didn't know exactly where Fibbers was located, west seemed like the direction to go. So we kept riding...after a few more miles, Don stopped and looked back as if: "where are we"? Bob pointed at the trail sign he was standing beside, which had an arrow which indicated that Fibbers was dead ahead! Duh!

So, we took the long way to Fibbers, but we were doing what we came to do, and it wasn't like we had ever been lost. But as a side note, Rainville ate lunch and still beat us to Fibbers.

Here's shot of us tail-enders, that is Wade Bennett standing on the right, what a sharp looking group of sleds if I may say so myself!

[Matt]

That's a great photo Brian!

[400brian]

We went into Fibbers and had a beverage, in my case a Dew, and the BS continued unabated. There had been plans for a little drag racing out on the lake, but the surface conditions pretty much ruled that out. The next stop was the Whitetail, which meant a trip across the lake. Katy was excited about this, because for some reason she wanted to ride across a lake. It doesn't take long to get to the Whitetail, so we were soon sitting in the bar there. Things were kind of winding down, and I was considering heading back to the motel to see how Troy was doing on the 78 LF that wouldn't idle. But then Craig Marchbank sat down to visit with us, and I had never chatted with him before, so we stayed a while longer.

Eventually we headed back to the motel. The next stop was the HOF, but I wanted to take a crack at getting the X8 to idle. The wife headed inside to prep for the fish fry, and Troy and Amy were suited up and heading out to ride on the freshly fixed LF, and 340/S.
I pulled the clutch cover off the X8 to gain access to the mixture screw, and then opened it about an eighth of a turn. This had the sled idling nicely, so I replaced the cover, and rode up the line to see what JDJR was dinking with on the LF. We headed back over to the HOF

[400brian]

So we get to the HOF, and I'm thinking about getting a brat. I'm standing in the parking lot, when the Freatman's walk up. Nick had been riding his LF on the poker run, and Jeannette had been riding Tom Otte's late model Doo.
Nick says to me; "Jon blew an engine on the Guide's Ride." Jon has just had nothing but bad luck on this event! He had been riding his race prepped Red Lake Liquifire. I asked are they back yet? And Nick says, "ya, they're working on it in Otte's trailer."

Now normally I wouldn't have done this, I know Jon well enough to know that when things aren't going well, he's not too chatty. But for some reason I said to Nick, "let's go take a look." I knocked on the door, and they yelled "come in!"
So the three of us climbed in, just as they were getting ready to pull the jug off. Jon said it had failed just before Fishtales, and that it had been running awesome to that point. They thought it had caught a ring. Tom pulled the jug off, pronounced it junk, then handed it to me. It had a groove in the cyl below the port, and a notch in the top side of the port. Tom thought maybe the ring locating pin had come out, but I never got a good look at the piston to confirm that.

Tom had pistons, rings, and gaskets, but no jug. Nick and I suggested we take one off Rainville's sled, but Jon didn't think that was a good idea. I opined that Joe wasn't going to need it anyway, and we all know that if Jon asked Joe for a kidney, he'd whip out his jackknife and start cutting!

We walk back over to the museum, and I ask Wanie if he might have a jug with him ( he does not ). Rainville is not too far away, so I yell; "Rainville, we're going to pull a jug off your sled!" That got his attention, and he asked who needed one? When I told him who, he said; "well, I guess for Jon..."

OK, here's where the story gets interesting. As we are standing there, this gal pipes up and says; "I think I can fix you up with a jug." I look at her, and here stands this attractive, petite blond. She is not dressed for standing around outside, she has on heeled boots, and kind of a lacy black top. She tells me that her husband runs a sled parts business out of Boulder Junction. She is on the phone to him already, and says that he is pretty sure he has one for $100. I cannot believe what I am hearing! Regaining my composure, I say, "lets go talk to Jon."

I walk her over to Otte's trailer, and on the way I introduce myself, and shes says; "oh, its good to put faces with the names." The fog is starting to clear, I say, "you're the gal that works here now!" and she says yes I am.
I pound on the trailer door, and Jon opens it with a quizzical look on his face, here I'm back bringing him a woman
( he was probably expecting Rainville, this was a nice upgrade ). I tell him he needs to talk to this lady.

[80spitfire]

I would've loved to have been there with all you guys. I had been planning on going since last winter too. Originally the plan was I was going to go to the U.P. that weekend with a buddy and my old man and then I'd just spend Saturday in St. Germain with you guys. But as luck had it snow conditions were absolute crap where we normally ride in the U.P. so we decided that 7 hours one way was a little too much for just the one day. And plus I need the gas money to help finish the Dator. I really hope to make it there next year though and finally meet all of you guys!

-Brian

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Oh Brian, most of us aren't worth the effort :-)

DA

[80spitfire]

[400brian]

OK you guys, settle down!

If anyone remembers the name of the gal who is working at the HOF, please post it so I can include that. I'll be darned if I can remember it.

OK , back to the story:

When the gal told Jon she could get him a jug, he was indeed interested. She handed him her phone, and Jon discussed the details with her husband. My job was pretty much complete at that point, so I headed back to get a brat.
The poker run trophys were awarded, obviously the deal is rigged, the Amber's and Kieth Bylin both won again. Shortly after all that was over, JDJR suggests we go talk to the chief, so we walk over to Otte's trailer, but no one was inside.
We found Jon and Loren sitting in Loren's shop, but Jon wasn't saying much. The deal was apparently still being worked out, as the gal came in and talked to Jon several times in the short time we were there. After a bit Jon left, and I decided it was time to go get ready for the fish fry.

I showered and dressed, the wife said that Troy and Amy would drive us over to the restaurant, so I walked out to the lobby to see what was going on. I ran into Brian Nelson and John Sandberg. I shook Brian's hand, and John looked at me and said; "we've met before." I said "yes we have, we had lunch at Bosacki's," and John replied, "yes, in 2008!" He went on to recollect that I rode an old mid-mount Deere, and I had to admit I still was.

Troy and Amy came out, and we headed over to the fish fry. We had a real nice crowd turn out.
Tom and Jon were in the bar when we arrived, but soon left, saying they had a sled to work on.
Here's a shot Kevin Campbell took of some of the fun and games. The gal on the right is Amy, and they are showing her how to operate the "shot ski".

[400brian]

Around 10:00 pm we decided to head out. We wanted to get the gas cans filled and get some shut eye before the big day. We met Jon and Tom coming in on our way out. I asked Jon what the situation was, and he replied that the sled was back together and he was ready to run!

I soon had the X8 topped off, and the cans filled with premium 91 with no ethanol.

I hit the sack and slept great from 11 to 3, but from then till 6, not so good.

[400brian]

THE BIG DAY

This is what we have been living for. I am uneasy, not sure why exactly, this is not my first rodeo. I get suited up and head out to the parking lot. The scent of 2 stroke oil is heavy in the air. I see Kevin across the driveway, and I yell, "Ah, the smell of 2 stoke oil in the morning!" Kevin yells back, "It smells like victory!"

I pull both sleds off the trailer. I fire up the green machine and make a couple of laps around the parking lot. It acts like its not getting fuel. Ran OK the day before, and I don't have time to mess with it now. I leave it in front of Don's trailer, and Troy gives me a lift over to the sled on the back of his 340/S. A turn of the key brings the X8 to life, and once I'm on the sled the nervousness fades. It's a very short trip over to the restaurant, and we are soon parked in a very nice group of vintage sleds.

We get signed in, and get some breakfast. It appears that the ride has drawn a big crowd, in fact, it appears that the Vintage Challenge group is the largest ever, 43 give or take. We know from experience that it will be impossible to keep a group of that size together, so smaller groups will be imperative. I have never rode in the same group from start to finish, so I don't get too concerned about it. We finally get the morning program done, and the group photo taken.

There was no fooling around this year, as soon as I was out the door there were sleds running. Troy and I got our fuel cans into the support truck, and it was time to saddle up. I looked around to see that Nick Freatman, Wade and Chris, were lined up behind us, looked good to me. Nick's LF was likely the fastest of the bunch, so I motioned him to come up and take the point. The sleds were running, and the air was blue with 2 stroke smoke.

The first leg was a few miles of ditch bangin along county C, it was a beautiful sight to see all those sleds running as far as you could see. When the trail crossed C, we jumped onto it and headed for Sayner. If I remember correctly, Jon's LF went down before we reached Sayner. I learned later that he was running premix along with the oil injection, and had promptly fouled a plug. The trails into Sayner were as snirty as had been advertised, but at the early hour were fairly smooth and hard.

We stopped in Sayner for only a moment, then headed out onto Plum lake. The nice run across the lake is interupted by a snirty mile of trail, then onto Star Lake. Somewhere out there Jon came flying by, and he was waiting at the exit off the lake on the far shore. There was a nice pile of bare dirt to navigate as we came off Star lake at Stillwaters Resort. I jumped the X8 over the pile, and landed with a splat. Jon was reaching out for a mittened handshake, and then we were gone. Next stop: Bent's Camp.

[WinnipegStPaul9]

Brian, her name is "Jamie".
DA

[400brian]

Somewhere in here, Matt pulled alongside and asked if it was OK to ride with us, I think he said his buddy had blown an engine. Of course that was OK, like I said, you shuffle in with whoever you can stay with.

The trails north of Stillwaters were a bit better than around Sayner. Most of it is through woods, and in a few sections you run on blacktop roads, meeting cars once in a while. Everything seemed to be going well at that point, but it is sinking in that this is a long hard ride.

We finally popped out at a road intersection, and headed north along it. I know where we are now, and by running the ditch, we are going to by-pass the cliff I broke my muffler going over 2 years ago. In moments we are on the Cisco Chain at Bents Camp ( resort ). It appears they are having radar runs that day. A drag strip has been cleared, and there is a lot of sleds and vehicles out on the ice.

We stop to re-group, and I pull the pto plug for a quick look. It's a little on the rich side, so I figure I'm good for the long lake run ahead. We take off in a large group, and the lake is reasonably smooth and fast. I have the X8 at its happy speed, and of course the hot dogs are blowing by us. At one point in this run across the chain, we run under a road bridge. There always has been open water in this area, which freaks me out. This year we by-passed that area, got off the lake, ran some ground trails, and got back on the chain at the stump field where Teresa Larson bailed off her sled on the first VC.

We took off across the next lake, heading to the right, ran through a large group of ice fishermen, only to find we were at a dead end. Should have turned left! OK, the entire group turns around, blows through the guys fishing again, and on across the lake. At one point we enter a narrow section, which is quite rough. It seems the snow has drifted in here, and between that and truck tracks, we're getting bounced around a bit. I slowed, as you really couldn't see what you were hitting.

A group of cats stopped ahead of us, so we stopped to re-group. John Sandberg's Red Lake racer had suffered a track de-rail in the rough stuff, and they were working to get it back on.

[400brian]

It was here that Matt told us that he wasn't running well. He was seeing black goo and wet plugs, so we lowered the jet needle to see if it might help.

It was also here that Rainville came back to tell us that Jon Carlson had just flipped his sled end for end! We of course asked how he was, and the reply was that he was hurting, but seemed OK. Joe said they had taped the remains of the hood together, and that the sled appeared rideable.

We saddled up and ran the last leg into the Cisco Lake Resort. Troy tells me I darn near got hit by a pickup truck with snowplow on it, but I never saw a thing. A quick survey revealed that our support truck was not there, which meant that everyone was going to have to fuel at the pump!

Nick and I went in to get trail passes right away. Nick bought his from a guy standing at the bar, I had to get mine the more traditional way. As I was waiting, the bar tender comes through with a bottle of aspirin, and says, "this is all I have." The reply is: "well, I guess its better than nothing" That's when I realize it's Jon. I said; "Jon, if you prefer, I have ibuprofen." He turns to me and asks: "how much have you got?" I go; "a bunch!" He hands the aspirin back, and says, "lets see it." I pull a small pill bottle out of my jacket pocket, and its about half full, so I have plenty. While Jon's washing those down, I'm struggling to get to my wallet. The JD suit I'm wearing won't allow me to reach it. Jon asks what the problem is, and when I tell him, he says, "I'll get it for you." It must have hurt, but he reaches in and grabs it out of my back pocket. All the while, the bar tender is yelling, "you guys knock it off ." I get my trail pass, and out the door I go.

They were still messing with Matt's Cyclone. I suddenly realized that I had some Mikuni jets with me, So Matt pulled his out to see what he had. 410 is what it said, and the largest I had was 280, that just wasn't going to work, so he had to put it back together.

The last of the sleds were getting gas, and everyone else was bitching at them to hurry up. It was John Sandberg's crew. I asked if I could put 2 1/2 gallons on their tab so as to save time? They agreed, then observed that when the first ones were fueling, they were all BSing and having a good time, but now when the last in line are fueling, we're all a-holes for holding them up?