VC Ride '10

[400brian]

By the time I got the sleds loaded up Thursday, it made for a short night. I took the evil 340/S and the '74 X8, and the trip north was uneventful. I remember when I passed through Gleason, the sign on the bank said 40 degrees.

Troy had called from one of the pit stops on the poker run, and indicated that things were going well.

I pulled into the Whitetail around 1:00, and found the parking lot full of trucks and trailers.
I saw Rainville's trailer parked in front of the garage, so I kind of made a parking spot to the side of it. I walked in to find Joe and Watersboy wrenching on his 340/S', Don was working on the Sporty ( replacing the recoil ). I asked; Where's Heins? Several fingers pointed at a guy who had his head stuck under the hood of the Sporty. Who's that he growled? So that is how I met Kenny Heins.

About this time Joe dumped some gas in his dual fill tank, only to see fuel running onto his freshly painted foot board! The sled was quickly tipped on it's side while the problem was diagnosed. Looking at the grommet, it appeared the fuel fitting was loose in it.
The grommet was removed and found to be torn. This was a new grommet, and apparently it tore when it was installed. The vent grommet was pulled off the top of the tank and installed in the sump to fix the issue, as no one had a spare.

The Sporty was soon finished, and loaded up for it's trip over to the Whitetail. The guys on the poker run were stopping by, with Bob Amber claiming that he was in second at that point.
Troy stopped in with his beautifully restored 295/S, and related how I had missed the fun the day before, when Kenny Heins flopped the 295/S on it's side TWICE in just a few yards. Those mid-mounts are EVIL!

I had brought my 340/S clutch aligning tools, and it was used on both Joe and Kenny's sleds.
I installed the snaps on Rainville's tunnel while he was at lunch. I pulled my 340/S off the trailer, and spent much of the rest of the day messing with it.

I hot lapped the parking lot until after dark. The temps dropped rapidly after the sun went down, but we never quite got the thing running right. I was down to 220-230 mains, ( which is three sizes down ), dropped the needles all the way, and screwed the chokes all the way in, and the sled still seemed rich. After we changed the jets the last time, the sled became hard to start. But for a while there, it was scooting around the parking lot pretty good!

Troy and I rode our sleds over to the 19th Hole for supper, Troy on his 340/S, me on the X8. It was a much larger group than in years past, but the food and company were good. I remember asking "Horicon Joe" Wanie if he was riding with us the next day. His reply was that he was getting over pneumonia or something like that. I said; If you are getting over it , what is the problem? He goes; ah OK, it's "monkey butt"! this was not the last time this was brought up! Also, somewhere we learned that Bob Amber had won the Poker Run, the first clue was the huge trophy he was carrying around. You'd have thought he'd won the special olympics or something.

After supper, Matt, Don, and I, got together with Wanie at the motel to turn in our raffle tickets and cash. So after that meeting I had a feeling for how many we had sold. Troy and I then took Campbell's truck into town to get gas and MI trail passes. When we returned, we found Rainville and Waters still wrenching in the garage. We put our fuel cans in Joe's trailer, and headed for the room for some shut eye.

[400brian]

I hit the sack, and the next thing I knew Troy was saying it was 6:00 AM. Doggone that was a short night! The big day was at hand!

The sled was parked just a few steps out the back door of the motel. I gathered a few last items, noting that the tool box on the sled was packed full. It was quite cold, and the sled was covered with a layer of frost, I decided to wait to apply the MI trail pass till later. A few pulls had the sled running, and I drove over to Troy's trailer. As soon as he was ready, we rode the short distance over to the Whitetail.

Once we were signed in, we grabbed some breakfast, and listened to Bob continue his recounting of winning the poker run the day before. We were all eager to get going, but Loren had a number of announcements to make, a row of celebrity riders to introduce ( Bob was one ), our trail bosses were introduced and each had some comments. The group photo was taken, and were sent forth to ride!

We lined up in three rows in the driveway. As it turned out, I had Jon on my right, and Tom Rowland on my left.
37 riders had signed up, and it was quite a sight to see them all lined up, and then with a roar come to life!
Soon we were zipping across Big St Germain Lake, heading North towards Sayner, which was our first stop for anyone who needed a MI trail pass. Then it was North across Plum and Star Lakes which brought us out at Stillwaters Resort, which a few of us were at last year when we were lost ( we were traveling a different route this year ). Then the long run towards Cisco and the MI border.

[400brian]

From my perspective, the run from Sayner to Cisco was uneventful. The trails north of Stillwaters were a bit rough, but we were zipping right along. Very little looked familiar, last year was solid overcast with snow flurries, this year was bright sunshine, and everything looked different. As we approached Cisco there was one feature I remembered well though. I've got Rainville, Heavener, and Campbell ahead of me, and we are cruising. We came to this innocent looking hill, and as I crested it I suddenly remembered it! The north side drops away like a cliff, as you come over it, you suddenly feel like that ski jumper on the Wide World of Sports. You are in the air and flying! I think we were going faster this year, and I caught some serious air. You are airborne long enough that you have time to think about it! The X8 landed fairly well, but it was hard enough that it hurt! More on that later...

We pulled onto the Cisco Chain a few min. later, to wait for the rest to catch up. Troy was missing at this point.
Ross was showing us the map on his GPS, which was showing the MI border just ahead. Troy pulled in after switching to his backup CDI, Team Rowland showed up, and Mike suggested we head for the resort to get a head start on refueling.

[kwc]

Here are some more pictures to go along with the story....


Breakfast Club



Getting ready to head out on the trail



Heading for Cisco

[400brian]

The Cisco Chain is a bunch of interconnected lakes, it takes a while to get to the fuel stop, which is on the North West side. We pass under a small bridge just before the last section of lake. I was a bit unnerved to see open water in the area around the bridge, I prefer my ice solid!

As we made that last run, the X8 began acting up, bogging down, picking up, then bogging again. It seemed different from last years fuel filter issue, but it sure seemed like a fuel issue. We pulled into the Cisco Lake Resort to find that we had outrun our support trucks! Joe was on the phone to Cari, but wasn't learning much, except that they were having big problems. The GPS had taken them down an unplowed road, and they were in a predicament.

I had tossed a bottle of oil in the X8 in case of just such an eventuality, so I pumped 2.5 gals and mixed in the tank.
It turned out we had enough oil between us to get everyone back on the trail, so everyone fueled and prepared to leave. If the trucks had been there, I might have loaded the sled up, but that wasn't an option, so I lined up to go.
I leaned the Walbro a bit, and was hoping for the best.

[400brian]

The trails north of Cisco were in great condition, much more snow, and the trails have long straight sections. The X8 seemed to be running well, so I was settling in for a fast ride. We had just gotten going good when Kevin Campbell stopped. He knew he couldn't be helped, so he just waved us on. Jon's LF quit within sight of Kevin, pretty close to where the Dator quit last year.

Shortly after that, the X8 started acting up again, Grrrrrrr! I'm limping along at 20-30 mph, thinking that it was going to be one looong trip to Fishtales. Many of the riders blew by me, but a few stayed with me and shared my pain. After a bit, we caught up with JD Joe on the Dator. As slow as we were running, it was obvious he was having big problems as well. When Joe saw us settle in behind him, he started bouncing up and down on the seat, slapping the rear like a horse, urging it faster ( it didn't seem to be helping ).

As we rode slowly along, I had a sudden inspiration. I reached into the snow along side the trail, and tossed a handful into the engine compartment ( I already had the cover off trying to get some air through ). At first nothing happened, but after about the 5th handful, the sled suddenly stopped bogging out and ran good! YAY! Every once in a while Joe's Dator would pick up and run strong, but it never lasted long. I settled into a routine of tossing a handful of snow in every half mile or so, keeping the engine running as long as I did.

I noticed my odometer was rolling up the miles, I figured we were getting close. Nothing looked familiar at all, then we turned a corner and I noticed a wide spot in the trail... we stopped there last year I'm thinking, we'll soon pop out of the woods onto a road, and sure enough we did! I knew where we were now! At the top of the hill would be the Root Cellar bar, and behind it Lake Gogebic.

As we crossed the road towards the Root Cellar, I looked back to confirm Troy was back there, seeing that he was, I headed towards the lake. It's a fair distance across, you can see the opposite shore, but can't make out any detail of what is over there. We just follow the tracks across the lake, there are no markers.

We parked at Fishtales, I pulled off my helmet and looked around...no Troy! He was right behind me at the Root Cellar! So we're standing there looking east, when along comes a round headlight across the ice, high set, that's got to be a 340/S. Well, it was, but Brian Nelson was driving it! So when he parked, we asked him about another 340/S, and he said: He's coming, he fouled a plug waiting at the road. And sure enough, a few min. later we saw another round headlight coming, and this time it was Troy.

We didn't waste time heading up for lunch. Rainville had already indicated that the Dator was going on the trailer, however, we had beat the trailer to Fishtales as well.

[Matt]

I have to admit, when I came up on Rainville and he was limping along, I blew by, just so I can say I passed a Liquidator

[WinnipegStPaul9]

[JoeRainville]

I have to admit, when I came up on Rainville and he was limping along, I blew by, just so I can say I passed a Liquidator

Matt, as your long time Tech-Editor and friend, all I can is: "That's why I returned the favor on the "Full Mod" Sprintfire, LOL! Really though, I wasn't sure if Brian was having trouble at first or just being considerate. Turned out he was having trouble...

Linder, nice job with the story. You should have your new muffer by now too!

-Rainville

[400brian]

We walked into Fishtales to see the place was packed. Last year we had arrived as the late model guys were leaving, we then pretty much had the place to ourselves. This year we're all there at once, and the staff is swamped. Our waitress got us drinks and took our orders, as we re-capped the mornings events amongst ourselves. I don't know if Rainville ever ate, he kept circling the place like a shark. At one point he announced that our support trucks had arrived, which was good news. Shortly after that, Cari was standing at our table, eyes wide and talking very fast. It was obvious that something traumatic had happened on the way, but we were only getting bits and pieces. Something about an unplowed road, getting stuck, and backing a long distance. She was really wound up. We talked with Kevin Campbell for a moment, learning of his burning a piston.

As soon as we were done eating, we headed out to re-fuel. I carried a can down to the lake, everyone else drove their sleds up to fill. We put Joe's Dator on the trailer, and got the Sprintfire off. Tucker came up for fuel as Troy went to restart his 340/S ( without success ). Troy had no spark, so on the trailer it went, and Stymie's 440 Cyclone came off.

About this time many in the vintage group decided to depart. We were getting set to go, waiting for Stymie to join us with his Dator, but it soon became obvious that it had died as well. Two sleds had driven up for fuel, and now had no spark, what are the odds. I'm thinking Kenny had left with the trailer at this point ( not sure ), but Tod stayed with the sled to await transport.

We fired up and got going, we'd been at Fishtales longer than we'd intended. I resumed my now familiar routine of scooping snow into the engine compartment, which was now slowing down the group, as Rainville was running hard on the Sprint. I remember meeting a Polaris on a rope as we entered the woods south of the Root Cellar, so the carnage continued! We also came upon two Wardens at a trail intersection. A few in our group on backup sleds did not have MI trail passes, but they waved us through.

We were soon pulling into Cisco, to find our support trucks waiting. It appeared several sleds went on the trailers there, Roger Jordan's Motoski was one. The stop was quick, I fueled and headed down towards the lake, later realizing that I had missed a "Chix on Sleds" photo opp. An attractive brunette with an expensive looking haircut was posing nearby. Didn't look like a local to me.

We took off across the lake, again passing the open water. Victory was within reach, but not quite at hand yet.

[JDGuy]

Brian: please forgive me for jumping into your great VC recap thread. I just wanted to say "Thank you" to Ross H. for leading me, my son Tom, and also you back to the White Tail on a smooth trail/lake short cut. Others that followed the guide talked about a really nasty section of trail that we missed. And I especially want to thank Ross who gave Tom & I a barley pop at the White Tail parking lot at the VC finish......Wow, did that taste great!!!.

Edit/correction: I got our beer donar wrong on the first try, sorry about that

[400brian]

Hang on Guy, I'm getting to that.

We made our way back across Cisco. I remember spinning a 180 on the X8 as I came off the lake, ( blacktop with 1/16" of ice ) I believe it made Rainville laugh. Then the fun began.

The trail between Stillwater's and Cisco had been a bit rough on the way up in the morning, on the way back that afternoon it was brutal. Mile after mile of washboard snirt, it reminded me of a road made of logs, it got old real fast. Remember, the X8 has what looks like a suspension, but it really doesn't do anything, the pounding was relentless. Finally, when it got to the point that I was quite sure I had internal organs that were detaching, I slowed way down. I was sure there would be riders both ahead and behind me that would be unhappy, but in places I was down to 20 mph. This was where the trail was littered with the flotsam and jetsam of snowmobilers woes. Belts, ropes, tools, you name it...carnage.
Finally, thankfully, Stillwater's came into view, and we dropped down onto Star lake for some smoother running.

The sun had dropped behind a cloud bank, and it may have cooled off a bit, as it seemed the sled needed less snow to stay running. I arrived on the south shore of Plum lake with just a handful of other sleds. I believe the guys were dealing with the Cyclone Tucker Heins had been riding. Somewhere in here it quit as if the needle/seat were sticking. Also, I believe Henry's ( from NY ) Cat seized on the lake crossing. A few sleds arrived, and we headed for Sayner.

The carnage continued as we rode south out of Sayner. I was riding with a different group at this point than I had all day. I was riding with Brian Nelson for the first time. He stopped with an apparent belt failure, but could find nothing wrong. He said he was feeling a drivetrain speed vibration. 50 yards further down the trail, he motioned for a tow, and told the rest of us to get going.

At this point we were down to Ross Heavener, myself, and Guy and Tom Cowing. I was feeling good, we were just a few miles from the motel, and had probably an hour of daylight left, NO SWEAT!

Just a short distance from where we left Brian, the X8 began to vibrate and slow. I stopped, figuring I had just blown a belt. Once the hood was up, that diagnosis was confirmed. I removed the two plastic covers and went to open the secondary, but found it so hot I could not touch it. I sprinkled a bit of snow on it, and watched it skitter like a ready to cook griddle. This was a modern belt, with cogs top and bottom, but all that was left was the fabric belting from the middle. I got the spare belt on, and replaced the covers, we are good to go...except it wouldn't start, and the recoil was acting up.

After a few futile pulls, I pulled a squeeze bottle of premix from the tool box, and gave number one a shot. Another futile pull later, Ross says; "let's give both sides a shot", and while I'm removing number one, he reaches in and gives number two plug boot a pull, and my NGK cap breaks in his hand! I stare at the broken cap and say; "Ross, I wish you hadn't done that" So, I reach into the tool box, come out with a roll of duct tape, hand it to him and say "tape it up". ( after I got home, I found the rubber boot on the cap had cooked hard, so it was not Ross' fault )

As I get the recoil rewound, and the plugs out, Guy, Tom, and Ross, tape up the cap. When it's back on the wire, I give both sides a generous shot of fuel and replace the plugs. One hard pull, and the 440 roars to life! OK, saddle up let's GO! At the next road crossing, Guy hands up the mitten I had dropped ( thanks Guy ) and we're off to Big St Germain Lake.

The engine is running on two cylinders on and off. But I found if I held down on the repaired cap and pinned the throttle, it would run pretty good. So across the lake we went. A quick blast down HWY 70, and we are pulling into the motel parking lot to cheers and waves!

[400brian]

I parked the X8, and walked back out to the parking lot where a celebration was in progress. I found Ross, and said; " I could really use a beer!" Ross says; " I believe I can help you out on that". He goes to the truck and comes back with a box of beer, and starts passing it out. I'm pretty sure it was the best tasting beer I've ever had.

It was a very festive atmosphere as we shared stories, beer, and laughs, right there in the parking lot as the sun was setting. Kenny Heins drove in with the trailer and was handed a beer, and about then the last of the riders returned, Troy on the 340 under tow, Tucker on the 440. And that was part of the celebration, we HAD returned before dark!
The planning and plotting we'd shared over the past year had resulted in success. Despite a larger group, despite far more issues and sleds requiring towing or hauling, we were back before dark!

[400brian]

Epilogue

So what was up with the JDX8? It had run so well most of the trip up to Cisco.
Well remember that jump off the crest of the hill? It is my belief that when I landed, I broke a muffler attaching bolt, which allowed the exhaust to rattle all over. At some point a spring on the swivel broke, and most importantly, at some point a hole about half the size of a dime opened up in the pipe, blowing exhaust directly on the fuel lines.
This was causing the high underhood temps and vapor lock I was fighting from Cisco on.

[JDT]

That's it Brian?? No more?

Your recaps are great. I close my eyes and I am there.