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2011 Shifty Ride!

My oldest on my snorander special ‘12. And my youngest on his first sled ‘11 or 12. He’s 15 and 6’4 now.

We get enough negative in everyday life from the idiots on the news. I have posted in the past to keep it positive on here so lets do it. HCS used to be the sled bashing format but that has cleaned up a bit toward the positive and but also has less comments that usual. Keep in clean and keep it fun...and lets invite our younger and newer sledders to chime in and post some FUN STUFF. Seems like when any forum goes ROGUE and NEGATIVE...a new forum pops up somewhere else and we all move to it. Lets get it back to normal and have some fun...so when the riding starts we are in the BIG POSITIVE ATTITUDE. I am starting it off with a nice high peak cooking photo. Can't wait! I look at photos and videos all summer! Might be hot lemonade in the cup....

I've been sledding for 18 years now, and so far I have only needed to be towed out of the woods once. Dave Bowles was the one who came by while he was grooming and helped me out. I had heard of him often before that, but it was the only time I got to meet him. Dave was a good man. Between getting my sled to a spot where we could load it on the trailer, and driving me to get my truck, Dave spent at least 2 hours helping me that day. I tried to offer him some compensation for his time and fuel, but he would not accept. He suggested that I purchase an OVSC membership instead, which I did as soon as I got home.

Yes, it's a case of the audience being the performers. Social media, or forum, it's a few people who provide the majority of content. Not saying it's great content, but it is content.

A tremendous loss not only to our club, but to all the other civic and volunteer associations he was involved with. And no one knew or appreciated our landowners as Dave did. Dave was the patriarch of a fine family that together have given much more to their community than taken. God bless to Betty and all the kids...

Two new internal coils, a new external coil and...boom

Various Snowdeo's at Newfound Lake

I had a similar sled. It was a 79 Yamaha Excel V . Could not ask for a better running and more reliable machine. Had the 540 fan.

Great pic snorander. I love your sled, but the backdrop of classic cars on the lake is priceless!

My Dad taking his 1970 Nordic off trail on Little Sugarloaf, Newfound Lake circa 1973

Top of Magalloway Mt @ the fire tower late 70's.

Probably my favortite sled I have ever owned, although my 81 SS440 was up there too...

I don't know where it is, but they are both riding better sleds than me LOL

Shifty...hard to believe it's been 2 years since our sons took the safety class together. The mini z had many hours between my son and daughter...that sled was going nonstop. Dad had quite a workout shoveling piles of snow for their jumps!

Good little sleds. My kid ran a sprint 340 as his first sled and loved it.

aI don't disagree with you at all. my point is that the number of registered sleds are declining which is the reason that they are not bringing the funds. They are not replacing people who have stopped sledding with new people that is the issue. one factor is cost of the sport. hardcore people will always pay and ride, but you need new blood to make the sport grow I call it the Harley Davidson Syndrome, alot of older riders Not many new families are coming into the sport.

I can get a non resident registration for Maine for $100 for the season, more snow, more trails better conditions less idiots on the trail. This sport is expensive, and registrations going too high will not increase participation. Sled prices are to prohibitive for new people, and not everyone wants an 800cc turbo charged rocket that seats one person. So lets take a look roughly at cost: 2 sleds new: $ $8300 per sled:: Trailer Hybrid $4600 Gear for two people $500 per person the cheap: $1000 Registration: $66 per sled: $132 Insurance per sled Cheap $250 : $500 total $22,832 Now this is an estimate, yea they could buy used or a non covered trailer That is a lot of money to start. This is why registrations are down, cost is too high. I am going to Maine

Goffstown Uncanoonuc Mountaineers Vintage Snowmobile & Mini-Bike Show & Swap - 10/20/18 This is one of my favorite shows, put on by a great club. Link: https://nh.craigslist.org/snw/d/uncanoonuc-mountaineers/6711455897.html

What a nice memory. But that was Dave. Reminds me of the time I was riding about a half mile from his house. I came across a rather "portly" gentleman that was riding an old unregistered Polaris. Sled had died, he was local and only out for a "short" ride, so he had no tools and wasn't properly dressed. I got him on the back of my sled and brought him up to Dave's. Dave then made arrangements to get the broken sled back to the owner's house and let the gentleman warm up in his home before Dave took him home. I bet that fiasco took the better part of a Saturday afternoon as well. He will be sorely missed.....

Sad to hear of Dave passing away. I had the privilege of working a few work parties with him and always wondered where the "battery slot" was that kept him going like a hummingbird. His heritage is everywhere! I was watching TV yesterday and saw an episode of North Woods Law, where a rescue of a woman with a broken ankle was being carried down from Chocora , and the last scene was at the bottom where they panned to the name of the "Bolles Trail". He will be missed................. pathfinder

RIP Dave.

I've also been looking for a sled to replace my wife's Arctic Cat that burned last winter, and a Renegade with a 600 ETEC would be a possibility. I have a Ski Doo GSX with the 600 ETEC that has about 6,000 miles, so I've done some research on the upper end rebuild. FWIW, I've read that most 600 ETECs will go 10,000 miles before bad things happen. Now, the isoflex grease on the crank bearing might wear out at 6000 miles, but that all depends on how hard you push the motor. Bottom line is that the ETEC is a very good and reliable motor but very expensive to fix.

I had some amazing mid week runs with deep fresh snow and here are some of my favorite pics of last season, enjoy. Ride Right, Ride Safe, and Ride On !

Sad to hear, R.I.P.

The price was right so I couldn't pass this one up. It will be a great project to work on with my 11 year old son. 150lb in each cylinder and no spark. Let the fun begin!

So here is why the ss has to go...

This is going to become a hot topic very quickly as we get into the riding season. Being on that committee I totally agree that we need to do something to help better fund our trail system but I don't agree with the amount of the increase. All clubs in Rockingham county are against this increase but also agree that something needs change. We'd like to see the fines (off trail, unregistered, loud exhaust) up'd to $248 each and the rental sleds registration increased first. We feel that we should go after the low hanging fruit first then look at what the shortage is and adjust accordingly. Plus this years voucher issue at dealers will cause more people to register as non club members, giving more $ to GIA. This issue plus the whole NHSA voucher # requirement for registering this year will most certainly have a major impact on smaller clubs and I'm sure we will have more clubs drop out all together. In my personal opinion between the price of new sleds, trailering to the riding areas and the registrations this sport may be on the verge of pricing itself right out of existance. I really hope not as I've put a lot of time into trying to keep this sport around for my kids and future generations.

Ugh, I just realized I came out as a Yamaha owner. Can I still give you crap Rob? I'll look closer. Thanks for the help guys.

I was thinking I may, but the thought of paying $75 for really just a $1 nipple is killing the New England cheapskate heritage in me.

You might try a hardware store. Some of them have a selection of fittings similar to that. You might not find one with the 90 degree elbow, but if it has the right threaded and, and a nipple for a rubber hose, you should be able to make it work. Or, try a lawnmower shop. They may have a box of fittings laying around with a piece of gold in it.

I went yesterday, got there at around 930, it got busy really fast. GREAT show on the water, RaveX as usual was a crowd hit, although for the third year in a row, their PA system sucked, cutting out, etc. Really glad I went and that it was so busy this year. Snowmobiling certainly isn't dead in NH!

Well I tried to go today but wish I hadn’t. Made it almost there, but with 2 miles left we hit bumper to bumper traffic. After a half hour of barely moving we still had 1.5 miles to go, so at that rate it was going to take 2 hours just to go the 2 miles. Decided I wasn’t willing to wait that long and turned around. Can’t even imagine what the crowd must have been like there with traffic like that. That was a waste of 3 hours of my time and $20 of gas. Don’t think I’ll be doing that again.

Looks great Steve! I knew that windshield would clean up nice! Nice job!

I was going to cut a piece off an old dipstick I have (which should be the same type of material I would think) to use like a welding rod, and melt it into the crack. Definitely gonna order the grommets and fittings for the new tank tonight, and as long as they fit properly in the existing hole that's in the new tank, I'll go ahead and drill the second hole. Thanks.

I suppose that is true since it takes me 1-1/2hr to get to hooksett toll both. Perhaps if we can leave RI early enough Friday we can stop on our way through

Great Newfound pictures...Need something to happen like that again if the weather will cooperate. I also have a 79 Yamaha SS. Fun sled to ride...gave it to my oldest son a year or so ago. I stay on his ass to take care of it.

Here is a video I made from pictures and video clips from the Andover Snowmobile Club's 15th annual Snofest vintage snowmobile show last year. There is audio that starts about 6 seconds in so make sure your speakers are on. Hope you like it...

Awesome Steve! Sounds great!

Love the old pics everyone! Here is one of me sitting on my Elan taking the safety course in 1982. (yes, I think my grandmother made my hat. lol)

A few more pictures

The Burg, trail 112 ?? Here is one of my trusty old 700

I admire your ambition.

Looks awesome Steve! That will be a great project for you and your son! And it looks like you've already given it the WD-40 treatment. That's always the first step. If the windshield isn't cracked (it looks complete from the pics) then you might be able to clean it up with plastic polish. I've had pretty good luck with this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/Novus-7100-Plastic-Polish-Kit/dp/B002UCYRZU/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1533582870&sr=8-4&keywords=plastic+polish And if you can't find a hood in time, you can always do the "frankenstein repair" - holes drilled on either sides of the crack and then stitched together with zip ties. I know that wouldn't really be up to snorander standards, but it would get you by until you could find one.

I am horrified by this Jeff. The freight train is coming. And HQ wants clubs that want to use there online sales to sign off that no matter what happens, you agree not to go to the ag office, state of NH, F&G or anyone other than Tilton brass to discuss your issue. Then you will be considered a problem, and ignored. Registering in Maine only, is looking better and better.

LOL Great observation noxorc! Coolers for the boat in the summer, a fridge is just outside of the frame of the picture. Thanks for worrying about me though! LOL