11.20.2007
HOW PIPES WORK
This was sent to me anonymously, but it's a great little demonstration of how a 2 cycle pipe works. So I'm told. ;-)
11.19.2007
A NEW COLLECTOR
Meet Gordon Kimbale - collector and restorer. I stumbled across this report on the Gordon from YouTube. The report says Gordon over 85 running, restored machines. Way to go Gordon.
11.18.2007
LIVE ON SKIS!
This video is just fun. Really does capture the good time we had on the ride last year. More info on Live On Skis is available here. Enjoy.
11.15.2007
MORE IRONWOOD NEWS
I got this info in the inbox today about the return of racing to Ironwood's historic track:
Michigan’s Western Upper Peninsula invites you to be a part of the biggest snowmobile extravaganza the upper Midwest has ever seen! January 4th through the 12th will be jam packed with fast races, exciting events, snowmobile shows and activities for ages in an amazing event called Sledfest ‘08.
USSA sanctioned Oval racing and Vintage Pro racing kick off January 4th through the 6th at the Gogebic County Fair Grounds in Ironwood, Michigan. Friday is test and tune day. Racers will be around for autographs and pictures. Check out the Expo building for food, snowmobile gear and more. Saturday, racers take to the track at 10 A.M.; the day will feature a memorial race for the late Jim Adema. In addition to racing, the weekend features a Vintage Snowmobile show, snowmobile swap meet, vendors and exhibits. All are invited to a reception at the Hurley Inn for cocktails, buffet dinner, awards presentation, and music. Sunday concludes oval and vintage racing from 10 A.M. until dark.
For more information, please contact the Western Upper Peninsula Convention & Vistors Bureau in Ironwood, MI at 906-932-4850 or bigsnow@westernup.info.
RICH STUNTEBACK INTERVIEW YEILDS A VINTAGE FIND!
Got a call today from a collector who wishes to remain anonymous... he picked up a 73 Starfire last summer and was surprised to find it looked a lot like Rich's 73 440 pictured below. He made a phone call to Rich, and within just a few questions, Rich was able to verify that it is the exact same sled!
HOTELS GETTING SCARCE AT SOME EVENTS ALREADY?
I called around for some reservations today... Rock Rapids, Ironwood and the Live on Skis event have hotels around them already filling up. This is good news! I think gas prices aren't going to slow anyone down from having their fun this winter - bring it on!
A few months back I acquired a 76 Merc Twister that had a "Team Frustration" hood on it. Many of us have seen the famous photo of Rich Stuntebeck in turn 2 at Eagle River. This photo has been blown up to poster size and hangs on the walls of vintage sled garages all over the country.
I did some checking and found that Rich is practically my neighbor, so I found his phone number and gave him a call. I asked him if I could stop by his place and have him sign my hood and a copy of the "big poster" that I had of him racing at Eagle River. Without hesitation he said "sure, that would be fine". I drove over to his place near Wadena, Minnesota and met him in his shop.
Rich has a large gun store next to his home in the country. The business name is B & R Guns. He came out to my truck along with a couple of customers who were browsing in the store. Rich immediately grabbed one side of the machine and helped me lift it out on to the grass in his yard. He looked it over and said "Well, its definitely not my sled, but it is the hood from my machine." I asked him if he was sure of that and he said "Yes, I am sure". He also told me he still remembers every line he drove at every track. He could take me back to those tracks and point out where every bump was and he could draw a line around a map of the track and show exactly what groove he would be in. So, questioning him on the originality of the hood seemed sorta petty at that point!
One of the customers from the store offered to take a photo of Rich and I as he sat on the sled and I kneeled in the background. After loading the sled back into my truck, I had a few minutes to talk with Rich and I asked him if he knew where any of his old racing stuff was from back in the day. He said his helmet and his gold bib #19 are hanging on the wall at Lee Fredricksons shop in Marine, MN. Rich donated all of his trophies to the local Elks Club, where they spun the snowmobile ornaments off the top and replaced them with basketball figures. These were then given to the winners of the kids "hoop shoot" contests. He mentioned that he still may have an original set of Merc leathers from 76, then he remembered that he had
thrown them away since the left knee was ripped out. However, he did mail a bundle of original race photos to me from back in the 70's. Among the photos are the original snapshot of the now famous Merc poster, an early photo of Rich racing side by side with Jerry Bunke to the checkered flag at Ironwood and many other historical photos and documents.
Rich is now actively involved with the sport of trap shooting. He also works a bit with a modern day snowmobile race team, but gets the thrill of competition from shooting in trap contests. When I asked Rich if he would be willing to answer a few questions for the Vintage Sleds site, he simply said "sure, why not?" And so, that is how this interview came to be.
Q:What was your first experience with racing in the 70s? A: Actually, my first race was in 1969 in Huntersville, Minnesota. Back then we used to race cross country races on Saturdays and oval races on Sunday. The Huntersville oval race track was not maintained like a traditional oval track; it had all kinds of woops on the track right from the start. It was basically a circle plowed in the middle of a field. In the cross country race on Saturday I was leading until I ran into a tree. I went home that night, replaced the ski and pounded out the belly pan, and I came back Sunday for the oval race and placed third.
Q:What machine type did you first race? A: My first race sled was a 1969 Polaris.
Q:Any favorite machines from back in the 70s? A: I would have to say the Mercury Sno-Twister was my favorite machine, which I also had the most success racing.
Q:What other racers to you remember as having a lot of talent. A: Some of the other racers that come to mind are Jim Dimmerman, Frans Rosenquist, and my teammate Steve Thorsen. Of course you can’t forget about the Hays brothers, who were famous Mercury drivers of that time. I also am reminded of my friend Ed Schubitzke, who was always a tough opponent.
Q:How did “Team Frustration” get its name? A: Jerry Simison, who was our race director and motor builder, brought the name to the team. The name was shared with his boat racing team. The boat racing “Team Frustration” was Jerry Simison. Jerry gathered many National Championships and World Titles racing his run-abouts. He also raced the hydroplane class for Mercury, which is how we established our connection with Mercury. Jerry’s career also included several titles racing cigarette boats for Roger Penske.
Q:Can you tell us about your points championship year? A: The year I won the points championship was in the MSIII class. I was a riding a sno-twister, and if I remember correctly, I had the lead after the first race and kept it throughout the entire season. I don’t recall who was behind me in the points, but I think it was Frans Rosenquist. As in any other form of racing, it took total dedication the whole season to defend my lead. I also competed in 340 Stock, 340 Mod Stock, 440 Stock and 440X. Racing five classes was physically demanding each day.
Q:Lee Fredrickson has your bib and helmet, any idea where your old sleds are? A: I have no idea where the rest of my sleds went, other than the Merc hood that I won the points championship with, which Justin Clack now owns.
Q:What did the “gold bib” signify? A: Gold bibs signified how you finished for the season according to the number (1-100). Everyone wanted to beat the guys with the gold bibs.
Q:Where did all the racing sleds go when the season ended? A: Some of the Mercury sleds went back to the factory at the end of the season; others were offered to us drivers as low as $200 each (which I don’t believe any of us took). By the time the last race was over, none of us really wanted to look at a snowmobile for a while!
Q:Did you enjoy oval racing or cross country racing more? A: Cross country was definitely my favorite when I first started. Fame and money brought us over to ice ovals in the long run.
Q:What was your favorite oval track? A: Hands down, Eagle River, Wisconsin was my favorite oval track. I can still see every bump in the track! I really have a lot of memories from Eagle River.
Q:Do you stay in touch with any of the other racers from back in the day? A: Actually, I have lost contact with mostly everyone of that time. I see Eddie Schubitzke at the snocross races from time to time. Eddie’s son Carl is well known in the snocross scene.
Q:Do you have any modern day involvement in snowmobile racing. A: For four seasons (2003-2006) I worked for Olah Racing, which was a dominant snocross team with drivers such as Robbie Malinoski, Jeff Snow, Kent Ipsen, Kurtis Crapo, Ryan Simons and Garth Kaufman. I was Kent and Jeff’s mechanic for the first three seasons and I managed the two teams my final year there. The year I managed the team, we won 3 of the 4 WPSA championships, which has never been done before. Robbie won the Pro Championsip in Stock and Mod Class. Jeff Snow won the Semi-Pro Mod Class.
Q:What do you feel is the most important aspect of setting up a race sled? A: Clutching and suspension are the most important. The difference between winning and losing comes down to who has the best set-up in these two areas.
Q:You mentioned trap shooting, do you compete in that sport regularly? A: I have been competing in the sport at a national level since 1985. I really started getting involved heavily in trap shooting around 2000 when my son, Bryan, began shooting at a national level also. We traveled the country together for many weeks out of the year for about 6 years. During this time we both accomplished a lot in our shooting careers. Bryan made the ATA Junior All American Team three years (2002-2004), and was the Captain of the team in 2004. He later went on to Lindenwood University, on a scholarship, to shoot for their collegiate team. While there, Bryan and his team won 4 ACUI Intercollegiate National Championships and he is now the Assistant Coach of the team. Our desire for outdoors and the shooting community drove us to start our own Gun Shop, B&R Guns. Open since June 2007, B&R Guns has a full line of handguns, shotguns, rifles, dog training supplies and custom cutlery. B&R Guns is located outside Wadena, Minnesota – 218-632-5820 – if we can interest you in anything, please give us a call!
Q: Do you have any children that had a desire to race snowmobiles? A: My son Bryan definitely has the competitive edge, but decided to direct it towards the shooting sports instead of racing. From my experience, both sports teach you a lot about life, while meeting a lot of great people along the way.
11.05.2007
SNOPRO RETURNS TO IRONWOOD - RICH STUNTEBECK INTERVIEW ON THE WAY!
Here's a rare, great photo. This is Jerry Bunke (#93) and Rich Stuntebeck at the ski-to-ski finish in Mod-Stock 440 in 1974. Rich was running for Team Frustration, Jerry was running for his dads Rushford Minnesota sales and service shop. As you can see, Jerry won the race by a mere couple of inches. This is one of the races were Jerry got noticed by the Polaris race team who was there for the opener of the first-ever SnoPro series. Vintage SnoPro and late model racing returns to Ironwood January 4-6th.
Stay tuned as our own Justin Clack has recently interviewed Rich Stuntebeck for vintagesleds.com, and we'll have it here for you in just a couple of days. Rich has a very "Rich" racing history, most notably his experiences with the famous "Team Frustration".
VINTAGE SNOPRO TEAMS PICKS UP A MAJOR SPONSOR - PARTS UNLIMITED!
This is cool. Kurt and Joann Krueger, Tim Krueger and Travis Bergmann of Provintage Performance become the first Vintage Racers for Team Parts Unlimited, Arctiva, and ZR1 Helmets.
Kurt has been racing for eight years, followed by his wife Joann with six years on the track. Two new racers are adding to the roster for the 2007-8 seasons for Provintage Performance. Kurt’s brother Tim and nephew Travis will be joining them on the track this season. All racers will be running full Arctiva and ZR1 gear supplied by their new sponsor.
Yes, the rumors are true Joann will be challenging Kurt on the race track with her 1979 Ski-Doo Snopro 250 IFS. Nine weeks until the first race, the sleds in the race shop are coming together. Kurt and Joann will both be running a new sled for the season. The 1976 Moto-Ski Snopro will be on the ice along with Kurt’s 1979 Moto-Ski Snopro 250 IFS, 1973 340 Ski-Doo Blizzard, and 1973 440 Ski-Doo Blizzard. Joann will be running her Ski-Doo single and her 1979 Ski-Doo Snopro 250 IFS. Travis will be running a 250 F/A Ski-Doo super stock on his 1975 245RV.
11.02.2007
A-1 SHOW IS UNDERWAY!
I just got a phone call from Kurt Kruger who is out in the field in mid-michigan at the A-1 show. It seems there is already a bunch of people and sleds there, and the show is rocking already. Pretty cool for 10:30 on a Friday morning. If you'd like to attend the show, visit the official website for directions and more information. Every year I try to get to this one, and every year I've failed. Then I get to hear how fun it was from everyone that went. Get there if you can!
10.31.2007
HAPPY HALLOWEEN. THE INTERNET IS FULL, NOW GO HOME!
Earlier today, visitors to the site were greeted with this happy message:
Way to go! There was so many people on the site around 3:30 today that you exceeded the available bandwidth. Traffic on the site is about 1/3 higher that it was this time last year... that means we are well on our way to another record setting year. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Very cool.
10.24.2007
MYSTERY COLLECTOR REVEALED!
Introducing... (drum roll please)
RICH PEDERSON OF THE ZEDSHED!
Okay, I can't really introduce Rich to the vintage world, since Rich has been collecting sleds since way before anyone even thought of calling them "vintage".
My guess is that an awful lot of the people that read this site have also visited thezedshed.com. A couple of years ago, it was a very thriving Arctic Cat and general vintage website. An unfinished upgrade to the site kind of slowed it down, but it sure didn't stop Rich from adding to his collection and enjoying his vintage habit!
In fact, Rich has so NOT slowed down. He recently bought a semi off of Ebay and refurbished it to take his ZedShed collection on the road... complete with a bar. Most recently, Rich added a 1978 Yamaha SSR to his collection, and when I spoke to him this evening, he was busy wrenching on not one, but two, 650cc EXT's.
Primarily a Cat guy, that is in no way the only sled Rich collects - he's got Suzuki's, Ski-Doo's, Moto-skis, Polaris, Mercury and Speedways... a little bit of everything.
10.23.2007
GET THE SLED OUT!
Just another fun photo that was sent in, this one from Harv Kesho (I think, couldn't tell exactly from the email) and I'm guessing this is his son, his favorite Alouette, and his favorite car. Nice.
10.22.2007
Announcing “C.J. Ramstad Memorial Trail Ride” for Waconia Ride-In January 26, 2008
The Waconia 2008 Committee has announced that its traditional trail ride on Saturday, January 26, 2008 has been named the “C.J. Ramstad Memorial Trail Ride”. The Committee asks that trail riders consider making a cash donation in honor of C.J. who gave so much to our winter passion and made such a profoundly positive impact on snowmobiling through his advocacy, publicity and promotion. C.J. showed the general public how fun snowmobiling was through example and through his extensive photo gallery.
All cash contributions will be forwarded to the Snowmobile Hall of Fame in St. Germain, WI, where they are constructing a Ramstad Library and Media Center --- a special room/display of C.J’s photographs and historic artifacts.
The Waconia event features a famous trail ride, where over 400 vintage and antique snow machines gather for a fun jaunt over the lake and on local trails. This ride gets more popular every year. C.J’s wife Karla has agreed to lead the trail ride on C.J’s beloved 1968 black Arctic Cat Panther. Daughter Marli has shown interest in attending as well.
Waconia is a southwest suburb of the Twin Cities, Minnesota. The weekend event has grown into the largest classic snowmobile event on snow. In other Waconia 2008 updates:
- Polaris will be the feature snowmobile this year.
- We have tentative confirmation of many Polaris legends and VIP’s to attend, including Mike Baker, Burt Basset, Jim Bernat, Bob Eastman, Herb Howe, founder David Johnson, Leroy Lindblad, Ray Monsrud, Les Pinz, Larry Rugland and Andy Wells (of Lil’ Andy fame). Expect a robust autograph session!
- New this year will be Saturday ROLA (one lunger) racing, as well as a Saturday radar fun run and Sunday all–out drag racing.
- Huge judged show on Sunday, as usual.
See mwvss.com for details and updates right up to the January 26-27 2008 event.
TOP 10 2008 RACE RUMORS!
Here we go again folks! Ever since the weather got a little colder, the racers are gathering every night after hours of Quality Garage Time (QGT) and shooting the breeze about all the other racers. Well, as usual, the top rumors always manage to rise to the top, and without further adieu, here are the top 10 race rumors for the upcoming 2007-2008 season!
NOTE: All of these are to be taken with a BIG grain of salt.
10. Last years Vintage World Champion Mark Anderson will not retire as he stated at the end of last year. He'll be back, but wants to get 2nd this year in the W.C. He's rumored to have been overheard saying that if he came in second "Maybe I can get some good press?"
9. 2006 World Champion Jacob Goede will be back on the track in '08 - this time with a top secret machine he and his family pulled out of the vault, dusted off, and are racing "as-is". {{cough, cough}}
8. Paul Socwell will be back again to run the vintage snopro series. No he won't. Yes he will. No he won't. Okay, wait, he's in. Nope, he's out. In. Out. I've lost track. Anyone?
7. Adam Hagen of Smith Brothers will be back in '08, but this time he had to promise his dad that he would read the "This side up" decal on the handlebars before every race.
6. Rumor has it that near Alexandria, Minnesota, hell has in fact, frozen over. Pigs are flying, and Scott Tillman is trading in his beloved Ski-Doo race sleds and has made the full switch to Fuji-powered machines after dominating last year on his 340 indy. Say it ain't so Scott! Bombardier needs you!
5. 2007 Hetteen Cup winner Mike Maegher will be attaching a camera to the rear of his Cat Z's and his SRX so he can cover the races for the VSCA while racing himself again this year. He was going to put a camera on the front of his machines, but since there's never any one in front of him, what's the point?
4. Kurt and Joane Kruger will have matching sleds, matching suits and will be racing in the same class. But the rumor is that Joane has told friends that if Kurt gets within 10 feet of her on the track, he'll be getting no lovin' for weeks on end. Mmm. I visited Kurt just a few weeks back and I did notice his sled had really tiny 28mm Mikuni carbs on it.
3. Rumors have been very strong about vintage race sleds being built at Arctic Cat and Polaris, with one of the factories sponsoring a "back-door" vintage racing team. All attempts to verify this rumor have been met with angry executives from each company asking "Are you Icelandic, or just retarded?"
2. The Smith Brothers Racing team will make the trip down to the lower 48 around November 1st. That's confirmed, but the rumor is Sean Smith won't be racing. He's only coming down to see if he can find one of the them "giant blonde headed, viking-type Minnesota chicks that like snoo-snoo."
AND THE NUMBER ONE RACE RUMOR FOR 2008!
1. Farmin' Armand Westlund, John Schumacher and Randy Cwikla will be joining forces as the official race team for International Harvestor and Pabst Blue Ribbon. The only reason we may not see the new machines on the ice? No one can decide on a paint scheme.
IT'S STILL OUT THERE!
Joe Pay sent in the photos of his most recent find - a very nice 76 Merc Twister - 440. Joe found the sled in a barn on the East Coast. Had to pay some pretty serious money for it - but she will clean up nice! Congratulations Joe!
10.16.2007
CLAYTON NEUMAN - RACER
On October 9th, Clayton L. Neuman (age 73) oldest member of the original Neuman Racing Team of Minnesota, passed away after fighting a battle with cancer for 10 months. Clayton was a drag racing fanatic, and a fantastic engineer. He participated and attended many ISR World Series events, MSDRS events and traveled to Regina, Saskatchewan; Winnipeg, Manitoba; Riverton, Wyoming; Wisconsin; Iowa; and Michigan in support of the Neuman Racing Team.
In the 80's, he can be remembered for his innovative rotary valved Arctic Cat motors with carburetors mounted on the front of the engine crankcases. Later, he developed his Arctic Cat based lay down, opposed 4 cylinder 800 engine.
Our own Dragcat from the Bull Sessions (AKA Paul James) had this to say about Clayton:
Clay began his racing career in 1972 when he bought a 72 Arctic Cat Puma. He had it modified by Amenrudes Performance, complete with Salisbury clutch and Hooker exhaust. They brought it to a local drag race, and it was driven by smaller and younger Lloyd Neuman. The machine won the race and the Neuman race team was born!
Bitten by the race bug, Clay next bought a 72 ext 650. Unhappy with its performance, he secured a more powerful 73 650 (pictured) and raced it all the way through 1976 against the likes of Marv Jorgenson and Bill Reynolds.
Sometime in the late seventies the engineering bug bit and he designed his own version of the 77z 250 motor. This engine featured crankcase mounted induction on the front of the motor along with special port design and other features I cant mention {wink, wink}. There was people in the shop taking bets that the motor would never run. Well, run it did, driven by Clayton's son Steve, this little machine dominated the 250 classes for several years. Later a 340 was also built to this design and was driven by Clay.
in 1990 the bug bit again and he designed and built the 800cc opposed 4 cylinder sled that is pictured below. It was driven by Steve the first few years, and then by me for over 10 years to its retirement. This machine was experimental and served as a test bed for many ideas good and of course some not so good!
Clayton along with brothers Lloyd, Gordon and Frank made up the Neuman Race Team - a well known and dominant force in snowmobile racing for over 30 years. Personally I'd like to add that Clayton was a great teacher, boss, and all around great friend to have. I will miss him dearly.
Paul James, aka 'DragCat'
Clayton on his 73 650 Cat...
...And his 800cc opposed twin racer.
10.15.2007
2007 VSCA NATIONAL CHAMPION
As I understand it, Howard Billington is this ears National Champ with his pink purpl viking. We'll have photos asap.
UPDATE: I accidently called it a pink viking this AM, because that is what it looked like in the photo. My apologies to anyone that took offense at the mistake.
Here's the winnning sled:
2007 VSCA National Championship Viking,
owned by Howard Billington.
And here's something very cool as well from the show. Any Avelis was the first in the world to restore a genuine 1974 Arctic Cat SnoPro. Hands down, this is the sexist hood ever to have come from The gang up in Thief River Falls! Andy is sending me a bunch of detailed photos - I'll post them as soon as I get them. Way to go Andy, this thing is a toal piece of art - and history!
Andy Avelis' 74 Cat SnoPro - the first original snopro restored anywhere in the world - and what a job him and his father did!
WOLF LAKE/NORTHERN OVAL ICE RULES POSTED
I've updated the rules for the Wolf Lake racers. Take a look. I hope to have the other associations updated ASAP. Thanks to Scott Tillman for providing them.
10.12.2007
VSCA NATIONALS - THIS WEEKEND!
The 2nd annual traveling Vintage Snowmobile Club of America National Championship show is THIS weekend in West Springfield, Massachusetts. The best of the best in vintage sleds will be there competing for the top prize of national champion.
Last year, our own "ThumperDave" AKA Dave Larsen won top honors in Thief River Falls, Minnesota with his 68 Polaris racer. I was at that show. I can tell you the judges had one of the toughest assignments I have ever seen in trying to pick a winner. Really, you could have taken any of almost 25 machines, called them the winner and no one could argue.
I expect that this years show will be just as difficult. When you have that many great sleds... Look out.
Oh, and one big surprise sled that I know of will be there. One of the rarest Arctic Cats ever, and also my personal favorite as the best looking Arctic Cat to have ever been built. I just confirmed that Andy Avelis has a special surprise up his sleeve this weekend that will knock you out when you see it. I've got some pictures here that I was asked not to share just yet, and I have been drooling ever since I saw them. Keep checking back, I'll put up the photos as soon as I get the okay.
It's a two day indoor event - all sleds have to be indoors prior to 9:00 AM tomorrow morning. They had a limit of 300 sleds for the event. You can get all the details at sledmass.com, or contact Andy Holland at (508) 485-6553.
Good luck to everyone and I can't wait to hear who won!
10.05.2007
IMAGES FROM RUDE DOG'S REALLY BIG SHOW
Secret agent Waldo sent in these top secret photos from Rude Dog's most recent Really Big Show - also known as the Fall Maine Classic in Newport Maine. By all accounts, it was again, a great show, good people, good fun.
The Auto-Ski - wow!
Sometimes Rude Dog gets a little confused and rides his tractor in circles.
Here's Rude Dog in his more normal habitat - on his 72 T-Jet.
A really amazing Eliason.
Very nice Moto-Ski and Scorpion.
Gary Bright's Starfires.
SCENE'S FROM IRONWOOD
SnoPro returns to the famous "Ironwood Olympus" track on January 4-6 2008. As these photos from back in the day, this race was a big deal - and the track! Look at how wide and long them corners are! It's huge. Here's alink to the Ironwood Chamber of Commerce, Here's a Mapquest link to Ironwood, and here's a link to the local newpaper there.
1972. The crowd goes wild at the start of a mod race.
Look at the crowd back in 1972 - and look at that wide, sweeping corner.
Does that look like fun or what?
9.29.2007
TWO FUN PHOTOS
First - is this dead sexy or what? I'm not sure what looks better, the sled, the car, or just the photo with both in it!
A stunning tribute to a 1970 speed record holder, and a very fast 2007 car. Both black. Both scary sexy. Sled by Bill Adams of Arctic Restoration Specialties.
This is Vintage sledding superstars Edgar Hetten, Marlys Knutson (Polaris) and David Johnson - the man everyone still works for in Roseau, even if he is retired! The photo was taken at this years Hay-Days event when Edgar's son Ronn visted the event with his new DVD's from out of Edgar's Archive. Those videos are now available in the store.
Edgar Hetteen, Marlys Knutson (sp?) and David Johnson
9.26.2007
An honored guest from Make A Wish for this years "Live On Skis" event.
Vintagesleds.com announces an honored guest from Make A Wish for this years "Live On Skis" event.
The Live On Skis event is chance for vintage snowmobile enthusiasts from all over the world to get together and "shoot the breeze". In between these "bull sessions", participants ride the old sleds on the beautiful trails and lakes around International Falls, Minnesota. There's no show, no race, no pressure of any kind - just show up and have a good time.
Make A Wish is a non-profit organization that grants a wish to enrich the lives of kids with life-threatening medical conditions. One of our members on the Vintagesleds.com Bull Sessions forum is just such a person. On the forum he goes by the name "Colt250ss", but his real name is Forrest Hess, and he hails from New York.
No one associated with vintagesleds.com has had a greater honor than to have Forrest pick the "Live On Skis" event as the place he wants to go, the thing he wants to do. Forrest wants to meet and ride with Bull Session members he's come to know and like.
We here at vintagesleds.com are determined to make Forrest's wish a the best it can be. If you'd like to help, just make the trip and enjoy the weekend with a fun bunch of people who just enjoy these old machines as much as you do.
Forrest has made the request to ride a few special machines. So if you have one of these and would be kind enough to let Forrest and maybe his family take them for a ride, it would be very, very cool:
* A John Deere Liquifier or Cyclone
* A 1975 Johnson JX 650
* A 1974 SKi-Whiz
* Any Yamaha Race Sled (SR, SRX, SSR?)
9.25.2007
FIRED UP IN IRONWOOD
I ran across this article in the Ironwood Daily Globe today. It sure looks like the people of Ironwood are really excited about snowmobile racing and vintage SnoPro returning to the area. As you know, Ironwood in the glory days of ova racing was always the "kick-off" race for the season. For the weekend of January 4-6th, they already doing lots of work to "rekindle the legacy of ice oval snowmobile racing".
Volunteers are meeting on a weekly basis to plan and prepare for the triumphant return of oval ice racing to the historic race track. 3,000 bales of hay will go up in strategic places around the track - as task that took over 40 volunteers alone.
This just feels like it's gonna be huge.
9.23.2007
MY OTHER SUMMER PROJECT
Actually, Jim Haug is doing most of the work on this baby, but yesterday I got to help out for most of the day. This is the first progress shots I've made available of Don Omdahl's 1974 SnoPro. Actually, a great deal of people have already helped with this, including Bob Friesen, Doug Monson, Doc Jim, Greg Lahr,
Ed Schlosser, Frank Sadlon, Roger Jordan and many others.
But it's been Jim who sweated out the tough stuff - including cleaning up and painting the magnesium chassis. Yesterday, we both felt like she's coming together. We started bolting on the parts and it's starting to take shape.
I just wanted to share the progress and to say thanks to everyone that is helping me get it done for Waconia this winter.
Here's Donny back in 1974, charging hard into the corners. If you poke through the records of the first year of SnoPro, 1974, you'll see that Yamaha had a pretty good year in the 440 class. But the 340 and 650 class was dominated by Polaris. When Yamaha didn't win in 440 it was more often than not Donny Omdahl and this machine.
Here's how I got the sled, after setting the pieces and parts together. The only thing I didn't have at this point was the skis - which are unique to the 74 SnoPros. Note the white in the back, and the remains of the white stripe on the side. Don's machine was the only ones of the 74 SnoPros to have that stripe.
Here's the progress as of last night. Chassis, track, suspension, steering, chaincase and gas tank are all cleaned up and looking good. The track is extremely light, with titanium cleats and 4 bands. Suspension is a modified 73 suspension. Chaincase is magnesium, gas tank and clutch guard are hand made. Hood and pan are reproductions. Not pictured: The motor which is being used right now to build the aluminum pipes.
Here's an interesting thing I learned during this project. Pictured on top is an original 73 SnoPro ski. Note the rounded stamping. The center distance between the leaf spring mounts is 23.5". The middle ski is just as short, but has the same stamping as a 76 Starfire ski. I'm guessing this is a 75 ski, from one of the smaller (250 or 340) PDC sleds from 1975. For comparison, the bottom ski is the steel 76 Starfire ski. Note how much longer it is.
Here's another new find: This is the sled Wes Pesek raced from the Polaris factory in the stock classes in 1976. Currently awaiting restoration.
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![CJ Ramstad](../"archive/archiveimages/Q3-2007/singles/CJ-11.jpg")
The Waconia event features a famous trail ride, where over 400 vintage and antique snow machines gather for a fun jaunt over the lake and on local trails. This ride gets more popular every year. C.J’s wife Karla has agreed to lead the trail ride on C.J’s beloved 1968 black Arctic Cat Panther. Daughter Marli has shown interest in attending as well. 
IT'S STILL OUT THERE!
