12/29/04
WOW!
Almost 40 drivers are now registered to take their shot at the the title of Vintage SnoPro Master. I'm sure more will filter in by Sunday, so keep checking back.

Anderson Racings 1985 Twin Tracker and Crew

Loren Anderson sent in some more photos from his collection of photos and sleds - his 73 Ski-Doo racers and his 85 Ski-Doo Twin Track that was originally piloted by none other then Brad Hulings.

12/28/04
SMELL THE RACE FUMES!
27 drivers so far have registered for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series. The first race this sunday on Wolf Lake in Alexandria Minnesota. Between them they are bringing 40 extra sleds to the race - and it's only Tuesday. I know a lot of drivers are still waiting to sign up, and before Sunday we should have a whole bunch of new ones. New Profiles have been posted. If you are one of the drivers and some of your info is missing, please email us.

The races start this Sunday at 12:00 noon - directions are posted towards the bottom of this page.

There's additional updates (complete with the first photo of my vintage racer) on the vintagesleds.com racing home page.

VINTAGE "RIDE WITH THE CHAMPS"
Getting ready for the big "Ride With The Champs" event, Charles Plueddeman has suggested that he who brings the oldest sled to the ride wins a fabulous prize - a great idea. So, the oldest sled to make the ride gets: a vintagesleds.com CD-ROM, and a copy of the "Racing's Early Years" book from Race & Rally/ Snowtech magazine, and a t-shirt from the Hall of Fame! I already lost - I'm brining the 79 Centurion below. Charles will be bringing (hopefully) the 634 Puma below. Register today - and we'll see you there!

Charrles Plueddeman's 634 "Champ" sled.	My 79 Centurion "Champ" sled.

12/24/04
A SPECIAL EASTERN SHOW
Did you know the New Hampshire Annual Meet and Show this year will feature some of the legends of the sport of snowmobiling? I mention it because last year, I had the rare opportunity to go to the Roseau Frostbite Days celebration - and it was amazing. All the Polaris and Arctic Cat drivers (except Dimmerman and Elsner) from the BIG TIME era of racing, the founders and many more.

At this years NH show, you may well have one of your ONLY chances to meet David Johnson (coolest man alive - founder of Polaris, inventor of the Polaris snowmobile, and a truly gifted manager), VIntage Superstar Bud Knapp, Jerry Bassett of "American Snowmobiler", some people from that little factory in Valcourt, (something we never get here in Minnesota!), and the legendary Edgar Hetten, Founder of Polaris and Arctic Cat!

Add all that in with a People's Choice award - and an award given by the above legends to THEIR favorite sled at the show.. and you have the makings for a once in a lifetime amazing event. I wouldn't miss it for the world if I lived on that side of the planet!

For more information, call George Burdick at 603-648-2304 or email Stephen Burdick. The show is February 13th, 2005 in Allentown, New Hampshire.

12/22/04
MERRY CHRISTMAS...
...and a snowy new year to all of you. Some of you are lucky enough to be out riding already. The rest of us stare out the window at the bleak, barren ground and continue to wonder if maybe dirt bikes might be more rewarding.

Nah.

MORE DRIVER PROFILES
We are up to 25 registered racers for the series. I know a lot more registrations are coming... but if you know a racer that hasn't signed up - tell him he could be missing a chance to become a legend!

12/21/04
PRO VINTAGE AT EAGLE RIVER
Joann Krueger, (one of my favorite old Ski-Doo fans) sent in these photos of the sleds Pro-Vintage performance is getting ready for Eagle River this year. Joann (#101), her husband Kurt (#33) and Dave Becker (#144) will have the sleds on the historic track January 7th through the 9th. Joann and the crew look forward all year to the big event.

Joann Krueger #101	Kurt Krueger, #33

This year the race promises to be bigger then ever, building on the stunning success the race had last year - with nearly 500 entries in the vintage classes. I won't be able to make it this year (%$#@!), but I will be up for the weekend of the big Championship - an event I've never witnessed. I can't wait. Sledding, the Hall of Fame induction ceremonies, the Ride with the Champs... It all sounds like too much fun to stuff into a weekend.

Speaking of the Ride With The Champs... Last year, Mike Weinfurter, riding his old Ski-Doo bubble-top, did the whole ride along side the new sleds! The big news is not that he made it all day, but that he was able to walk and talk about it the next day. Not much for padding on those old bubble tops, and the hand warmers? Well, they left a little to be desired. That didn't stop Mike!

Jim Haug's Original Condition TX.

Well this year, there will be a vintage ride as well. I will spend 1/2 the day on my 1979 Centurion, part of the day on my new sled. If the day goes well, I may just stay on the Centurion. I've never ridden one, always wanted to. Thanks to Jim Haug, I got one last summer. Did a little cleanup on it, and she's almost ready to cook. Uh, I mean run.

Speaking of Jim Haug, here's a photo of a really nice 1979 340cc TX Jim found recently. He mentioned he's running out of room in the garage, so this baby is looking for a nice new home. Mmm. Wonder if I'd look better on that or on my Centurion?

12/19/04
VSMS UPDATE
Note I had the date wrong on the first race. It is January 2nd, NOT the 5th. Registration is humming along, and new driver profiles have been posted. I went to Wolf Lake in Alexandria today, but was there after the last race - wish I could have seen it. Early reports are that Darrell Saxton won 3 classes.

12/13/04
VSCA UPDATE
No news from the VSCA yet, but according to the Kelo Land web site, Terry Hoffman was released on bail. The article says he is facing additional charges from other counties. Mr. Hoffman's voice mail system is full, and Terry has yet to return a phone call.

NEW WEB SITE!
The fine folks that put on the fabulous Waconia event every year now have a web site up so information on the annual huge event is easier to find. I had a great time looking it over during lunch today - they have tons of great pictures from past shows! See it for yourself at MWVSS.COM.

VINTAGE SLEDS IN THE DEAD TREE PRESS
The "new" vintage "craze" is reaching a fevered pitch with the old Dead-Tree Press. One would could only conclude that this will be the biggest winter ever for our beloved old rusty Sno-Skoters, if we ever get some snow.

Highlights include the January 2005 issue (on sale now) of American Snowmobiler that features a KILLER article from no less then Olav Aaen on the amazing Team Johnson Twin Engine Rampage. This article is worth buying the magazine for, even if you do have to suffer countless stories about Slo-Cross to get to the good stuff.

Olav goes into great depth about how the boys from Team Johnson came up with and put together what can only described as the Historic Johnson Rampage. I admit it, I'm hopelessly in love with that machine. I think it's the coolest thing I've seen since, well, dare I say it? Yes. Since a 1977 Polaris leaf spring SnoPro sled.

My favorite quotes from Olav (Olav's company, Aaen Engineering is the sponsor of this years "Ride With The Champs") has to be: "Vintage racing has become the surprise hit of the snowmobile world. Heck, it may be the fastest growing form of snowmobile racing today" and "starting the engine is quite dramatic, as flames shoot out the short exhaust stack". Cool.

Next, in Snow Goer Canada, our old friend Hal Armstrong has an article called "Time Machine" that is getting published regularly. Some of you will remember Hal from the Classic Vintage Videos (available at Teshios site). Hal's been in the hobby since it became a hobby.

The articles are written to inform readers about how the technology on today's sleds have evolved from the older sleds. The articles are written about significant sleds that may have not generated huge sales, but brought fresh thinking to the industry.

In the Fall 2004 issue, for example, Hal wrote about the famous Chaparral IFS racers and the influence the design of those sleds would have years later. It's a GREAT article. Well written and entertaining.

So what about the magazines for new sleds featuring vintage articles? Well until the VSCA puts out another magazine or the next issue of the Magneto comes out, this is as good as it gets!

12/11/04
CHARLIE CAT
This emailed in from Bill: "Shelly Hack was a Angel but not in ’76, Shelly was the Charlie Girl for Revlon at that time. Cheryl Ladd was the replacement for Farrah. When Kate Jackson left the show much later, Shelly was her replacement, believed to be hired because she was the Charlie Girl."

Now we really know... the rest of the story.

More registered drivers are on the list for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series.

VSCA UPDATE
No word back from anyone at the VSCA as of yet, but I don't expect they had an opportunity yet. In mean time a great discussion has broken out via email on what the VSCA should be anyway. How should we discuss it? Should we have a meeting at some of the events this year? What's your opinion on what should the VSCA be?

12/12/04
VSCA R.I.P?
Rumors that began on Wednesday about VSCA president Terry Hoffman being in trouble with law enforcement appear to be true, according to this article on the KELO tv web site. Terry, and now it appears, other members of his family are accused of stealing over $200,000 in cars and other items.

I have a message into the jail where Terry is being held, as well as to his brother

VSCA's Terry Hoffman, photo form Keloland.com

to see if I can get more information. I will post more as I find out about the VSCA.

Let's all not panic yet, and just remember, he is accused of these things, not convicted yet. Terry goes to the court house on Monday. More information will be

available after that.

12/09/04
MORE SNOPRO SERIES DRIVER PROFILES
Just 14 drivers registered so far... and six photos. Keep 'em coming guys. He who has the nicest photo tends to get the nicest press coverage...

ARMON WESTLUND INJURY
Armon Westlund, who heads up the SLEDS racing program, will be suffering 6 weeks of downtime as a result of falling off a ladder while working on a sled. According to family sources, Armon has broken his pelvis. I'm sure he would like a note or phone call wishing him well.

SLEDS races will go on as scheduled. Armon's daughter and Nathan Westlund will take over and run the races until Armon can make it back to the track. Best of luck to the Westlunds!

HALL OF FAME NEEDS YOUR HELP
Raffle sales are way down this year for the annual Hall of Fame benefit. If you can help out this very worthwhile cause, please do. The Raffle this year is for a brand new 2005 Arctic Cat - fully loaded. Don't like Arctic Cat? Don't like new sleds? You'll be able to sell this baby on eBay in no time. Think how many vintage sleds you could buy with that money... or race parts... or trips to Vegas. I digress.

Anyway, tickets are just $5! $10 gets you three tickets! You can order them from the store - and the POSTAGE IS ON US! Or simply send a check written to the Snowmobile Hall of Fame to them at P.O. Box 720 St. Germain, WI 54558. Be sure to include a return address.

Don't forget you can also help the museum through memberships and good old cash donations. This is the very best way to preserve the history of our favorite hobby!

12/07/04
FIRST SNOPRO SERIES DRIVER PROFILES
I've got the first batch of registered drivers for the Vintage SnoPro Master Series profiles online. For those of you with no photos, please send them in asap - and please make sure we can see you and your sled in the photo.

One again - race results from the season opener in Beausejour are posted on the CPTC web site - looks like those IFS classes are going to be HOTLY contested this year! Can't wait to see the first race.

Drivers: You must register online before the first race on January 5th.

12/06/04
FIRST RACE RESULTS...
Well, sort of. I've got unofficial results from the seasons opener. Rumor has it that Dick Peterson ALL of the classes he entered on his leaf spring sleds. If that's true, holy $#@%.

UPDATE: Looks like Dick Peterson, Jeff Steenerson and Bruce Rosentreder wil be the ones to beat in the leaf spring free-air classes! Results are up at the CPTC racing site.

If anyone has official results or photos, please let me know!

CHARLIE CAT UPDATE
We have solved a little mystery. Darrell Dey owns the 1977 Jag (shown below) that was apparently given away by Revlon to promote their "Charlie" perfume. It is appropriately dubbed a "Charlie Cat". Well, we did some digging and came up with more information.

1978 Charlie Cat Promo

Earlier we thought that the Charlie's Angels TV show was involved with the campaign, but it looks as though we were confused. I was expecting we would find a picture of the actual Charlie's Angels TV show sitting on Arctic Cats. I was about to relive the endless, uh, "thoughts" I had about the old Farrah Fawcett poster on my bedroom ceiling as a teenager. Unfortunately, we never found that photo.

We did find this one however in the book "Legend" by C.J. Ramstad. It's the promo photo for the Charlie Cat's and the caption reads: "A tie-in with Revlon gave Arctic Cat a breakthrough promotion called Charlie Cat backed with ads in all the fashion magazines and displays in hundreds of major department stores during the winter of 1978. The model is Shelly Hack, later known for her role as Jack in the show "Jack & Mike".

I looked up Shelly Hack and she was a member of the Charlie's Angels TV show in 1976. Must have been after Farrah left the show, 'cuz I never watched it after that. But no pictures of Farrah on a Cat.

PASSING
Long time Polaris super-tuner Warren Freudenburg of Garfield Minnesota passed away the day after Thanksgiving. Warren raced the I-500 in the 70's and 80's and provided support to Harley Dober after that. Warren was so well known in Polaris circles that several people from Polaris were at the funeral. Warren was very fond of tuning and tweaking Polaris Starfires to get the most out of them.

12/02/04
REGISTRATION IS READY!
The registration is ready for the first annual Vintage SnoPro Master Series races.

In order to participate, you must register each sled you will be running prior to the first race, which at the moment looks like it will be January 2nd, in Alexandria, Minnesota.

11/30/04
READY TO RUMBLE
Tonight I snuck into Dick Peterson's race shop, buried in the boondocks of the Twin Cities. Even better, I snuck a camera in!

I escaped with a drive full of super-double-mega-top-secret photos and video of Dick's new race gear.

Shhhhhhh. Don't tell anyone.

11/30/04
VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES
The registration deadline has been pushed back! Registration should be available in the next day or so - watch for announcements. There is a schedule change, I'll have an update on that soon as well - but the first race, for now, is Alexandria, MN on January 2nd. I'm still waiting for some more info - but it looks likely the Strathcona date will change to February 19th. Once registration is available online, you will have up until 24 hours before the first race to register.

More coming - stay tuned...

11/29/04
THE RACE IS ON!
The season opener in Beausejour is on for this weekend! They have ice and the race is ago! I also got word yesterday that the Strathcona race track is iced over and several people have already been out testing.

One of Wolf Lake's 2004 champions

This is from Nathan Westlund, who was able to run on the Strathcona track this past weekend:
"burned up three gallons of hyfax lube, two gallons of race fuel and one set of hyfax! Armand (nathans father) had his sled out there also but all that he burned was one $100.00 dollar! He said that 3/4 of a lap shure was fun! I definitely need to work on physical training."

Watch for updates in the next couple of days - we are getting some top-secret photos smuggled to the office that show some of the hard work racers have been putting into their machinery over the last few months...

Speaking of pictures, check out the photos on the racing page of some of the racers that Bob Poirier & crew will be running this year.

11/28/04
CHARLIE CAT UPDATE
Glen Mallorey may have some info on the Charlie Cats. I think he's digging it up as we speak - right Glen?

You know a fella could write a book on all the odd, one off Arctic Cat's that where made over the years. It would be a very, very thick book.

Troy Moore's "new" 76 SnoPro

NEW COLLECTION
Troy Moore has been restoring sleds for years. But like so many of the guys I know that are really good at restoring sleds - it's the process of restoring one - not staring at it for years later - that keeps Troy's attention on his sleds. This results in most of Troy's sleds leaving his possession after they are done.

I always wanted to get Troy's work featured on the site, but wasn't sure how to highlight a collection that isn't really a "collection". So Instead of a collection in the traditional sense, this will be a retrospective of the sleds Troy has restored over the years.

We'll start with the two sleds Troy has worked on lately. First is this 1976 340cc SnoPro built to match Jim Bernat's original 76 SnoPro with a few minor features added by Troy's. It features a gorgeous 76 liquid kit motor, a Bernat style seat and tank, and a nice replica of Jim's handlebar hoop.

The other sled featured is Kirk Beisel's customized 1976 440cc Polaris SnoPro that Troy helped with. Also very, very nice looking and containing a super rare 440cc liquid kit motor.

Watch over the next few updates as I'll add photos and links to some of the other sleds Troy has been involved with - a lot of the other collectors can trace some of their sleds back to Troy some how!

11/23/04

THE CHARLIE CAT
Darrell Dey, who owns the coolest little Sno-Dart on this planet (or any other) sent in a neat new "mini-mystery" to solve.

Darrell owns this 1977 jag that was apparently given away by Revlon to promote their "Charlie" perfume. It is appropriately dubbed a "Charlie Cat".

Darrell was told that ads in the magazines of the day featured Charlies Angels sitting on the sled. Darrell's even contacted Revlon's archivist, and she informed him they had a fire, and that section of information was destroyed.

Charlie Cat?

He also contacted Dick Krogstad at Arctic Cat, and Dick remembered about 10 (give or take a few) of them being shipped. Do you remember anything about this? Well Darrell, 200,000 of our closest friends and I would like to know as well!

11/21/04
GROUP 5 UPDATE
One of the things I love about doing this site is how it provokes memories. Last week I ran the story of the Ocelot racers - a race team called "Group 5" and their very interesting sleds. The team's hopes faded away when one of thier own - Gwineth Johnston - died as a result of injuries from a racing accident.

It also prompted Loren Anderson to write to Scott (the stories original author) with this information about the team and Gwineth:

"Our Team was called Bay Harbor Sports Center (ski-doo Blizzards--#699 SWSRA). Quinny Johnston and I were the recipients of the 1971-2 Sportsman of the Year awards presented by Checkered Flag Racing News back in the good old days. Quinny had a brother, Dr Gonstad (Gonstadt ?) of the Gonstad Chiropractic Clinic in Janesville or Beloit. If he is still around, he could tell you about the sleds. He raced the sled Quinny was killed on in a later heat that day in Milwaukee.

Quinny was all worried that her brother could run the sled after her crash and at the time no one knew her injuries were serious. I was at the crash sight and know that was her main concern. She did not think she was injured that bad either. She later died at the hospital. I believe it was of a ruptured spleen.

Her brother was a real innovator. I raced against Doc for several years. I hope this info helps you track him down. If you locate him, say Hi!"

Don't you just love this wacky Internet thing??? Check out this picture also - it's the sleds hood style for the following season.

11/19/04
SKI WHIZ BATMAN
I'm glad people like Steve (who goes by the nickname Sparks) will go through all the effort and trouble to find, restore and ride things like the Ski-Whiz - one of the sleds on my list of all time ugliest sleds. Beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder eh?

Steve bought this "beauty" from a gentleman in Pennsylvania in 2002. It was in fair condition, not running, but solid. It had some surface rust. Steve spent a little time here and there when he could to get it to it's present condition.

Gee whiz! A Ski-Whiz!

Steve rode his whizzer into a vintage show last year with a buddy of his who was on a 1972 Elan. He did not enter the show because they got a late start but we had a lot of fun showing off to the crowd, not to mention the 10 mile round trip, ouch.

Thanks to Steve for sending in the photo and the story. If you'd like to see Steve's restoration, you can visit his web site.

11/18/04
WHAT THE?
Here's an odd looking sled huh? Meet one of the approximately 6 unique race sleds built and raced out of the Ocelot Race Shop in Janesville, Wisconsin in the early 1970's.

John Scott McHenry sent in these photos and the story of how these really neat sleds where built and how the teams hopes ended in tragedy.

John is restoring one of these sleds and will be able to send updated pictures when it's read. In the meantime, enjoy the story of Group 5 racing.

Group5 race sled, 1972

11/15/04
COLLECTION UPDATE
I added more information on Henry Briscoe's collection from yesterdays postings.

ONE MORE BUBBLE TOP STORY!
You will remember Charles Plueddeman. Charles writes some great vintage sled articles now and then, and did so regularly for the VSCA awhile back. He's my all-time favorite writer of vintage sled stuff these days.

After you read this story you'll know why. Charles tells the story of his last ride on his beloved first bubble-top, ending a four year love affair with the beast.

But soon, you'll know the rest of the story...

RACING
For Bob Poirier & crew, racing is a big deal this season. Vintagesleds.com has learned that Bob, his brothers Chuck & Wayne Poirier, son Rob and nephew Andy Shogren will hit the race tracks in the Wolf Lake and SLEDS circuit Waconia and a couple of MSDRS drags with ten (yes, 10) sleds!

Sleds include: a 1980 Yamaha SRX, 78 Rupp Nitro 440 F/A, 75 Suzuki Fury 440 F/A Mod. 75 Sno Jet SST 440 F/A. 74 Yamaha GPX 338 Mod, 80 Kawasaki Drifter 340 F/A. 75 Mercury Trail Twister 440. 77 Sno Jet Kawasaki Astro 440, 79 Yamaha Exciter 440, and an 80 Yamaha Exciter 440.

His crew chief, Dean Nelson, will also be campaigning two Sno Jet SST 440 fan sleds with his nephew Mike Moos.

Holy Snikey. That will be an amazing site. But I notice no 250's to race little 'ol me. What's up with that? ;-)

11/14/04
COLLECTION UPDATE
Henry Briscoe loves his racing sleds! His collection debuted here on vintagesleds.com several years ago. We've added the best of Henry's collection to the private collections and updated it with Henry's newest additions.

Sweet 1980 Cat SnoPro is new to Henry Briscoe's collection.

Henry is now the proud owner of a very, very nice 1980 Arctic Cat SnoPro, a 1973 650cc EXT and a 1978 RXL with the 1979 upgrade kit on it. All rare sleds, all in great running condition.

VINTAGE SNOPRO MASTER SERIES UPDATE
The dates appear to be final. The first race will be in Alexandria Minnesota on January 5th. Once change is being considered: We may add two more races and require participants to appear in five out of the seven to be eligible to win, instead of three of five as we have it now.

The reason for this is that we've been offered more money (for the winner) if we have the races in a couple of other towns. What do you think? Would having to make it to 5 races instead of three make the series better or worse?

The most common question about the series is why isn't Eagle River included? Simple. Eagle River is a given - we all know everyone will be racing there. They do a great job of getting people out to that race. Our goal is to keep the momentum leading up to and through Eagle River going all winter long, if we can!

Also, the trophies are coming along nice... If your planning on winning, you better have a good truck to haul this thing home in!! We also have a nice logo sticker coming Soon.

11/06/04
NEW COLLECTIONS
Who would have thought there was a collector in California, of all places? But there is, and Mark Tande has some nice original and restored sleds. Although Mark's addiction to vintage sleds started with Ski-Doo's, he's moved on to Polaris, Merc, Chap and others. Stay tuned, because Mark also has some sweet stuff warming up in the bull pen.

Although this next collector does have a bunch of sleds, I thought we'd just start with a couple of photos from his private stash and grow from there. You all likely know him as the man who has dedicated his life to create and grow the Snowmobile Hall of Fame, but did you know Loren Anderson was also a racer?

You bet! and for many years. Once he retired from racing he became a wrench for his son Bob and sponsored his own race team. At one time he even employed the talents of Brad Hulings.

Note to Loren: Hope your feeling better!

A-1 SHOW:
Who has photos from the A-1 show today? I know a whole bunch of us would LOVE to see some more photos of Warning's custom Alouette!

11/03/04
A NEW COLLECTION
Don McLennan has a very contagious disease that has resulted in 15 restored Arctic Cat performance and race sleds stacking up in his shop. He's got seven more waiting in the wings.

Don's sleds have been featured at official Arctic Cat reunions, on TV shows & magazines. After you have a look at them, you'll see why Don's restorations are such winners.

You can see a lot more of Don's collection, including great photos of his restoration process on his site - Don's Vintage Cats.com. Thanks Don for sharing!

11/02/04
A-1 HEATING UP!
This weekend is the A-1 New Lothrop Michigan show. I've never heard anything but GREAT things about this show. I've never been to the show - but I hope to get there one of these years.

Awesome huh? Brad Warnings 440 LC Phantom Alouette Super

If you go to the show, you'll be able to see this really sweet "new" Alouette.

Brad Warning took his 73 super and turned into into this 440 Liquid Cooled Phantom Super. It is, I believe, the world's only IFS Alouette!

You know when I look at this sled I can't help but wonder: Why don't the manufacturers make anything this cool looking? I mean really? All the new sleds look like pregnant pelicans. Are any of the manufacturers listening??? This thing is cool enough to single handily resurrect Alouette. It reminds me lot of Bill Stull's amazing "What if" Rupp SnoPro.

Plus, I will bet this thing will seriously cook. I won't give you the details on the motor (you can ask Brad this weekend at the A-1 show), but let's just say it would make the likes of Jeff Ludwig or Terry Wahl drool.

Congrats to Brad on this sled - easily the coolest thing I've seen yet this fall.

11/01/04
IT'S ALL UP TO YOU
Tomorrow I assume most of the readers of this site are off to the voting booth to exercise their voice.

This man wants you to vote for Kerry...

I've talked to just a couple of people in the vintage snowmobile group that surprisingly have expressed a strong opinion that they will be voting for John Kerry. This befuddles me, when John Kerry has this on his web site, stating very clearly his position on snowmobiles:

"...by Keeping Snowmobiles and Jet Skis Out of Yellowstone and Other Sensitive Areas...

John Kerry will reinstate the Clinton administration's phase-out of noisy and polluting snowmobiles, which have been overrunning some of our most precious national lands..."

I think the fact he would describe them as "noisy and polluting snowmobiles" clearly indicates what this man thinks about motorized vehicles.

Of course I know snowmobiles are not the only issue. Jobs, health care, security, Iraq, taxes, unions, education etc.

But none of these matter a wit if we do not win the war. So then, it comes down to who will do a better job of winning the war? According to Osama Bin Laden, we better vote AGAINST George Bush or he'll attack us again, because Bush is hurting him. See for yourself. You want to vote for Osama's guy? I don't think I do.

Either way, after all the lawyers make millions of dollars off of the election challenges, we will have a president for the next few years, the sun will rise, winter will come and my fall projects will see the snow and ice. Best of all, this insanely long election cycle will be over and we can get back to more important issues.

Like Liv vs Missy.

GO VOTE!

Curious? So am I.

10/31/04
INDOOR VINTAGE SHOW
I spent the weekend helping raise funds for the Snowmobile Hall of Fame buy selling raffle tickets at the Supertrax show. There was some pretty interesting stuff there. You can see some photo highlights by visiting this page.

The standout of the show had to be this Ski-Doo chopper sled. The fit, finish and paint on this thing was nothing short of amazing.

I have to give Ski-Doo credit for doing an outstanding job of marketing. With the current craze in custom choppers and chopper TV shows, they are way ahead of the curve on this one. If you think this sled looks cool, you should see the chopper that goes with it!

Other highlights include the Mark Kemmerer's really sweet 78 Yamaha SSR, Bob Blaszkowski's 245 RV and the Hall of Fame's 75 Merc PDC sled.

And yes, I did find a blaze orange helmet with no "XTREME" graphics on it.

THE "NEW" VINTAGE SLED CRAZE
Two magazines, American Snowmobiler and Supertrax had articles on the vintage craze in their latest issues. It's fun to see the old media finally catching up. Hehehehe.

Private note to Jerry Bassett of American Snowmobiler, because I bet your reading this: Jerry, if you find any authentic racers for " A couple of thousand dollars" I'd really like to know about it. I also have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale for about the same price if you are interested. ;-)

As for Supertrax: You made an almost perfect list of the big vintage events. Shame on you for not listing Vintage SnoPro Master series in your list of events. Shame on us for not letting you know about it sooner.

Shame on both magazines for not realizing this little Internet thing may have something to do with the vintage craze. The Internet has allowed all of us vintage freaks that have been hiding away in our garage's come together any time, any place. We couldn't do that just a few years ago.

In fact, both articles failed to mention anything about web sites. That's a shame when sites like Teshios, Rude Dogs, the Hall of Fames, Davids and many others keep adding fuel to this "new" vintage craze on a daily basis. Oh well.

Maybe it's because they know about this, and don't want to give the sites any more attention then they already get?

10/27/04
INDOOR VINTAGE SHOW
The big SuperTrax show is taking place this weekend in Blaine Minnesota. This is a big industry trade show, featuring new sleds, ATV's and gear. However, they have have a big interest in the old stuff as well.

Several vintage sled displays will be there. Some of the manufacturers will have some old iron on display, there is a special vintage display area, and the Snowmobile Hall of Fame will have three very impressive sleds there - including the Doug Haye's 1975 Merc PDC (only one in existance) and the 1971 Yamaha that Mike Trapp won his first World's Championship on.

Over in the new stuff, the plan is to do a back flip live - on a new sled. Should be interesting. I wonder if we could talk them into doing that on a Jag? After all, 60 year old man flew around the Polaris loop on a '70 Charger. Shouldn't someone a tad younger be able to do a back flip with a little 'ol vintage sled???

I'm going there on a hunt for a plain, blaze orange helmet that doesn't have a single "XTREME" graphic on it.

Wish me luck.

10/26/04
THE 'OL BUBBLETOPS
Here's the last of the Bubble Top stories that came in. There's a ton of them, plus photos so this should keep you rvintage sled reading habits hopping for a day or two. Several stories have to do with bubble top additions, several with why the bubble top "drove" their owners to other brands. All are very entertaining!

NEW COLLECTIONS COMING!
A "lone" collector from the coast (no, not that one) and the Canadian Cat Man make their collection debut next on vintagesleds.com.