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8th Annual Low Buck Vintage Riders Show
Reported by Charles Plueddeman
A month of warm weather forced the 8th Annual Low Buck Vintage Riders Show off the ice of Lake Winnebago and into the parking lot of the Waverly Beach Club in Menasha, Wis., but didn't seem to damped the enthusiasm of local vintage sled-heads. A record turn-out of show sleds, more than 260 unofficially, jammed a strip of grass adjacent to the parking area, and there seemed to be a busy crowd of visitors at the show all day long.
The top prize, Best In Show, went to Steve Doersch of Seymour, Wis., for an outstanding 1968 Polaris Super Voyager. The big widetrack sled was displayed with a trail groomer similar to one used in the early 1970s by the Dairyland Snowmobile Club on trails in the Seymour area. Doersch explained that his father, Darrel, was a founding member of the club, and it used a sled like this Voyager for grooming.
He located this Polaris near Three Lakes, Wis., last year and just finished the project two days before the show. In fact, he was painting the groomer the night before. The sled was in pretty complete shape, according the Doersch, needing a new seat cover and some welding around the front end supports. Originally powered by a 372cc JLO, the Polaris was discovered with a 400 Kohler engine that is still under the hood. Deorsch credits his friend, Brian Blohm, with the great bodywork and paint, a job that took more than 30 hours of labor. The groomer was recreated from photos of the original, a home-made device that utilized parts from farm equipment and spare sled skis.
A die-hard Moto-Ski collector, Doersch wanted to restore a Super Voyager as a tribute to his father and the other founders of the Dairyland club, which is still active.
“My dad passed away last year, so I missed doing it for him,” said Doersch. “There’s just one of founding club member left, Ed Peotter, and he hasn’t seen this yet. I may just park it in his front yard and surprise him.”
Other sleds on display at the show ran the gamut, from original trail sleds to spectacular restored racers. A big thanks goes out to all the members of the Low Buck Vintage Riders club, who managed to pull off a nice event under difficult circumstances. The judging tags at this show do not identify the owner, so it’s often not possible to put a name with a picture.
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1968 Arctic Cat Panther
This sled was my personal favorite at the show. I think it’s a P-35 with the Hirth 600. It has dual HR carbs and the chrome “Montana Pipes,” and a gas tank mounted on the tail under a vinyl cover. Skis and a few other details are not original. I would like to learn more about this sled, but never found the owner.
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1972 Chaparral SSX Grass Pro
This rare factory-built grass drag sled was discovered and restored few years ago by Wisconsin collector Chris Jenks, and is now owned by Todd Persha of Oconomowoc, Wis. According to Persha, Chaparral made just 35 of the grass-drag sleds, some with a 650 and some with a 440 engine, and only eight or nine of those sleds have been accounted for today. They came with leaf ski springs (the Chap oval race sleds had IFS that year), a thin seat cushion, and a special deep-lug molded-rubber track. The hood was also unique to the grass sleds, and there were at least two different styles, this one cut away to allow the clutch-side pipe to curl up.
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1975 Yamaha GPX
One of Wayne Trapp’s original 1975 Yamaha GPX PDC racers has been restored by Jason Remiker of Mishicot, Wis. Like many former race sleds, this Yamaha led a tortured life after is was retired from factory team service, and was once even fitted with a battery-powered head light for trail use. It remained surprisingly intact, however, and is shown here with its original hood and pan restored to near-new condition. The seat has been reproduced, according to Remiker, because the original was cut on the front to make room for a trail-sled fuel tank. The original welded aluminum racing tank was also reproduced. The sled still has its original Yamaha fuel injection. |
1964 Arctic Cat 170-D
A really nice restoration owned by Bob Fenn of Clintonville, Wis. This is one of just 58 examples made. |
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