I have a correction. I rode the 74' Arctic Cat #2 bought from J.C. when I was still in college. I forgot about that.
When I rode #2's 97' Yamadoodle for the first time, that really got the thought process going. I thought it was the fastest thing ever.
I rode in Maine on a rented 2000 Phazer and I got a feel for the multi day trip and really took to it quickly. Also on that same Maine trip, I rode #3's 2001 brand new Polaris. After that I was all done...I had to have one. Since then, I've been chasing that perfect ride.
Haha! I was wondering if the 74 VIP Panther (complete with Torque Converter and Cat-O-Matic transmission) would be brought into question!!
Notice the question was worded very carefully, the first sled you owned. There is absolutely NO question that I probably still have more hours poured into that sled than any other. And with about 45 minutes (that's generous) of total riding the work-to-ride time ratio was skewed to a crazy degree. I think I figured one time that I had a 100 hour to 1 minute work-to-ride time ratio with that sled!! (I'm serious) Ya, figure it out, it's bad.
But that's all ok because that sled is what bit me giving me the fever to ride again. I was never actually an owner though. It was just #2's sinister plan to get me into the sport. It worked!! My wife became a snowmobile widow that winter. And on real cold days, I attribute the stiffness in my fingers to working on the aluminum block engine into the wee hours of the cold Wyman nights.
I'd also like to tell the story of it's demise while strolling down memory lane. The lake was frozen with only a crusty half inch of crunch on the solid ice. #2 was on his yellow Suzuki Quadracer. And Paul (Tank) wanted to take a rip on one of the rare times the VIP was running. We were having a race down my stretch (bridge to circle direction). Keep in mind this track had cleats (this is a 1974 snowmobile after all). I told Paul the back end likes to kick out so mind the throttle. We were in front of Savitt's house, we had jumped #2 his tires spinning at the start but he had the top end and had a run on us, he was just along side when Tank couldn't bear to be passed. He hammered it, oh, I was on the back btw, and out the back end came. We must have tumbled 13 times or so. #2 might know. There were VIP pieces everywhere.
She never ran again after that day. But #2 actually sold that sled as is and really got U.S. dollars for it. He was a real pal and actually gave me half of the sale price. He knew how many hours I had into that thing and just couldn't ignore the generouse calling in his heart. Let's see, maybe it was $75 or something like that. But I'll tell you that money went straight to the hands of Jamie Povencial (sp?) for the Enticer in April of that year.
Then we got an 18" snowstorm and I rode that thing for 3 solid weeks before putting it away. He tried to get it back from me at least twice thinking the season was over. It was for him... Hahahahahaha!
And that's all she wrote! Thanks for asking, I'll never forget how I got back into the sport of snowmobiling after all those years away. This is like NPR, maybe I'll tell the story of carrying my brother and cousin up the hill while they sledded down in the sand pit near our Leominster house when I was young.
#3, my uncle had an early 70's Arctic Cat with the leopard seat also that he kept at our house. I think those were the hot sport/race models that had that. Schweet!! I just remember having to work on the carbuerator of the Ski-Doo every single time we went to use it. The intake was just in front of the crotch. And there was always a can of Ether (starting fluid) handy!
Ahhh, the memories.. I CAN'T WAIT TO RIDE!!!!!!!!!
1st ride. 1976ish 340 arctic cat. I remember is being small. It was not a full size sled. The top of the seat was done in a leopard pattern. Mike McCarthy of West Townsend had two new models. We rode all day in his yard which was 20 by 100 feet.
1st purchase. Polaris trail. It was brown? I do not remember the year. What made it fun was #2 and #5 had the same model. We rode those sleds everywhere.
