Winter has finally arrived! For many, this is the first "real" winter in several years. Judging by the grumblings I've heard from across the snowbelt the past few seasons, I think southern Minnesota is the only place that has gotten ANY snow. I for one won't complain about past years. My area has been blessed with generous snowfall while the normal deep-snow areas were skunked. Other usual riding destinations for me, such as northern and central MN, were practically unridable last year. But I still managed 1300 miles on my Powder Special. I'd say that's good snow.
This year looks to be even better. We were hit early and often this season. My odomoeter rolled off nearly 200 miles in November alone! That NEVER happens.
My riding group shrunk over the summer when Andrew and Anthony moved four hours north to the Alexandria, MN area. They must have heard that fishing is better up there and if the snow came, the riding would be better too.
While the snow this year has been good, we've experienced our fair share of mechanical problems. For starters, Andrew burned down his new ZR. Unbeknownst to him, that sled had an excessive-oil-consumption problem. Heading out for a ride one day with half a tank of oil, he rode 60 miles only to end up towing the sled home. The mag side cylinder was the only problem and it was quickly repaired. It wasn't long until the other side burned down, this time without running out of oil.
He's back in the game now, but he's very in tune with the amount of oil in his reservoir! Needless to say, he'll be shopping for a new ride for next season.
Nic nearly had a burn-down of his own. He picked up a '97 ZR 440 as his new ride this season. That sled isn't equipped with a low oil light, and he lost track of his oil level on a quick ride back to his house. He lost power and the engine died. Lucky for him, the ZR didn't suffer any apparent damage. The engine didn't seize, and he's been riding it ever since with no loss in power.
My luck ran out when I discovered a rip about 2 inches long on the edge of my track. Last season, I had a problem with my rear shock mount going over-center and gouging the center of the track. Arctic Cat's position was that this was impossible and it could only happen if I had tampered with the suspension. My Cat dealer tried to get me a new track under warranty, but AC wouldn't budge. So I continued riding, hoping to eventually find out what the problem was with the shock.
My problems persisted with the shock this season. Many times, I came to my sled and found the shock mount nearly rubbing the track. It finally came to the point where I could manually force the shock over-center. It looked to me as though the shock stroke was too short for my suspension. At this pont, I took it back to my dealer. He inspected the situation and discovered the center axle had been mounted in the wrong hole.
While our problems this season may have kept us off the trail for a time, they haven't kept us from enjoying the snow. We no longer have much soft fluff left in the area, but trails have remained in good shape, and the few thaws that rolled through haven't done much damage. We are hoping for better things in the second half of the season.
I am looking forward to our annual President's Day weekend trip up north at my family's log cabin this February. The snow is beginning to pile up in that area. And coming in March, a group of us will be heading back out to the Big Horns to take another crack at some mountain riding!
Now that Cat had been given a satisfactory reason for the problem - and 2 months after my warranty expired - Cat signed off for my dealer to install a new track at no cost to me.
While all this had been going on, I put a claim into my insurance company for the cost of a replacement track to take care of the rip. That check arrived a week before my warranty work was done. Now that Cat was doing me the service, I sent the check back, and had my suspension and track problems taken care of without spending a dime!
After getting my sled back from the dealer and taking the first ride, I felt as if I had a brand new machine. The suspension, which normally would buck me off the seat after hitting a bump, was smooth as silk. Before, the shock mount had pivoted around the center axle while hitting bumps. This caused the shock's damping to go pretty much unused. In other words, the suspension springs were hitting bumps and releasing that absorbed energy back into my seat instead of the shock oil causing the "bucking bronco" effect.
Weight transfer is also much improved. The track seems to hook up much better, resulting in improved acceleration. It may only be my imagination, but it feels like the Powder Special has more power than it used to. Needless to say, I am very pleased with the results.
I recently heard the news that Nic has purchased another new sled for himself - his second of the season. Seems the ZR 440 didn't have enough power for him, so (in my opinion) he downgraded to a ZR 600. I'm not a big fan of Cat's 600 if you can't tell. The ZR is a '98 Limited Edition model. It's basic black with orange trim , not a bad lookin' machine. Nic seems happy, so more power to him - pun intended!
