sledsAfter sending this calendar year’s final issue of Snow Goer magazine to the printer last week, I’ve recently had time to pick up our 2016 Polaris 800 Switchback Adventure, 600 Rush Pro-S and Yamaha RS Vector LE demo sleds. I picked up our Ski-Doo demos last month, and I’m still trying to nail down a pickup date with the dealer that has our Arctic Cats.

I worked at the SG shop yesterday and today to prep some of our sleds for the season. Yeah, the weather and conditions are a few weeks off from where we should be for mid-December, but I have hope that winter will set in and we’ll be able to ride – soon. Here is some of the work that I did to prep our demo sleds for the season:

  • platesAfter renewing our license last month and receiving the registration decals from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources a couple weeks later, I installed license plates on the Ski-Doos and Yamaha. Our Polaris demos come with plates already fastened to the tunnels. Because they are demo models that aren’t owned and are only borrowed for the season, we can’t register our demo sleds – instead they are treated by the state much like demo sleds at a dealership.
  • The ergonomics weren’t right, so I reset the risers, handlebars and controls on each machine. I like to roll the brake reservoir forward so it’s easy to quickly grab the lever, rather than have to lift the fingers up and then forward. With the reservoir rolled forward the fingers can go straight ahead. Every split second counts, you know.
  • The throttle flipper on the MX Z X 600 H.O. E-TEC was too loose, so I adjusted the throttle cable at the throttle body assembly to reduce freeplay.
  • beltTo make sure the sleds were ready for the trail, I fitted each of them with a spare belt and put their tool kits in place. Ski-Doo has a slick setup as part of the clutch cover that holds a spare belt, 10 mm/13 mm wrench, ‘L’ wrench for changing the belt and the plastic clip for the emergency starter. The ‘L’ wrench for Polaris Axys machines clips into the console/bellypan, and the spark plug wrench is also what retains the holder for the spare belt and extra spark plugs on the machine. The FLOAT pump for the Switchback Adventure’s Fox Coil-Over Air rear shock has a little pouch that conveniently attaches to the underside of the center rack with hook-and-loop material.
  • I must’ve swept up a few hundred dead bugs from the shop floor. This is an annual ritual as they always come inside for shelter in the fall, but it never works out very well for those guys. I also found a dead mouse and tossed it outside.
  • trunkI installed a LinQ cargo bag on the MX Z and the LinQ cargo box on the Renegade Enduro. I think the LinQ setup is just a great way to integrate accessories. It’s so easy to use, it looks great and it holds securely on the machine. Big thumbs up!

It has looked and felt like November at the home base of Snow Goer near Minneapolis since, well, November. Today it was almost 40 degrees F again, and tomorrow is forecast to be about the same temperature with gloomy, dreary, damp conditions. We’re stuck in a perpetual November, but it’s expected to break within the next few days as the forecast calls for cooler air and maybe even some snow – perhaps even substantial snow in northern parts of Minnesota, Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I can’t wait to actually ride these sleds rather than stare at them, so hopefully it gets cold and snowy soon.

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