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M&M Tours is off. Left Oliphant Sunday March 17th, pulled into the Best Western Premier Hotel Aristocrate in Quebec City around 8 and had a fabulous dinner at the in house restaurant, La Fenouillière. Off Monday morning and checked in to Complexe Hotelier Escoumins then spent 3 hours trying to find places to stay for them next 5-7 days. Rode loops for the first 3 days in a variety of conditions…good, bad & ugly mostly due to the new, wet snow even though the groomers were out. Des Bouleaux Blanc clubhouse is a great stop 40 km from town. Thursday morning rode most the day through storm conditions to the ski village Valinouët and stayed at a local rental house, Auberge du Yeti. Rode up 373 as far as we could then spent the night in a cabin at Auberge 31. A quick lunch at Piste D’or was tasty and the owner was entertaining-he sort of reminded us of Bernard Then back to truck and trailer, 93 did not disappoint-smooth, fast trails. Loaded up and drove to Forestville.

Today March 18th / 10” of Snow yesterday!!! After this last Spring Fling then the Scooter comes out!!!! 👍

Happy Easter to All, Enjoy your Familys! For me, getting older makes everyday an Easter Egg Hunt! Now, where are my keys..... hmmmm...... LOL! GutZ

A ride report on the '24 MXZ Adrenaline 600R 129. 2,000 miles. "The great experiment" Last 3 sleds were Renegade 900 Adrenaline 4 strokes. Great sleds but did not like the front end push in looser snow and they also had a somewhat stiffer ride, front and rear, especially the front ski suspension. Hoped for quicker handling with the 129 track and a chance to see how far two strokes have come. This sled also moved me up to the RMotion X suspension and newer X skis. The new G5 also added more soundproofing to the 2 strokes. Also new for '24 on the MXZ's 2 strokes was a taller ski suspension. I could easily see the front end sat up higher with the new longer travel. First, the new 600R was fairly quiet for a 2 stroke, as I believe the G5 got more sound insulation added. The engine runs like a fine Swiss watch, perfect all the time at all RPM's. Very impressive. Gas mileage wasn't too bad unless I had a stretch of fast speeds like a RR bed, then the mpg plummeted fast. But I really missed the constant 20 mpg of the 900 ACE. Especially since each sled, 2 stroke or 4, has only a 9 1/2 gallon tank. I thought I would hate the MXZ trail seat compared to the Renegade's comfort seat, but I liked it just as much. The 600R rear suspension was very plush. The ski suspension not so much, still too much feedback in the handlebars over bumps. I also felt it even pushed more than the Renegades in loose snow. I found this made me really not enjoy the sled. SkiDoo skis just don't have a deep enough keel to grab, even with 6 inch Shaper bars. The sled handled good on hard surfaced trails, but once traffic chewed up the trails, handling went south. But the handling was not as good as the Renegades (which sat lower in the front). There was a noticeable penalty with the new front end raising the front of the sled. SkiDoos have always handled very good on hard trails, almost a go cart type handling. The 600R lacked this feel. I will just mention this in passing, the 600R hand warmer controls should be enough to make you never buy a 2024 SkiDoo. They are beyond horrible. With the promise of a new front end geometry and all new redesigned ski for 2025, and good reviews by the sled media, I traded/spring checked a '25 MXZ 600R "X" 129. Its been some years since I had a higher end model. This also moves me up to rack steering and high end shocks. I am excited. mike

Left some fun un-done a few weeks back up in the new snow . So we return ! Forestville to points west

Did a similar run out of Complexe Hotelier Escoumins starting Wednesday after an 11 hour drive on Tuesday. Ran up to Le Chapelle on 3 and then 93 and back on 350. Thursday up to Forestville on 3 with a heavy wet snow. Got colder and really started to snow later in the afternoon coming back on 330. In the higher elevations it felt like a new foot had fallen on top of 3 feet on the ground. Was a lot of fun bounding through the fresh powder, not very often you get to do that anymore. Then Friday under some bright blue sky (finally) and chilly, headed back toward La Chapelle in the reverse direction over 350 and breaking some trail up in the higher elevations. Looped around to Auberge du km 31 for lunch (great spot) and headed back on mostly groomed trails before sled blew up about 50 miles from Les Escoumins. Wouldn't be a trip without a little bit of towing. Anyway great trip to an otherwise pretty bad season. Wish I took more photos but was too busy riding... and nobody swimming in the pool at the motel.

Nice Place Team Yeti was also there 4 days ago!!!!!! Carry on Team Vermont!!!!!👍

Looking good

We met one sled all the way back to Forestville .. so odd in the freezing rain Guess ya needed to be the adventurous type 😎

In Forestville today March 21st on my 2024 Gade 900R XRS Smarht Shocks 4th trip to Quebec over 3000 Miles loving every minute of this Sled!!

The foot plus of heavy wet snow we received here in Southern Maine would have made a nice base, in January🙄🤪... I am very thankful that I installed a standby generator last year. Currently still close to 300,000 customers still without power state wide. Yesterday A friend asked me if I would be taking my machine out... My machine is going to be my Kubota Tractor with plow and front end loader. After the concrete snow on top soft gravel is dealt with, it's on to downed trees. 😀 Winter Storm 4 April 2024

Woke up in Forestville at the Enconologe to a cold, sunny morning, this hotel can accommodate many and it right on the trail. Rode mostly local trails all day and they were AMAZING! Highly recommend the 2 dead end trails straight north of Forestville; the scenery was spectacular and one of the nicest rides we’ve done in northern Quebec. We would have never ridden on those trails had it not been for the lack of snow in most areas this year….it felt like we were the only ones on the trail; met less than a dozen sleds all day. Absolutely fabulous day on the trails.

I'm truly deplorable for not getting my act together enough to post live from up there, or since driving back down in Sunday's butt-puckery road conditions. I almost made a crumple-zone out of a Honda, between my Nav being pushed down one of the big Charlevoix hills toward the salt/plow truck by the 4-place trailer filled with 5 old-school Yammis!

This was 7 days ago, and no it's not all gone 😉

Just got Back did all those Greens & Yellow!!!!! Trails were Outstanding!!!! Started the Season there After X- Mas Ended it the other day!!!! 3,500 Miles of Smiles on the new sled can’t wait till next Season!!!!👍

Jean Guy is all packed up heading home. His wife says time to come home so we can go on vacation!!!

A few more pics from today , sunny longer today than expected . Looks like rain tomorrow .

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Club motoneige St Raymond surfacer jusr left Roquemont is headed for l’Etape and back to Roquemont. just in case anyone is nearby.

Packed an overnight bag and hit the freshly groomed trails, headed east to Baie Comeau. First 60 km to bridge was perfect, crossed bridge then good with the exception of 1 km that had been ploughed. Rode local, scenic trails around Baie Comeau then checked in Le Manoir for the evening had another great meal at the in house restaurant. One of the day’s Highlight was the suspension bridge. Heading back to the truck & trailer for our long journey home. Thanks to all the groomer drivers and volunteers for making all the trials in Quebec the best in the world! Hope you enjoyed our voyage, thanks for following along…. We keep doing it because we personally enjoy reading about other riders adventures.

2' of fresh on the magnificent 330?...

"Better late than never…" 100%! Thanks for sharing! (Except for a little ptsd from the shot with the snow up to the front bumper, but I should be OK after a while!)

Too f ing funny

That is why you got tbe good deal. its a fixer upper

Sacre-Coeur 1050 heures of grooming this season. about 300 more hours than last season. It looks like the end for us too, our surfacing operations are getting more and more complicated with the hot weather, we still managed to do approximately 1050 hours of surfacing, representing 300 hours more than last year. The road signs will be removed in the coming weeks. We would like to thank our owners for the rights of way and our 330 members for your encouragement and every visitor who takes the time to write to us after their stay to congratulate us. Your comments are always taken into account. We'll be making a final pass to the Valin mountains (c900) and the 330 region later this week.

Damn. Hate to hear that, sending good vibes that they find them AOK. GutZ

Next up was a bit if grinding, sanding and prep. I found a paint that was recommend as better than the Auto Parts Store Stuff and went to town. http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_03/rr-Pipe-1.thumb.JPG.02d13466303eceffde0ca6ea19aeaa99.JPG http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_03/rr-Pipe-2.thumb.JPG.57f0bf83ad69ebbe8eace49674ba061a.JPG http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_03/rr-pipe-4.thumb.JPG.2d27838ae125f33385aae13155c01330.JPG Packaged it back up in the shields and reattached it to the engine. I feel it was disrupting the pipe harmonics so much that it just would not pull the higher RPMs.... We will see! Now while the chassis has been awaiting a revised motor we discovered that the Rear M-20\Air Ride suspension would not collapse completely, even with no Air in .... What??? This has never happened to me before... LOL. Anyway after loosening and tightening the track more times than I care to count, I was able to determine that the larger 1.5 Lug and 8 inch rear wheel kit were bottoming out on the Top of the tunnel before allowing the suspension to completely compress. Odd since the custom tunnel has a kick up in the rear..... Soooooo... New Drop Brackets... GutZ

Sure hope it doesn’t piss off any landowners for next year.

People that like to snowmobile will stay home, snowmobilers will make it happen. 😉

Had to leave KM31 in the rain, but the first tracks from L’or Piste to Forestville made up for it. Tons of snow.

That pic must have had a weird angle to make it look like that or they didn’t remove the clamp in the suspension yet it was normal when I picked it up and yes the suspension bolts are in and torqued

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Will have this groomed and open tomorrow (friday)

From: TrakMaps <info@trakmaps.com> Date: Mar 24, 2024 7:47 PM Subject: Report an inaccuracy to prolong your subscription Did you know? You can easily report an inaccuracy in Snowmobile Quebec. By being a part of the process of improving Snowmobile Quebec, we'll prolong your subscription free of charge by at least 1 month. 🙂 Your subscription with free updates and support is valid until 2025-02-21. Wishing you a wonderful evening, -Nik from TrakMaps

It Snowed in Maine yesterday. Northern and interior areas got quite a bit. I guess a few of the clubs might groom. Here in Southern Maine we got about four inches before it turned to freezing rain. My birch trees got tired and laid down for a nap. The power went out just after 9:30 last night. still out this morning just before 4:30. I am thankful for the stand by generator that I had installed last year. I spent the day yesterday working on my motorcycle. Changing the air filter on my 2018 Honda Goldwing. I thought the previous generation Goldwing was bad. This is worse. A ridiculous process. It was a good day for it. I left a note for the next guy that does it. When I wrote it, I was determined that it would not be me.... Changing The Air Filter on a 2018 Honda Goldwing

Hmm...

BLAST FROM THE PAST!!!!! Well, if no one noticed, this Winter Sucked.... We were able to ride with our good friends but not nearly as much we would have liked ( smiles per miles! ). So with no real damage or changes needed and an early start to the Off Season, I have some time extra time to bring this back from the dead! After working on in the 670+ Engine I could not figure out why it would not REV past 6500 under load..... Engine was out then in, then out, checked case seal, etc.... ( Remember even with NOS it would not REV, and the NOS made it worse ). So I pulled the y-pipe one more time, to look in the cylinders\Exhaust and see if any thing looked a-miss.... Nope.... Even flipping the shocks upside down made it no better. ( Dealership recommended it, they do it on all their New Sled Setups ) Then I disassemble the shielding on the Y-Pipe and found that there was a huge cross shaped crack right at the Y. Like any good idiot would do, I went and bought a welder, watched a YouTube or Two, then proceeded to burn a few holes in my riding lawnmower deck, in the end creating the worst weld seen by man. I did successfully weld the metal together and the lawnmower is ready for the grass... Coming off the high of melting metal together I grabbed the Y-Pipe and made the second worst weld know to man....http://quebecrider.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2024_03/rr-Pipe-3.thumb.JPG.c1c51954a6b9b0dc61bd0c5fb9e4862b.JPG And burnt my thumb.... Pro Tip.... Glowing Metal is Hot, Be Careful.... GutZ

Lots of places that are still mid winter, no problem at all.

The plan has changed from club today. THE TRAILS OPEN After a few reports and information received, the groomers are in operation today. Some decisions are hard to make, but it's never too late to get back on track. There don't seem to be any fallen trees, and the mandatory signage still seems to be in place. We'll be continuing our field checks today. You'll still need to be vigilant after the resurfacers have passed. We must also give priority to the resurfacer operators and volunteers in the field, as we have several hours of work ahead of us. The conditions will be updated on Imotoneige at the end of the day once we've had reports from the operators. We'll be linking up with St-Eugène and prioritizing north of St-Narcisse, St-Marcellin and Mont-Lebel towards Rimouski. An update Contrary to what some people propagate, the club doesn't save any $$$ when the trails are closed. On the contrary, with the new financing system adopted by the clubs, the more surfacing hours a club does, the more revenue it earns. And we agree with this principle! Please proceed with caution while waiting for the groomer to pass. The river is closed and you must use the footbridge to cross the Rimouski River. Enjoy the ride and thank you for your understanding!

Beer-30

I'm thinking the metal hook on the front arm to hold the suspension down for shipping was not removed.

I know this place !

Sharp looking sled Chris. As for the upside down shocks, I am sure at some point next winter there will be a spot right after a sharp corner they will be turned the other way!

All true that