easyrider

Probably too late but I was at the dam on Friday and they said it was not safe yet to OB. might be fine from the clova end but not at the dam end.

Just got back from a trip in QC, woodrunner area, made routs with my sledgps maps for the first time, works great if the trails are really where they are supposed to be but you know how that is, just like paper maps sometimes the trails are right in sync with the maps and sometimes they are not. All and all I would say it was worth it. just click on relay 22, rout to, and there it is 42 miles away. Want to go to Repos instead click on that, 132 miles away. You can't do that with the free download QC maps, I used them for years. You gotta pay if you want to route. FYI you have to turn off all of your other maps to make routs, otherwise your route will be via roads, not trails. It's no biggie, after a little practice you can turn them on and off quickly. Another FYI, when you are asked by the gps you select "on road" not "off road"

Pass info and paypal sent.

Yep, we should talk at some point over the coming weeks.

I will be looking to hook up with Quebec riders this winter also. I'm right on I-91 in VT. Got a 2 place enclosed and a pickup with a ramp and a 1200 skidoo. Most of my riding buddies have gotten out of the sport. Been going to Quebec for about 10 years now. Know enough French to make reservations, get directions, and order food. "Combien kilometers por gaz?"

Where did you get your current maps?

Did you zoom in far enough? You gotta get pretty close before they show.

The Zumo is loaded with lots of stuff you will never need on a sled. Done get me wrong, they are great units but I can promise you, you won't be getting any calls through you bluetooth while riding the trails. Those 550's and 500's are great all around units if you prefer touch screens. Touch screens in general don't have great battery life though. Not really a problem for most riders. I'm going with a 60 csx this year, upgrading from a Quest 2 that I've used for years. Gonna keep that one in the car. Bottom line, they all work pretty well, none are perfect, most shortcoming are easily overcome.

where I come from Relais 22 is a sacred place. A right of passage. If you have been to 22 you are a snowmobiling badass. You have the right to talk serious snowmobile with anyone. Are there more remote places? Sure. But anyone who has been to 22 has also been to some of those places as well. Been there Done that Slept in the bunkhouse Paid a buck a liter Got a picture of the signs Had a few Bleus Stayed for breakfast Bought my trail pass. God I love that place.

seems like everybody that did a long trip this year paid their dues somewhere along the way.

Have you seen the homemade version of ice scratchers? Saw it on you tube. The guy drilled a 1/4" hole in each ski, about an inch or two from the back. Next he put about a 2 1/2" bolt up through the bottom, on the top side a couple fender washers and a pin through a hole drilled through near the end of the threaded section. Looked like it could work.

if I were you I would post that question on Doo Talk. you will get more replies there.

I bet you can get one at Moto Dion in ST Ray

2X on iceman's coments. The Gov. is at the top of my list of favorites. Been there 3 or 4 times.

No guesses here..Just stick a volt meter on it. If it's set to DC and the circuit is AC it will read all over the place. Switch it to AC and it will read steady. The good thing about the 60 is it can take up to 20 something volts, still has to be DC though. I installed a Garmin V on a XCSP without a battery, it was difficult. No DC. Had to build a converter box. All stuff from radio shack, not expensive ( kinda fun).Works great. That is probably your worst case scenario.

That's awful, Jean- Luc is a class act, A man among men. We stay there once a season. Very sad news.

I just got one sorta like that.. only 10 miles on it so far but I got the luggage, GPS, map holder, fuel cans (only when needed, comes right off) studded too.

Wow, that's some great replies guys!

how do the guys with the nuvi 550's get around the fact that the 550 does not come with a mapsorce disk?

Bill, I want to get a pass from you.. been waiting for my paperwork from VT DMV to come back. Looks like it will not be here in time. Can I still get a pass with all my other info? BTW I have Pay Pal.

Unfortunately Bill if you let someone do it all for you, you will never learn to do it yourself, and you will miss out on MANY of the benefits of having a GPS on your sled. It's called paying your dues. You have to know the unit inside and out. You gotta be able to add waypoints on the fly, get rid of things in there you don't need anymore, navigate the menus, use tracks, all kinds of stuff. Otherwise you will be nothing but frustrated when you try to extract some data you know is in there but just can't fine it . Don't ask me how I know. Are you old enough to remember trying to program your VCR??? The good news is you can take the thing anywhere with you between now and then and start to understand all the inner workings way before it becomes "mission critical" out on the trail in the dark at an unmarked intersection where if you only knew how to switch from "north up" to "track up" you would see why all your right turns seem like they're on your left and vise versa. I've been using one for about 4 years now and I will say I still don't know it all but I feel very confident in my ability to use it and get what I need out of it and then some. Didn't start out that way that's for sure. I bet by the middle of your first season you won't believe how much you have learned and how much enjoyment you are getting out of it. Oh there will be a few time when you want to throw it in a brook, but don't. Anybody want to add to that??

Hey Greg from Vermont, Do you know how many Americans register up in Quebec? How big of a slice of the entire sledding population are we?

You will LOVE having a GPS on your sled. You have no idea how many ways it will come in handy. There are many good ones out there to choose from. They are like sleds though, you have to compromise. If it is going to be used mostly on the sled I would lean a little towards a mapping handheld. You wont be paying extra for a voice you will never hear. They generally store quite a lot of tracks. If you want to use it in your car too, think motorcycle, because voice commands rule on the road. Get a Garmin and you will have what everyone else has. Another kind and nobody will be much help to ya while you are learning. If I were getting another one today for a sled I think I would pick the 60 csx. Good antenna (very important), color screen, memory cards, great battery life even though you should wire it to your sled battery. You will not out grow this unit in my opinion, you will out grow any $99. unit. check ebay and the garmin web sight, learn the language a little first.

Hard to add to all the previous post without repeating their words, but I will add.. infrastructure, and climate. Try to saddle bag for a week in northern New England.. you would need to register in at least 3 states, you would have no idea where all the hotels, restaurants, dealers, fuel, all that stuff are because it's not on the maps. You could run out of snow and or cold weather at some point. In the Quebec towns I pass through I feel welcome. Sometimes at home I feel barely tolerated.

my 04 has 15000 miles so I know what you are going through. Ditto on the comp.test. If you like working on your sled take off your header pipe, spark plugs, and your reed cages. Now with a flashlight and a magnifying glass you can inspect the rings, piston skirts,cylinder walls, almost the whole top end. Not to mention inspecting all the parts you took off as well. Maybe spray a little BBQ black paint on your Y pipe while it's off. Grease that steering column fitting you can otherwise never reach. Spend a whole day. Take some cell phone pictures so you can get all the wires and things back exactly the same way they were.