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Season Opener 2018


Florida Snowman
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Day 1:  Monday Jan 15th

Jackstraw (Jim),  Eric & myself drove up to Quebec after spending Sunday night in Lake George NY.   Unloaded the sleds, parked the trucks, got geared up and left Shawinigan at 2:30pm.   Dropped onto the river and rode it up to Mekinac.   I wish that Richard would open that place again!  Headed up the 355 (Scorpionbowl’s favorite trail) to Lac Edouard for the night.  That was 3 firsts for me.   I’ve had lunch there many many times.  But I never had dinner, had never spent the night, and had never had breakfast there.  Gassed up the sleds & checked in.  Jim will tell the rest of that nights story.  

105 miles

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The nights story was no phone, tv or wifi which led to a very early night. Did discover that there are exactly 86 boards on the ceiling, lol! Next morning the plan is the 355 to 83 and then deceide to either head west or north around the lake then out to valins. 355 plenty of snow but Not groomed to Lac bouchette. Not bad considering. At this point I realize the air suspension is losing air. Which means no rear suspension. Deceide to head to the skidoo dealer in Dolbuie. Take 83 to local orange to avoid Roberval. Bad move, super thin snow a combo of snow, ice and frozen dirt. Once back on the 373 better into st Felician for lunch. Made it to the dealer in dolbeau. They pulled it in right away and confirmed it was the compressor. Being they didn't have one in stock. They pulled it out of a new sled on the floor.  Out of there at 5 and at the la diligence fo the night. East bound today. Plenty of snow from st felician on up. No pics battery doesn't like the cold

 

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Many years ago the SkiDoo dealer in Matane let us pull parts off a used year old sled on the floor that was for sale so we could continue on.  This was on Dec 31st.  It is a long story but the people in Quebec have given us a hand when things looked pretty bleak.

Thanks to everyone that has helped us over the years.

Jack & Sandi

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I melted down a  600SDI on a Gaspe trip very close to the rock several years ago. My son towed me to the nearest relais at about 6pm. The folks at the Relais called the owner of the  Doo dealer in Chandler. Half hour later the dealer picks me up on a ramp truck, brings me to our Hotel. Next morning at 730 same dude picks me up at Hotel and brings me to dealer. At 8am they had the sled apart, but didnt have the parts. The mechanics then dragged a sled off showroom floor, pulled the engine and pirated the piston, and a few other necessary parts. During this time my buds were off riding, dealer looked sad for me and sent me out to play on his side by side. At 4 pm  sled was fixed, and I was back on the trail. It wasnt cheap, but at the same time no charge for all the ferrying around of me and dead sled. They even took me out for Lunch!

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6 hours ago, Fozzy said:

It's not the first time I hear of dealers pulling parts from their showroom sleds in Quebec. Impressive. I think you would have a hard time finding a dealer to do that in Ontario.

I've heard this of Quebec dealers too. Amazing. That happened here and you pulled into my dealer like that you'd be waiting a week just for them to confirm the problem.

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This happened to us in 2007 near Ville Marie. My son blew up a 800 renegade with 200 miles on it. We got it to the dealer near by and they flew parts in that nite. My boys rode double for a afternoon and morning and were back on the trail with a fixed sled in less than 24 hours. Was a little scary watching them ride double . Never new skis could get that high. Lol

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Day 2:  Tuesday Jan 16th

Woke up,  loaded sleds, suited up & then finally the owner shows up at 8:05am to serve us breakfast.  We were gonna leave.  They told us someone would come at 7:00am.  8:00am is a deal breaker.  Ate & pulled out.  355 north has had a lot of reroutes and was running on the VTT trail many times.   There have been many years when there was no grooming on the 355 north of Lac Edouard.   Just ask Scorpionbowl about the 3 foot moguls!   Everything worked fine as there was enough snow and sled tracks.   Got gas in Lac Bouchette. Everything very thin from Sainte-Hedwidge to Saint-Felicien.  Took lunch and ran a beautiful 373 to Albanel then got on TQ93 to Dolbeau for Jim’s sled repair (see above).  Spent the night at one of my favorite stops Auberge La Diligence.  Great rooms ( was renovated since I was here last),  good food,  good price,  good location.    And it’s right across the street from the bowling alley just in case you want to spend a couple days bowling!  LOL.  Love ya Scorp!  

185 miles 

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Day 3:  Wednesday Jan 17th

Breakfast at 7:00am (they open at 6:30am!), loaded up & pulled out at 8:15am.  Fresh groomed TQ93 to Sainte-Monique (always loved this town) then took 367 to Lamarche and got gas.  Continued 367 south to 482 north to 484 to Relais Onatchiway for gas & lunch.  After lunch took 477 to the Bras Louis (never disappoints) to TQ93 east to KM31 for the night.  Just a great day with fantastic trails.  Mid-winter conditions up here everyone.  Come and get some!

205 miles 

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23 is great

83 to 73 via La Tuque is great

south of the lake is wind blown but passable regardless the direction you go

1 hour ago, slimjim2525 said:

So coming back to St Ray from Roberval, you don't suggest 355?  Should I book somewhere else to avoid this trail?

 

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13 hours ago, Trailblazer said:

Sweet....real sweet.

Tom you're slacking off, that's 2 days in a row under 300 miles. Jim and Eric keeping ya on a leash i see.

Hey JG,

It’s those SkiDoo’s!  Blowing belts........

As you always say “Snowmobiling is always an adventure”.   

It’s all about the journey!

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Excellent dealership in Chicoutimi-Nord!!

Great guys.  Great service. 

Edited by Florida Snowman
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Day 4:  Thursday Jan 18th

Woke up to 10 inches of fresh powder and still snowing.  Headed 48 miles to Chicoutimi Nord to pick up 2 needed belts.  Over 18” of new snow up in the mountains and snowing hard.  Sweet!  Great dealer - Equipments Villeneuve.  They offered to pull in Jim’s sled & replace the new belt free of service charge!  They cleaned the clutches & adjusted.  They also looked at Eric’s sled for some fuel delivery issues. We left and 10 miles down the trail Eric’s sled started to go into safe mode. Rut Roh.   We went back to the dealer and after further diagnosis they changed the TPS (throttle position sensor).  The mechanic took a test ride and came back pleased.  Ok.  Fingers crossed. Let’s ride already!  It’s 2:15pm & we pull out.  Destination is Sacre-Coeur.  Took gas at Chapelle & then Karma kicked in.  The lighting & sky was beautiful.  We started a section of trail that is in my top 10 in PQ. TQ93 downhill from Chapelle to Sacre-Coeur.  Today it was amazing!   Fast, smooth, lots of snow, amazing views & a spectacular light show of colors in the sky to boot.  Pulled into Motel Coronet at 5:15pm.  

188 miles 

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Edited by Florida Snowman
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On ‎17‎/‎01‎/‎2018 at 6:33 AM, Fozzy said:

It's not the first time I hear of dealers pulling parts from their showroom sleds in Quebec. Impressive. I think you would have a hard time finding a dealer to do that in Ontario.

Actually, Loiselle's in Embrun, Ontario offered to do that very thing. I dropped by on a Thursday looking for a plastic rear suspension bushing (worth a couple of bucks) which, it turned out, they didn't have in stock.  The fellow offered to pull the suspension from a floor model so I wouldn't be stuck for the weekend. I politely declined, as I wasn't going sledding that weekend anyway, but I sure appreciated the offer.  Of course, as a dealership, they're renowned for going the extra mile for their clients, and rightly so.

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Ah, The smell of that Yamaha idling exhaust fumes in the room for 12 minutes,  a wake up call was never needed. Jim, on the inside of the belt cover, make sure the rivets are not buffed clean from the belt. my first belt exploded and tweaked the cover enough to kill two more belts quick. have fun men.

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27 minutes ago, Low Rider said:

Ah, The smell of that Yamaha idling exhaust fumes in the room for 12 minutes,  a wake up call was never needed. Jim, on the inside of the belt cover, make sure the rivets are not buffed clean from the belt. my first belt exploded and tweaked the cover enough to kill two more belts quick. have fun men.

Fortunately I caught my belt before it blew apart. Eric's blew to pieces. Took awhile to clean it all out.  Today's mishap was my clutch blowing apart 15 miles from jonquire.

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2 hours ago, Jackstraw said:

Fortunately I caught my belt before it blew apart. Eric's blew to pieces. Took awhile to clean it all out.  Today's mishap was my clutch blowing apart 15 miles from jonquire.

At least you were close to civilization 

could always be worse

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