Signfan

Its hard to argue against. Anyone that does any real riding sees a minimum of 3 clubs in a days ride. On a lot of days I'll be across 6 - 8 club boundaries in a days ride. Looking at this past season I easily visited 25 different club areas and it was a poor season with restricted travel. No one club can claim their members never leave their boundaries. Where this gets more complex is in deciding what trail should exist. What is justified and what isn't? Should a low traffic area have multiple local loops? Or when they are essentially running off of revenue from high population membership should they be restricted to primarily the main connector trails and a small limited amount if local riding? If this happens is it sustainable at the local level? Oh the fun and politics of snowmobile club operations.

Ontario went this way a few years ago. The province has taken it a step further though and looks after all equipment procurement. Every year there is a specified number of new units being put into the system and a a specific number being retired. Used equipment is refurbished where it makes sense and is moved around as needed (usually just once a year its all juggled). It's by no means perfect, but has leveled the playing field. Before the change there was clubs in the south that groomed 2 weeks a winter with brand new fleets of equipment they couldn't wear out while other clubs were starving that had 500 - 1000 hr 12 plus week seasons per unit with no way they could afford to run or replace equipment. Now you get new equipment when needed and the hourly rate is paid for grooming similar to this pilot. It's better, but the next question is, is the entire system sufficiently funded or not. If it's not then the field is being leveled, but everyone then has a funding problem. The size of the Ontario grooming fleet was reduced substantially (I'm guessing 20 - 30%) in the name of long term sustainability. In a lot of instances this was good business, but it doesn't always add up in areas that regularly get heavy traffic that need the extra equipment on weekends to keep up. What you see now is a more level playing field. Good management still shines out making some areas better than others. In some instances poor management still glares through as well. It's better, but by no means perfect. The model works, but you still need to have good people at the local level keeping things in shape for each area.

Yamaha makes a good product no doubt. I prefer to pick the best in class though. Honda ATV or side by side Ski-doo Snowmobile Yamaha PWC Boats too many to pick from. Larson with a mercruiser sterndrive is a good choice. Lots of good and lots of bad boats to pick from. If going jet drive Yamaha would be at the top of the list. I'll stay out of the Yamacat discussion. To each their own.

Those fresh snow days are awesome and brutal at the same time. Nice pics.

Lol Really gonna miss that part of two strokes.

Yep riding like a genuine asshole.

Yeah not too impressed with the fact that it won't keep the skis on the ground. To each their own I guess.

Ya ended up going for a factory takeoff. Still pricey, but not as bad. It should be a good track.

Yeah I run a 1.25" x 129" ice ripper on my sled. I love it. This is for the wife's sled. When I bought her sled used it was studded already. On our last trip her sled threw a stud into her heat exchanger. Was not a fun experience. So I'm done with traditional studded tracks. I'm not concerned going to the ice ripper at all. Was more concerned if there was a risk going from 1.25" to a 1.5" lug height with reliability or performance. Just looking at a good used track that happens to be 1.5". Sounds like no real downside. I appreciate the info guys.

How are these tracks when you get into low snow conditions / some what rocky conditions. Nothing ridiculous, but we sometimes see less than perfect trails in my home riding area which is an area in the Canadian shield. Are they more prone to issues than a 1.25" ice ripper? Any other concerns with performance or longevity? Currently swapping out a traditionally studded 1.25 x 16 track and looking at a 1.5 x 15 ice ripper as a replacement. I figure there will be a top speed loss which I'm fine with. I just don't want something that will cause me issues.

It will.

If the weather network is right they're about to get hammered with snow. Tempting.

Somewhere around 2800 kms all in Ontario. Despite what I wanted Quebec curfews and widespread rain in March kept us in our home province. Roughly 800 kms with the kids at the cottage over multiple days, 1000 kms over 3 days of rides on my own, one 200 km day ride with my wife and one three day trip to Northern Ontario with my wife where we got 750 km in. It feels like I missed out on another trip for sure. Given what's occured with Covid I guess it wasn't a bad year, but nowhere near the 4000 km winter I had 2 years ago. That said the kids are getting lots of seat time and love the sport which is awesome. I'm going to have riding companions galore in a 6 - 8 years time when they each turn 12 and get licensed. Been saying it for a while, but next year I'm buying Quebec season passes and will get my Quebec trips in. So many places still left to go explore.

Where did you see it listed? I see 100 lacs du sud and repos are both listed and up for sale as well.

They do look good. BRP kinda snuck in on them with e-linq. Still should sell well.