After all my issues with my red viper that had the bog issue which I was able to correct finally, thanks to the great TY's here, I almost destroyed it!
So, I had my brothers out with their families, rented a cabin up near the ski-hill and had a grand ski, sled, snowmobile trip planned. Everything was going great and then one trip with my brother we decided to follow a power line out to an area (which I knew went along the top of a "hill climb" bowl). We stayed to the right going out avoiding the steep drop off to the left. On the trip back I decided to let my brother lead since he could use the power line almost all the way back to the cabin. Mistake! Good intent but poor execution on my part! At dusk, my brother is following the power lines fine but he goes to the right side of them. And this happens to be the lee side (downwind side for non-nautical) and some of the patches of trees have formed 7 to 9 foot drifts that he's going thru. So my brother is flirting with a (unknown to him) steep bowl on his right, dealing with some pretty tricky drifts, and it's dark dusk time. So I decide to get past him on the right side (closer to the steep bowl) to head him off. I got in front of him. However the last backside of the last drift was almost vertical and myself and the machine lawn-darted! My handlebars rotated forward, and I got thrown over the right front of the machine. When, I got to my feet, in the 2 1/2 to 3 feet of powder I noticed my machine had bounced out and was slowly moving away from me. However, just fast enough that I couldn't catch it in the snow that was almost waist deep. You guessed it! It arced to the right and the last thing I saw was the reflector on my grab bar disappear into the steep bowl. And knowing this bowl, I knew there were mostly groups of trees at the bottom that you had to miss on the descent when riding the machine down. So after, talking to the world and slapping the snow like a 13yo having a fit, I told my brother what happened and we proceeded to go around to a more gradual descent to end up at the bottom. I fully expected to be retrieving my machine with milk cartons in the following days. Low and behold there it was! Upright, idling, without a scratch, and it had passed the trees. After a slight temporary adjustment to the handlebars, we rode back to the cabin. My brother reminded me that I should go buy a lottery ticket! I know I should have but I was greatfull enough that night!
I've come to think that this sled is better at riding without me then with me. I've also come to theorize that it must have caught the ski groves from another sled that had come up or down that bowl which allowed it to miss the trees.
Anyways, I'm one lucky mo this year.
So, I had my brothers out with their families, rented a cabin up near the ski-hill and had a grand ski, sled, snowmobile trip planned. Everything was going great and then one trip with my brother we decided to follow a power line out to an area (which I knew went along the top of a "hill climb" bowl). We stayed to the right going out avoiding the steep drop off to the left. On the trip back I decided to let my brother lead since he could use the power line almost all the way back to the cabin. Mistake! Good intent but poor execution on my part! At dusk, my brother is following the power lines fine but he goes to the right side of them. And this happens to be the lee side (downwind side for non-nautical) and some of the patches of trees have formed 7 to 9 foot drifts that he's going thru. So my brother is flirting with a (unknown to him) steep bowl on his right, dealing with some pretty tricky drifts, and it's dark dusk time. So I decide to get past him on the right side (closer to the steep bowl) to head him off. I got in front of him. However the last backside of the last drift was almost vertical and myself and the machine lawn-darted! My handlebars rotated forward, and I got thrown over the right front of the machine. When, I got to my feet, in the 2 1/2 to 3 feet of powder I noticed my machine had bounced out and was slowly moving away from me. However, just fast enough that I couldn't catch it in the snow that was almost waist deep. You guessed it! It arced to the right and the last thing I saw was the reflector on my grab bar disappear into the steep bowl. And knowing this bowl, I knew there were mostly groups of trees at the bottom that you had to miss on the descent when riding the machine down. So after, talking to the world and slapping the snow like a 13yo having a fit, I told my brother what happened and we proceeded to go around to a more gradual descent to end up at the bottom. I fully expected to be retrieving my machine with milk cartons in the following days. Low and behold there it was! Upright, idling, without a scratch, and it had passed the trees. After a slight temporary adjustment to the handlebars, we rode back to the cabin. My brother reminded me that I should go buy a lottery ticket! I know I should have but I was greatfull enough that night!
I've come to think that this sled is better at riding without me then with me. I've also come to theorize that it must have caught the ski groves from another sled that had come up or down that bowl which allowed it to miss the trees.
Anyways, I'm one lucky mo this year.
Lol, good story. Must have been a good feeling to see your sled waiting for you at the bottom.
It was, I was shocked.
superfan75
New member
That was some lucky your sled was ok.
Does your sled have a flashing red light on the front and is it named Kit?
Wizard
Member
A few years back I was riding my '98 SRX600 after dark with my nephew on his ZL500 and we were getting enough speed to float the back side of some rolling hills; 50 to 70 mph range. We stopped and talked a while and then headed off and from my recollection we had one more floater to go before the trail turned and headed into the twisties through the woods. Upon descending down that hill just as my nephew ahead of me was getting to the top, I could see from his headlights that the trail was wide open for a ways more and my memory of the trail must have been off. I punched it for a bonus float, came over the hill pretty much off the ground only to see a sharp right hand turn sign hanging on a 2 foot diameter tree. "Oh F&#$" I thought as I tried to make the turn but I immediately realized there was NO WAY!!! My next thought was to throw myself off the sled in the direction my mind was telling me must have been a clearing in the woods that only looked like the trail from 100 yards away lite up by someone else's headlights.
Luck was on my side that night; I bounced through the woods and eventually my right shoulder smashed into a 6" diameter tree which redirected me a bit and hurt like hell but at least I was alive. I got up expecting to see my sled in pieces wrapped around the big tree on the trail, but instead it was pretty much right next to me up-side-down and backwards from the direction it'd been going. I rolled it over, fired it up, and then left it idling as I staggered slowly back to the trail. A few minutes later my nephew came back to find me, rode a trail in next to my sled and I rode it out. The powder was so deep and soft that even the windshield was still intact. I had to dig a ton of powder out from under it to see the gauges, but the only thing that broke was the dimmer switch assembly on the left bar. My right arm was too weak to enjoy the rest of the ride, but I was able to get back to the truck just the same, thank God!
Luck was on my side that night; I bounced through the woods and eventually my right shoulder smashed into a 6" diameter tree which redirected me a bit and hurt like hell but at least I was alive. I got up expecting to see my sled in pieces wrapped around the big tree on the trail, but instead it was pretty much right next to me up-side-down and backwards from the direction it'd been going. I rolled it over, fired it up, and then left it idling as I staggered slowly back to the trail. A few minutes later my nephew came back to find me, rode a trail in next to my sled and I rode it out. The powder was so deep and soft that even the windshield was still intact. I had to dig a ton of powder out from under it to see the gauges, but the only thing that broke was the dimmer switch assembly on the left bar. My right arm was too weak to enjoy the rest of the ride, but I was able to get back to the truck just the same, thank God!
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