Enduro Team Jekyll battles the HoF Vintage Challenge... The complete saga.

[Jekyll]

It's late, I'm tired, I will post details tomorrow but here the upshot........................

The Moto Ski broke, Dan's TX-L broke, Campbell's JD 800 broke, Keith's 82 Liquifire broke, Keith's son Darren (ETJ's Newest member) 78 XCountry Deere broke, Mike paid but couldn't even make the trip, Terry logged as many truck miles as Nick's wife Angie and I............ well I had the time of my life!  Ross, riding his freshly drug behind a Dodge SRX, was the only ETJ member to survive the carnage.

The only BAD news about the entire trip is I now have to wait 361 days till we leave for next year's Ride with the Champs!

Later,
Roger

[TakeItToTheLimit]

Roger, Good to see you again...I just returned home...new snow made the last 30 miles slick...looks like we will have some good local riding soon.

Kevin (KWC), a 2-cycle engine always runs best...just before it quits.  On a '75 JDX8 or Model 800 with the CDI PIP...the high speed needle should never be turned less than 1 turn open.  Although the PIP incluced N-19V Champion (surface gap) plug...Deere later recommended using N-1 plugs with one exception..."for sustained high-speed running use Surface Gap N-19V or QN-19V"...p.s. a NGK 9ES heat range is between a N-2 and a N-3.  It will be interesting to see your pistons for final evaluation of "cause of death". 

Tom White's beautiful Liquifire is not so beautiful anymore, either...oddly enough he is willing to repair it with good used parts...not NOS this time. 

As for Jon Carlson...they say "third time's a charm"...maybe he can get a sled to finish next year.

The HOF Induction was a highlight for me...talking with Jim Dimmerman (as well as his autograph on a picture from 1978) was great.  His personal rendition of becoming a member of Arctic Cat's factory team...and respect shown for competitors was also exceptional. 

[Tomcat]

Wow Rog, good thing I didn't try to take my Scorpion on that ride! What happened?

[Jekyll]

Vintage Challenge 2010

I’ve got so much to say……. So many thoughts running around in my mind, I really want to do justice to the experience…….. please indulge my ramblings.

I’m going to start from the beginning, so here we go, hang on it’s going to be one heck of a ride!

It would make sense that our trip (ADVENTURE, in all reality) started on Thursday when we headed out, or maybe even Wednesday night when Dinosaur Dan traveled the 3 hours to my house, but really, this trip began while driving home from last years Hall of Fame event.  

On that drive home Dan and I spent 5 or 6 hours talking non-stop about our experiences, what we had seen, done and “lived”.  Not only had we actually ridden snowmobiles with our Race and Rally, Snow Week and Snow Goer hero’s, but we had become friends with them too.  

We also became friends with other sleders, two of which, (Keith and Mike) would become the charter members (along with Dan and Myself) of Enduro Team Jekyll.  

Now you might ask who/what is Enduro Team Jekyll?  How was it formed?  How much work was involved in getting it started?  How were the members picked?  How did you come up with the concept and how much thought was involved?  Well the answer to all those questions (and more) is simple…….. steady now……

I made the whole thing up!  lol  That’s right, I just added it to the bottom of my profile and SHAZAM the four of us are now Enduro Team Jekyll!  Pretty catchy don’t you think?  OK……. now back to the story.

The very day Loren announced the date for the 2010 event I called the White Tail and made our reservations (the same room was available) so I booked it.  

We were on our way to the 2010 Vintage Challenge.

[Jekyll]

I’d been keeping in touch with Keith throughout the summer and fall.  Almost every time Dinosaur Dan and I spoke, the Vintage Challenge would come up.  Silly as it may sound, we both found this event to be like the snowmobiler’s version of Fantasy Camp where regular folks (us), get to mingle with icons and heroes of their sport.  It’s kind of like going to spring training (for a couple of days) with the New York Yankees.  You take batting practice, shag fly balls and attend meetings with the likes of Derek Jeter, of course in our case it’s haul-a## through the woods with John Carlson, Stan Hayes and Brian Nelson.

As we evaluated the 2009 VC, it seemed (to us) that most of the issues that plagued riders would have been noticed had we scheduled a shake-down run the day before.  When talk started of the HoF charity Poker Run, well they must have been reading our minds.  We decided way back during the summer to use Thursday as travel day giving us two full days of vintage sledding.

Dan’s TX-L not only looks fantastic, it sailed through the 2009 VC with only a burned out headlight.  My 1980 TX440 never missed a beat, but after using it as my rider the past 3 seasons; I was looking for something different to ride.  After selling the TX at the A-1 Show through an odd series of events I “ended up” with a 1980 Moto Ski GPS that I had no plans of keeping, fate however had a different plan for me.  Like a bad penny that just keeps “turning up,” the Mo-Ta-Ski as it was now known, kept looking more and more like my VC “rider”.  Truth is, I really thought it would be neat to try something different and since I had taken it on 5 or 6 family trail rides without incident, the idea of being the first VC finisher on a Moto Ski sounded like the challenge I was looking for.  I added a Polaris secondary, tried some different spring/helix combinations, shook her down on the Ride to Karlin and I was ready!

[Jekyll]

So enough background, time to relive the 2010 Vintage Challenge.

We had easy traveling through Chicago as we headed toward the great Northwoods of Wisconsin.  Thursday seemed like the perfect travel day, and we left early enough to check into our room, unload machines and take a quick spin. By chance we met up with the Amber’s near Hazlehurst WI where we topped off with fuel and bought our WI trail permits.  

We arrived at the Whitetail and pulled into the parking lot like two conquering heroes ready for a rematch with our worthy opponent………. the Vintage Challenge (I’ve been saving that line……… pretty dramatic don’t you think?)  There to greet us was Troy Miley, Kevin K, Ross H and the Ambers.  In what seemed like only moments, we checked into the room, got our gear on and were ready for a short ride.

Brilliant sunshine gave way to dusk as we pointed our thundering machines crafted nearly 30 years ago from materials like fiberglass, steel and aluminum eastward.  We raced the sunset as we carved single file through the trails like a surgeon’s scalpel, today was promised to no one, it was ours alone.  Engines roared as the miles clicked off, we were like one with our sleds, each of us listening, keenly aware of subtle changes we would make that evening to carburetors, clutches and gears.  

Well I wish it was like that, actually we couldn’t make up our minds which way to go and since none of us knew where anything was located, we went toward the Hall of Fame until Ross miss-judged a intersection and dismounted the SRX with the skill of the Flying Whalinda’s.  We needed to check on his condition (which was obviously OK), and since most of us saw it happen we really just wanted to chuckle along with him.  

We had a good laugh and headed for the 19th Hole for some supper.

Stick with me, were getting to the good stuff…………………

[sparcat]

Roger!!  A very Good Start!!   

[Packman]

Rodger, keep them coming.  You alway have such a coloful way of replaying the events.

Thanks for letting me into Enduro Team Jekyll for the return trip after my wingman Kevin went down .  I have to say, I did kind of feel like a one man wolfpack after the Cisco Lake gas stop though.

Ross

[xenoahman]

hi roger xenoahman here{kevin pipestone small engine} i bored or surfaced a engine or two for you , hey i couldnt leave the liquid rupps alone. back messing with them, moto ski you must be going thru the change ha ha looks like your having fun thanks kevin

[Jekyll]

I forgot to mention one of the coolest things from just before our ride.  Dan and I were parking our sleds in front of the Lodge as JRC was walking out.  The last time I’d seen Jon was as we were leaving Sunday morning last year.  I’d exchanged emails and PMs with him during the “off season” but honestly, I wasn’t sure if he would remember who I was or not.  My answer came in form of a giant smile, firm handshake and a “glad to see you again friend” hug.  Yea, this was going to be a really fun weekend!

Thursday night’s dinner was just how you would want to start the weekend.  It was nice to chat with Troy, then Ken and his grandson stopped to join us.  I kind of envy the Deere Crew, they seem like such a tight crowd………… that’s pretty cool ya’ know.

Keith showed up (I wonder how he knew where to find us?) with his son Darren and Jerry….. but no Mike.  It seemed that there had been a last minute glitch in his travel plans so it would be left up to the 3 founding members of ETD to recruit this year’s class of “newbie’s”.

We stayed as long as they would let us, and then headed back to the Whitetail.  It’s amazing how fast time can fly when your trying to catch up on almost a year’s worth of “stuff”.  If you’ve ever met Keith, he has this infectious smile; you can just tell the guy is having a good time.  Terry and Darren seemed to fit right in but I had to wonder what was in the back of their mind(s) as we prepared for this adventure.  

There were fresh arrivals upon our return to the Whitetail.  Tom Roland and Crew were there, I wanted to rush over there and exchange “hello(s)” but it looked like they were getting their machines ready for a quick spin and I didn’t want to bother them.  You would have to see the quality of their machines to believe them, they looked great last year, but this year they all had matching custom lettering on the headlight pod.  Dan and I were jealous…………. We need ETJ stickers!

Now here is some irony for you, when we get to the room, what movie is on the television (get your minds out of the gutter!), how about Field of Dreams!  If that’s not some strange example of irony, I don’t know what is.  

Allow me a minute here to “open up” a little bit and tell you about Roger.  Those of you that want to just read about the VC, it’s OK with me if you skip this next paragraph.  lol

More often than not, I find myself asking, “……… how does a guy like me end up here?”  That’s straight from the heart……. how on earth do I go from banging around vineyards and soybean fields in little Bridgman MI on “crappy old snowmobiles” to racing through the woods with my special new friends, old friends and oh yea former Polaris, Deere and I-500 Factory racers?  I’m not sure anyone should be this fortunate.
  
All right ........enough introspection.

Thursday evening ended with us coordinating our arrival time at the HoF for the poker run.  The weather experts were forecasting cold temps Friday morning with lots of sunshine bringing temps up to the low 30’s for our 50 to 60 mile ride.  I had expected a fun filled day with friends and maybe a little “hot rodding” on some local lakes, you know, just kind of tooling around with everyone.  What I didn’t expect was that I would spend the late afternoon with one of the true pioneers of aftermarket performance parts…… the guy that wrote the book on clutching (literally)!

Now for Friday!

[TJ Henriksen]

Roger this is great reporting as always. The Vintage Challenge has been on my must do list and reading accounts like this make me want to make sure I have sleds ready for next year. Now just which sled should I bring...................

[EXT290Mod]

Roger, you have a great way of telling about your experiences on your trips and I look forward to hearing the rest of the story.
Sounds like a trip riding with the Hall of Famers, is something everyone should put on their list.

[cstef]

Roger, great reporting!  It was nice talking to you Saturday evening and meeting dinosaur Dan. Got to have a drink with Larry and rub elbows with a few of the champs. I think I'll do this one again.

Chuck

[Boy Wonder]

Great read Jekyll! Thanks Bro!

[Jekyll]

Friday at the Vintage Challenge.

You are NEVER going to believe this.  That is a phrase I used more time than you could imagine on Friday, especially as my story was told and re-told……. Heck I might have even elevated myself to some sort of urban legend status………..well… maybe not.  Lol

Friday stated out REALLY cold.  I had adjusted the air screws the previous night and it really cleaned up the bottom end “performance wise”, I made sure to be careful until the temps warmed up.

Without any real organization, Dan and I ended up in a group of about 8 or 9 vintage machines all headed to the HoF for the 9:00 Poker Run.  We checked in, paid-up and then had a chance to mingle about checking out the different machines on display.

Dan and I were standing by the JD machines when Keith mentioned he still had his liquidator.  It’s funny how he just sort of casually mentions that……. We were like “……..WHAT”, then he proceeds to tell us that he raced in the I-500 in 1975 and 1976.  It was a total “holy crap” moment.  You can guess what happens next……….. we set the world record for most I-500 questions asked in the shortest amount of time.  Keith was gracious reliving some of his racing experiences with us.  The best story was when they were checking into their hotel in Winnipeg (I think).  He said it was really tall and quite fancy…… and here they come (he and his mechanic), then the desk clerk asks them where they want to stay……….  My semi famous status as site Moderator prevents me from typing the actual answer his wrench gave but suffice it to say “I want to stay way ### ###### up there” is close enough.  We just busted up laughing.  Yea, it was going to be a really good day!

Before we knew it we were off on the ride.  We raced the sunset………  (Already used that one didn’t I?).  I think there were about 30 machines in the group, mostly all vintage with a few newer support machines mixed in.  We took the short ride into town for the last few trail permits then we hit the trails.  About two miles out we passed a Ski Doo dealership, which comes into play later in my day. The trails were really nice and smooth.  Some of the corners were ice covered but the carbides I had installed for the trip seemed to be working.

The first leg of the trip was a learning experience for me as I got used to the handling characteristics of the Moto Ski. This machine was SO much different from the TX series machines that I was used to.  The front end was much heavier and I really felt that difference as I got used to it.  She seemed to be the happiest when I kept one ski in the berm created down the center of the corner(s).  If I cranked the bars too far it really wanted to “push” so I made subtle adjustments as I learned what it liked and didn’t like.

Keith Warning was on point and did a great job keeping us all together.  We paused and checked for our partners before we crossed the first lake of the day.  As I looked around Keith (ETJ Keith) was there but Darren and Terry were both missing.  Seems one of them had broken down and one of the support sleds was taking care of the issue so off we went.  I liked this lake, it was maybe 2 miles across then we veered off another half mile or so to our first stop.

The bar was closed but that didn’t dampen the fun we were having.  With helmets off I started matching usernames with faces and machines.  NH Tom, Stymie, SRX500, NCC250, Bam Bam, KWC, Norton, Matt, T-Nut and more I can’t think of right now. 

Darren showed up about 15 minutes later with a broken hood on the Liquifire.  It seems the rev limiter died and they were towing it with the ZRT when a sudden stop sent the Liquifire ski up under the ZRT cracking the heat exchanger and damaging the hood on the Deere.  It’s just one of those sled thing that happen sometimes, just glad nobody got hurt.

We drew our cards, had our papers marked, grabbed our helmets and off we went…….. after watching Bertilino re-attach the rewind to his SRX.  To me it was another example of “just one of those things” but there were enough “yucks” going on that I figured there was some history here and possibly a story or two. 

We retraced out tracks back across the lake and through the woods making decent time on this leg of the run.  I was happy with how the Moto Ski was performing but needed less helix.  It’s actually pretty comfortable to ride at the moderate speeds we were making; by the time we reached the Black Bear Resort I was really getting the “feel” for it.

Lunch and refreshments were on tap for this stop.  I shared a table with NH Tom, his son and brother.  Listening to how far they had driven to attend the event made me feel silly for complaining about our trip.  Brad Warning came over and shared some of their speed run stories from the past few weeks.  It seems that even though the decades change, the “problematic issues” associated with speed runs remain the same. 

They had an internet station there for use by guests.  I logged on to check the VS site and imagine my surprise to find someone had already posted information about the SRX rewind.  News travels fast now days.  lol

Our next stop was a place called Fibber’s with a stop for some old fashion “arm drop” run what you ‘brung and hope it’s enough drag racing.  My first indication that something was amiss was the “where did this come from” high idle.  Undaunted (what was I going to do about it anyway) I lined up when they pointed my direction.  There were 4 or 5 machines in my race.  The only one I didn’t beat was Bertilino’s SRX and I think he only had my fanner by 2 or 3 lengths.  Not bad I thought, stiffer clutch spring, lengthen the limiter strap……….there’s got to be a few other improvements I can make……..hey where is this smoke coming from?  Yup just that quick I had a genuine engine problem.

I opened the hood for some extra cooling but the damage was already done.  Nothing to do now but go ahead and make one more pass down the strip.  Well…………it was already hurt, how much worse could I make it…..right?  It was REALLY hot when I got back this time.  I kept the hood open (even when people were looking this time) and just waited till we headed to Fibber’s.  I was hoping when I had more air flow moving under the hood it would stay cool enough to finish the day……….. RIGHT!

The Trail Boss (Keith Warning) waved his hand in a circular motion above his head meaning overheating issue or not, it was time to go.  I limped across the lake actually thinking I might just make it after all…… but the smell of whatever kind of “goo” that was leaking out of the PTO cylinder head (and burning off of the cooling fins) was getting worse.  It didn’t seem to be loosing power as we wound our way through the wooded trails.  I was already formulating my plan to use the back-up machine for tomorrows ride when the engine started to “miss”.  It went few hundred feet closer to the stop sign before it just lost all power.  Using any momentum she had left, I jumped off and pushed it a few more feet, opened the hood and started pulling the belt.

We were deciding weather to tow it or leave it there as Jerry Bettien pulled up.  He advised to just leave it there because the intersection would be easy to find.  I hopped on the back of his machine and took the ride every snowmobiler hates!

When we got to Fibber’s it didn’t go un-noticed that the Moto Ski wasn’t there.  Slightly shocked I wasn’t the object of more good natured “ribbing” we went inside and I drew another non-helpful card.  Jerry made a call back to the HoF arranging a ride for me and they were also going to bring a trailer for my sled.  Craig Marchbank gave me the quick version of what to expect when replacing the head gaskets and also one or two dealers he thought might have the parts in stock.

The group was getting ready to leave and my ride hadn’t shown up yet.  Jerry gave me his trail map, pointed out where Fibber’s was, where my sled was sitting and which roads to get there quickest.  He stepped outside and called the HoF again to make sure my ride had left to come get me.  When he walked back in to tell me my ride was on the way and just who that ride was going to be with, my day instantly turned from bad to “pinch me to make sure I’m not dreaming”.

Just who was coming to get me (and my busted sled)……… Olav Aaen!

How does a guy like me end up here?