Tom and I had another great day riding the vintage snowmobiles. This time the group started in Lincoln, NH. From there we made our along the bike path through Franconia Notch.
We had good representation of many different vintage snowmobiles. Rupps (of course), Johnsons, Mercury, Ski-doos, Yamahas, Arctic Cats and Polaris. There is one I can’t figure out. It’s the orange one. Not sure of it’s make. I’m sure Tom knows but he’s not available at the moment.
It was moderately snowing when we left the Whales Tail in Lincoln. By the time we got to the Notch, just past Cannon Mountain, it had lightened up. If you have ever been through Franconia Notch during the winter you know it can be sunny everywhere else and a virtual blizzard through the Notch. But it wasn’t bad in the Notch. It could have been much worse.
We only had one break down. Steve’s Yamaha overheated. His Yamaha is a free air and we were going a little slow and it didn’t like it. He had to be towed back. But that’s par for the course with vintage sleds. I almost didn’t make it back myself. After we took a break at the top of the Notch, the Rupp Yankee I was riding got vapor lock and would not start back up. But with everyone’s help, we got it started. The only problem was the throttle cable was sticking. I could let off my throttle and still go 15 mhp. Made stopping a little interesting.
As you can see we had a large group. I didn’t take a head count but I’m sure if you visit the Baker River Valley Club site Ev (club president) will have it. As we made our way along the bike path, we took others by surprised. There were allot of double takes. I even got a thumbs up from some one. It’s just like seeing an old vintage car. It’s fun to see how far we have come with the technology. It’s fun to ride the old sleds once and a while but I can cover more mile with ease and comfort with my newer Ski-doo. Granted it’s no the newest thing out there but it’s a lot more comfortable to ride than the old Rupp.
C
