Blackstar

I always look at my sled and say "Could I sell this to a friend with a clear conscience?" If the answer is "No' then I trade it in.....lol

I've had a Royal Distributing one for years now. No problems lifting any of the sleds I've owned. Renegade 1200, Yamaha Vector, Cat Turbo, Mach Z900 R. My '79 SRX has been sitting on it during the summer for 2 years just to make more storage space in my shed. I have an adapter on it so I can use a 1/4" Impact to raise and lower.

Trails around Kirkland are green on ITG. Cochrane has some yellow.

I would not have bet money on this happening.

I'm waiting for my gravel driveway to freeze so I can get my sleds out of my shop. Hopefully that's Tuesday morning by the looks of the forecast. I was invited to Mont Valin for this weekend but passed. My heads in a different place now and I still have about 80% of my winter projects to get to yet. I got to 2 weeks before the wife gets home to inspect.

Our bathroom was newly renovated. New sink and cabinet, toilet, Fiberglas tub insert.

The Super 8 is across town and has gas and food in walking distance.

This place was suggested by a friend. Its where my buddy and I stayed last weekend. Its not your normal hotel. Apparently, it was a funeral home that was converted. All the rooms are suites. 1, 2 or 3 bedroom. They all have full kitchen with fridge, stove, microwave and sink. All worked great. Cupboards are stocked with plates and a couple glasses, cutlery and regular utensils, pots and pans, etc. Furniture includes a small dining table with 2 chairs, a small couch and 1 lounge chair. Bathrooms have tub/shower. Bedrooms in ours had double beds with foam mattresses. There was a good size Smart TV with Bell Satelite box but very few channels. It is connected to the internet. Wifi internet in all the rooms. Over all, the unit was clean with fresh painted walls and newer carpet through out. Cupboards and cabinets were like new condition. The furniture was, how ever, beaten to crap. The lounge chair had the back broken off on 1 side and the foam on the arms fell inside the armrests. Same deal with the couch. The foam seat pad was crushed to the point where you were sitting on the frame after 5 minutes. Beds were small. I did see online something about queens but we didn't care on this trip. Cost was cheap though. 1 bedroom was $90/night, we had a 2 bedroom at $120/night, 3 bedroom was $150/night. These prices are for booking on their own booking site. Expedia.ca and other sites were a bit more. This is only a 1 story building so all rooms are on the main floor. There were pop and treats machines, no ice machine (but the manager did find a cube tray for us). There is no front desk. The manager lives onsite and has an office at the rear of the building. Plenty of parking out back for trucks and trailers. The Inn is located across the road from the sled trail. One last mention. They have a strange cancellation policy. They require 14 days to cancel. If not they charge you your full fee plus $25. If they end up renting out your room then they refund you a portion. If you book through Expedia.ca or other sites, you can likely get 72 hours cancellation, but as mentioned, at a higher price.

It would depend on the sled I was buying. I'm only buying 4 strokes at this point so I wouldn't care whether it was 1 year or 4. If I was buying a boosted 2-stroke, I'd probably want all the warranty I could get.

I was hoping they would do something a bit more special to celebrate their last year. Maybe an SRV inspired paint scheme. Or just carried over the Black/Gold from last year.

The trail is shown on the ITG but it doesn't show that it goes to the gas station.

Agreed. I am always trying to make mental notes when I ride a new area and pass a gas station. But it would be much nicer if available gas stations were listed on the map. In Kirkland Lake this weekend, to the west of town there is a trail shown on the map (L114) off the A which leads to a gas station. There are signs at the intersection for the gas station and obviously the trail is maintained by the club. Yet, it is not shown on the ITG. I find that frustrating.

If you search on Facebook for "Follow Her North", Mylene has posted 2 videos today showing conditions around Hearst. She says that the intown trails are done. You will need to trailer out to where the trails get better. I don't know how to link to Facebook here. She is a guide and has openings if you want to ride to Moosonee this coming weekend. https://www.followhernorth.com/

Lots of reports on Facebook, 705 Snowmobiles. Here is one from this afternoon.

We noticed the same thing driving home today. Still a bunch of sled trailers headed north. My buddy kept yelling out the window, "Go Home, Its Done." .....lol

Good meeting you and your buddy today.

We rode down from Kirkland Lake to Elk Lake on the A for lunch today. Riding in the morning, everything was fine. From the junction of A and A110Q to the junction A and L162 has been groomed and is in good condition with a few thin spot where it crosses rough terrain. Below L162 there has been no grooming since before the melt down. It’s about a 40 km stretch from there to Elk Lake. The upper half saw a lot more snow than the lower half. The A trail runs on the River now on the north side of town (not on land like it shows on the OFSC map). The hill climb off the river was ice mud and rock this afternoon. That lower section was turning grey coming back this afternoon with small bare sections. The snow was soft and the trails were still decent but the traffic was taking a toll. The trails around Kirkland Lake are patchy, mostly still snow but slushy with bare spots. We were done by 330. Still warm and sunny out. My buddy and I were pretty surprised at how fast the trails were deteriorating in the afternoon. We are heading home in the morning. I don’t think there is a good ride near here tomorrow afternoon but there are plenty of people in Cochrane who are riding back to Kirkland Lake tomorrow.

It’s was -29 in Kirkland Lake at 8am this morning. Its -1 now at 7pm. Only going to -3 over night. +5 by noon tomorrow.

I don’t know. This is not the sled I seen last week but it looks like a deal to me.

I'm at 1700 kms give or take right now. A couple more days this weekend should put me well over 2000. I don't think I've ridden this much in 5-6 years, could be more.

I see a lot of people still asking silly prices. Some have been for sale since last spring. The guy with the Doo 850 turbo in Guelph has had it listed since the fall. Looks like it never turned the track. But I've seen a couple dealers blowing out used. Tri-City Cycle listed a '22 Polaris 850 with 7500 kms for $9900 last week.

Thanks for the report.

I ain't doing that math this season, no way. Seeing the posts on Facebook of people assuming there will be a discounted permit next year.....lol I've spent more on carbides than permits this winter. The permit is the cheap part.