Name That Tune
Finally, as the first flakes of winter started to stack up in the higher elevations, Puff was getting prepared to breathe fire. By now, the 2007 Polaris Dragons were showing up in dealerships. Boondocker and SLP had completed their product testing and the finished products were now available.
The crew at Bucky's was able to get everything working that needed to work for Puff to make noise. Pipes were installed, suspensions adjusted, clutching set up and the pretty painted hood removed (to hang safely on the shop wall until time for photos) for a more "tree friendly" R&M mesh hood.
Puff was ready to ride.
The first official SnoWest ride was Dec. 14. (Naturally, the crew at Bucky's had already spent a good deal of time on the snow with Puff prior to the "first" ride. When you have a dealership's reputation on the line, you make certain things are running like they are designed.) We unloaded at the Sherman Parking Area, 18 miles west of Daniel Junction, WY. Our first impressions of Puff were just how we had hoped-it was crisp, responsive and floated through the bumps. Most of the riding in this area ranges from 7,000 to 10,000 feet. The snow is usually dry and deep. Although Trail E takes you into the Blind Bull area, most of the locals only use the trail to get quick access to their own favorite ridgelines and ungroomed trails that lead to the backcountry.
We had two other Dragons on the ride for base comparisons; one with the similar suspension setup and the SLP pipes, the other was pretty much bone stock. It was a short ride, only 30 miles, but it was long enough to show us that this 700cc snowmobile had some life.
It handled much better than the stock Dragon, sucking up the big bumps with ease. The suspension allowed it to roll from side to side with less effort, making it simple to pull over into a sidehill. And compared to the other "slightly modified" Dragon, Puff felt a little lighter. But for the most part at this stage of the season there wasn't a lot of difference between the two sleds.
Now it was time to get Puff back to Idaho Falls so the crew at Boondocker could complete their NOS installation. Although the components for a NOS system were in place, the final hookup and tuning needed to be concluded.
We dropped Puff off at Boondocker on the following Monday and Rocky had it up on Mt. Jefferson and breathing NOS within a couple of days. Once Rocky got things working about how they should, we got together for another tuning session up east of Idaho Falls. This was more intended to familiarize us with the Boondocker's programming box, allowing us to fine-tune the carburetion at a push of a button.
By the weekend we were out riding with the locals in the Red Butte area, northeast of Idaho Falls and acting like we were experts on the Boondocker system. Puff was programmed to inject NOS automatically under certain conditions or on command with a push of a button located on the mounting brace of the Snobunje left-headed throttle.
Although snow conditions for that Dec. 23 ride were less than optimal, it was still deep enough to make it challenging. There was no solid base and the top layer had a thin crust on it. If you started digging, you could get down to the dirt fairly quickly. There were a couple of other Polaris Dragons and a Ski-Doo Summit X RS on the ride. Puff spent a good deal of its time breaking trail or picking different lines through the trees. On several steep ridges where all sleds seem to have difficulty due to drifted snow with no base, Puff seemed to hold its own or do just a little better. (Of course, that was with a fat-assed journalist riding it . it would have done much better with an actual snowmobiler.)
Only a couple of times did Puff require an extra punch of juice to bust over the drifts. But where it really shined, again, was on the bumpy trails. You would actually look for the worst sections of trail so you could hammer the EzRyde rear and Holz front suspension. The harder you rode the sled, the better it handled.
Everything seemed to be working to design. The power was there, the handling was there. Puff was responsive to the throttle. It was just fun to ride.
It was time for the real test.