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The whole sled world changed for Lori. No more asking for help starting the sled, no sir. The Mirage was easy to start as long as it wasn’t flooded. The light frame coupled with a quick-revving engine was lightning in her teenaged hands.
Lori burned up jug after jug of mixed gas with the bright orange sled. Sure it had a few quirks. The short skis coupled with the narrow frame made getting stuck easy, but its light weight helped. Slushy snow conditions froze the slides solid a few times. Lesson? Clean out the slides after riding.
But most important was the fuel mixing ratio. Under no circumstances was anything other than 50:1 used. Any thicker and the plugs gummed up and soon the engine stopped, usually far from the barn on a cold night! The mixing can had a strip of duct tape with large block numbers in black marker. 50:1.
Lori rode her Mirage every day and everywhere. But good times don’t last forever. One of Lori’s siblings was going to college and the Mirage was sold to help pay tuition. She was devastated. Her orange crush was gone!
Other sleds came and went, but they were pale imitations of the Mirage. When I began dating Lori she was still in mourning, but eventually joined me snowmobiling. Fortunately I ran Moto-Skis and this might be why she liked me. Every time we talked about snowmobiles she would glow when talking about the Mirage.
Some men would have been upset by a girlfriend always talking about her first love, but I wasn’t. I vowed I was going to reunite Lori with her first crush.
I married Lori and kept an eye out for a good used Mirage, but it seemed anyone who owned one wasn’t letting it go.
A breakthrough
But one winter afternoon my younger brother called to say he had just acquired a “small old Moto-Ski.” I asked if it was a Cadet or Spirit, but he said it was more like a Citation. He insisted I bring Lori along to see it and wouldn’t hang up until I agreed to come over. I told Lori about the strange call and we decided to go over before supper.
When we drove into my brother’s yard we heard a sled running behind his barn. Lori had just hopped out of the truck when around the barn came my brother on the sled. Not just any sled, an orange Moto-Ski. Lori’s jaw dropped. My brother was driving her orange crush!
Bringing the Mirage to a halt and shutting it off my brother grinned and asked if Lori wanted to buy a sled. She let out a war whoop and jumped on the Mirage. It was her beloved Mirage! Or at least one just like it.
Turns out a guy wanted to buy a collection of sled parts my brother was selling and offered the Mirage partially in trade. Remembering Lori’s endless lamenting about her orange crush he had agreed and immediately called me.
The Mirage was a 1979 with the original Rotax 300cc twin. Controls, skis and running gear were like new. Flipping up the hood it was clean and even had the tool kit intact. The runners, I swear, had to be factory and the seat was perfect, no tears or wear marks. Best of all the decals, hood and paint scheme had no damage or fading.
It was, in Lori’s words, “so cheery the only thing missing was the wrapper.”
A fast deal involving cash and my brother’s favorite rye beverage gave us the Moto-Ski. We loaded the Mirage and with Lori at the wheel drove carefully through the winter evening. Once home we inspected every inch and realized the Mirage was practically new with next to no mileage.
Through the winters that followed the peppy sleek twin certainly has been used. Lori decided that despite its antique value (it was listed in 90% show ready condition) she was going to run it. She has considered a paint touch up, but has put it off, preferring to just ride.
The oil/gas ratio continues at 50:1 with modern mix oil. Lori has had offers to sell it, but declined them all. Every time she fires the Mirage up she smiles ear to ear and she’s that teenage girl riding 30 years ago.
Everyone has that first crush, your first love that’s short and often doesn’t last. Lori’s first love was an orange crush, a Mirage, and unlike most crushes it shows no sign of ending soon.
Cary Rideout is an avid snowmobiler in Carlow, New Brunswick, where he and Lori ride hundreds of miles each winter. You can contact Cary directly at www.clrideout@xplorenet.ca