AmSnow.com is now SnoWest.com
One of my other passions in life, besides snowmobiles and family, is motorcycles. A passion I think I share with a lot of other snowmobilers out there. Throughout the year, I try to seamlessly transition from one motorized obsession to another.
One of my favorite parts of riding sleds and bikes is that the scenery and your environment are pretty much in your face. No glass and metal box surrounding you. No aluminum fuselage. Just you and your surroundings, for better or worse.
A side effect of this oneness with the world is that my motorcycle riding buddy, Paul Anderson, and me are prone to fits of impulse when riding. It's quite a common site for us to be cruising down some 2-lane highway, when all of a sudden one or both of us, if we're really in sync, will do a neck-breaking double take, check the mirrors, grenade the brakes, and crank a U-turn in the middle of the road. Townspeople have been known to stand and stare in wild wonder as the two fat guys bank a fishhook in the center of Main Street. Sometimes I'm sure people think we're a couple of Shriners practicing for a parade. What causes this halting of forward motion?
Well, last summer it was a pair of Bradley GTs sitting along Minnesota Highway 55 on the way to Minneapolis. For those of you who've forgotten or never knew in the first place, the Bradley GT was a fiberglass kit car body that was supposed to sit on top of a Volkswagen Beetle Chassis. A swoopy, bat-winged door affair that resembled a miniature Ford Pantera, except someone unmercifully pilfered the 351 Cleveland V-8 and replaced it with a sneezing, wheezing Bug boxer four. I spent about five minutes ogling the Bradleys while simultaneously and successfully talking Paul out of buying them. A well-appointed U-turn, indeed.
A few years ago, I was alone and ripping along a trail in southeastern Manitoba on my 4-stroke Vector. All of a sudden, the double take, the head check, and I grabbed a fistful of ventilated disc brake, nearly throwing myself over the bars. As the English would say, "what's all this?" Why, none other than a dark orange, mint condition, 1981 Moto-Ski Ultra Sonic, the other guy's version of a Ski-Doo Blizzard 9500 Plus sitting in a resort parking lot … Nice! "Never seen one of those up close before," I thought, and it was a daily driver too, not some collector's display.
One of the latest u-transgressions occurred in July, ironically along the same stretch of Minnesota Highway 55 where we spotted the Bradley GTs. Paul and I were cruising along and this time it was my turn to initiate the chaos. In the middle of Paynesville, Minn., sat a car trailer with a pretty nice 1971 Skiroule S-400 snowmobile for sale on top. The sled looked to be all-original; not restored, but not some parts basket case either. The 399 CCW twin turned over with plenty of compression. All this baby needed was some elbow grease and a few gallons of premix. What prompted the most reflection and discussion was the asking price of $360, scribed in magic marker on a piece of cardboard duct taped to the windshield.
Paul and I tried to decide where this rather specific yet completely random figure of $360 came from. Being the business professor, Marketing 101 started rolling through my brain and I thought about psychological pricing. Very sneaky. Paul figured maybe it was the original owner selling it and that's exactly what he paid for it back in 1971. I had to shoot down this conclusion, however, because this fine piece of aqua green machinery could not be had for such a lowly sum, even in 1971. Sadly, in the end, we both decided $360 was probably what a sled like this last sold for on Ebay and the owner figured he'd be safe asking that. All I know is, it's a good thing I was on a bike that day or I would have been short $360 and long one potential vintage racer and probably short one wife.
When I tell someone the latest story about some vintage Polaris sitting next to someone's garden shed or an old Honda motorcycle propped up against a tree in some small town, I always get a raised eyebrow. "Why would you take Highway 55 to Minneapolis?" "Well, because US Highway 12 to Minneapolis had construction," I respond.
The eyebrow rises further … "But what about Interstate 94 to Minneapolis?" "What about it," I say. Think about it, when was the last time you saw something truly cool on the side of an interstate? Besides that U-turns on the interstate are completely illegal.
I once read a quote that went something like: "the real America is out there if you want to get off the interstate and look for it." A Rupp American is out there waiting to be found too, so the next time you're heading out with your family on vacation or a weekend drive, avoid the slab and take a 2-lane. Don't forget the procedure: double take, check the mirrors, grenade the breaks, U-turn, and enjoy. Your wife will love it.