Magazine - VSCA

2011 Fish Lake

February 26th 2011 was a busy day for the town of Fredenberg, MN (about 15 miles north of Duluth, MN). The 13th Annual Fish Lake Classic Snowmobile Challenge was another great success. The 20 mile vintage snowmobile ride is one of the biggest in the state. I personally counted 415 snowmobiles this year, 1980 and older. This was a great turnout considering the thermometer was at negative 20 degrees the morning of the event. This shows how dedicated our vintage snowmobile enthusiasts are! Cold weather did not dampen the spirits; we had many smiles and laughs throughout the crowd. We left the Eagles Nest Resort at Noon and marched proudly across Fish Lake. Every year I restore a vintage snowmobile just for this ride. This year's
machine is a 1974 Polaris Colt 294 twin. My brother rode my 1972 Arctic Cat Cheetah, 303 wankel. Both machines ran great in the cold weather with the exception of a starter rewind problem on the Cheetah. We were easily able to start it off the clutch side. We rode to the end of the lake and had our unofficial stop to gather and have a few laughs. After that we rode the trail to the Cloquet River boat landing for our official half way rest stop. At the boat landing we had 2 fire pits, restrooms, and food vendors. From there we rode the trail to Hi-Banks Resort for another large gathering of classic snowmobiles. The last stretch was to the trail to the Fredenberg Community Center for a spaghetti dinner, trophies and door prizes. The Grand Door Prize given away this year was a 1980 Polaris TXL 340. After the Banquet we all gathered back at the Eagles Nest Resort for music, dancing, beverages and great conversation about the day's ride. Thanks again to Steve Wick and Maureen Johnson and all the volunteers that help keep making this ride northern Minnesota's best vintage get-together.

See you all again next year!

Chris Chesney, Duluth MN

Preston Lee's Wahl Sled

We purchased the "Wahl Special" from Paul Brenier's Museum in Maine. When I was talking with Paul about it he knew it was made by Wahl Brothers but unsure which Wahl (Dave or Terry) who drove it. I talked with Dave Wahl about it and he said he would need to see it to verify which one of them drove it. So when the machine arrived in MN Preston and I brought it up to Wahl Brothers for them to look at. Dave took one look at it and knew it was the one he had driven and won Beausjour on in 1992. As we were talking with Dave and Durmont about it they said they thought they still had the motor that was run it in back then. Sure enough, they checked and still had the motor and pipes that were once used in the machine. It was agreed that they would put the motor and pipes back in and get it race ready again for us. (The pipes even have Dave's name etched on them.) The machine was at Wahl Brothers for about 3 weeks while they worked on it and got it ready for us. We did have the glass repainted along with the trailing arms and springs.

Polaris X60 Mini Bike

Polaris X60 Mini Bike

For several years I have been competing in the National Mini Bike Championship races in Deweese, Nebraska. Every year I would craft up new killer bikes but always returned frustrated. However each of those years I would watch who won and on what. In the modified class it was a fellow on a Polaris. It wasn’t faster than others but it always won or placed high. I deduced it was the suspension-none of the others had it. I didn’t realize until much later the super secret is the torque sensing belt and jack shaft drive. I promised myself if I ever found one I’d snatch it up. It happened. I found this one in Wisconsin for $225. The Polaris X60 mini was only made for 3 years, I think, in the years bordering 1985. I don’t know why they stopped making them-they were advanced for the time and in the vintage classes today it is supreme. I didn’t keep much of the original bike just the frame, the dual drive system, the sprocket and the tank. The original tank is plastic, Clark I think. I covered the plastic with fiberglass so it would take paint without bubbling off. Since the rear had real shock suspension I matched it with 33mm forks I had under the bench. I used a pit bike rear disc brake which is hand operated. It’s Chinese and wonderfully cheap. Exhaust and tail section were scratch built. The engine is a Briggs Animal. The first time I rode it I was blown away. With the big engine, snowmobile style belt drive and the jack shaft drive it’s a torque monster and just rips. You can feel it shifting up as it speeds well past 50 mph. Now I’m ready for the 2011 Nebraska race. Phil Little is the owner of Phil Little Racing.com, a Minnesota company that makes fiberglass street tracker conversion kits for Sportsters and other products for vintage motorcycles and snowmobiles.

Photos by Wayne Davis, world’s foremost vehicle sports photographer

74 SRX SnoPro

1974 YAMAHA SRX PROJECT

My son and I (Larry Ellifritz Jr. and Sr.) have always enjoyed snowmobiling, but in our wildest dreams we never imagined we’d catch the vintage snowmobile “bug”. We did some grass and ice dragging in the 80’s, but at 7 years old I had no idea Larry Jr. was taking so many mental notes from the seat of his Kitty Kat. Building this was an amazing journey, one that I will never forget. Along the way we met some great people, and even a few crazy ones. But, more than anything, this 2-year project gave me a good excuse to talk sleds with my son every day.The thing I’ve noticed most about “unique” snowmobile projects, such as the 1974 Yamaha SRX, is that these projects often find you, rather than you setting out to restore a sled. In most cases you find a few parts, pieces and some inspiration (not based on anything rational) and it motivates you to a commitment.About 5 years ago, my son was collecting SRXs, GPXs and reveling in owning Lynn Trapp’s 1975 PDC sleds. Purchasing parts and pieces all over the country was a daily exercise on the Internet. Boxes would arrive at my house in Spokane Washington. My son lives in Hood River Oregon, about 300 miles away, and he has less storage, so most of our projects are finalized in Spokane. Anyway, as we were securing a pile of unique Yamaha parts, we learned a lot about unfamiliar sand cast magnesium. Finally, a light turned on, if only a dim glimmer, but after comparing pictures from every period publication, this sled started to become a possibility.Next, Mike Johnson chased down many leads – old ones, dead ones, even some new contacts that had been overlooked in the past. We give Mike a lot of credit for securing the Alaskan test sled and a bunch of parts from Kenny Edmunson – Anchorage Yamaha. Mike’s California connections even supplied motor parts and pieces applicable only to the 1974 SRX.The next major push to our project was a phone call from Len Champoux (70s Yamaha factory racer) informed us that his brother-in-law (Lynn Trapp) was in the area and would like to see his old 1975 PDC sled and see the progress on the rumored 1974 SRX. We enjoyed the afternoon with Lynn and Cindy Trapp, and from that day forward, we decided to finish the sled for the Snowmobile Hall of Fame Show in May. We finished the sled in April and had a great trip to Wisconsin catching up with old and new friends. There were so many people who contributed photos, parts and information…a big “Thank You” goes out to everyone who helped us finish this project.

Larry Ellifritz Sr.

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