11.   Two weeks ago I loaded up Project Renegade and took my first ever snowmobile trip to Southern Harbour and it didn't go so well. There was very little frost in the ground so many of the bogs we crossed were not frozen but worse Project Renegade was acting up. The sled was acting like a vehicle starting off in 2nd or 3rd gear, I found the secondary clutch was not back shifting leaving the belt down in the sheaves at idle.

This is not good when you need to climb a hill, or power out of a boggy sink hole which ended up with the sled becoming stuck often on this ride. When I got home I found the secondary clutch seized pretty well solid partly due to wear and tear of the bushings combined with occasionally trailering the sled uncovered. I couldn't free the clutch so I purchased a used one from Reid's and installed it along with a new Gates Extreme belt Saturday afternoon and was ready for a test ride.

10.   Sunday morning I woke up to fresh fallen snow and beautiful clear skies.

9.   I made a couple phone calls and found that French & Bill were heading out to the Goulds after lunch for a rip in the fresh snow.

8.  

7.   They were leaving by snowmobile from Paradise so decided to meet them in the Goulds off loading on Power's Road. That way if Project Renegade caused any grief I'd be closer to the truck.

6.  

5.

4.   I got out there long before the French & Bill so I headed in the trail for a test rip and found the clutches were now working perfectly. After about an hour I called the guys to see where they were only to find they hadn't left Paradise yet! I continued on my way searching out fresh powder drifts and bashing/jumping them to bits.

3.

2.

1.   After about three hours of powder riding, most of a tank of gas burned, and no sign of the boys I loaded up and headed for home satisfied with an awesome test ride and a machine that was working great once again!

Cheers, MIKE

Copyright © 2011 Michael Smith