8257-R1_MSA_February2023_Singles

TopTen Commandments By: Denise Duperré

W inter is upon most of us here in Maine and snow mobilers are out and about, including a few nov ice riders. With that said, I would like to share a few things of when I first started out after a long hiatus of raising my children. I was reminded recently as I saw new snowmobile registrants coming through our local town office. A young man who recently moved to Maine and pur chased an older Polaris Triple XLT arrived at the town office all proud of his first purchase. After he put his orange sticker on his new-to-him snowmobile. He spent the next 40 minutes trying to start it. Pulled until he couldn’t no more. Sitting there in a bucket of sweat, all discouraged and reconsidering his decision of purchas ing this sled, one of the clerks came to get me and told me to get out there and help that poor guy. So I throw on my boots and went outside and asked him to pull on it once. Yup, just what I suspected. Drowned it. Typical of a Triple, is what I learned to call it, when I owned one back in the 90s. Change the plugs I told the young man, and sure as s*** that old triple purred like new again. So here are my Top Ten Commandments for Novice Snowmobilers. 10. Forgetting the kill switch. Come on we’ve all done it. Turn and turn or pull and pull and wondering, now what is wrong with this thing?You are at the point of almost saying Mass, and then that not-so-bright light goes on in your head, and you look down at your kill switch and

pull it up, and low and behold that darn thing starts like a new snowmobile.

9. Checking your oil level (attention 2-strokes). I’ve got ten use to checking and refilling when I get back home from a long day in the snow or right before take-off (ok, ok I get the boyfriend to do that, not going to get all stinky and stuff, haha). You learn right quick as a new bie, that this is the second most important thing to your gas fuel gauge when doing pre-check. If you’ve ever forgot and ruined a motor, let’s just say it’s a hard and expensive lesson learned. 8. Heading out after that first snowfall. Well unless you like the sound of your new skis crushing rocks or hitting some down trees or stumps or you’re just plain’ going to Send It Bro’ and see how well you come out of it. Make sure you patiently wait for that white ribbon of trail or until there’s enough fluff that has you well cush ions before hitting the dirt…literally. 7. Check your bags and pack and repack. Seriously that beef jerky you left from last season is not good any more, despite all those preservatives and sodium.When in doubt, throw it out. Same with all the empty water bottles, wrappers, old Kleenex…you get the idea. Don’t over pack…leave room for that ‘something’ that might need room, like maybe a moose shed? Ok, that might not fit in your bag, but you should have a few bungies

16

r y 2 0

r u a

2 3 l M a i n e S n o w m

e b

F

r

o b

i l e