The garage had a bare spot so I decided to fill it with another old(er) snowmobile. I was going to save some mad money for VW parts ... but this sweet sled was calling from Craig's list.

The new addition is a 1984 Yamaha SS 440; a fairly new sled by my usual standards. It actually has front ski shocks! Unlike my old-school steel 1972 Ski-Doo TNT no rust issues with this aluminum beauty.

It starts second pull but is a little cold blooded and likes to warm up before you take off.

It's a blast to ride and pulls fairly hard. The guy I bought it from said it was his 14-year-old son's sled but that he had "outgrown" it. Nothing like a 41-year-old dude buying an eighth-grader's "starter" sled.

The rough spot is the seat. I redid the TNT seat, but the SS has some tricky edges. A guy is covering the seat for $60 - you can hardly buy material for that price. It's a friend of a friend so hope it works out.

I'll eventually blast the surface rust off the skis and hit it with some rattle-can black.

We had light snowfall in December; not enough to ride. This month has been better, but we've had rain and melt off (but not enough to break out the VW )

I'm going to try and take both sleds to a vintage snowmobile show in Feb. I'll have to see if I can get them both on my small utility trailer.

I like the paint scheme - it reminds me of the A-Team van. I've decided to call the sled BA. Now if I can only find a Mr. T keychain!

Sounds like fun ...

You have to tag those ... can you get speeding tickets too?

More pixs of the new SS. I hope to get the new seat back by Sunday - kind of hard to ride without one.

Here are the two kids together. Brother sleds from another mother. The SS is faster; TNT is jealous. Both would get smoked by the cheapest new sled ... but the old sleds are way cooler.

Very cool.

What my 2005 tags are out of date officer??? [There is no posted "speed limit" on trails but 90 mph is not looked kindly upon]

Long, stupid story but I actually tried to register the SS at the Sec. of State.

The previous owner never reg. it but I had a bill of sale, which used to be enough. Now they want either a fair market value on the machine from NADA, Kelly Blue Book, Edmund, etc. Problem is those only go back to 1992. The other option is to take it to a dealership and have them give a fair market value appraisal. Yeah, like they have nothing better to do ... and won't charge me.

Woman at Sec State said their over/under was $2,500. I said even if this machine had been in a crate since 1984 it wouldn't be worth that amount. She agreed but wouldn't reg. it.

I told them I'd rather take a chance on getting stopped ... snowmobile patrols are few and far between where I ride.

Thanks man. I saw your Christmas tree Bug pixs. You need to mount a trailer hitch and pull one of my sleds around Houston!

Not much snow for sledding ... until today. I won't be getting the Bug out - nearly 2 feet of snow overnight. Almost too much snow for my old machines.

In fact, there was an old snowmobile show today but I couldn't find my trailer, let alone dig it out and load sleds.

I've posted photos from a vintage show last month. I brought both the T'NT and the SS. The Yamaha has a new seat - looks pretty good. I sanded the skiis and repainted them last month - there was no real snow, but not nice enough to get the Bug fired up.

I guess that groundhog was right - winter is still here. Funny, it only took until March for it to happen.

Cool pics!!!!!


I like looking at snow pictures,but glad I don't have to deal with it

That makes 2 of us.

I like shoveling snow when I visit my in-laws in Wyoming, but I'm glad I don't have to do it all the time.