Polaris

After an unfortunate snowmobiling situation last week I had the opportunity to tear apart the snowmobile and learn a little bit about 2 stroke engines, and also what caused this one to fail.

The top end shown below shows both cylinder skirts, you can see the cylinder skirt on the left is missing a substantial piece of the actual skirt.

Blown Skirt

Furthermore you can see that the good cylinder skirt actually has damage that would have caused that engine to fail at some point in the near future as well. Look closely and you can see the fractures starting to run through the metal.

Damaged Skirt

So now that you see that the skirt was broken off you can imagine what that did to the piston on the fatal stroke that that piece of skirt was between it and the cylinder walls… Imagine no more, here is what that looks like. The top of the piston is mangled, it looks like it was dragged behind a truck.

Bad Piston

For reference here is the other piston that looks like it is in pretty good shape.

Clean Piston

The final piece of the puzzle is the dome, which is pictured below. You can see in this picture that the dome on the right has some metal shavings on it and has some discoloration, presumably from debris of the cylinder skirt and the piston destroying whatever was in its way.

Cylinder Domes

With Man Camp 2016 just a few short months away it was important he get back on the hill as soon as possible. Which is why I helped talk him into this machine. Good choice…

2016 Axys

Winter has finally set in and sealed the once running streams and creeks that run through the mountains. With the firm base of snow whole new areas open up for your average backcountry snowmobiler. Not far from Denver you can find yourself in any number of parking lots that are launch pads into hundreds of square miles of snow covered peaks and valleys. All you need is a semi-reliable 2 stroke in the 700-800cc class.

Adventure Awaits

Add in some modern GPS technology and you can not only ensure your own rescue in the case of catastrophe but you can also show all your friends the cool things that you do. I recently acquired a DeLorme inReach Explorer and while my experience with it is still limited I enjoy it so far.

inReach

It isn’t everyday you can ride along the backbone of the continent. Our sleds never did get us over 13,000 feet, but that was because we ran out of mountain to climb over. Even with powder four feet deep in the bowls, the tops of the mountains rarely get buried as the consistent onslaught of winds keep them clear of virtually any snow.

On The Divide

Windblown

We had a little trouble getting one of the sleds tuned to run at the altitudes we were riding. Fuel controllers I’ve learned are a finicky device and best left to those who care to invest the fuel and time required to get the most out of them. With all of the technology of our age these devices make the abacus look impressive. While the others played with their slide rulers I enjoyed some Pueblo green chili and a homemade tortilla, leftovers from Christmas of course.

Green Chili

We eventually made it to all of my favorite places, crossing the divide and traversing across many different mountains. It may look like people driving around in circles but it is hard to gain perspective in photo and video. Many of the cornices that hover over these areas are more than 30 feet tall and the slope often exceeds 30 degrees. Not only is your backdrop dramatic but just to ride the terrain is physically demanding and incredibly fun. Now if I could only get my fuel controller dialed in…

Upper Powerlines

Death of a 2 Stroke

Conquering the Divide