the Walnut Diary

The Ski Doo’s engine now runs very well. I measured 14 miles per Imperial gallon on a refill after 81 miles of jackrabbit hops around the farm and neighbourhood. Starting is no longer an issue.

But the steering had begun to give me fits. Things were loose, but the catch was the effort required to maintain control while driving among the ruts of other machines. My son pointed out a loose ball joint on the steering linkage. It snugged up nicely with a 17 mm socket and 13 mm wrench.

But the steering was still much too vague. This morning I figured out a way to lift the front of the Ski Doo with the car hoist so that I could examine the steering linkage at my leisure. The central bolt proved loose. A few more turns with the 18 mm socket did the job. The skis no longer seemed cross-eyed.

A run down the Cataraqui trail went considerably better than before.

Another pair of riders stopped for a chat. One guy suggested double carbides to eliminate the wandering in ruts: the extra carbide selects its own lane.

On Newboro Lake the machine proved that its engine is strong and quick, hitting 50 m/hr on crusted snow without effort.