Mountainhorse:
OK... I'll start up a nice "HOT" topic that, IMO, needs to be discussed more... especially as we see more and more lands getting closed to sled access.
Non-Snomobiler impressions of snowmobiles are being directed by some people that primarily show loud exhausts in videos etc to ruin the public image, of snowmbile riders and their machines. Non sledders/offroaders outnumber sledders/offroaders by a Gargantuan margin.
"They'll have to pry it out of my cold dead hands" ??? Well, "they" just might
And "they" wont just be granola crunchin greenies... I've met plenty of card carrying, large carbon footprint, ultra conservatives that could give a rats azz about sledding and find them to be very irritating... so lets not make this into a Conservative Vs. Liberal thing.
Loud exhaust does not equal "PERFORMANCE"... It just makes you
feel that your sled is making more power... compared to a
Well Designed quiet exhaust. You can design a quiet exhaust, be it 2 or 4 stroke, to make just as much power or more than a straight exhaust...It just costs a bit more.
"Screw the Greenies... I'll run as loud of exhaust as I want to!!" is actually "Screwing" ourselves as snomobilers....
I like the sound of a nice loud engine running in good tune...Weather that is John Forces funny car or a good running MX bike.
But we live in a shrinking world today
What sounds "Sweet" to you can sound really BAD to others.
Look at it this way... if you were sitting in your living room, with your best buddies, watching the Superbowl on your new surround sound equipped 50" plasma TV... beer is flowing / steaks on the grille...... and in the middle of the second quarter....the neighbor kid and 6 of his buddies decide to "tune" their chainsaw-engine powered Go-Peds for the next 2 hours, on and off ...with straight pipes..... Would you sit down and say... "Heck, junior has the right to run what he has....I'll just turn the volume up a bit"
OR
You are fishing a great little trout spot... and 6 loud dirt bikes decide to ride there while you fish...
OR....
You are hunting and somebody keeps ripping buy in their modded turbo RZR for a while and scares off that prize 12 pointer....What would happen?
Others may say "Well that analogy doesn't apply to me....I only ride EXTREME backcountry and there are no other people around"... Is that ACTUALLY true??? Do you live and ride in the Yukon hinterlands?? Can no one else hear you... when you unload in the lot, or take the fire/logging road to get to your favorite spot??? If you really can say yes to this... then you are in the 0.05% of the snombilers out there.
"Loud pipes save lives"... That dog just don't hunt anymore... that excuse has far too many negative consequences to it.
IMO, Loud cans/stingers or straight Turbo exhausts are bad for the public image of sleds...
Those that ride with loud pipes are causing more damage than just "pizzing off a hippie". They are taking away from the future of snowmobiling in the backcountry....
Radar guns, speed limits on trails with Police watching....boy, that sounds good!
Bad public image of snowmobiles...even from people that are NOT 'greenies' starts a chain reaction from other people that don't care if motorized access is closed.
It is sad to say... but the
PUBLIC OPINION will decide weather or not we have sledding access in the future.
We don't need any
new people that want to take away sledding access.
Manufacturers that make loud exhaust products are actually hurting, IMO,
their own long-term ability to make a living off of snowmobiles...if sledding areas keep getting closed at the rate they are = big problem.
FLAME AWAY!!
