Bolens Diablo Rouge and Hus Ski Discussion Forums

Well here you go Ed this is your blank canvas and its all yours!!!!!Any time you feel up to it have at it this way we know were to find your stories.

Sean Mullin

What a nice honour, thank you. This is great therapy for my memory. The more I remember. the more I remember.
The one story I will try to write before Alliston is my trip to race in the Rhinelander to Eagle River cross country on a "modified full race" model 444.
Ed

NO FREAKIN WAY did you say a race model OH MY GOD !!!!!I'am all ears uncle Ed tell me story.LOL LOL

Notice the smilie. Full race is part of the story.
Ed

The uncle Ed was funny because at the door of my house I have a sign which says :UNCLE ED'S PLACE" but it has nothing to do with snowmobiles it comes from the days when I raced motorcycles, all of the children of the many riders I sponsored where told by their parents to call me Uncle Ed. One of the parents made the sign when he helped build my home.

Hi Ed

Great to have you as an active member here. I'm looking forward to reading all of your stories and responses. Can you tell us anything about Hus-ski's 600 model? I am curious as to why they decided to try an upright motor position and a single track design. I have a 600 with double tracks in need of a restoration, and I'm going to look at another original owner 600 tomorrow that I think, has the original single track.

Thanks...Mark.

Hi Mark,
I am sorry but I can't remember why the 600 engine was upright. I can tell you that the Hood for the 600 was made by Tanzer Industries the company that made the famous Tanzer sailboat. Some one told me that Mr. Tanzer was starving and we could not find any one to build our Model 600 hoods.
I went out to his plant in Pointe de Cascades, Quebec. It was winter and the inside of the plant was almost the same temperature as outside. Mr. Tanzer was doing some minor boat work and he was adding what ever to cure the gelcoat. He was a very nice man and after he looked at the 600 hood mock up we made a deal for him to make all of our hoods. He was a super supplier.
Ed

Now I remember!!!!!! We always had overheating problems with the other machines so someone deceided that we should stand the engine up to get better air flow. That genius didn't think about center of gravity.
Ed

It was deceided that we would prepare two model 444 machines to race at the Rhinelander to Eagle River cross country race. Maurice Cyr our Gereral Sales Manager was my boss and we were the drivers. We flew from Montreal to Chicago and as usual we met Jean Luc Bombardier from Ski-doo, at the airport. He was on his way to Rhinelander.
We had a two stroke engine builder on staff and he ported and polished a 252 JLO and made a Y intake with two carbs . He also modified the exhaust. The carbs were parallel to the engine and under the hood.
We rented a truck and my cousin Wes Doyle and a second driver left Pointe Claire to drive the race machines to Wisconsin with a load of retail machines.
Our local distributor recieved the race machines and prepared them for the race.
Friday was -25 and we were not happy. We took the machines out for test rides and as we expected the convential machines just blew us away. The course was laid out for them with lots of straights and not to many corners. The trail was not groomed and it was very rough and dangerous for every one.
Race day we had low starting numbers and the temp on the starting line at 7:00 A.M. was -40 F.
We had army parkas, airforce flight pants and army muckalucks for boots. No face masks, just bare skin. Nothing warm enough for the conditions. We were freezing on the starting line. We made a plan, which was not like two dyed in the wool company men.
Open the throttle at the start and keep it full out until the motors blew up or something else happened. Anything to get out of the cold.
I went about 5 miles of the 35 miles and the machine slowed from full speed to a dead stop. It did not seize but it didn't have any compression. I was frozen.
Maurice was just in front so he came back and picked me up . We rode two up taking turns driving. Then his machine seized from lack of lubrication.
It was about 8:00 AM and two older gentlemen on Ski-doo's stopped to give us a lift to a first aid station. We learned very soon that the men had loaded up
with lot's of personal anti freeze. Between the booze and the unstable machines we fell over about every fifty feet. The trip was brutal but the work warmed
us up.
We came upon Allan Hetten, the President and founder of Polaris and he had center punched a tree. He flew off and missed the machine and the tree. We spent a great deal of time looking over his machine which was an engineering marvel. It had a 50HP Mercury outboard laying on its side and an automobile rad for cooling.
He said they had clocked the machine at 60 MPH on a flat road in front of their plant.
Edgar Hetten, the President and founder of Arctic Cat also flew past us on a real racing Arctic Cat.
I am guessing that our "Racing" Hus-Skiis may have been going 20 to 35 MPH but it sure seemed fast in that cold.

Ed

Hello Ed, your visit to my place is something I will always remember. We can figure out the mechanics of these machines (I'm still trying) but it is the stories that you know that are so important as part of the history of HUS-SKI. I have talked with Colin McOuat at length about HUS-SKi and Hennriot Filion of the service department. Maurice Cyr would have been great to meet also. You are as important to the history of HUS-SKi as are they. I had forgotten about the Rhineland race. How about your story of testing in Northern Quebec? What do you know about the races in Booneville in 1964? There was the incident of the police catching someone driving a 600 on the streets of Pointe Claire? The tales are many. I have told the camera crew from Snowmobile TV that you will be at Alliston and that they should interview you.

great storie ed i had a question where did you get the clutchs made for the 200a models also when you were making hus skis how maney jlo motors did you get in at a time this is great that you are willing to share hus ski history wich we all can enjoy thank you so much
norm smyth
birtle manitoba