Winter 2008

March 17-27, 2016 NWT Visit with Steve: Part 2

44. Tuesday morning we resurrected Steve's Rincon from storage and set about replacing one very worn out rear wheel bearing. Steve already had an All Balls Bearing Kit in stock so we had the parts installed in no time.

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42. With the Rincon ready to go we hauled out their new 2015 Honda Rubicon 500, installed the battery and suited up for a -20ºC ATV rip!

41. The weather was very cold so the snow closely resembled riding through sand more so than snow. It didn't ice up, did not compact it just parted ways like crossing a dune!

40. We headed to a Gravel Pit just outside of town and enjoyed a couple hours tearing up fresh snow, climbing hills and generally havin' a time on the bikes.

39. Steve's Rincon certainly works very well. The 27" Mudlite XTR tires are awesome in the snow even with limited traction of the limited slip front differential.

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37. The 2015 Rubicon was awesome. Even with stock tires, the bike ran very very well especially in 4wd with the front differential locked. This feature was long overdue on Honda ATV's and it was definitely worth the wait as it works really really well.

36. This deluxe model features Honda's new five speed DCT automatic transmission. This is a dual clutch automatic shifting gearbox which can be overridden and shifted with handlebar controls. It also features a sub transmission for High and Low range.

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34. We ended the ride on a nearby lake tearing up the snow and climbing Steve's Rincon over some rocky granite outcrops.

33. On Wednesday, Steve had to work so I got to meet some of his co-workers and go for a ride along. When Kailee got home from work, we decided to make good use of Steve's massive Nerf gun collection and ambush him when he got home.

32. Needless to say we got him good! That evening we barbequed pork chops and settled in with a couple movies for a nice relaxing night around the house.

31. On Thursday Steve and I headed back to Yellowknife for our scheduled tour of Buffalo Airways. We arrived early and ran a few errands picking up some parts for the Odyssey and supplies for the shed.

30. The tour was fantastic, it was great to see the hanger and planes from Ice Pilots NWT in person and up close.

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27. Electra loaded up for the Valley run.

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13. After the tour we took a drive around Yellowknife, many of these houseboats are lived in year round, a lot of them are converted vessels of varying types.

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11. This old Bombardier was wicked, it runs and drives and is in fantastic shape! There are so many awesome old vehicles up here being preserved by the extreme cold.

10. Friday Steve and I relaxed around the house, and when Kailee got home from work we took the dogs for a walk on the ice road. They were dog sitting a friends dog, a brown Labrador mix while they were out of town.

4. Steve had to work Friday night so in between packing bags for my 6am flight home Saturday morning I went on a ride along hoping to see some action! Fortunately for Steve things were pretty quiet. Kailee and I checked the status of my flight around 3am then left town for the drive to Yellowknife. Unfortunately by the time we arrived we found my flight was cancelled due to a mechanical issue. With my flight re-booked for 7pm Saturday evening, we headed back to Behchoko for a nap.

3. Since Steve and I had a few more hours together, we took on another project. We installed a new composite stock on his Russian SKS.

2. The stock wooden stocks are pretty rough, this new adjustable pistol grip stock is actually very nice. The instructions that came with the stock were pretty poor, but a video on YouTube was awesome and helped a lot.

1. Later that evening, Steve went to work while Kailee and I headed back to Yellowknife airport for my flight home. All in all it was an excellent trip that we all truly enjoyed. Its always great to hang out with family, getting a chance to do so in a unique, cold, beautiful place like the North West Territories was certainly the icing on the cake.

Cheers, MIKE