Rubbered Up and Ripping by Jonathan Anstey
Snowmobile mishaps are always costly mistakes as parts and labour can be quite expensive. Even the slightest oops can lead to hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to erase. For some reason, most of the expensive mishaps happen because of something that could have been easily avoided. They also tend to happen at the worst possible time. Picture yourself side hilling your snow-pony at wide-open throttle, pulling one of the best lines of the day and to top it all off, in front of a large group of spectators. Feeling good right? That is until that little branch decided to leap out of nowhere and grab your kill switch depressing it to the off position. Next thing you know you’re over the bars with a helmet full of snow and your sled is on a collision course for the biggest tree at the bottom of the hill. In the blink of an eye you hear that gut-wrenching thud, a-arms, bumper, shock, nosecone, hood and with any luck, not your bulkhead and pipe, are smashed to pieces.
There are a lot of things that can go wrong when you’re riding technical terrain and it is risky enough as is, but come on now, all that for a simple kill switch tap, something so simple can have an unthinkable outcome and I’m pretty sure most of us have been there in one way or another
For years I would flip my kill switch bottom up because “that branch” had a bone to pick with me as well. There are many scenarios that can lead to an accidental OFF and it’s never pretty, believe me, even if you are just riding out the trail. The upside-down trick worked “most” of the time but when I’m riding “most” just does not cut it. I need to have 100% confidence in my head as well as in my machine while on the snow, especially while riding technical terrain where failure is not an option.
Enter Justin Egbert of Race-Rubber, Justin is an avid rider and just like the rest of us has experienced the dreaded tap. It didn’t take long for him to design and produce a very simple fix for this very hateful problem. Let me introduce to you, the Race Rubber, an inexpensive but highly efficient product that eliminates the worry of getting tapped and works all the time, every time. This product is a simple square shaped rubber that you place over your kill switch, which prevents it from being “tapped” to the off position accidentally. In order to engage your kill switch you must depress and hold until the engine is stopped. Some ask if it defeats the purpose of the switch and my response to that is: One – it still functions normally when you need it. Two: wear your tether! Most of the time your sled makes a run for it, you are nowhere near it to hit the kill switch.
The Race-Rubber is designed to last you a lifetime and that’s why the folks at Race-Rubber offer a lifetime warranty on the product, so if you’re gnarly enough to damage one, send it back for a free replacement. The rubber compound used is also UV stable, unlike those rubber bands or the hair elastics you borrowed from your wife, so there is no worry of rot or failure while shredding on those bluebird days. We/Sledcore love and trust this product so much we decided to become the Canadian distributer.
Be sure to rubber up this season, visit www.sledcore.com and have it before you hit it! Simply Email at [email protected] with any inquiries.
Retail Price: $19 Cdn
www.race-rubber.com
www.Sledcore.com
Newfoundland Race-Rubber Retailers:
- Adventure Sales – Gander
- Deer Lake Home Hardware – Deer Lake
- Rapid Power Sports – Steady Brook
- Rugged Edge – Corner Brook
