tether cord stories

[woodies]

everyone has seen or been involved in a situation, where a tether cord would have or did save the day. i saw a good one last year, rider got bucked off and the sled idled down the trail and slowly went into the trees.:d no damage but was funny as he11. 100 feet either way not so funny maybe said rider will post a picture????:d

 

[99summitx]

There was a video posted on here last winter of a brand new M8 with a lefty throttle that stuck, rider fell off and strait into a tree, someone will know where it is.

 

[Ancient Sledder]

Riding the old Summit up at Powder King a couple of years ago, I decided not to hook up the tether because I was just going for a short blast. So I'm boondocking in the trees and I had to kneel down with both feet on the right side of the sled to just miss the branches over a treewell. Just get out of the well and as I'm rising up and throwing my leg over the sled, I drop off a 5 foot ledge. I do a flip over the bars as it's dropping. My feet are straight over my head when my shoulder hits the throttle. It does a giant wheelie and spits me off. The sled went about 400 feet down the hill into a tree and hit it so hard it bounced back and hit it again before it died. Broke the hood hinge assembly and split the belly pan. Also flattened the pipe against the engine, but I was able to make it back to the truck. Man, those ZX's are tough. 250 dollars damage and it's as good as new.

 

[Modman]

Lots of tether cord stories:

670 mod ghostrode down the hill and tagged a small tree, which saved it from hitting a much much much bigger tree - broken ski spindle was all that got hurt. 500 ft below, on the very very steep slope, of the big tree (if it had missed it) was the other end of the cut block. If it had made it there, it would have been coming home in garbage bags. I was very lucky that day.

Sled jumped off the trailer (twice - not mine either incident) and could have been prevented by tether cord.

Big mod (my uncle's) throttle stuck wide open on the trail from a dead standstill (starting after a break on the ride out of the hills), rider was standing beside sled when it lit and took off. Went down the trail without a rider and around a corner (thank god no one was coming the other way) about 500 ft and then hit a 20" diameter tree so hard it bent the suspension rails into an "S". Sled was doing an estimated 105-110 mph at the time of collision. Needless to say there wasn't much left to salvage.

Lots more stories. There is a good reason why the RMSHA makes it mandatory that if a rider is sitting on a sled (not even running), the tether cord is attached. If you are caught without a tether, automatic DQ. Too many run away sleds in the pits and on the hill. Make the tether long (or short) enough for your riding style and then wear it, if you ride, it will eventually save your sled.

 

[team dirt]

670 mod took off with frozen carbs. started sled gave a squeeze of throttle to bring up idle and felt slides grab but it was to late. drug behind sled and actually had it flipped over until it hit my neihbours fence and got back on its skis. went about 300 feet into the front wheel of the neighbour 3 doors down chevy truck. no truck damage but sled was totalled. hit so hard it broke the crank in two. now i always snap my throttle and lock my brake before i pull that cord.

 

[99summitx]

Found it YouTube - Snowmobile crash with stuck throttle

 

[94fordguy]

Found it YouTube - Snowmobile crash with stuck throttle

I've seen that one b4... it was actually one of the reasons I decided to get a tether on my sled.

Good post