It’s all about toys. Right? Right. Now that we have cleared that up, there were a heck of a lot of toys to choose from at the Super Salon de la Motoneige 1998 at Montreal’s Claude Robillard Centre.
The star of the show (besides Yamaha Pimpichuu) was the Falcon produced by AD Boivin Design Inc., who invented a suspension system which was bought by Bombardier. The Falcon is a cross between a street bike, motocross bike and a snowmobile, all rolled into one. So imagine a street bike, you know those ones, the Ninja types, with a motocross suspension connected to a mini snowmobile track. That is the Falcon.
I saw the promotional video for it and it seems to perform like no other. It wentwhere other machines would bog down in deep powder. That kind whereyou-need-a-running-start-or-else-you-get-stuck-kind-of powder. Even with therelatively short track it just powered right through. The suspension has a travelof… um… if I remember correctly… 15 inches! Doubling the travel of most machinesnowadays. I asked the guy if they incorporated any alien technology into their design.With a knowing look, he said, yes. Actually he said it with a big smile. The Falcon goesinto production in two years.
Next on the wish list was Bombardier’s top-of-the-line Mach, looking suspiciously like the fabled Lynx, a snowmobile made in Finland. Bombardier also bought that company. I guess that technology finally made it over here. The colours are awesome (I never thought I’d get to use that word… awesome) on that machine. The other machines were pretty cool also.
We met this guy who wants to go around Quebec and Labrador. No, really… around. He wants to go around. His name is Serge Racette and he’s raising funds for the Foundation Dr. Jacques Paradis Inc., a medical foundation based in La Sarre, Quebec. He will leave March 1999 from La Sarre and work his way up to the James Bay coast to Ungava and end on the North Shore of the St. Lawrence. A trip totaling 7,000 km. Keep your eye out for him.
There were all kinds of booths with innovative products to offer. Neil and I had oureyes on the big fuzzy boots. The various tourism agencies from the different regionswere also there. Ouje-Bougoumou was representing with their booth, marketing thevarious packages they have to offer. By the way, there were some work machines therealso. Next time I’ll bring along some cash for the big fuzzy boots.
