Trip info and links, lodging

 

hey tower, i am planning a trip and want to meet up with some forum members. it will be my first time to silver lake and i need to know a few things. what do i need to go(sticker?) will a normal hmf pipe with a spark arrestor be too loud and are there any campgrounds around silver lake that i can have a fire past midnight and beer? i am 23 and know how to be respectful, but i like a beer by the fire after a day of riding and i dont want to have a bucket of water ready to put the fire out at midnight. let me know .

 

Howdy Bombsaint!
Go to the link above, and click on the link to the Michigan DNR info, it will give you all the rules and such.

But for aquick rundown, you will not be able to ride at Silver Lake without a sparky, no doubt about it. They check all pipes at the entrance on a regular basis. As for sound levels, once in a while they do db checks, but hardly ever do on weekdays. If they do check, they check at 4,000rpm and their limit is 98dB on their meter. For this reason, I will be carrying the quiet core insert for my HMF, available for $25 at HMF, and I can throw it in if I flunk the test. You must have a flag, and the flag requirement is much taller than enywhere else. They sell them at the proshop next door to the dune entrance.

Silver Lake is only 500 acres of sand we're allowed to ride on, so plan you trip around the holidays, not on them. Virgin sand in the morning that is track free is the ultimate, so if you can go on a weekday you will get the best example of what sand is all about.
You can ride up to the beach and swim in Lake Michigan, or even drive your truck all the way out to it too.

There are several campgrounds and cabin rentals, we usually stay at Jellystone. This years it the place you'll find the link to above. Most places say fires out at midnight and be quiet, but we always party until 3:00am and as long as we are not loud and rowdy we have no problems. They post those rules to keep you all in check, but if you're responsible and polite you can stay up as late as you want.

Don't go too early spring, it rains alot up there. Dry powder is what you really want to experience, and your best chances of that are August or September. IF you come in May its a 50/50 chance of dry powder. Wet sand is fun too, just not as much, and the tracks will not be gone by morngin for that blissful Zen ride first thing out in the a.m.

Oh, and yeah you gotta buy a Michigan DNR sticker, plus pay a daily dune fee, its all in the link above. You pay when you get there, at a booth right out your window. If you go on a weekday early in the year, sometimes they aren't even there to take money, so you just ride for free!

 

Hey Entomber has a group going out the week before me, it would be cool if you could hit one of the two, He's a fun guy to hang with and his family is very hospitable too.
Maybe you could make it a long trip, and hook up with both of us!

Also on the subject of sand tires, not sure if you've ridden sand before, but sand tires at Silver Lake are not absolutely necesary, you can get around everywhere there is to go just fine with knobbies at 2-3psi, but if you have sand tires they make it much more fun!

 

my blood is pumping already. i cant wait to ride sand. i plan on buying a hmf with the quiet core soon. i love how my stocker is since i did mods to it but its so friggin loud its starting to wear out its welcome. plus i want to be able to ride places with db limits. i dont get out of the military til may 6th so i wont be able to go any earlier than that so early spring is not an option. dont know if i can afford sand tires either so the razors will have to do. thanks for the info. i cant wait. my girlfriend will be with me and maybe my buddy on his stage 2 if i can get him to go.

 

BOMBSAINT: My wife, three girls and I made our first trip to Silver Lake last August. We fell in love with Silver Lake, the dunes and surrounding area. We were especially impressed with how beautiful Lake Michigan is. The kids had a blast riding waves on their body board. Surprisingly, the water wasn't too cold to swim. We had 19 people (adults and kids) and setup a base camp on one of the many picnic tables right on the big lake. We would rip from there. Within the group there were five quads, a Jeep and a sand rail. The little one's loved taking a rip up test hill in the rail.

We plan to be there August 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21 this year. Maybe I'll get a chance to ride with some other Bomb riders as my friends all have different machines (Raptor, 450R, Z400, KFX700 and Scrambler 500).

 

Cant wait for the Idaho invasion in June. The DS ought to be running a little better by then thanks to Randall and Eric.

 

Oh yeah Air - I can't wait either man! I am so keyed up, I'm so ready for winter to be over and my dune season to start!
Glad the bike is nearing completion, can't wait to watch her run!
My bike will be the same as it was last you saw her, except a different pipe is all. But hey I got some new lighting, ready for Monster Bowl at night in '06!!


Hey Oz, I may very well be able to meet up with you guys up there this august!

 

watch out for this guy LOL I herd that he is the man 2 beat in the flats

speedy

 

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Hey that's funny man!

On a side note, Bigwaynster has a buddy who has no use of his legs, and he dunes with a Honda Pilot, takes more air than most guys on quads!