The story is that this tunnel, seat, handbars and skis all started out life as Jerry Bunke’s 2nd 440X machine, completed just in time for Eagle River in 1978. Some years later, Doug Lamb decided he was going to SnoCross race it.
Troy Pierce was working on an RXL bulkhead in a welding class when Doug got a hold of hime looking for an aluminum bulkhead to replace the magnesium one the sled had. Troy left it and the remaining parts to build it in a tub at the end of his driveway, where Doug picked it up some time soon after.
The story continues that Doug put that bulkhead on the original tunnel, and then modified the whole thing to make it work as a snocross racer, and he had some success with it. Doug, was, after all, a pretty talented fabricator and racer.
Some years after Doug took the mag bulkhead off, Tim Seydel found it and some other parts for sale on the side of the road. Many, many years later, I bought the magnesium bulkhead and the rest of the parts, then found some more additional parts from the original sled some years after that.
I tried repeatedly to buy this sled sight unseen to reunite the tunnel and bulkhead. But after I got a good look at it – there was no way to prove that this tunnel or any of the pieces came from Bunke’s sled.
The original serial number had been cut away, and a number was hand stamped back into a different section of the tunnel. the seat looked like it had been altered, the steering post and the rear skid didn’t have anything on them that could be put back… and of course the bulkhead had been replaced, and nothing of the original engine was there.
So I was left with a choice… keep trying to buy this thing and the hope and pray any of it could be restored, or put a replacement tunnel on the original bulklhead, get it running and go have some fun.
I decided the best option was to gather up as many of the correct parts as I could, and withe replacement tunnel, get it put back to running order. So that is what I did, thinking maybe in the future I would get another look at this sled and see if the tunnel and bulkhead can be re-united…. but since the original serial number is gone… what would be the point?
I will never regret working with T.J. Patrick to put that sled together, get it track ready and head to Eagle River where T.J. took it for a ride, as well as Jerry’s brother Verne, Gabe, Taylor and Beau and ME all got to ride it on that historic track.
Nah.. I made the right choice and I would do it again.
How it started (1978):
The original hood is with the Bunke family.
Jerry at Eagle River, 1978
The business end of the sled in 1978
T.J. Patrick (1979):
3rd from the left, T.J. Was running the 440 as “The Bull”.
Back of the sled, lower right. Grand Forks, N.D.
The Doug Lamb SNoCross Sled:
How it ended up:
T.J. Patrick Re-united with The Bull
Me and Tim Seydel – without Tim the sled would still just be a pile of parts!
I got to ride it! At the Derby Track no less!
Gabe Bunke
Taylor Bunke
