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View Full Version : 1973 Olympique 400



85hondaatc125m
09-29-2006, 07:52 PM
Have to know every possible thing about these snowmobiles because I think I am trading my quad for one, let me know good things, bad things, if you have one, have you had any problems, top speeds, what they are worth, anything about these snowmobiles, Thank you
Clint

trikes4life
09-30-2006, 03:59 PM
depends on the condtion, old technlogy, To speed maybe 55. i would rather have a quad just my opinion. Tracks are impossible to find. I think they stopped making them long ago. If you where trying to find a sled, i would look into trading for something newer than 93. ware and tear, are your big problems. more than 4000 miles is considered a beater.

85hondaatc125m
09-30-2006, 04:23 PM
Well... I think I might get it, my quad is a piece, and this snowmobile is in really nice shape.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/skidoo4.jpg
Thanks for the info trikes4, anybody else have any comments on this skidoo?

Chevy200s
10-01-2006, 01:59 AM
hmmm, thats a tough one. While you get more riding out of a quad than a sled, you say your quad is beat and that sled is really nice. I agree with trikes4life though in that its hard to find tracks for those machines. Not impossible, I just got one for my 1972 Elan :cool: I also dont know about 55mph top speed. I guess its possible, but I want say it will be something more along the lines of 45.

If you are planning on doing a lot of riding on this sled and want to help the handling a bit, you might want to try adding some ski spreaders. There pieces of steel or some other metal that extend your ski stance by about 4 inches. Really easy to put on, and it made a world of difference on my old Ski Doo TNT 640. Theres also the obvious things like check to make sure your belt is in good shape, bopies are well lubed and working properly, and that there arent any mouse nests in there.

Nice looking sled, I say if you like it, go for it!

Edit: just looked at the pic closely and noticed it already has the spreaders on it, nm sorry about that

85hondaatc125m
10-01-2006, 11:16 AM
Edit: just looked at the pic closely and noticed it already has the spreaders on it, nm sorry about that
Thanks for noticing, I have no clue what spreaders are so I would have went out and bought some and the stance would have been huge. Alirhgt, Thanks for your help Chevy and Trikes4, I think I will get it.

trikes4life
10-01-2006, 05:31 PM
this is odd, after i posted the first time. i was going down a street in town and a guy had the same one out for sale had less than 10 minutes riding time its hole life. sat since 73 and it was fired for the first since 73, the other day. There was not one inprofection. Still had the oem sled cover and paper work and is currently registered hes trying to find a collector to buy it. He want 1000 cash in hand. i thought it was ironic. And he had an elan same condition.

troy
10-01-2006, 06:31 PM
NOW there you go. Get the elan, can't kill them, and are the best things to use for towing. I'v had 3 of them, two 1977 and a 79 with slide suspenstion. I would love to have one again. But the one your looking at you shouldn't have a problem finding parts for. Alot of parts from that date up might very well fit. I know on my citation i have parts from different years, Also had a 377 engine fit perfectly into it, but took it out because i sold it, plus the ski doo was fast enough with the 250 in it.

Good luck:)

85hondaatc125m
10-01-2006, 09:17 PM
Well guys, I guess it is mine, ill be getting it Thanksgiving Monday because it is at his farm, and that is when he is next going there. About the 377 engine, I hear a TNT 440 engine might fit fairly easy, my moms BF has a 1973 TNT 340 but he put a rad through the block and he said a 440 engine fit in fairly easy. one more question for now, would this skidoo have a speedometer and tachometer on it?
Thanks

84honda200s
10-01-2006, 11:10 PM
i have had tons of old sleds i love em easy to work on and parts arnt to bad priced either. i have has a 73 colt 294ss,2 79 gemini 244, 74 tnt with a 440 f/c eletric start, everest 444 l/c, 80 enticer 250, and a 82 blizzard 9500+ bored 30 over. they all wer great runners but the liquides wer alot better when it was 40 out. they can be a pain but i loved to tip em on one ski and ride the field like that.

as far as a speedo and tach i doubt it but you never know.

if you need a 440 i got a 440 fan cooled out of a 74 it has eletric start. i have the exhaust, speedo, and tach for it too. it is just missing the wire harness and speedo cable.

85hondaatc125m
10-02-2006, 12:02 AM
Thanks for the info 84honda200s, does anybody know what a bogie is? I was doing some reasearch and you can get a track for it, but it says for bogies, WTF is a bogies.
Thanks.

84honda200s
10-02-2006, 12:27 AM
there are 2 diff. track set ups bogie and slide/rails. all mine wer slide/rails.

bogies are little wheeles that a track rides on aka your suspention. its a rough ride. i believe your sled would be a bogie set up. if you need more info let me know i have 3 books full of info on vintage sleds.

Chevy200s
10-02-2006, 05:50 PM
yeah, bogie is usually a rougher ride when you get the sled going a lot faster. The thing is, when these sleds were designed with the bogie suspension, they werent thinking about hitting jumps or doing 80 down a trail, you were cruising around over the top of the fields. if the bogies or the springs are stuck spray some wd-40 on them, might get them to move again.

The bogies are more for absorbing the small little bumps and irregularities and let different spots in the track move up and down a few inches to smooth it out. The slider suspension is for bigger bumps and dips, and instead of parts of the track moving the whole thing can move up and down.

Congrats on the purchase! If you ever need any parts let me know, I got a ton of old sleds and I love seeing them get put back together

-Pete

85hondaatc125m
10-03-2006, 05:46 PM
How stiff are these bogies, is it like riding without any suspension at all, and how bad is that? Is there any way you can do a conversion to make it a slider spring suspension without too much work? Also, during the summer, I know it is alongs way away, but I might drop a bigger engine into it, maybe a TNT 440 engine?
Thanks

84honda200s
10-03-2006, 07:42 PM
i have herd of people putting slide suspentions in them. but i have no clue how to convert it over. but i can tell you that some people use the suspention out of the older everest and tnt to convert it over. as for the 440 i have one out of a 74 tnt and it is f/c if you ever decide to go with a 440.

Chevy200s
10-04-2006, 09:37 AM
Maybe I'm going blind or crazy here, but now that I look at that pic again, does it look like its got slider on it? I think I see white hyfax in there. Plus there's only one idler wheel up front, unless its missing a heck of a lot of bogies I think that might be slider suspension. I assumed it would be bogie wheel being 74 and all, but they did start doing slider around that time as well. I might be wrong and if I am someone please correct me, but I think you've got slide rail suspension on that TNT.


[QUOTE=85hondaatc125m]
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/skidoo4.jpg
QUOTE]

85hondaatc125m
10-04-2006, 08:23 PM
Ill drop him an email here in a minute chevy, ill let ya know what he says, and it is an oympique, not a TNT:)

85hondaatc125m
10-04-2006, 09:42 PM
Chevy200s, you have some good eyes on you, I sent him an email asking him about the suspension and down below is the response I got. So by the sound of that email down below does it sound like he did the conversion himself? That is what I thought he ment?


The sled has the slider type of suspension system, i have another under carrige for parts too, that i will bring down with it

I have never had a problem with it.

84honda200s
10-04-2006, 11:05 PM
thats a slide.

Chevy200s
10-05-2006, 12:17 AM
Haha, yeah your right thats definlty not a TNT, I think I was reading 84honda's post about his 74 tnt motor and that got stuck in my head. Also, I'm pretty sure that suspension is stock and not a custom job, back in 73 slide rail suspension was still a fairly new idea, so I doubt that there was much in the line of after market kits to do that. But heck, I'm a 21 year old kid who wasnt around back then what do I know? haha. I like that sled dude, for being a 73 its very clean. No rust on the tunnel, cowl looks great, and the seat is good too. definitely a good deal, them old ski doos were fun sleds

edit: forgot to mention about the slides. Not as much maintanence required for slide rail is there is for bogie, but still a few things to watch out for. Just make sure you still have some material left on your hyfax (thats the long plasticy looking strip that the suspension "slides" on. If its down to the metal its time to replace it. Make sure the shock(s) are good and not too stiff, and just PB blast the heck out of the suspension!

85hondaatc125m
10-05-2006, 05:41 PM
Thanks chevy, ill make sure i do all of that, and dont worry about not being around then, im only 14, just tunred it 1 week ago, so I wasnt around when anything was made and im still learning all of this ATV snowmobile vehicle mumbojumbo. Thanks again.

84honda200s
10-05-2006, 05:52 PM
1 more thing with slide suspention you will never want to ride on grass. you want snow. snow is what lubes the slides (rails). im only 24 but ive owned 6 sleds that are older than me. im still learning, but ide rather have a ole beater than a newer sled. if you ever need any questions post it up or pm me.

Chevy200s
10-06-2006, 01:15 AM
1 more thing with slide suspention you will never want to ride on grass. you want snow. snow is what lubes the slides (rails). im only 24 but ive owned 6 sleds that are older than me. im still learning, but ide rather have a ole beater than a newer sled.

bingo. I cant believe I forgot to mention that, riding on grass or anything not wet will take out the slides in no time, and its just not worth replacing them for nothing. I totally agree with you on the older sleds. I dont know what it is about them, probably the same reason I prefer trikes over quads, but I just think it is cool to be cruising around on a piece of history. And occasionally beating the newer ones with it too! Haha, not that I'm going out and spankin REV 800's on a daily basis, but your right, there is something really cool about the older sleds. So who cant wait for the snow now?:Bounce

85hondaatc125m
10-10-2006, 08:02 PM
Well i got it about 15 minutes ago, runs great, was a straight trade, offered him $100 too but he wouldnt take it. I will have more pictures later tonight!

85hondaatc125m
10-10-2006, 08:37 PM
here are some pics, had it running a couple times and it started and ran great!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2081.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2082.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2084.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2085.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2086.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v66/Shotgun38/HPIM2089.jpg

Chevy200s
10-11-2006, 12:58 AM
Dang dude, that aint bad at all, nice score! I bet you cant wait for the snow to fall now huh? :beer How is the suspension, is it nice and free moving or is it stiff? One other thing I forgot to mention, and forgive me if you already knew this, but I thought you had said this was your first sled. Whenever you are done riding it in the snow, jack up the rear end on something to get the track off the ground and carefully give it enough gas to spin the track over a few times. This cleans all the snow and junk out of there so it doesnt sit over night. If that stuff freezes I hear it can be bad for a track, so it is a habit I have gotten into doing. Is the drive belt in good shape? Its never a bad idea to have an extra one on the sled somewhere (most sleds actually have a spot for this on the belt guard), it can be a pain if one goes on you when your out in the middle of a field somewhere. If you have any questions let me know, I've got a bunch of old ski doo's and I love em all:) Once again good deal man, be sure to post some ridin pics when you get snow!

85hondaatc125m
10-11-2006, 06:50 PM
Oh...I am dying for snow now. It is somewhat my first skidoo, my grandpa had the Yamaha 433 and he said me and my brother could have it, I said I will kinda take it, so it is me and my brothers, but mostly my grandpa's because I didnt want to take it from him.So the other one is partailly mine. I will remember to lift the back and make sure i get the track going a few times. Thanks for all of the info so far guys, Thanks alot.