I picked up this sled today

[i58829]

I picked this thing up today, i saw the ad and asked the guy if it was turn-key; His reply was, 'it was turn-key until this evening when we were out riding and it blew a hose and the thing was steaming so badly i couldn't see the guy riding it, but i'll let you have it for 250.00 if you want it'.

So i figured it was worth a look and after i got it home i took a look and realized all that had happened is the fitting for the hose that runs from the head to the heat exchanger (radiator) had come undone. So in the morning i'm dropping it off at the radiator shop and it will be fixed and ready to roll so maybe i can get a few passes around the yard before global warming ruins my fun, TC...

http://lancaster.craigslist.org/rvs/991168252.html

[toocheaptosmoke]

Nice, those kawis are pretty fast.

[rdlsz24]

Sweet. Gotta love old school liquid-cooled 440's. I grew up riding an '80 JD LiquiFire.

Rob

[Custom200]

Those are sick. My friend about 3 houses down had one last winter and that thing was a monster for an older sled. It flew. I've always liked the look of the old kawasakis too. Sweet deal.

[Russell 350X]

Nice! You dont see many Kawi sleds anymore.

[Yamatrike400]

Nice buy, i was gunna get one of those a few years back and make up an IFS system for it...they are fast sleds. Good luck with it

[i58829]

Well i got it out this evening after fixing the bad fitting on the radiator or heat exchanger whatever its called. I got it filled up with coolant and it was running great this thing flies. But it wouldn't idle so i got to snooping around and i'm getting water into the right cyl. I read a few ancient posts on some other websites and it seems these sleds have a head gasket issue so i'm gonna try to get a set overnighted to me so i can work on it weds. when its supposed to be pretty warm. I'm 99% sure its just the one cyl because i had to fire it back up to get it closer to the house so i can work on it and it was only misfiring on one side based on the sound and repetitive firing order. So i nursed it up towards the house and then it took off like a rocket as it should. So anyway with any luck thats all it is otherwise i'll need to find another cyl for it if something cracked, TC...


Any info or personal experience with a similar issue would be greatly appreciated.

[dirtface]

Nice looking sled, gotta love the "vintage" sleds. I have a 1978 Arctic cat Eltigre 5000 and a 1980 Ski-Doo Blizzard 5500 here.

[i58829]

Man Doug you've got it all, and all i have is another project. Oh well without snow it really wont matter too much. Any ideas on the head issues? Thanks again, TC...

[chris200x]

Man, I wish I could find a cheap sled like that. I just can't see spending a ton of money on something I might only be able to use a handful of times a year.

It's been a good winter for it this year.. well upto this week.. I'ts gonna be like 60 the next few days!!!

[dirtface]

Won't know till you get in there and dig around. I have had quite a few sleds around over the past few years. There was some nights that there would be seventeen or so of use riding sleds, anymore no one rides around here. The Eltigre is my "good" one and I've only had it around the yard a couple times this year.

[Yamatrike400]

Also, check out www.Kawasakitrax.com its a very good source of info on these sleds.

[i58829]

Thanks yamatrike i'll scoot over there and cry to them for help. I think i may have read the head gasket stuff from that site on one of those google searches that comes up with a plain white page and black text...

[toocheaptosmoke]

Those kawis are known for bad crank seals too, make sure yours are OK so you don't toast a piston.

[i58829]

Haha thats funny you said that, i was told that over on the other forum. I guess i'm gonna pull the motor and give it my local shop. The bad news is this is turning into a resto instead of a weekend beer hauler. Glad i have the 250sx, TC...