New guy with a 340 Invader

[DBD]

Hi everyone, I just got my new-to-me 340 invader cleaned up enough to run. Carbs were all gunky, so I pulled them of, gave them a good clean, and it runs a lot better. It's still a real beater sled, but I bought it so I can have my own ride to go to a friend's cabin we always get invited to. My wife and I are going there this weekend, so I'm hoping for the best, as I've only ridden it up and down the alley behind my house. After this I'll probably dig a bit deeper, but it's been ridiculously cold for work in my non-heated garage. Will need belly pan repair, upholstery, windscreen, and really just a full going over.

well, here it is:

[mswyka]

340s are fun sleds and at the moment our 340 is my favorite.  So much so that we have another one in the shop being built.  But what I am most envious of is that you have snow in that photo.  Things are pretty dry out here in NY.

[jimvw57]

A great sled! the 340 is a lot of fun as they are light and geared for the motor so they take off real fast.

Just a caution, you do want to get a windscreen as it makes the radiator cooling work properly, and of course there is those pesky crankshaft seals that should be replaced before you end up melting pistons and such.

There are a few other things to check out and lubricate such as steering post lower bushing (when the motor is out), spindles and cross shafts. Take a peek at the suspension brackets where the cross shafts attach to the slide rails. They tend to crack and break which really messes up a fun ride.

It runs, that's 90% of the fun. The rest just makes it more dependable.

[Interceptor398]

Welcome to the site and good luck with the 340, they are a real surprise when you hit the gas!! 

[invader87]

nice sled. The same as the first sled i ever rode. Those have a special place in this guys heart.

[jimvw57]

Mine really took off after I balanced the carbs....

[DBD]

Welcome to the site and good luck with the 340, they are a real surprise when you hit the gas!!

yeah! Our riding over newyears was all on bush trails, and extremely cold (-40), but I did have a couple opportunities to pin the throttle to the bar, and yeah, impressive for an old sled!

speaking of cold, I'm sure the cooling was doing fine just on account of the weather! We had to start a small fire next to the sled and channel the heat up underneath with a hunk of stovepipe to warm it up enough to take a pull start before leaving the cabin this morning.

However, I was wanting a windshield for the sake of preventing wind-chill, that's for sure. As I understand it, the windshield has tabs resembling the end of a dogbone, held on with o-rings from the underside, and is otherwise just a heated and bent piece of lexan or something? If so, I may try my hand at making my own.

[jimvw57]

It gets a bit more complicated than that but nothing wrong with a trial.

 Contact mswyka for a real nice Black plastic shield that he makes up. They are pretty much indestructible. I have found that zip ties work better than the O-rings . The O-Rings usually only last about a year and then they split and break.