KawasakiTrax Community
General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Lloyd (ljm) on September 06, 2013, 06:33:45 AM
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What sleds is everyone getting ready for the riding season?
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Two Ltd's are ready, pullin motors on Drifter to reseal and repair the recoil (owned since 1987). 1982 Intruder purchased last year ,my boys took home fueled up and ran, they called me and said dad this thing is really fast you should ride it! Well by the time I got home "really fast" was gone and " dad it's not running right "was there, yup dropped a cylinder so that one is coming out as well. At least I will know what shape it will be in when I'm finished ;)
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Lloyd: still warm down here so the jet-ski is still on the water. Won't pull out the sleds until the jet-ski goes into the barn.
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Been working on some clutch mods for Interceptor 593, picked the track, UFO's, geared for 500 ft, waxed er' up! She's runnin' great!! Going to enter a local grass drag event at the end of the month. Can't wait to see the looks on peoples faces when they see this baby...
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This summer I'm taking three Invaders ('78, '79, '81) and trying to make two. I chose Invader for the vintage 440 power and the fact there are plenty out there for parts. This is my first "restoration" effort on sleds. Both sleds will get full clean up and inspection: clutches, gears, seals, suspension, drive shaft, bearings, etc. I've polished most the major parts just to look nice again. The '78 is ready to fire up and finish the oil priming. Then hood, seat, and final polish. It looks different than the start, I'll say that.
I've got about 80 man hours into it so far, with a couple guys helping here and there. Half of this time has been slow including polish and learning difficult removal. Not to mention the time spent thinking, reading and researching on this website. I suppose the first sled will have about 120hours into it, and the 2nd sled maybe 60-80hours. I'm hoping the 2nd sled goes faster... I'm not sure if this is fast or slow, but it is about right for this first-timer, eh.
Learning Much: crank seals, oil injection priming, clutch settings, interchangeable parts, etc...
1st sled- (the seller): '78 chassis, '81 motor 115psi, '79 hood, original seat with small puncture, belly pan with crack and small hole.
2nd sled- (the keeper): '79 chassis, rebuilt motor, '78 hood, recovered seat, belly pan with small crack- and upgrade to the vari-ride suspension.
Trouble So Far:
1) Learning how to remove the stator plate and gear to replace seals.
2) worst trouble has been removing the clutch from the '79. The threads were stripped so the clutch puller didn't work. So I tried the traditional "wheel" pullers and broke two. Bent the clutch plate while I was at it. uff-da. My next move is to weld a new nut on end of the clutch shaft to create new threads for the clutch puller to work like it should. If that doesn't get this #@!$ off, I'm afraid I'm going to get violent with it.
3) Polishing takes a lot of time...but it is worth it, I think.
4) I haven't started with carb settings yet, so that might be a struggle...
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lets see need new pull cord one one ski,s,carb cleanings on all,pull pulse coil on another,crank seals,engine rebuilds, the list seems to keep growing :o
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Well Lloyd, you inspired me. Today I managed to sneak down to the machine shed and breathe life back into four of the sleds. I continue to contend that there is something intoxicating about the aroma of two stroke.
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I've always thought that it is nice to have at least a couple sleds tuned up so that when that first snow hits you can ride instead of wrench.
Mark Which sleds did you have running?
I've had my 4/6 running and have a motor apart for my newest to me 440 Invader.
Thought I had another 340 Invader bought yesterday. The kid was going to deliver it to me. He called and said the transmission went out of his truck. I made arrangements to pick it up today. Drove and hour to get it. Get there and his cousins tells me he sold it to someone else last night.
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Lloyd:
That 340 sounds suspicious but I am sure it was a nice day for a drive.
We fired up the 78 & 79 Intruders, and the 80 Invader and LTD. Primer on the 79 340 was bad so that one will wait for another day. The 80 Intruders continue to sleep.
Mark
I've always thought that it is nice to have at least a couple sleds tuned up so that when that first snow hits you can ride instead of wrench.
Mark Which sleds did you have running?
I've had my 4/6 running and have a motor apart for my newest to me 440 Invader.
Thought I had another 340 Invader bought yesterday. The kid was going to deliver it to me. He called and said the transmission went out of his truck. I made arrangements to pick it up today. Drove and hour to get it. Get there and his cousins tells me he sold it to someone else last night.
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I guess this is opening call for me to get the 79 drifter out from under the tarp. I'll bring it out to the sunshine and give the tunnel a nice shine. I put on a new windshield in the late spring and put it away dry. I'll make a bet that with 1 gal of fuel, some primer action and it will be the 2nd pull with choke. Carb should be good from the cleaning last year and I've probably gotta do something about getting a new seat cover. Anyone got a new one for a great price??
Steve (Webster NY)
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Still on my 79 Intruder. Got it mostly striped. Just got the belly pan off only to find the two cross bars ( sits under the engine ) are rusted out. Time for some fab. Start cutting it out sometime Saturday. Other than that it getting closer. You all have fun. Can't wait to get it all bqck together. Going to see if the wife will take some pic on Saturday.
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Both Intruders and the Invader started. The 79 Intruder started on 1 pull, I just need to figure out my low end bog which I now have an idea what may have caused it. When I bought it,it didn't run so I tore it down, put in a piston and crank seals. The intake ports were really dirty and I'm afraid I may have went too far and made them too smooth with my dremmel brush. "they are smooth as glass" :-[
Got the parts coming to turn my 80 Intruder into a 78 so I can utilize the new 78 hood that I have. That motor is ready to go and running real well.
The project I'm really excited about is the 80 Invader. It started on two pulls but I need to find out why it died in the field me last winter and wouldn't start.
I am getting the seat upholstered and have to put a different track on it. The best part is Ihave a green TOC hood replica being done. I had a 78 340 Invader hood that was in good shape but just had rough paint.
I have two friends in the auto body business who have decided this is going to be a fun project. One runs a specialty body shop and the other is a body shop instructor at a college. They are going to do this for the cost of materials. :) I am really going to owe them a few steaks for this one! Can't believe they are doing that!
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Well just bought a Ski-doo 580 plus, got most of the big stuff done. Just gotta find away to fasten the seat down, and my invader needs its annual work done. I had it fired up a couple months ago. Took awhile to start, the pull cord kept bunching up and kinda hard to pull after. But it finally started. So when I get around to it: Carbs cleaned, new fuel pump and lines, new plugs and gas tank flushed and cleaned out.
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UPDATE- I've got one Invader all done. Whoo-Hoo. Ready to ride. Three different sleds into one. All stock settings and set up. I'd call it about a 50-60% restoration as I left the tunnel and belly together and didn't remove all the jackshaft and brake assemblies. But most stuff got taken apart, polished or cleaned, sorted for best and second best parts, then put back together. Total over 100 manhours. ...the things we do for love, right?
I learned a lot from this site. Got a lot of ideas and tips to help save time. Still got my '78-ish to put together, but first gotta finish a siding project before Thanksgiving. During the house work I'm goona keep an eye open for a LTD motor instead of the rebuilt Invader motor. Then one of these two sleds is going to be sold toward another sled of choice.