KawasakiTrax Community
General Category => Kawasaki Owners => Topic started by: Vader on January 22, 2016, 03:42:06 PM
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Finally getting back to Invader refurb. Bought a '79 from a buddy of mine who had been trying forever to get it to run. First thing I did was check the crank seals, and they were literally hanging in shreds. Some fresh pistons & rings, and the motor was ready to go. Well, that was more than 15 years ago, and then other projects came along and it got pushed to the back burner.
A couple of years ago I picked up an '81 invader with the intention of using it for parts, but when I got it home and cleaned it up and took a good look at it, I realized that it wasn't in that bad shape. More importantly, it was 100% complete except for a windshield. So, I told my 13 year old son that it could be his if he works on it, and he's quite excited about the project.
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You might want to keep the 81 for yourself...the Vari-ride suspension ride much nicer than what's on your 79. ;)
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81 Invaders were the cream of the Invader crop!! My first Kawi was an 80 Invader that needed a lot of work. I picked up a 78 Invader from the scrap yard that turned out to be better than the 80 I was planning to fix. Long story short I still have them both.
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Before I picked up the 81, a friend of mine gave me a carcass of another 81 with no engine, seat or skis that he found on a scrap pile in the far north in Kuujjuaq, Quebec. (Google it, it's super far up north!) The tunnel was scrap, but I got the vari-ride and the longer heat exchanger from it to use on the 79. It also had a gas tank with a good filler neck, which I now need for the 'new' 81.
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That is up there a long ways, wonder how that 81 made it that far??
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That is up there a long ways, wonder how that 81 made it that far??
" no engine, seat or skis that he found on a scrap pile, the tunnel was scrap" It didn't.... :'(
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That is up there a long ways, wonder how that 81 made it that far??
Up there, snowmobiles are everyone's main transportation during the long winters, so they've been shipping them up there for a long time. My friend who found it runs a supply company that ships containers full of goods to northern communities during the short period in the summer when the waterways are clear. He's always throwing a few snowmobiles in with the shipments. He saw the Invader remains when he was there on a visit, so he thought of me and tossed it into the empty container coming back. Tunnel was badly crushed at one end, but the suspension and heat exchanger survived.