Customer appreciation day at Randy's today. The pig roast was very tasty and as usual came off without a hitch. I spent a lot of time eyeing the Yamaha 2up that hauled the TX-L out of the woods last winter...
Old Joe has a lot of time on his hands, he hasn't had much work since Randy isn't very busy. I think I'm going to haul the TX-L over there and have him put in a seal kit. Look over the inside of the motor while he's there, fix any little fiddly bits. Get it running perfect and then sell it off...
Yeah sell it off, I know. The thing is last year when I was trying to sell the Centurion I had lots of offers to buy the TX-L, its the most valuable sled I've ever owned, apparently way more popular than the Centurion, I can see why of course.
Although smart money would keep it and the Tigre, they're my newest most reliable sleds, get rid of everything else.
I dunno, I should have Joe go through those two, maybe they'll be super reliable and maybe I should just sell off the others and maybe there'll be so much snow that work gets closed.......
-Curt
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Friday, August 1, 2008
The dog days of summer
Its the dog days, the days are starting to get shorter but the worst of the heat is here. I'm starting to think real hard about hauling the TX-L over to Randy's, this is his least busy time of the season. The motorcyclers are mostly worked out, the dirtbikers will ride less because its too hot and nobody is thinking about snowmobiles yet but me. I'm going to have the motor on the TX-L resealed, maybe new rings and piston if he thinks its worth it but compression is still up around 120#, I don't think there are a huge number of hours on that engine. I resolve that this season I'm going to get the speedo to work and figure out the tach and the lights. I'll also pull the seat and restaple it and probably replace the board.
I'm also thinking tomorrow I may start the Tigre, I put a good dose of fuel stabilizer in it when I shut it down last spring but I'm thinking a little fresh seafoam and let it run long enough to warm up good and dry out the condensation. Its been very wet here lately...
Youtube has TONS of vintage snowmobile videos although it makes me laugh when I see "vintage snowmobile footage, 1998"...
-Curt
I'm also thinking tomorrow I may start the Tigre, I put a good dose of fuel stabilizer in it when I shut it down last spring but I'm thinking a little fresh seafoam and let it run long enough to warm up good and dry out the condensation. Its been very wet here lately...
Youtube has TONS of vintage snowmobile videos although it makes me laugh when I see "vintage snowmobile footage, 1998"...
-Curt
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Too many projects
You'll see the same post title in both blogs if you read them but the content is different in each...
I've got too many projects, on the snowmobile front every sled is a project. It'd be nice to have a newer sled (sacrilege!) that I could just hop on and ride up to Keene without any fear that it'd crap out on me. Angie and I have talked it over and a 2up would be the best choice. Randy still has the Yamaha 600 that pulled the TX-L out of the woods last year... To do that I'll need 2 things though, money and space. A nice sled like that ought to live in the garage full time, not out in the weather. So I figure to sell off 2 sleds and keep 2 vintage riders and one newer sled. That way if friends come over we'll have plenty of riders.
So, For Sale:
1. 1971 Arctic Cat Panther 303 - The Wankle Panther with it's push pull primer setup. Its got a brand new seatcover and a reasonably good seatback. The exhaust is holey but I can spend some time making it reasonably solid. Its biggest problem is that its got no spark. Somebody who is smart about points should be able to fix it quick. - $300 which is what I paid for it before the primer upgrade or the new seatcover.
2. 1970 Ski-Doo Olympique 12/3 - The Yellow Bullet - Heavily documented on my site. Good running 300cc motor, reasonable chassis with some relatively minor rust. Decent hood with one small break and some spider cracking. New Camoplast replacement track, new seat and seatback covers. Needs wood for the seat and the carb will need cleaning, I rinsed the gas tank last winter. - $300 which again is what I paid for it as a non-runner with a bad seat and track. The track alone is worth $250.
If you're interested drop me a note: curtludwig@yahoo.com
I've got too many projects, on the snowmobile front every sled is a project. It'd be nice to have a newer sled (sacrilege!) that I could just hop on and ride up to Keene without any fear that it'd crap out on me. Angie and I have talked it over and a 2up would be the best choice. Randy still has the Yamaha 600 that pulled the TX-L out of the woods last year... To do that I'll need 2 things though, money and space. A nice sled like that ought to live in the garage full time, not out in the weather. So I figure to sell off 2 sleds and keep 2 vintage riders and one newer sled. That way if friends come over we'll have plenty of riders.
So, For Sale:
1. 1971 Arctic Cat Panther 303 - The Wankle Panther with it's push pull primer setup. Its got a brand new seatcover and a reasonably good seatback. The exhaust is holey but I can spend some time making it reasonably solid. Its biggest problem is that its got no spark. Somebody who is smart about points should be able to fix it quick. - $300 which is what I paid for it before the primer upgrade or the new seatcover.
2. 1970 Ski-Doo Olympique 12/3 - The Yellow Bullet - Heavily documented on my site. Good running 300cc motor, reasonable chassis with some relatively minor rust. Decent hood with one small break and some spider cracking. New Camoplast replacement track, new seat and seatback covers. Needs wood for the seat and the carb will need cleaning, I rinsed the gas tank last winter. - $300 which again is what I paid for it as a non-runner with a bad seat and track. The track alone is worth $250.
If you're interested drop me a note: curtludwig@yahoo.com
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Old sleds on TV
My wife is a MacGyver addict... I loved the show when I was a kid but unfortunately I find that the shows haven't grown old with dignity....
Anyway we were watching season 3 the other day the episode is "Mask of the Wolf". Mac and Jack Dalton end up chasing some bad guys up into the mountains. The bad guys rent snowmobiles, of course at the time they weren't old snowmobiles.... Its a Phazer and a Jag.
I don't know much about Phazers but the Jag I've seen many of, its the wedge hood and 2up seat. From what I can find the episode would have been shot in '87 or '88 so I'd guess the sled is the same.
Anyway it was pretty cool watching them ride around in what looked to be pretty good snow conditions. Although its foggy so I suspect it was probably pretty warm.
-Curt
Anyway we were watching season 3 the other day the episode is "Mask of the Wolf". Mac and Jack Dalton end up chasing some bad guys up into the mountains. The bad guys rent snowmobiles, of course at the time they weren't old snowmobiles.... Its a Phazer and a Jag.
I don't know much about Phazers but the Jag I've seen many of, its the wedge hood and 2up seat. From what I can find the episode would have been shot in '87 or '88 so I'd guess the sled is the same.
Anyway it was pretty cool watching them ride around in what looked to be pretty good snow conditions. Although its foggy so I suspect it was probably pretty warm.
-Curt
Friday, June 27, 2008
No truck? No problem!
In this time of high gas prices maybe these guys have the right idea. http://youtube.com/watch?v=p1_Ny5iuMmo&feature=related
One time a pair of guys from New York showed up at Randy's to pick up a '73 Ski-Doo TNT hulk Randy had. It didn't have a motor so it was no big deal to load into the back of the Dodge Caravan they'd brought. Yeah, a Dodge Caravan with all the seats out. It was after we'd loaded the '73 that I managed to sell them a '72 TNT 295 (I think it was a 295. It was a single anyway.) that Randy had hanging around. That one was mostly complete but without a seat. Both sleds fit inside the Caravan with all the doors closed. The guys said they'd brought the van because it was such a long drive and gas prices were so high. That was 2 or 3 years ago, gas was half the price it is now!
-Curt
One time a pair of guys from New York showed up at Randy's to pick up a '73 Ski-Doo TNT hulk Randy had. It didn't have a motor so it was no big deal to load into the back of the Dodge Caravan they'd brought. Yeah, a Dodge Caravan with all the seats out. It was after we'd loaded the '73 that I managed to sell them a '72 TNT 295 (I think it was a 295. It was a single anyway.) that Randy had hanging around. That one was mostly complete but without a seat. Both sleds fit inside the Caravan with all the doors closed. The guys said they'd brought the van because it was such a long drive and gas prices were so high. That was 2 or 3 years ago, gas was half the price it is now!
-Curt
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Hiatus stinks don't it?
Figure I'll try to get over here once a month maybe. I just got back from California, I spent almost 2 weeks in Burbank. No snowmobiles there...
One of my students knew about snowmobiles though, had a Sno-Jet he said. Of course he's from Michigan. Very few people are actually from greater L.A.
-Curt
One of my students knew about snowmobiles though, had a Sno-Jet he said. Of course he's from Michigan. Very few people are actually from greater L.A.
-Curt
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Another blog
So since its summertime and I've got a pretty wide array of interests I've started another blog, creatively titled "Curt's Other Blog" http://curtsotherblog.blogspot.com/ it'll focus on stuff I don't think is on topic for this. Realistically it won't focus on anything and thats the whole point.
Have no fear I'll still be posting here as time and activities permit. The idea is that I won't clutter up this blog with stuff old snowmobile people don't care about...
Also with any amount of luck people will actually click on the ads on the other blog and I might actually start paying the bills on time...
Have no fear I'll still be posting here as time and activities permit. The idea is that I won't clutter up this blog with stuff old snowmobile people don't care about...
Also with any amount of luck people will actually click on the ads on the other blog and I might actually start paying the bills on time...
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