For better or worse, this is the initial installment of the build series. I hope you all will find it interesting.

While it isn’t my plan to cover the various builds in any particular chronological order, I thought I should lead with the sled that really kicked the restoration journey into high gear: a 79 TX 340. I bought this sled in the spring of 2012 and it’s been my go-to vintage rider for the last 14 years. Man, has the time gone fast!

This sled wasn’t a “nut and bolt’ restoration and was done before I got the idea to document these projects in some fashion but it did get a fair amount of attention: Removed, cleaned, painted, and greased the skis and suspension, cleaned the motor, pan, and chassis, and painted the tunnel. It also got new a new hood, graphics, windshield, seat cover, and shocks. It’s amazing that to this day, I’ve done nothing to the motor. Tough motor!

The cool thing about this sled is that in the winter of 2013, I took it on a solo, four-state tour and rode trails in North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Upper Michigan. It’s a trip I’ll never forget. Some of you remember a video I made entitled “Blue Windshield Winter”, which included a lot of footage of this trip.