Don’t say You Haven’t Been Warned!

I’m not one to brag but here’s a chance for me to give a shout-out to a Nephew of mine who did something pretty darn cool for Homecoming this year. Click on the link for the story…

Meet the Young Pilot Behind the Homecoming Game Flyover

It’s 1948 and among other things, Grandma’s looking like a real Hottie at athe Gas Station!

On the Kawasaki project:

I omitted that little detail on my previous post but no doubt you all figured it out. Today was an incredibly nice day for late October so I took advantage of it and did some outside sandblasting in the slide rails, which are too big for my cabinet. Still a long way to go but it’s a start.
Also pulled the spare m…Read More

Having problems with my laptop so trying to post with my phone so look out, anything can happen. Found a good front swing arm on eBay but it was missing the lower shaft. I had some in my other swing arms but all were seized. Drastic times call for drastic measures so I split the tube. Eventually it came out and is usable.

As Gary mentioned, the summer cabin season is officially over for us and we are back at the house full time. The bright side is that after a couple of weeks of catch-up on things, there will be a lot more time for the shop.

That will allow me to really focus on the rear suspension purgatory that I seem to have found myself in. This is the…Read More

Word Has It….Kelly’s back in his shop! Summer’s over so watch for updates soon!
In the mean time, take a guess at the pictured engine. Engine OEM and what sled did it belong to.

The Kawasaki Project”
In spite of a lack of evidence, work has occurred in occasional bursts in the off season. I did address the major crack in the seat foam, most likely due to running it without a seat cover. I cut out most of the bad foam, glued in a replacement piece, and shaped it to (mostly) match the existing foam. There is a little…Read More

Some of us are old enough to remember the album “Twin Sons of Different Mothers”. That comes to mind when I look at this photo. Imagine yourself walking into a dealer showroom in 1979 and see these two sitting on the showroom floor. It would be a ‘Where do I sign” moment.

A Quote from the late, Mike Ditka…

This week’s Brain Teaser. What’s wrong with this picture?

Does anyone have any recommendation through personal experience for lodging in Price County Wisconsin? around Park Falls or surrounding communities? with snowmobile trail access, a restaurant/bar on location or very close by and again snowmobile accessible? looking for either a Hotel/resort type stay where one could book a few rooms. Thank you

Greetings and Welcome to some of our Newest Members!
Kevin
Eric
Todd
Tracy
Babs
Jeff
and Matt

We’re glad to have you with us. Don’t be a stranger and stop in anytime!

John Deere will now be producing Yamaha UTVs. Sounds like an interesting combination to me. I know it’s not in the plans for now, but I kinda like the idea of my Wolverine in Deere colors.

The calendar is telling me it’s time to revisit another sled project, in this case a 79 TX 440. Looking at the photo, this may seem like Deja ‘Vue all over again but trust me, this project was a whole different ballgame from the previous 340 project, even though the only obvious difference is the 440 decal.

For starters, this sled was ROU…Read More

OK, let’s start off the week with a Brainteaser. What’s wrong with this picture?
Clue: You’re looking for 4 Errors in the picture.

In keeping with Gary’s mindset: Have to love these things. A guy a couple of hours from me in Northern MN is making these custom-made backlit signs. He will put any sled you choose and sign content. Very cool. Thinking this would be a great Christmas present from my wife. Would just have to decide which sled to use.

Meanwhile, in Kelly’s neighborhood….

Gary sent me some vintage sled photos from the Wide Open Wisconsin show and I spotted this sled in one of the photos so I did a little digging and found another photo. As the story goes, the sled was a Kawasaki prototype test sled and was to be destroyed when it had served its purpose, which is why it has DES on the tunnel. Apparently this one…Read More

If you look closely you’ll see an Old Snowmobile in this photo!

On the Kawasaki Project:
Yes, work does continue on the project but it’s a fair question to ask: “Why do these projects take so long?” For starters, I think I’m just naturally slow and while shop time can be limited in the summer, probably the better answer is that sometimes there’s just more to a task than meets the eye.

Let’s take the lo…Read More

PROGRAMMING NOTES;

Hello, on this First Day of Autumn. Cooler temps greet us each mornng now and I’m good with that. I’m quite sure we’ll have some Indian Summer yet but we’ve flipped another page on the calender and that’s one page closer to Winter.

I thought it timely for me to pass along some info regarding the website. We launched a…Read More

anyone headed to the Wide Open Wisconsin Show this weekend? Wife and I will be there sunday, hoping to buy some C&A ski’s and new boots.

SQUATCH APPROVED!

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 s…Read More

Here’s the tricky part…only one sentence for your answer. Hit the Comment Button below.

OK “Shop” people, I need some feedback. A number of you have faithfully followed my various sled build threads over the years on John’s site but there may be some of you that haven’t. For those that have, there may be builds you have missed, builds you may have forgotten, and there are at least a couple that never made their way into any build…Read More

Hood is painted. The light plays tricks on this color and my phone. It’s actually a little darker than it looks in the photo. Should look sharp with the 82 graphics.

A few days I mentioned a special project I’d like to take on in the future and I may be one step closer to it now. I have a deal pending on this beauty: a 77 Liquifire 340. Hopefully it will work out. Now I know you might be thinking: “All the hype for this?”. But don’t let its unassuming presence fool you, my plan is to try to put a very pe…Read More

First One to Identify this gizmo wins Bragging Rights for the day!

Here's Our "Too Early Wish List" for the Upcoming Season. This is a Trial Run of our Polling Features today. On this one, we'll have only one option to choose, if you have more than one, pick the one of most likelihood. Thanks for participating!

Your First Time with Your First One…..(No Not That)
We’re Talking Your First Ride on your First Snowmobile.
Jump Over to the Forum ^^ to share your story!

On the Kawasaki Project:
I did manage to get the skis finished a while back but just getting around to posting a photo. Kawasaki shocks are not to be found but with the help of a couple of shims, Arctic Cat shocks work nicely.

Sitting out on the deck tonight enjoying an incredible lake evening and wondering how far out in advance I can realistically plan projects. As you all know, I’m not exactly a picture of youth. I ask this question because my plan was to work the Drifter F/A next year and finish it in the winter of 27/28 and the latest acquisition is has raised…Read More

Ah, summer. Baseball, barbeques, and…..Snowmobiles (of course). It’s been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder. That’s what I’m going with on this one. Supposed to be a parts sled but thinking it may be too nice to tear it down, just for parts. Seems to happen a lot.

Curios if anybody’s been following the Wausau auctions?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Dbl-MkxiCgi/?igsh=MWs1Zm05YmU2ZjRrNg==

My new rear bumper for the 2026 Kawasaki Ridge Platinum Ranch Edition. For some reason it didn’t come with one. Chose this heavy duty beast with LED lights in it. The bumper is a product of Extreme Metal Products-EMP. Thank you to Chad and his service department at M&M Powersports for their top notch service.

OK, give us your best Eagle Eye for this one….as the caption says, it’s 1966 and what is wrong with this picture?

Some not so deep thoughts on a Sunday night.

August has arrived and it means that I’m starting to make some noises about getting my project painting done. The first step in setting up my “paint booth” is to move some sleds into the house garage to give me some room to paint.

I don’t normally see most of these sleds on a regular basis a…Read More