New member, Trailfire LX

[ford141]

So, I was at an industrial equipment sale over the weekend and was browsing around the steel racks, desks, scales, and other junk when I ran across this dusty snowmobile in the back corner of a dark warehouse. It had a price of $800 on it. I know almost nothing about these machines, and have never even owned a sled, but the wife and I have often talked about getting one to tool around with during the winter at camp. Since it looked very clean and the buy-in was reasonable, I decided to jump on it and ended up getting it for $650. Here's what I got:








It's an 83 Trailfire LX with a 440 Kawasaki engine. Just over 1500 kms on it, and looks like it just came off the showroom floor. As far as I can tell it's never been repainted or repaired. There are no cracks in the hood and no evidence of repairs. Needs a battery but it fires up and runs pretty good after a couple of pulls.

The story I got was that a friend of the warehouse owner had found it on Ebay a few years back and put a bid on it fully expecting to be outbid. Apparently he didn't really want it and was surprised when he won the bid. He drove up to Winsconsin to pick it up so that he could maintain his Ebay reputation, but being as he was a very big, overweight guy, he really couldn't ride it, so he put it on a shelf in the warehouse. He put the for sale sign on it during the warehouse sale hoping to get out from under it.

So my plan with it is to go through it and change the fluids. Looks like it could use some new fuels lines, probably put new plugs in it for good measure. I'll check out the rollers on the track and see if everything is up to par. Is there anything else I should look into? Are there any common problems or issues with these?

Also, I was wondering if these shared any parts with the Kawasaki sleds and which models would be compatible. A friend of mine has a few sleds rotting in a field and if I remember one of them was a Kawi 440. If it is similar I might grab it for parts. Or I might get it running too so my wife and I both have something to ride.

[hounds84lhs]

Nice find! The sled looks great.

[ford141]

I should also mention that it came with the original owner's manual, original sales receipt, and a lot of registration papers throughout the years. I also have a book with service records and receipts for parts dating back to 1998. I don't have service records before that, but just the fact that it has service records says an aweful lot about the care that it has been given over the years.

[rminier]

What a great find! Don't forget to include draining and refilling the chaincase to your "to do" list.....better yet is to remove the chaincase cover to completely check out the condition of the chain and sprockets. CLEAN the carb.... along with the rest of the fuel system, as you mentioned. Those engines are pretty reliable and simple....several engine components are shared with the Kawasaki sleds....depending on the particular model of Kawi.
One more thing to consider is the rubber crank seals at each end of the crankshaft. On sleds this old, it's possible they no longer seal perfectly air tight. If they leak, you risk running too lean and burning a piston. It is a fairly long job.....removing the engine, splitting the crankcase to replace the seals, etc....but something to consider for long term reliability.
Enjoy that beauty!

[ford141]

Thanks, I'll look into that. From the looks of it it hasn't been messed with too much or torn apart much. So I'd assume they are original. I've done crank seals years ago on an old dirtbike I had, so I'm at least familiar with it.

[Matt]

Very nice sled, it's hard to find them in this condition. Great purchase.

[acesillini06]

Welcome to the site. Very desirable sled you got. Even better with the electric start!

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[skoalmint]

Nice Clean Sled ! Brock

[JDT]

That dusty old sled cleaned up real nice. Congrats.

You will love the Oil Injection and the E-start.

If there is any dought as to the condition or age of the crank seals change them before winter or your first ride might be a short one and very costly.
New seals will only set you back $10 and piece of mind is priceless.

[ford141]

So as I mentioned before, I don't know much about these machines, it's my first one. I assume that since this is a "trailfire" it was built more for low-speed trail riding and utility work. Is that correct? I assume the sportfire is more the racy-sporty machine. This one has a hitch on the back so I figured a trapper would buy one of these to run his trapline and haul a sled with supplies behind. Is that accurate?

I'll go over it pretty good before winter, and it will get new crank seals while I'm at it. I'm planning to ride it on PA state gamelands around camp this winter, but that means I have to get it registered. I didn't get a title with it and PA says it must be titled in order to register it. Has anyone in PA got a title for a machine that didn't come with one?

[sledhead16]

Eric congrats on the great find and welcome to the JD community! Great guys here loyal to the cause! Yes, the Kawasaki motors are known for needing crank seals replaced! My 82 sportfire had 150psi in both cylinders...and the mag crank seal was torn in half and caused a lean condition which damaged the cylinder and piston, the original owner also ran the wrong carb and the top motor shroud was packed with mouse insulation causing apparent overheating! So yes, as the guys said and sounds like your going to do, GO THROUGH IT you have plenty of time before snow hits. Plus you guys out east got tons of snow last year compared to our midwest drought! Do a compression test, change the seals, like it was stated...clean the carb well, its a simple non power jet carb unlike the sportfire or liquifire. www.newbreedparts.com will have lots of things to get ya trail ready! Just remember a barn find or warehouse find is not trail ready and could ruin your day out on the trails, like stated piece of mind goes a long way! The 83 is great with oil injection! looks like a clean sled! remove the suspension and suspension shafts from the arms and grease them! align the track! take the chaincase cover off, polaris makes a chaincase gasket that fits the chaincase perfect. new fuel system over haul and clean your tank! also look over your clutching, very important as well. thanks for sharing the pics!

[Matt]

Eric, what you said about the Trailfire vs. Sportfire is more or less correct, but the Trailfire really isn't much slower or less powerful then the Sportfire, only a few HP. I'm sure a well-tuned Trailfire 440 could outrun a Sportfire that's not quite up to par.

Moving on to your PA registration question - Can you get a bill of sale signed by the seller? If so, you can use that to submit paperwork to the state to get a title created and registration issued. If not, shhh, you can easily fake a bill of sale. They just do a background check and make sure the sled isn't stolen. FYI you also need minimum liability insurance to ride on PA land. Costs me $56/year for that. The registration is $20/2 years. I don't remember what the title fees were but that's one-time.

[harleysportster]

Here is a link that is helpful. I have registered several snowmobiles without titles in PA.
http://www.pasnow.org/ride-pa/pa-snowmo ... gistration

[sledhead16]

The best trick I found with registration....Is to have a nice gal that works at the DMV that is willing to just CREATE a new registration for these old sleds. Some understand the long years and lost paperwork headache and will throw you a bone especially if you tell them you built it from three sleds lol!

[ford141]

Thanks for the information guys, I really appreciate it. Trips to the DMV are not fun at all, but I can get a bill of sale wrote up for it so I'll take that to them and see if I can get a title for it. I saw on the link that Pat posted that there is an application for registration form on there, but I assume I have to get a title first? Is the only way of getting a title to just go through the DMV?

I will take your advice and go through the whole thing before giving it a workout this winter. It is very clean, but I don't know the history or the previous owner that well, and it's way too nice to ruin from lack of maintenance.

I have to admit this is a sickness. I'm 33 and it's my first sled, and I've only had it for 5 days. But I've spent every spare moment of those 5 days researching information on it. Plus I already have my eyes on a very whooped Polaris cutlass SS that my friend has in a field. It is very rough and in need of a lot of attention, but I have heard it run a year or two ago. I'm sure I can get it very cheap or maybe free.