Sportfire

[jdjock]

Is there a better late model JD snowmobile than a sportfire. I have 3 and I just love them. Mostly trouble free and run forever. 80 model, 82 model, and 84 with electric start.

[ihengineer76]

I definitely agree that the Sportys are a fun sled. I’ve owned several of them. With proper maintenance and tuning, they all can be relatively trouble free for a 40 year old two stroke. I’ve found the biggest causes of issues people run into are lack of maintenance and impatience.

[snowmoer]

An 80 Sportfire was my first sled when I was in High School. It was a leftover in 81. My dad was going to pay the down payment for my Christmas and Birthday present. I would pay the rest of it off over the summer. I wanted a Liquifire. He wanted me to get a Trailfire. The Sportfire was the middle of the two. I put over 4 thousand miles on that sled. It was just a fun sled. It did go through drive line bearings. Had to replace both the driveshaft and jackshaft due to bearing failures. I also had to replace the track due to the outer belt ripping. In those 4K miles, I only had to replace the crank seals once. Lots of fun rides on that sled.

I picked up an 84 last year with two 84 Trailfires. They will be fun restoration projects.

[jdsledhead]

In my opinion, the Sportfire is the best late model Deere for a reliable performance trail sled. It has the rubber track, better skid, good power from the low maintenance fan engine and only 1 carb to mess with. Many might argue the Liquifire is the best, but they're finicky on a good day and need a lot of tuning to get them how you like it - clutching and carb tuning. I'm on the lookout for an 84 Sportfire on the east coast for sale.