Intruder vs sportfire engine

madkoffe · Post by **madkoffe** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 3:57 pm

Is John Deere sportfire much quicker than Kawasaki Intruder?

abcd · Post by **abcd** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:37 pm

na i think that they should be pretty equal....

JoeRainville · Post by **JoeRainville** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 5:52 pm

The Sport had a single 34 mm Power Jet Mikuni, while the Intruder had dual Miks, about 32 MM I think. The Intruder also used a jackshaft like the LF/Invader to run the injection pump, while Deere mounted it on the recoil.

The Sport might be a bit lighter than an Intruder, but I can't swear to it. The Kawi had a longer frame and 121" track vs. Deere's 116".

Since the Sport was only 42 hp at best, I would say the Kawi would be faster. But, I have never lined them up to verify that.

-Rainville

swedefire · Post by **swedefire** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:08 pm

Tja Koffe!

I have used the cylinders and carbs from the intruder on the sportfire.
The topend is improved but the lowend is more sluggish due to the slower air velocity through the carb/carbs... I think a intruder top end with bumped up compression could be nice though...

PS.
K?pte du den d?r sportfire som g?tt lite ? ingenting??
DS.

/Magnus

madkoffe · Post by **madkoffe** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 3:02 am

Ok...thanks.

PS: Jepp...jag k?pte den.
DS.

/koffe

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 10:02 am

While I never ran a Sportfire against an Intruder, I did drag my 79 Trailfire 440 against my cousins 78 Intruder many times and was eaten alive every time. That thing was way fast (except when temps aproached 32 degrees F, at which times it would hardly pull itself). I also ran my Trailfire against LiquidFire's 1980 Sportfire (are you out there, D?). He was faster than me, but not anywhere near as much as the Intruder was. But from a practicality standpoint, both the Trailfire and Sportfire were far superior to the Intruder, as the Kawasaki was pretty much useless in deep powder or in hill climbing. Also, things tended to go wrong with the Intruder on a fairly regular basis...things like busted skidframes, track probs, drive clutch probs, poor running characteristics in warm weather, etc, etc. But it sure was a sleek looking sled that went like stink on hard pack.

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:24 am

I just remembered the one and only time my Trailfire outran my cousin's Intruder. We had ridden out to a warm up shack about 14 miles from my place and after roasting some weinies, we decided to hightail it for home. I figured I'd have a good chance of being the first one back since my cousin was carrying a 200 pound package by the name of Jerry on the back of his Intruder. But Lyndon wasn't about to let any tractor company sled beat his Kawi, passenger aside. I took an early lead and was a good 3/4 mile ahead of him when I rode into my yard. He finally pulled in and said it was a helluva good ride. I made small talk with him for a minute or two and eventually asked him what became of Jerry? He glanced rearward and shook his head with some degree of shock. We found Jerry about five miles back.....uninjured, but more than a little bit ticked. I think that was the last time Jerry rode on the back of Lyndon's Kawasaki.

427cobra · Post by **427cobra** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 11:39 am

HA nice story.

Can you drop a Intruder engine into Deere chassis? I would assume the mounting would be similar to a Sportfire or Trailfire.

-Eric

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 12:07 pm

The Intruder engine mounts are designed like the 80-84 Liquifire mounts (the engine bolts to the sides of the chassis instead of onto a base plate) so it would probably be pretty straightforward to fit an Intruder mill into a Liquifire chassis. I'm not 100 % certain, but I think the Intruder engine also has four mounting holes on the bottom of the crankcase (unutilized in the Intruder application), so you could likely also mount it to a baseplate as in a Trailfire or Sportfire chassis. However, the dual carbs might present a bit of a prob if installing it in a Trail/Sportfire frame as I'm not sure if there is sufficient space....there likely is, but I'm just not certain.

Mean Green · Post by **Mean Green** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 9:29 pm

Hey Eric,

Swede had some pics up on his sight last year of a "NOS" Sportfire buildup, using NOS everything including the tunnel with a 1" lug track and an Intruder engine. It was straight forward aside from some slight fabrication on the left side tunnel to clear the LF style oil pump. He had a close-up of it, but his sight is down this year. Any input Magnus??

Tracy

swedefire · Post by **swedefire** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:32 am

Hi!

Yeahh, i really have to get that page up n running again....

I used the Sportfire crankcase and the intruder cylinders, carbs and heads...

That motor are from the T7? Family and are very similar.

The 80- Liquifire, also from the same family.

For example liquifire cylinders bolt right on to a sportfire crankcase.
I did that to before i decided to use the intruder top end, solving the cooling pump issue made it not worth it to me..., i used a Poaris Rxl/650 pump and used the same pulley as the fan gets driven from... it worked but looked not near as good as i wanted...

427cobra · Post by **427cobra** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 9:35 pm

Swedefire,

Would it be possible to get some pictures of this sled. I just bought an Intruder that I am planning on pulling the engine from to install into a JD chassis. I was thinking of putting it in Sportfire chassis but was also thinking of the 80 LF chassis. Would one be better than the other?

So any information would be appreciated.

Thanks!

Eric

JoeRainville · Post by **JoeRainville** » Tue Nov 20, 2007 10:01 pm

Eric,

The Intruder motor would fit better into a Liquifire chassis, since the Intruder has the jackshaft mounted oil pump and dual carbs. The carbs will line up with the LF air box but not sure about the fit since they are a smaller carb, but not sure what size body they have off the top of my head.

You will deffinately need to use a Sportfire air duct though, since it roughts air from the hood grill to the fan.

Good Luck,
-Rainville

B)

427cobra · Post by **427cobra** » Wed Nov 21, 2007 2:51 am

Thanks Joe.

I am just getting started with this latest project. I am just trying to figure out what I will need to get started. Sounds like a LF chassis will be a good start.

-Eric

427cobra · Post by **427cobra** » Fri Nov 30, 2007 1:51 pm

What pipe should I use on the Intruder motor? Not sure if the Intruder pipe will fit into the JD chassis.

So would a pipe from a Sportfire, Liquifire, or Trailfire work the best? Is there a difference between the Spotfire and Trailfire pipe. (can you tell the defference?) I know the Liquifire has the "L" welded on it.

What are your guys thoughts?

-Eric