I shoulda rode a John Deere

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 4:10 pm

Having been invited to ride in the vintage segment of the Yorkton, SK Timmies Snowarama by a group of guys who seem to favour really old sleds, I figured I'd take my oldest machine. It's either a 70 or 71 Ski Whiz 300S with a 295 JLO single. I was kinda counting on this being maybe 25 miles of super smooth groomed trail. It ended up being somewhere near 70 miles of pretty rough stuff....and I put on a few extra miles because I got lost toward the end and ended up getting back into Yorkton from the wrong direction and wound up in the downtown area. I sure did get some funny looks from people....and even a thumbs up from some guy in a old Chevy pick up. Running on fumes with the choke pulled out for the last 3 city blocks, I managed to get back to the finish point. Good thing they filled us up with premix at the halfway point. The Massey faired better than I did as all it needs is a new recoil spring and some clutch parts. I need at least 3 days of bedrest and probably a chiropracter. I figured out how they came up with the Ski Whiz name....it's so rough that you have to stop every three miles to take one. Next year, I'll ride a Deere and hopefully come out in better shape. But in all fairness, the Massey seems like a tough old girl.

Danzig · Post by **Danzig** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:38 pm

So would you consider the Massey..........mint, restored or original....

Mr. Deere · Post by **Mr. Deere** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 5:47 pm

How about a pic of the motor. Are you the original owner. BOB

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 6:59 pm

Danzig wrote: So would you consider the Massey..........mint, restored or original....

Good one, Paul

Actually, I'd call it in fair to good original condition. It's not banged up at all and basically just needs to be dismantled, blasted and repainted and will need the seat recovered. I already have a decal set on the way for a quick summertime resto on it. Yet despite it's numerouse scratches and scuffs, it's in far better shape than many "mint" condition sled ads that I've checked out.

Here's a pic of the engine for you, Bob. Check out that front mounted carb. One of the guys at yesterdays ride saw it and hollered out to his buddies to come see the old sled with ram air induction. Believe me, it still doesn't make it fast. I don't think I saw the high side of 25 mph all day.......but it honestly did feel a tad faster after I ditched the 15 pound recoil starter at the halfway point when it crapped out.

Mr. Deere · Post by **Mr. Deere** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 7:32 pm

Nice So it only goes about 25 Not bad for a single. How big is the piston 2 Inch or so. Weird how the exhaust goes over the belt which looks original. Also Is the motor tilted back Because with carb in the front wont gas leak out the front. BOB

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Sun Feb 17, 2008 8:35 pm

Mr. Deere wrote: Nice So it only goes about 25 Not bad for a single. How big is the piston 2 Inch or so. Weird how the exhaust goes over the belt which looks original. Also Is the motor tilted back Because with carb in the front wont gas leak out the front. BOB

Not sure how big the piston is, Bob. I'll find out this summer when I pull it apart. The engine runs good, but I think I'll take it apart when I restore it just to see how everything looks. The engine is not tilted at all and the carb doesn't seem to spew much spitback (er, I guess in this case, spitforth). The sled seemed pretty quick when I rode it a week ago, but during yesterdays ride the weather was very warm and the Ski Whiz felt quite sluggish. I mighta got more out of it if I had leaned the high speed screw.......but I thought I better not mess with that cause I hate getting towed. My motor mount rubbers are getting sorta mushy too...so that seems to be causing the center distance to go out of whack when you hit the throttle and the belt wants to slip when it's taking off. Unbelievably all seven of the vintage sleds in our group made the complete ride, though we had to do some on trail surgery on the muffler of a 69 Nordic a couple times.....amazing what you can do with some hose clamps and an empty pop can.

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 1:08 am

That" should" be a good sled for you. I have a 72 350ss that was given to me four years ago. I use it to pull wood up from the bush each and every year and after I put a mikuni carb on it I have had 0 troubles.
Mine has a car verified 41mph top speed on a hard slipprey back road

Liquifire 4/6 · Post by **Liquifire 4/6** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:25 am

Hey danno, I wouldn't mind seeing a pic of your 350ss, particularly one of the engine. 41mph must feel like you're flyin on one of these rigs.

JDGuy · Post by **JDGuy** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 11:44 am

At Naubinway, MI sled museum

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 12:23 pm

Yea 41mph is a little scarey and I dont think i want to do it again as the sled went a bit squirley after it hit a pot hole.I dont have the technoligy or the know how to post a picture but Ican tell you that the engines look the same as well as the rest of the sled. (I have both machines)depending on the year the dash could be either wire mesh(early) or plastic(later)
As far as your recoil goes leave it off as they were junk from new just dont throw it away.

Mr. Deere · Post by **Mr. Deere** » Mon Feb 18, 2008 8:50 pm

Nice should be a good rebuild then. Whats all this talk about the recoil What exactly are you leaving off. BOB

Deleted User · Post by **Deleted User** » Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:49 am

When you take the recoil off of these sleds there is a handy emergency start pulley that you wrap a rope around (you can see it in the picture).If you have the sled working well, other than opening the hood to start the sled then it should be a 2 or3 pull operation wich is no big deal.
On the clutch thing, dont fix the old one for a rider only to restore.A clutch off a spitfire makes a good replcement.

Mr. Deere · Post by **Mr. Deere** » Wed Feb 20, 2008 1:31 pm

Nice I wish Deere did that all my recoil bolts are stripped off and its being held on by one bolt. BOB