Riding Saturday, Sportfire maiden trip

Post by **Matt** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:34 am

Harleysportster, his wife, and I headed up to NE PA yesterday for the first ride of the season. The trails were good, some were getting a little rough because they haven't had fresh snow lately, but the weather was perfect. Around 30 degrees and sunny. Harley was riding a '78 Cyclone, his wife a '76 Liquifire, and I was on my freshly rebuilt '83 Sportfire. Everything ran perfectly.

The Sportfire needs a few things yet - I need to paint & decal the hood, get the correct skis together, and install a new speedometer drive. We checked the plugs after the first run, and they looked great. It ran pretty dang well. It dogs a little bit from 4-5000 RPM, but I'm sure I can work that out with the help of the fine tune manual on Webman's site. I'd like to thank everyone who helped supply parts for this sled:

Crankshaft Services for the crank rebuild
John's Upholstery for the seat covering
MFG Supply for most of the engine rebuild parts and skis
Cannon Classic Sleds for the windsheild
Dave "Jack Frost" Lenson, Kenny "ICCSF108" Heins, Joe Rainville, and Ed "Deere Daze" Poets for misc. parts

Sorry if I missed someone!

harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 12:53 pm

All sleds ran great. Dana likes riding the 78 cyclone better than her Liquifire.
This was actually the first large scale ride I took the 78 cyclone out on also. I aquired this sled early last winter and went over the entire sled.

flames4555 · Post by **flames4555** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:26 pm

Great to hear guys ...

JDMatt sportfire looks to be coming along nicely

Harley good to see some pictures of your sleds and the success of the 78 Cyclone .

Keep the pictures coming.

Kevin

Post by **WinnipegStPaul9** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:27 pm

Sounds like a great time. DA

ChickenRat · Post by **ChickenRat** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 1:41 pm

Matt,

Congrats on getting her up and running. I know how much work goes into these things and sometimes you wonder if it's worth it. Others think we are crazy. But it sure feels good to get a project up and going and moving towards the finish line. Great job, I know you've had issues along the way with the sled, as we all do, but start to enjoy it!!

Robb

Rodimus Prime · Post by **Rodimus Prime** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:22 pm

There is NOTHING like the first ride after rebuilding a sled from top to bottom. You know everything is good so you feel safe, The better it performs the greater the satisfaction.

On a side note about 2yrs back i scouted a sf engine in a drifter as the original engine got toasted and the guy had blown the track on the sportfire. As luck turns out i can still get it it will need a bit of work and a good going over ( mass of silicone around carb boot doesnt make me feel confident) although i think he sold the air duct that was still on it

it was a mint one too. So... perhaps next season my driver trailfire will have a t7440 in it for fun...nice thing is i have the carb from it hehe...

JD340S · Post by **JD340S** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 6:30 pm

Matt where did you guys ride from. You should have went to the NE PA Sno Trails vintage ride last Saturday. Had like 50+ sleds registered. My 400 made the whole loop this time. Put new coils & wires on it. Only problem left is that it doesn't like to start up right away after being run for awhile. Takes 25min or so the starts right up. It doesn't get gas or something. Rode the new sled up there today & yesterday.

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harleysportster · Post by **harleysportster** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:23 pm

We had both planned on making the trip but Matt was unavailable at the last minute and I had read that temperture would be low and there was a severe wind-chill factor in the negative numbers which kept Dana and I from making the trip. What was the actuall temp and winds of the day. How were the trails.

Post by **Matt** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 8:11 pm

Aaron, I had full intentions of coming up for the NEPA ride, but had to work that Saturday. One of these years I'll get there.

JD340S · Post by **JD340S** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 11:49 pm

Trails were in pretty nice shape. It was -20 @ 7:00am. Maybe got to 15 during the day. Was sunny for the most part.

buck43 · Post by **buck43** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 12:12 am

Matt glad to see you have the Sportfire running I know when we talked at the F&S show you didnt think it would happen. Harley you have to come back to the F&S show next year with your 78. Shannon

JDFanPa · Post by **JDFanPa** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 2:37 am

great pics Pat and Matt.........Aaron was that pc at Jakes