76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

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Popcorn popper
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76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

You guys that ran both. How much quicker were the new series? Or was it more handling??
AirborneX4Special
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by AirborneX4Special »

I hesitate to comment since I've never had a chance to ride the first gen Liquifire. There's quite a difference between them in weight and hp but even the 77 and 78 models saw upgrades in weight and hp relative to the 76, some of it attributed to ETD racing experience. The second gen LF definitely had a handling advantage over it's predecessor and the competition, and well into the era where it was scheduled to be replaced with an IFS version.
Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

Airborne i just raced my 440jdx against liquifire. Not much difference from what i see. Maybe the 76 liquifire gets it by length max. Is that normal or is clutching out on liquifire?
AirborneX4Special
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by AirborneX4Special »

JDX8 was the drag race machine of choice for Lee Hardesty when he was at Deere. Lee had one setup for grass and he made some waves.
Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

So your saying the jdx8 is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. My daughter and I were testing and Shes 115lbs to my 200. We swapped sleds and still the same. The jdx8 actually comes out of hole a little harder then the liquifire catches up and just squeaks by on top end
Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

I wasn’t expecting that at all.
Matt
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Matt »

I've ridden both - My '78 was fast and smooth, but the '80+ is a whole other level of machine when it comes to HP/weight. I also had a '75 JDX8, yes, also a quick sled, but I'm sure it would be in the dust of a 1980+ Liq.

On the JDX8 vs '76 Liq, the Liq does not that have much more HP then then X8, and it's probably heavier.
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Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

Thanks guys thats what im looking for. Im not sure if i told you guys im in nostalgia race where everything has to be 80 or older. Last year there was two blizzards. 5500 and 7500. I could get them to 1/2 track with x8. Roughly 250-300 ft they would just clip me there on top end. I figured this would give me enough to get over hump. It doesn’t look like it now. I know where theres a 81 liquifire trying to get from owner but he’s not sure about selling.
Matt
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Matt »

The internet says the 7500 was 65hp out of a 340cc. L/C with exhaust valves. Yea, that's gonna be a tough one with anything other then a 1980 Liq.
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AirborneX4Special
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by AirborneX4Special »

1979 SnowGoer shootout had the Liquifire third behind the Kawasaki Invader with the Yamaha SRX taking the top spot. The back channel chatter from Deere after the shootout blamed clutching for coming in behind Kawasaki but there was no chance of besting the SRX. I don't remember where the Ski-doo 9500 landed in the rankings but I do remember Gerard Karpik posing for publicity photos with a 6500 as his CC ride while actually racing the TNT-RV.
Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

Yes the bombis had the hp nailed down. A 9500 sits at 82hp with 440cc so no getting there. I might track down a rotax 583 and stuff in one of these liquifire chassis i have. Like the liquifire 2 project.
Popcorn popper
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Re: 76-78 liquifire vs 80and up

Post by Popcorn popper »

Yes the bombis had the hp nailed down. A 9500 sits at 82hp with 440cc so no getting there. I might track down a rotax 583 and stuff in one of these liquifire chassis i have. Like the liquifire 2 project.
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