My bucket-list moment this weekend.

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carrara
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:42 am

My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by carrara »

Hello all this is my first post on this site!!!!


First i am going to back up to the early 80's.. I grew up in Vermont, loved sledding my entire life,,,,, and one day in early 1984 i was snowmobiling with my dad he on his brand new phazer, me on my little Bravo. We came up to the Mountain Top Inn in Chittenden, and parked out front was the most beautiful,,, brand spanking new,,,, 1984 Vmax. That did something to me, not sure what,,,, but that moment stuck in my head for ever. I drove up to it and looked at it and then back to my little bravo,,,, then back to it ,,,,and took off. Like all of you, the looks the styling the power just everything about these sleds i find so cool. I think the 84 was possibly the best looking year, debatable!!!

Fast forward to last weekend.

I found an awesome 1987 Vmax this summer, went thru the entire fuel system, preformed all the adjustments and everything i read on this site to prepare. I had never even heard a 540 run before,,,,,,but this last saturday morning my daughters and i pulled the cord on her and she fired right up. It was the coolest moment ever. My last sled was a first year viper and i had to hang up my helmet for a while while having kids. It wasn't that 1984 v-max i found way back when but was close enough for me.

Here is a picture of my daughter on it.

Thanks

Dana
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Bob Vehring
Posts: 659
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:42 am
Location: Milw. Wi

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Bob Vehring »

Welcome to the VM world
carrara
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:42 am

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by carrara »

Thanks Bob,

There is lots of fun stuff here, thank you. I am having a blast on my Vmax. I also have a a rough looking 1984 vmax and a running 1985 parts machine and want to do a Mod sled like Mr Sled did incorporating the 94-96 Vmax XT TSS suspension and a mono skid, on the totally yamaha site. What are your thoughts on doing this, you seem to have lots of knowledge on these snowmobiles. I am kind of new to working on sleds, but have lots of experience restoring other machines/toys. One other question what is the longest studs i can run on my 1987 vmax, i looked around and it seems that .75" is a good size. My track's lugs are very low i didn't get a chance to measure them to see how long they need to be. I looked round an its hard to find short studs any ideas?


Thanks
Dana
Bob Vehring
Posts: 659
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:42 am
Location: Milw. Wi

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Bob Vehring »

I guess I'm one of those people that believes we can do anything, the questions comes down to how much time do you want into the project. On my SRV and V Max I went with the Pol Xtra 10 set up. Several reasons, cheap, easy to do, reversable if I want to. We have a business building race engines for the 120 sleds, and my oldest kid races oval so that eats up 95% of my time, so I just went the easy proven route with the suspension.
As far as track and picks I just put a 1 in Chamoplast Hacksaw in. Its very close. It was a brand new track set up fr racing and had 280, 1 3/8 steel picks. I had to take out more then half. Any of them close to heat exchangers were pulled out. Mostly I want grip on the snow, the 1 in track so far seems to work well, no problem pulling the skis in snow. of course living in SE Wi. I really haven't had many miles this year
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Vmax540
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Location: Shippenville Pa.
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Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Vmax540 »

Hello, Dana yes, welcome to V.V. ! I truly love stories such as yours and here is another http://www.vintagevmax.com/demon.htm Loads of good reading on the home page and article section http://www.vintagevmax.com/ and as always here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1529 where you will find wide kit, longer TSS installation and other good to know info. As you will see here viewtopic.php?f=2&t=585 the 87's are a fairly rare find ! Keep an eye on compression ! Later Chuck
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFb6NU1giRA
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." Thomas Jefferson
carrara
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:42 am

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by carrara »

Chuck and Bob,

Thanks for the information, i appreciate it! I have owned 12 yamaha sleds in my life and this one is definitely my favorite. It just sounds and looks so sweet. Yes,,,, i am aware that these projects take lots of time. As a hobbie I restore antique construction equipment, old crawlers, trucks,,,, stuff like that, now I want to restore something that goes faster than 6 miles per hour. I am going to start hoarding parts now and prepare for this build.

Thanks again!



Dana
Bob Vehring
Posts: 659
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:42 am
Location: Milw. Wi

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Bob Vehring »

Preparing for the build is half the fun. Not sure where your from, I;m southern WI. Hit most swap meets and shows and of course HayDays in Mn. looking for parts. Chuck has alot of stuff he sells so he's a good source also Going to the events is the fun part
carrara
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Feb 10, 2015 9:42 am

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by carrara »

Hello

I live in central Vermont.

Yes i am very excited to round up all the parts i need. I don't know much about the rear suspension,,,,, what models fit, or work's good or is the cheapest, pros and cons….. I understand the front end stuff…..TSS upgrades (94-96 xt TSS) and the front end widening ( welding and fab) i am a metal worker/mechanist, i just don't have the experience in knowing what is works the best.

Question…… This 87 is a nice origional stock sled, am i a horrible person to want to widen it? I have a running 84 and 85 that are rough and plan to work on those and i really don't care about their originality due to the fact that they are moderiatly pounded, and the 85 has 1200 miles so it says. I am a stickler for originality but plan to use this sled quite a bit. What do you think? Be honest!

Thanks
Dana
Bob Vehring
Posts: 659
Joined: Tue Feb 24, 2009 12:42 am
Location: Milw. Wi

Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Bob Vehring »

Tough question, almost all of my sleds are altered in some way, however almost all of my sleds I got for dam near nuthin and were not in shape to be a good resto project when I got them.

I also believe that a toy should be what you want it to be. Both the SRV and the V Max have Pol. xtra 10 skids, its almost a bolt in and they're around everywhere cheap, look or the ones with Fox Shocks.

I think with the invent of the internet as we have it now, finding vintage anything has changed drastically. Heres my sad story. In 1968 I bought a 1966 Plymouth Satellite with a 426 Hemi. In 1970, I decided to move to San Francisco and become a hippy. Selling the car to get there, you had no idea and never thought those things would become worth a fortune. Today internet sites set the prices for just about anything. I have two sleds that there doesn't seem to be many of, 1971? Snowflake, and a '73 Columbia, I guess no one saved them back then. I doubt we will run out of VMax's, people know what they are.
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Vmax540
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Location: Shippenville Pa.
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Re: My bucket-list moment this weekend.

Post by Vmax540 »

carrara wrote: IQuestion…… This 87 is a nice origional stock sled, am i a horrible person to want to widen it? I have a running 84 and 85 that are rough and plan to work on those and i really don't care about their originality due to the fact that they are moderiatly pounded, and the 85 has 1200 miles so it says. I am a stickler for originality but plan to use this sled quite a bit. What do you think? Be honest! Thanks Dana
Dana, as you can see the highest number we have so, far for the 87's is 683 minus 101 = 582 produced ? Knowing I was going to do a complete rebuild/modify I know which sled I would do... B.T.W. I visited and snowmobiled Vermont in January 1993 and stayed at a bed and breakfast ! Here http://www.madriverinn.com/theinn.php
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFb6NU1giRA
"I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery." Thomas Jefferson
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