1979 Yamaha Enticer 300

Back in early January of 2014... almost six years ago to the day.... I dug my old Yamaha snowmobile out of storage.  I posted on my blog at that time about how I was planning to restore the old snow machine, and actually got a start on it.  The project fell by the wayside for quite some time, and then took a turn for the worst.  Back in 2014 I got the seat reupholstered and everything kind of cleaned up and then put the sled back into storage in my shop.  Some time later I bought a New Ski-Doo Tundra and ended up taking that out to Nordegg.

Last year I again dug the old Yamaha out of storage.  This time it wouldn't start.  So, I took the carburetor off and took it in to a dealership to be rebuilt.  When I got it put back on and tried to start it, the machine started.  But it must have been set way to rich because it promptly burnt out one piston and then only ran on one cylinder.  So, eventually I got around to hauling it in to another dealer to have the motor rebuilt.  There was a hole burnt in one of the pistons....  To make matters worse there were no longer any parts available through Yamaha for these old machines.  I eventually found some rings and pistons from new old stock on Ebay and ordered them in out of the United States.  I took these in to the local dealearship and they were able to rebuild the motor for me.  

Once this was all done I fixed up the last few remaining odds and ends.  I put on the new skis that I had from years ago.  I also found some new carbides to bolt to the skis.  And I ended up rreplacing the kill switch with a new one.  Finally everything was good to go.

Last year I looked into registering the machine for a license plate.  Turns out that the province will not register it for me as the old machine does not have the required 17 digit VIN number [vehicle identification number].  I can pay to have an inspector come out and check the machine and assign a new VIN number to replace the original manufacturer's serial number.  But that inspection process costs around $500... probably more than the machine is worth.  So for now, I have my old 1982 license plate on the sled, and I have the original registration from back then.  I've put proper liability insurance in place on the machine.  That is going to have to be adequate for the little bit of trail riding that we are going to do.

Now that we are into the winter of 2020, and there is actually enough snow to ride around on, I have the old sled loaded up onto my trailer and it is ready to haul out to Nordegg.  Not sure exactly when I'll head out there next as the forecast is for some bitter cold temperatures the next little while.  But whenever I do manage to get out there next, I'll take the old snow machine with me and finally get it out for a spin...!