I bought several new ones and owned 13 or 14 back then, only 1 Intercepter, but lots of Invaders and LTD's, & 1 1978 Intriuger 440.

 

i like kawi's... wish they would consider doing the winter thing again....

 

I bought several new ones and owned 13 or 14 back then, only 1 Intercepter, but lots of Invaders and LTD's, & 1 1978 Intriuger 440.[/b]

Do you have Pics you can post????

 

Do you have Pics you can post????[/b]

I could scan some. Here's 1 from 1980.

 

78 Intruder 440 was my first sled. still have it. dont ride it anymore tho. I didnt stick with the stock looks. painted it red, gave it flames and some other decals. My friends used to call it "the shovel head" i still like how it handled. If anyones interested its for sale.
[attachment=577040:intr02.jpg]

 

How about the Shark... there was an article by Larry Preston about 5 years ago in his search to find them. It's an interesting read if you haven't already done so.

http://www.vintagesleds.com/features/2004/sharkhunting/

 

I bought several new ones and owned 13 or 14 back then, only 1 Intercepter, but lots of Invaders and LTD's, & 1 1978 Intriuger 440.[/b]

one of the bigger kawi dealers in iowa was just 2miles away so we got to drive everything from sst's to intercepters.the kaws were probably were probably some of the first truley dependable sleds,you could put over 100 miles in one day,and have a pretty good chance of making it home.!!!!!!!!!i myself have 4 invaders right now and i think i have a drifter spoken for,back in the day i had two invaders and a drifter.a friend of mine right now has 3 drifters an intruder,invader,and possibly an sst.ahh.....the memories

 

Nice pics to all who posted them. Friend of mine also had an Invader and man that thing would fly. Parts for these must be impossible to come by I bet.

 

Allways been a Kawi guy at heart. Go to Kawasakitrax.com for good Kawi info. Here's one of the first clones of that Shark. Great looking sled in person.

 

Allways been a Kawi guy at heart. Go to Kawasakitrax.com for good Kawi info. Here's one of the first clones of that Shark. Great looking sled in person.

[/b]

Wow that is an awesome looking sled. Looks like it would give any sled a run for its money.

 

Great website too!!! Thanks.

 

Here's the actual motor from the above shark. Some motor parts, if not ,were original Sno Pro parts form 77-78.

 

IFS Shark

 

Here's a wild custom Shark. Yes the motor does run. I've heard it.

 

Neat article. About the only "great" thing I remember about the Interceptor was that it had accelerator pumps on the carbs. Made for a little quicker acceleration. Other than that I don't know that it was any more "ahead of its time" than any other sled. I remember the tracks on the early Kaw's flying apart. That was always scary.

 

Neat article. About the only "great" thing I remember about the Interceptor was that it had accelerator pumps on the carbs. Made for a little quicker acceleration. Other than that I don't know that it was any more "ahead of its time" than any other sled. I remember the tracks on the early Kaw's flying apart. That was always scary.[/b]

Gas and oil sightgauges, sidemounted motors, chaincase oil sightgauge, self adjusting chain, Radiator and heat exchangers, popup headlight, econo-jet carbs, ( Invaders), oilpump/waterpump lube sightgauge, CDI ignition, 2-1/2 quart oil capacity, 8-1/2 gallon gas tank. 390 LB. weight, (Invaders), (440 LBS. Intercepter), front and rear storage, heat treated aluminum chassis, fully adjustable sliderail suspension. They were way ahead of their time.

 

Gas and oil sightgauges, sidemounted motors, chaincase oil sightgauge, self adjusting chain, Radiator and heat exchangers, popup headlight, econo-jet carbs, ( Invaders), oilpump/waterpump lube sightgauge, CDI ignition, 2-1/2 quart oil capacity, 8-1/2 gallon gas tank. 390 LB. weight, (Invaders), (440 LBS. Intercepter), front and rear storage, heat treated aluminum chassis, fully adjustable sliderail suspension. They were way ahead of their time.[/b]

Yup they sure were. If they were still around today I don't anything would come close to them. Its really too bad.

 

Gas and oil sightgauges, sidemounted motors, chaincase oil sightgauge, self adjusting chain, Radiator and heat exchangers, popup headlight, econo-jet carbs, ( Invaders), oilpump/waterpump lube sightgauge, CDI ignition, 2-1/2 quart oil capacity, 8-1/2 gallon gas tank. 390 LB. weight, (Invaders), (440 LBS. Intercepter), front and rear storage, heat treated aluminum chassis, fully adjustable sliderail suspension. They were way ahead of their time.[/b]

I'm not sure they were way ahead of their time as most all the things listed here had been done by others at one point or another. They DID have nice looking sleds in a nice package that put it all together well -- but not without their problems either. I remember the 78 Invaders would wear a hole through the hood with the secondary clutch. Still, nice sleds for their day.

 

I'm not sure they were way ahead of their time as most all the things listed here had been done by others at one point or another. They DID have nice looking sleds in a nice package that put it all together well -- but not without their problems either. I remember the 78 Invaders would wear a hole through the hood with the secondary clutch. Still, nice sleds for their day.[/b]

Geezz, I had 2 brand new 78's, why would that be? Mine never did that. They had clutch guards like all other sleds, in fact I had a nitrous bottle mounted on the guard. If hood contact was made on the side, then someone had the clutch offset shimmed wrong.

 

Geezz, I had 2 brand new 78's, why would that be? Mine never did that. They had clutch guards like all other sleds, in fact I had a nitrous bottle mounted on the guard. If hood contact was made on the side, then someone had the clutch offset shimmed wrong.[/b]

Actually it was a known problem that Kawi made changes to for the 79 models. They were in there pretty close. In any case, I didn't mean to bash the sleds as they were pretty cool for their day.

 

Gas and oil sightgauges, sidemounted motors, chaincase oil sightgauge, self adjusting chain, Radiator and heat exchangers, popup headlight, econo-jet carbs, ( Invaders), oilpump/waterpump lube sightgauge, CDI ignition, 2-1/2 quart oil capacity, 8-1/2 gallon gas tank. 390 LB. weight, (Invaders), (440 LBS. Intercepter), front and rear storage, heat treated aluminum chassis, fully adjustable sliderail suspension. They were way ahead of their time.[/b]

CDI wasn't way ahead of its time in 80, I've got a 80 Jag with CDI. Having clear sightgauges doesnt seem very revelutionary....I truly respect you XCR1250 but Kawi wasn't really blowing anybody too far out of the water in 1980.

Kawi did a nice job in certain areas but hey, they ain't maken sleds today

 

I'm not sure they were way ahead of their time as most all the things listed here had been done by others at one point or another. They DID have nice looking sleds in a nice package that put it all together well -- but not without their problems either. I remember the 78 Invaders would wear a hole through the hood with the secondary clutch. Still, nice sleds for their day.[/b]

yea they had their problems,the early suspensions were kinda weak.a neighbor kid and i made some pretty good coin welding the rear shock bracket for the tunnel suspension back on,and fixing holes in skis because the guys weren,t watching their wearbars,and the drifters if you rode them hard,would break the front end up.

 

CDI wasn't way ahead of its time in 80, I've got a 80 Jag with CDI. Having clear sightgauges doesnt seem very revelutionary....I truly respect you XCR1250 but Kawi wasn't really blowing anybody too far out of the water in 1980.

Kawi did a nice job in certain areas but hey, they ain't maken sleds today[/b]

It was actually summer of 1977 they came out with their own sled, they bought Sno-Jet a year earlier. I was in the mood for new sleds in 1977, I looked at all major brands and concluded Kawasaki was the one which had the best sled and amenities for the model year, I ended up buying new ones every year through 1982, keeping the previous years for my oldest daughter and wife to drive, eventually having 5 of them at one time.

 

CDI wasn't way ahead of its time in 80, I've got a 80 Jag with CDI. Having clear sightgauges doesnt seem very revelutionary....I truly respect you XCR1250 but Kawi wasn't really blowing anybody too far out of the water in 1980.

Kawi did a nice job in certain areas but hey, they ain't maken sleds today[/b]

lactually the fuel and oil sight gauges were pretty revolutionary,kaw just had it patented and nobody else could touch it.and when the vari ride came out it probably the best suspension for the time.

 

I owned a '82 550 Interceptor back in the day.....traded my '78 440 Invader & some $$$ for it. Fantastic sled! The features I remember were the fuel squirter Keihn carbs, the track being reversed from the factory (better hookup/holeshots) and a great weight transfering rear suspension that would pull the ski's forever (or so it seemed at the time !

I wrenched at a local Arctic Cat dealer in the early to mid 80's. My buddy/mechanic & I would race new 6000 El Tigre's against the Interceptor. Only lost one race all winter to a 6000. Ran several radar run's (ice) with it.....best mph was 99. In '83 Polaris came out with the Indy 600 and those properly set up would do 101-102 mph....the Interceptor could not quite catch them!

Ended up selling the sled through an ad in Snow Week to a guy from Pennsylvania. He drove straight thru from Pa to Minn and back again in a delivery van. He was a carpet installer. Hope he enjoyed the sled as much as me!

Ah....the memories. :yes:

JMY