Monday, July 28, 2014

1973-74 BOMBARDIER LOSS

Press Release - June 1974 - Valcourt, Quebec - In the annual report released to shareholders, Bombardier was expected to report a loss of approximately $7 million for the fiscal year ending January 31, 1974.  That would compare with a profit of approximately $550,000.00 for the previous year.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

1982 JOHN DEERE TRAILFIRE LX

The 1982 John Deere Trailfire and Trailfire LX were designed for people who didn't particularly like to feel the trail, as a matter of fact, there were both almost perfectly balanced, with their weight evenly distributed from the front to the rear, so you could skip over bumps, instead of hitting them head on.
John Deere advertised that before you buy a snowmobile, weigh the competition.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

EUROPEAN UTILITY SLEDS

December 1987 - New utility snowmobiles from Arctic Cat and Ski-Doo had a distinctive foreign flavor. The Arctic Cat Lapp Jag is a utility sled that is produced in Thief River Falls, MN, for sale in Scandinavian countries.  It has a 340cc fan cooled twin cylinder engine and a 15 inch track.  To be used for reindeer-herding Lapps in Norway, Sweden and Finland.
   Ski-Doo's two workhorse sleds, The Nordik 50 and Nordik 60, will be produced in Finland for sale in North America.  The Nordik's were distinctive with their extra large tracks.  The Nordik 60 covers more ground than any other snowmobile and has a 496.7cc Rotax twin cylinder engine.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

MICHIGAN NO. 1 IN SNOWMOBILE REGISTRATIONS

October 1983 - Annandale, VA - Michigan continues to lead all states in snowmobile registrations, with nearly as many machines as the next two states - Minnesota and Wisconsin - put together.
   Michigan snowmobilers had 386,391 registered machines in 1982, according to a North American 'Snowmobile Registration Survey.
   The survey, taken by the International Snowmobile Industry Association, listed 1,415,031 registered machines in 30 North American states, and an additional 558,084 in the provinces of Canada.
   The numbers compiled do not reflect the unregistered snowmobiles currently in use throughout the snowbelt.
   In describing the total population of snowmobiles in use, ISA will use the estimates of 2,000,000 in the US, and 700,000 snowmobiles in Canada.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

OMC CARB TO CUT FUEL USE

February 1974 - Milwaukee - Outboard Marine Corporation has developed a new carburetor expected to effect dramatic fuel consumption reductions and has announced that it will offer its engineering and design specification records on the carburetor to any other snowmobile manufacturer.
  The carburetor, called the Fuelmiser, is expected to reduce fuel consumption by up to 58% in comparison to the same snowmobile engine equipped with a standard carburetor.
   The Fuelmiser's accelerator pump injects a small, carefully metered amount of gasoline into the air stream in the carburetor each time the throttle lever is depressed. Thus fuel enrichment occurs only as the engine accelerates from idle to a higher speed, rather continually even at idle , as with standard carburetors