The sound of that Suzuki firing up brought back memories of pure excitement from that era as a snowmobile loving kid at the time, you are living my dream with all those vintage machines. I don’t know whether to be happy seeing them or sad thinking they’re from 50 years ago now.
1975 Merc Snowtwister 440Fa was the fastest sled of 75 hands down. I love all the 70s performance sleds, that suzuki is cool and rare. Cool video nice toys.
A GPX or a Snow Twister would bury this sled. Also.....Dude, the El Tigre came out in 1973, NOT 1975. I know, because it was the 1st new sled I ever bought....
@milojanis4901 you are right and that had a kawasaki engine in it. It had the dual plug per cylinder. This was the first year that arctic started using suzuki engines and continued to.
The S/T was Merc's racing version and they were great on the oval however, according to Snow Goer magazine the fastest trail sled that year was the SnoJet 440 SST F/A followed closely by the Rupp Nitro 440 F/A. It would have been interesting to see how the Trail Twister compared to those sleds.
Friend of mine back then had a Suzuki motorcycle dealership, he had 4 of them 2 340s 2 440s he let my brother an i run them for a weekend, they ran great an we had a blast with them!
That sled brings back memories! My dad bought one brand new in Spring lake Mi. This sled was super fast and sounded awesome! It was not for trail blazing as the snow drift would hit the open heads and shut it down until it dried off. Nice video!
@@scottberry5266 I loved the Suzuki Spirit engine, I never had a second of problems with it, I ran mine @ 40:1 ratio and never changed the spark plugs the whole time I had it, I wish I'd never sold it.
Those are the sleds I grew up with when I was starting out in the sport,had a 76 El Tigre 440 ,bought it from the service tech at the cat dealer in 79piped clutched dual plugs on the heads,just a real nice sled,then went to triples in 96,luv them 2 strokes, that Polaris 340 was real nice back then as well,a buddy had that John deer and it was real good for back then
The Yamaha in that Class would be a GPS 433 and it would be really close to that Suzuki, the sled that would dominate both was the 440 sno jet thunder jet free air, It had the same engine as the Yamaha but was 100 pounds liter. Yamaha didn't build the SRX until 1976.
Hey, it’s a Suzuki; of course it fired right up! I’m a bike guy-I had no idea that Suzuki had dabbled with snow machines. I’m sure they were reliable..
@Curt-ge9gc that is incorrect. Prior to 75 they used kawasaki engines. The fury was the first "arctic cat" with a suzuki engine. Also the fury had twin pipes, higher compression and different ignition that was unique to the suzuki.
@ lol only if cat put that same engine in the el Tigre with the daul pipes from factory it woulda been the best factory racing sled a consumer could buy . An the next best sled for cat back then we’re the 74 jag and ext modles they were almost the same as the older eltigres free air modles . I could be wrong on the year but the older jags and ext modles had almost the same hoods as the older el Tigre’s.
I build a 75 jag 340 I had put in a 500cc free air engine did clutch work and that lil sled was pretty quick for what it was. Very light sled I wish I kept her and put more time into her but the snow up her in north east Ohio hasn’t been good in a long time .
Suzuki sleds were fast but far from the fastest in 75. The fastest production sled in 75 was the gpx 433 Yamaha and second was the polaris tx 440 twin pipe making 80hp I have one and a 500 limited. I can't remember who was 3rd. Snowgoer mag did a shoot out on all of the new machines in 75. I have the mag some place here. Now thee fasted sled bar none in 75 was the 650 and 800 triple polaris pdc. No one could touch them. I do have my old 650 on my channel if you want to hear that run. It's so loud and stupid fast. It's in a private collection at a polaris dealer in North Dakota now. To be honest I wish someone would come buy out my collection and parts. My channel and shop is so busy no time for sleds. Plus I hate cold these days.
@CKPowersports 80hp is a fact I have the paperwork and it almost sunk polaris too. They sold a ton of them and they broke chain cases and blew out tracks left and right. The warranty work was constant. In 76 the detuned wide body came out to save the company. They were dependable but total pooches. Don't get me wrong the fury was fast and the vintage racers love them. If you look at that motor and the twin plug cat 440 they are the same. I was 15 when all these muscle sleds came out and saw them all. Road several then too. My dad was tight with most of the sled dealers. Lucky me right lol I forgot to add the the race 650 made 160hp. Mine made 155hp at the track on a track dyno. My last drag sled a 860cc storm motor made 275 at the track. I sold it several years ago. I ran 125mph in a 1000ft. Figured if I kept racing it it would kill me lol. Your fury is a very cool survivor.
@milojanis4901 we are all wrong lol on fastest sled. This is a quote off vintage sleds. Not sure about mercs and have no facts yet. I am a vintage merc outboard guy but never had a merc sled lol. Here is the quote. I have a copy of the "1975 Snow Goer Racing Annual" magazine. They tested the following 8 performance sleds for the '75 model year,.....including the Arctic Cat El Tigre 440, the Moto-Ski TS 440, Polaris TX 440, the Rupp Nitro F/A 440, Scorpion Brut 440, Ski-Doo TNT 440 FA, the Sno-Jet SST 440 FA and the Yamaha GPX 433. The GPX and the Sno-Jet were the fastest in 1/4 mile,.....with both sleds hitting 68 mph. The Polaris TX was 3rd at 66 mph,....the El Tigre 4th with a 65 mph run. The Scorpion Brut was the slowest of the 8 test sleds with a 56 mph pass. They GPX and the Sno-Jet also recorded the quickest 1/8 mile times in the acceleration test.
I bought one of those brand new. Called it my upside down suzuki, cleated track loved to spin put side ways. I see yours has the tell tale bends in both sides and the webbing in the hood from being rolled. Mine burnt with 25 miles on it that just removed a bunch of weight wiring hareness a bunch of grills headlights etc. was even faster. Won some races with it and someone with more money than I had offered me more than I paid for it, still miss it all I got left is a new throttle cable their not the same as artic cats.
@JD-sr3ie this is how that all started. They made them for a few years in the 70s. They were never high performance ones though. They were pretty cool looking.
@CKPowersports I had a 1975 JAG. It was almost identical. The sliders looked like a dog sled the way it was built. The track ran along the top side as well. It only had about 3 inches of travel. I believe that in 76 or 77 the sliders went to the modern design similar to the new machines we have now.
Love the fury Suzuki made some of the better engines. That sled was a beast in 75 it beat anything in 76 too! Was simply a well put together sled but that sled was not for the unadventurous
There really is no debate. The 1975 and 1976 Twisters were so powerful, light, and far ahead of their time....They were made only for all out racing. So powerful and lightweight that they were still winning stock classes into the late 1980s (yes, the nineteen eighties).
@armchairrambo269 a 75 scorpion whip 440 was 40 hp. These are 60 stock... later 440 liquid cooled engines were much more. My 9500 blizzard 440 is like 90 hp
The sound of that Suzuki firing up brought back memories of pure excitement from that era as a snowmobile loving kid at the time, you are living my dream with all those vintage machines. I don’t know whether to be happy seeing them or sad thinking they’re from 50 years ago now.
I definitely have a soft spot for all vintage snowmobiles.
1975 Merc Snowtwister 440Fa was the fastest sled of 75 hands down. I love all the 70s performance sleds, that suzuki is cool and rare. Cool video nice toys.
@@wildrosegarage4208 that would definitely be a cool one to have as well.
@CKPowersports The free air 440merc sno twisters were a honest 75h.p. and 315lbs. I love all that old stuff. You have a great collection and channel.
A GPX or a Snow Twister would bury this sled. Also.....Dude, the El Tigre came out in 1973, NOT 1975. I know, because it was the 1st new sled I ever bought....
@milojanis4901 you are right and that had a kawasaki engine in it. It had the dual plug per cylinder. This was the first year that arctic started using suzuki engines and continued to.
The S/T was Merc's racing version and they were great on the oval however, according to Snow Goer magazine the fastest trail sled that year was the SnoJet 440 SST F/A followed closely by the Rupp Nitro 440 F/A. It would have been interesting to see how the Trail Twister compared to those sleds.
1975 was an amazing year for snowmobiles.
If you want fast and light find a mercury trail twister 440/TT
Ridiculously fun and fast.
Friend of mine back then had a Suzuki motorcycle dealership, he had 4 of them 2 340s 2 440s he let my brother an i run them for a weekend, they ran great an we had a blast with them!
That sled brings back memories! My dad bought one brand new in Spring lake Mi. This sled was super fast and sounded awesome! It was not for trail blazing as the snow drift would hit the open heads and shut it down until it dried off. Nice video!
I've noticed that as well when going in drifts.
That Suzuki was a rebadged Arctic Cat El' Tigre' .
@tomchrisfield7348 it was more of a proving ground for Suzuki engines. This is why arctic switched to suzuki after 75.
The fury would walk the el Tigre. I had a 75 fury and it was fast for the time.
@@scottberry5266 I loved the Suzuki Spirit engine, I never had a second of problems with it, I ran mine @ 40:1 ratio and never changed the spark plugs the whole time I had it, I wish I'd never sold it.
@ : I hear ya. I miss the fury and I also had a brut 440 triple that was a 75 also I believe. 2 odd ball sleds that you’ll probably never find again.
Didn't Sno Jet run with Suzuki engines?
Very nice collection 👌
Thanks a lot
Chaparral SSX 440 was a kick ass fast one too!
I bet so
Never been on a snow mobile but they always looked like fun
@@exlonghauler it's like a street bike for the snow. They are very fast.
Good video! You should definitely get a few more of those sleds running
Thanks. That's definitely the plan.
You know I love those sparkles! 😍
My uncle blew away alot of snowtristers with his rupp nitro free air. And if memory serves well, they were the fastest in the snowgowers reports.
Did he ever race a fury though?
Yes he did, and beat them.
1975 440lc rupp? I owned one, maybe it was a 1976. It was so long ago i cant remember.
A liquid cooled would definitely be faster. For a free air motor it's very fast but it doesn't touch any of my liquid cooled sleds.
That blizzard ❤
@@IowaBudgetRCBashers which one?
Back in the day, I had a 1980 John Deere liquifire 440! ( Kawasaki TC 440A ) loved that thing
@@slickjimmy76 i just got mine fired up today. Stay tuned for that video.
brings back memories
My old gpx 433 would not even break a sweat
Want to see the 9500 Blizzard run. 👍🇨🇦
Those are the sleds I grew up with when I was starting out in the sport,had a 76 El Tigre 440 ,bought it from the service tech at the cat dealer in 79piped clutched dual plugs on the heads,just a real nice sled,then went to triples in 96,luv them 2 strokes, that Polaris 340 was real nice back then as well,a buddy had that John deer and it was real good for back then
@lcurtsinger4313 I'm definitely a fan of all the old ones too. Especially all the muscle sleds.
I had a snowtwister, never beat!!
@@geneheath3430 did you race a fury?
That thing sounds awesome.... NICE....
@McCullochMac6 i wish we had some snow right now though.
Id love to see those ski doos off the shelf and running. Maybe a brief history lesson on them too?
I'll definitely do a video on those too. Follow along.
This looks just like an El Tigre’
I am 49 years old my first snowmobile was colt 175 then got a jag 340 then a ss 440 Yamaha 81 started riding at 7 years old good times
I've got an 81 Jag 4000 fan cooled. Great sled. And rare.
We need snow to test it out this year!
@@Darkknight450R I'm running out of patience for snow
Never had the chance!
Sweet sled! 🙂
Where do you get belt parts and pulleys. I have a 340 pony needs belt parts. Runs great.
@Lowell-o7w check on denniskirk.com I've always had good luck getting parts on there for vintage stuff.
Cool Suzuki 440 you mentioned it was the fastest 440. Did Yamaha have a srx at that time I know they did in 1977 they were light and fast.
@74stevedc i think there was a few sleds that were debated on being the fastest. The srx 440 free air was definitely one of them.
76 was the 1st year for the SRX.
@@Redlinesixtynine Like all those old 70's sleds remember those being quick
The Yamaha in that Class would be a GPS 433 and it would be really close to that Suzuki, the sled that would dominate both was the 440 sno jet thunder jet free air, It had the same engine as the Yamaha but was 100 pounds liter. Yamaha didn't build the SRX until 1976.
My 1st sled was a 1979 ski doo blizzard 9500 plus . Get it out and fire it up 👍 nice collection
That's probably my favorite one. My first sled was a 1980 moto ski grand prix special. Which was identical to a 5500 blizzard.
I have never seen one! My uncle had a 76 Arctic cat El tigre. I believe basically the same sled!
Very cool! Start them all up!
@@DaleTerry they are very similar
How would you like to have a 1980 Everest LC Electro 500 it had 64 miles on it when i got it around 200 now.
@greatbasingoldrush i do love ski doo, i have multiple blizzards. I've never had an everest though.
Liquifire’s rule
Gave you a sub from Upstate New York
@@Ned-p1y i appreciate that
Hey, it’s a Suzuki; of course it fired right up!
I’m a bike guy-I had no idea that Suzuki had dabbled with snow machines. I’m sure they were reliable..
@oldschoolmotorsickle yeah, they made them for like 5 or 6 years in the 70s and then became the engine supplier for arctic cat after that.
Just alil comment love bub
Frm chi
Are those carbs feeding the cylinders or cases??
basically an Artic Cat
Only better
That thing is nearly identical to my 1973 340 cheetah.. only a different color. Very cool.
A 50 year old nice looking sled!!
@@mike.4277 it's hard to believe it's actually that old now
How does it compare to the 75 pantera? Looks fairly similar.
Not totally sure. I think the Pantera was more of a luxury sled.
The fury is awesome
@@IowaBudgetRCBashers if only we had some snow
There is a man by my home has a original diesel snowmobile
I had a 76 el tigre almost identical machine, didn’t know Suzuki even made a snow machine, ski doo 400 F/A was a bit faster than mine that year
Suzuki Sleds were built by Arctic Cat
Do you still have the 3 wheeler for sale?
@@landemorse7084 yes I do
That Suzuki Fury is an Arctic Cat El Tigre' wrapped up in Suzuki Graphics.
@@Curt-ge9gc plus a better engine
@CKPowersports Arctic Cat was Using Suzuki engines in 1975. It's basically the Same Sled in a Different Colr Wrapper.
@Curt-ge9gc that is incorrect. Prior to 75 they used kawasaki engines. The fury was the first "arctic cat" with a suzuki engine. Also the fury had twin pipes, higher compression and different ignition that was unique to the suzuki.
Got AC wrote all over it ! - Pretty Cool Tho
@@DarrenShaw-ev5tb oh yeah. It's like all cat other than the motor.
@@CKPowersports Did not Zuki supply AC power for years ?
@DarrenShaw-ev5tb before 75 they used kawasaki engines. After 75 it was suzuki for a very long time
@@CKPowersports Thanx Dude ! - Gunna sub now ! Wanna see sum Deere content !!
I think I'll get that one down this week@@DarrenShaw-ev5tb
I want to see the invader. I had 2 that I made one rocker ship. Thing was scary fast!
@@mike.4277 stay tuned. I'll get it down this week.
@CKPowersports thanks 👍
Like to see Suzuki buy cat and make sleds again with there engines like back in the day
@@KarenWesneski i hope somebody does. I think the rumor is cf moto might...
Them 440 Suzuki fury. We’re the same as the el Tigre
@Stuckin330 only the chassis. The Motor Was unique to suzuki in 75.
@ lol only if cat put that same engine in the el Tigre with the daul pipes from factory it woulda been the best factory racing sled a consumer could buy . An the next best sled for cat back then we’re the 74 jag and ext modles they were almost the same as the older eltigres free air modles . I could be wrong on the year but the older jags and ext modles had almost the same hoods as the older el Tigre’s.
I build a 75 jag 340 I had put in a 500cc free air engine did clutch work and that lil sled was pretty quick for what it was. Very light sled I wish I kept her and put more time into her but the snow up her in north east Ohio hasn’t been good in a long time .
I can smell it from here! Yee Haw!😂
@daniellang6112 nothing better than some 2 stroke smoke
Suzuki sleds were fast but far from the fastest in 75. The fastest production sled in 75 was the gpx 433 Yamaha and second was the polaris tx 440 twin pipe making 80hp I have one and a 500 limited. I can't remember who was 3rd. Snowgoer mag did a shoot out on all of the new machines in 75. I have the mag some place here. Now thee fasted sled bar none in 75 was the 650 and 800 triple polaris pdc. No one could touch them. I do have my old 650 on my channel if you want to hear that run. It's so loud and stupid fast. It's in a private collection at a polaris dealer in North Dakota now. To be honest I wish someone would come buy out my collection and parts. My channel and shop is so busy no time for sleds. Plus I hate cold these days.
Would those have been more true race sleds? 80 hp seem very extreme for a 440 free air. The fury was rated at 60 hp.
@CKPowersports 80hp is a fact I have the paperwork and it almost sunk polaris too. They sold a ton of them and they broke chain cases and blew out tracks left and right. The warranty work was constant. In 76 the detuned wide body came out to save the company. They were dependable but total pooches. Don't get me wrong the fury was fast and the vintage racers love them. If you look at that motor and the twin plug cat 440 they are the same. I was 15 when all these muscle sleds came out and saw them all. Road several then too. My dad was tight with most of the sled dealers. Lucky me right lol I forgot to add the the race 650 made 160hp. Mine made 155hp at the track on a track dyno. My last drag sled a 860cc storm motor made 275 at the track. I sold it several years ago. I ran 125mph in a 1000ft. Figured if I kept racing it it would kill me lol. Your fury is a very cool survivor.
No. Fastest sled in 1975 was the Merc Sno Twister. Over 70hp and only 315lbs.....
@milojanis4901 we are all wrong lol on fastest sled. This is a quote off vintage sleds. Not sure about mercs and have no facts yet. I am a vintage merc outboard guy but never had a merc sled lol. Here is the quote. I have a copy of the "1975 Snow Goer Racing Annual" magazine. They tested the following 8 performance sleds for the '75 model year,.....including the Arctic Cat El Tigre 440, the Moto-Ski TS 440, Polaris TX 440, the Rupp Nitro F/A 440, Scorpion Brut 440, Ski-Doo TNT 440 FA, the Sno-Jet SST 440 FA and the Yamaha GPX 433. The GPX and the Sno-Jet were the fastest in 1/4 mile,.....with both sleds hitting 68 mph. The Polaris TX was 3rd at 66 mph,....the El Tigre 4th with a 65 mph run. The Scorpion Brut was the slowest of the 8 test sleds with a 56 mph pass. They GPX and the Sno-Jet also recorded the quickest 1/8 mile times in the acceleration test.
My 1995 Arctic Cat had a 580 Suzuki motor in it.
Yes it did. This started the suzuki partnership with cat.
I bought one of those brand new. Called it my upside down suzuki, cleated track loved to spin put side ways. I see yours has the tell tale bends in both sides and the webbing in the hood from being rolled. Mine burnt with 25 miles on it that just removed a bunch of weight wiring hareness a bunch of grills headlights etc. was even faster. Won some races with it and someone with more money than I had offered me more than I paid for it, still miss it all I got left is a new throttle cable their not the same as artic cats.
Sounds like you need to find another one to keep.
I can say this in all honesty, only a candy ass would be scared of a Scorpion whip. That sled was not that fast, or scary.
The suspension was probably scary on it.
I didn't know Suzuki made snowmobiles, I thought there only involvement with snowmobiles was making engine's for articat
@JD-sr3ie this is how that all started. They made them for a few years in the 70s. They were never high performance ones though. They were pretty cool looking.
That thing is almost the exact same thing as a 440 Jag . Even the gas tank and the seat
There are some similarities
@CKPowersports I had a 1975 JAG. It was almost identical. The sliders looked like a dog sled the way it was built. The track ran along the top side as well. It only had about 3 inches of travel. I believe that in 76 or 77 the sliders went to the modern design similar to the new machines we have now.
John Deere, looks like a John deer I had.
John Deere sleds in the Later years were built by Kawasaki.
El Tee Grey :)
wish i kept my 72 290 EXT and later 75 340 fa snowjet with yamaha motor
I would like to see the Kawasaki Invader and the John Deere go head to head
If we had some snow I'd definitely do it. I'd put my money on the kawasaki. It seems to get better traction.
Scorpion
Get your self some moto-skis
My First snowmobile was an 1980 moto ski grand prix special. I still have it too.
deere
@jeffbeimers i definitely need to get that one down and started up again
Love the fury Suzuki made some of the better engines. That sled was a beast in 75 it beat anything in 76 too! Was simply a well put together sled but that sled was not for the unadventurous
@@blackwidowsm i was definitely impressed with it the first time i ran it.
A 1976 Twister or SRX would annihilate this thing. Gimme a break.
@@milojanis4901 i think the engineers of all these sleds would be happy to know it's still being debated in 50 years later...
There really is no debate. The 1975 and 1976 Twisters were so powerful, light, and far ahead of their time....They were made only for all out racing. So powerful and lightweight that they were still winning stock classes into the late 1980s (yes, the nineteen eighties).
BTW, I never owned one, and never liked Mercury sleds. Until they made these. But I never owned one....
Nope faster sled of that time a scorpion whip 440 scared the shit out of me only other sled that scared me was a 98 thundercat
@armchairrambo269 a 75 scorpion whip 440 was 40 hp. These are 60 stock... later 440 liquid cooled engines were much more. My 9500 blizzard 440 is like 90 hp
@CKPowersports never got got to drive one so I got to go by my hands on experience
And what I seen with my eyeballs lol
@CKPowersports and plus let's all agree that none of theses sleds could go in very deep snow I was always stuck unless on a lake or gravel road lol
@armchairrambo269 absolutely. They are definitely designed for the trails and lakes.