1979 Kawasaki Invader 440

Ted

Ted

Vmax-4 Collector
Has anyone ever owned one of these? I just put a deposit on one that has been sitting for years but is real clean for its age. Apx 1800 miles on odo. I did a compression check and results were 124,135. Gave $200, with another $150 due if it runs with no major problems. Waste of money or not?
 

I drove one for a few years when younger, It was pretty quick, had crank seal issues but were not hard to change , and mine had cdi issues a couple of time, (but I was buying used ones)
 
Yes I have owned a few of them aswell as the John Deere Liquifires. Still have my Liquifire. They are a pretty hot little sled, but DON,T even think of running that sled without resealing a 30 plus year old motor. Crank seals go hard and suck air aswell as the carb flanges. Natorious problem on these old blisters and you will burn her down. Winderosa complete gasket and seal kits still avail. and only like $35. Clean those power jet carbs really good, and when you think you have them clean, do them again. They are as bitchy as a woman coming up on her time of the month. One day the sled will perform excellent, next day weather change will give her a whole different attitude. They run best in good cold weather...Rob.
 
I liked the Kawi engine of that era both liquid and air cooled but as others said don't even try to run it without seals/gaskets and a good checking over of the engine's internals. Those Invaders had Power Jet carbs very similar to the ones Yamaha used back then and are prone to the same lean WOT issues if not run with the air box.

I have nothing good to say about the rest of the sled. Heavy, clumsy, seats like concrete, a bitch to work on and clutches are only worth their weight in aluminum breakage. The JD sleds of that era that used the same Kawi engines were much better machines in my op.

Neither held a candle to equal Yamaha's.

opsled
 
Its funny as I think about it, guys back then spent hundreds of dollars modifying their sleds to what these sleds were already doing right out of the crate back in the day eh Phil!? They were a pretty impressive number for a 440cc and still are like any other performance sled when set up properly. 80 plus mile an hour with crappy suspension and leaf spring skis was a pretty hairy ride. If you could ride one of these sleds for a day with the suspension they had, you were a man!! lol. Kawasaki built their engines for their own sleds, and John Deere at the time, and gave theirs a little hotter timing, piston, head, and slight porting change, to give the Invader a little competetive edge over the Liquifire, but by far the Liquifire was a better looking sled. Also Deere was more concirned about reliability when it came to sales to the general public and market share...Rob.
 
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