Goldielocks...'87 Yamaha Excel III from Burbank to Idaho Mountains

[TZR]

Well, once again I have stumbled on a wedge body Excel III 340. 

Thanks to Leisurexpress tipping me off to a local website here out west, I spotted this '87.  Now mind you, leaf spring sleds are really few and far between around here, and to find one of these is a true "needle in a haystack" situation !

I had sold my 1985 back in Sconny to a good friend, since I didnt have room when moving to bring it with.  That was the sled I rode 422 miles in a single day on.  This is the same sled, just 2 years newer, and........wait for it.......... 821 original miles !!!!   

It all starts out as usual with me.   I get near my birthday, and try and find a vintage sled to buy and resurect.  I was gettin allmost nowhere with a craigslist ad, when finally I locate 3 '77 Polaris's.  Requirements are it HAS to fit inside the minivan.  Only the Colt SS might have, unless I took ski's off on the Electra's.

I head out on the hunnert mile route into the sagebrush to see the Poo's after 3 attempts to call the guy with the Excel III .  He was a realtor and didnt return my calls.  As Im heading toward the Poo's, I give it one last shot to call him.  Bingo !  He answers ! 

15 minutes later I roll into his driveway.  He opens up the garage door to this awesome new 1200 square foot two level garage.  In the far corner, all alone sits Goldie covered in potato field dust.  We grab her by the ski loops and drag it into the middle of the garage.  A 1 minute walk around and I could tell this was a exceptional sled.  No cosmetic damage other than a chewed up snowflap and a smudged up windshield.

Seat is perfect, not a single dent anywhere, top or bottom.  Bellypan and side pod lowers are untouched.  Paint on running boards barely shows evidence of riders boots being on them.  Track and suspension are perfect, like new.

There is NO corrosion of any type anywhere, except for one battery terminal, and light surface rust on the ski runners and center.  Its as if it was kept in a low humidity storage unit........ which essentially it was.  Its very dry out here with far less than half the humidity of the midwest, and this sled has been garage kept its entire life.

Im gonna skip ahead a bit and post a few pics of how I haul em in the minivan, and will add to this thread as I feel inspired.

[Vintagesleds.com]

[Rupp luver]

Do you haul that loading ramp with you?

[TZR]

Yes, the ramp slips in right alongside the sled.  I wish I could make the ramp 6 inches wider for the ski spread on these, but then it wouldnt fit in the van height wise as well.

I used to travel to all the Wild Bill outlaw races with the 292 like this.  You have to be creative on where to pack all your gear.  I have been doing leafers in Dodge minivans for over a decade now.  The tough ones were the 1970 Merc Monster, and the '73 Evinrude Trailblazer !      

The early Phazers fit also, if you remove the fairing and windscreen !     These wedge Excel III's fit fine, except the last inch of windscreen height.  Fortunately the windscreen comes off in less than a minute with the rubber loop holders.  You just take it off as you go under the rear door lip.  The older generation of these Grand Caravans  ( mid 90's thru '99 ) have about 2 inches more height in door opening.  I was able to actually DRIVE the Excel III right up the ramp with the windscreen on in those style minivans ! 



Here's Goldie once she made it into the driveway.  Covered in dust, and in bad need of a good going through and detailing.

[TZR]

It dosnt rain much here.  A yearly total rainfall is around 8 inches total.  The agriculture is all huge walking irrigation.  This sled has been inside, but not covered.  So, the dust from the area, whipped up by regular windy days, has piled up on it.  At least it wasnt pigeon crap from a barn find ! 

And something I am not used to........NO MICE damage !     Actually no sign of mice at all.

I have never seen a belly pan this nice on one of these, nor ski's with original paint this nice.  Only worn paint and runners, which Im guessing are original on the bottoms.

[TZR]

More underside.  I still cant believe the bellypan !  Even the rivits on the side pods have no corrosion at all.

The suspension arms and shock bodys have no rust and are like new, just dusty and dirty.  A nice 50 mile ride in fresh snow should wash off the track and skid just fine.

[zuknomad]

Jeff, that is a sweetie. There is at least one of those Excel III's here on the island, but the one I know of for sure is in no way as nice as that one. Great score..., good price?

[TZR]

Yeah, Zuk , it sure is.  Likely my best leaf spring find ever.  Price was super fair, but I will say, sled prices out here are a solid 40 % more than upper midwest.....especially for anything older that is extra clean.  The only bargains are mountain sleds from mid 90's thru about 2008.  There is a '04 RMK 600 out there somewhere with my name on it next year.   



The story goes like this.  The grandpa of the guy I got it from bought it brand new in Burbank California.  They used it as a family vacation sled in Cali for a long time.  I think it was around 300 total miles when it came east to this guys Dad.  They rode it around here on and off for maybe a decade and ended up something  like 700 total miles then.  It then went to the son who put the remaining miles on it.  He has a new baby, and is quite busy as a very successful realtor.  So he can go to a dealer and buy a new sled with warrenty any time he wants.  He figured he would pass it along.  Little did he know the Excel III king had just moved to the area and was in DIRE need of finding a bulletproof lightweight sled to run in the wilderness mountain area. 

[TZR]

Engine compartment is super dusty.  But, looking past the dust is a unmolested stocker thats 100% like on the showroom floor.  Tool kit looks to have never been opened.  The exhaust hasnt even got a spot of rust.  Not even on the bottom of the can.  The Y-pipe hasnt even got rust ! 

There was no debris under the engine or bellypan side pods.  Just some grease and oil gook.  Cant tell if its 30 years of injector oil drips, or maybe from when they were in the chaincase when it was new. ......... Im seeing writeing on the inside of the hood from wayback......says 12 tooth sprocket.....no rivits  ( maybe meaning in the primary clutch weights ??) and a 130 main jet.   Possibly mountain tuneing for up in the high Sierra's of Cali.

[TZR]

Seat is as supple as it was brand new.  Very lucky to have one this nice, and even the Yamaha lettering isnt faded at all.  Amazing !

Underside of hood has perfect foam and should clean up to allmost be pristine.  Gonna need to research gearing and jetting to see what was stock.

[TZR]

The classic oil spooge on the right footwell area from sloppy filling the injector tank.

The exhaust cleaned up real good, no rust either top or bottom.  Original paint.

[TZR]

Well, gonna skip ahead and backtrack another day.........

Long story short, I went nutz and pulled a all nighter the other night.  Ended up with a running and mostly done sled.  Told my buddy I couldnt help him today, and went up mountain for the maiden voyage.

Went all the way up to Crystal Summit.  Its where the local club grooms, and its a mindblowing area as far as the eye can see in all directions.

I was one of 3 guys in the entire area on a 25 degree, full bluebird sunny epic day !!!   

I first ran around the huge parking lot and groomer building to see if anything was gonna zhitt out.  Nope, even jetting felt good.  Clutching seemed real good for the altitude too.

Wifey then climbed on and we rode two up for a mile or so.  Again, no issues and did fine.  The trails are kinda big gentle grades, with occasional 1/8 mile semi steep sections.  The little 340 just hummed its way up with both of us quite well.

I then switched to fresh Br9EYA plugs once I felt it had blown all the potato dust and cobwebs out good enough.  Jetting looked fine.

We then rode around the upper trail overlooking a thousand acre open play area below.  This is by far, the biggest, most user friendly powder play area I have EVER seen !!!     Even though it hasnt snowed much for a week, it isnt all tracked out by any means.

Unlimited rolling terrain with cornice jumps and all sorts of play features.  This will be epic in time to come !

Goldielocks did excellent, no issues at all, ran flawless.  What a way to start its adventures.

Here's a few pics, look far in the distance to see some of the play area's.  Its SO BIG, I can only capture a tiny fragment of whats all there on my dinky camera.

And yes, since wifey is now 70, I only make her do the unloading........ I do the loading !  Here's her tuggin the Goldielocks out......







Initial laps around the groomer shed.







Lookin north off the summit








Above one of the play areas.







Secondary ungroomed trail on the high ridge.







South face of the high ridge.  Amazing colored rocks, sage brush, and cedars.







Obligatory sun shot for a successful maiden outing !

[yamakid]

I almost moved to Pocatello last summer for work.

[TZR]

Kyle, ya shoulda !   

The adventure biking and sleddin is beyond compare.  Only downsides are not many lakes, except for resivours and rivers.  You need to be OK with Mormons too.  Not quite as intense as Salt Lake City, but strong never the less.  The beer selection is very good, unlike Utah .

The number of antique and vintage cars and trucks with no rot, is off da hook !!

[wayoutwest]

Good to see you enjoying and sharing what Idaho has to offer. I moved to Idaho in '88 and it was a great decision. If you want more trees, rivers and lakes head north to Cascade and McCall. It is a totally different terrain. Or go east to Island park for serious vertical powder. Home of the RMK.

[EricR]

Very nice, and thank you for the great pictures.   That ramp sure has outlived about a dozen mopar minivans!