Moto-Ski mirage 300

1970's-ish Moto-Ski Mirage 300 Twin

Xmas fun 2004

1977? or 1978?, I'll have to check this out...

But it's definitely a Moto-Ski Mirage 300, the motor is a Bombardier 294cc Twin. It's identical to one I have as a spare in a back field.

This unit was a $75.00 garage sale special... right-place, right-time, mid summer purchase.

After biding my time, it's going to be restored to it's former glory!!!

I'm starting to see a theme emerging here, whereby I'm starting to surround myself with all the vintage toys of my youth...

The beauty of this plan is that's happening at a fraction of the cost it would have been when these machines were new.

Whether consciously or not, it also seems that like the Bush buggy, I have a compliment of spare parts that should add to the longevity of these vehicles.

Above are from left to right, my brother-in-law, Dan, Dave Radke (a friend that knows these machines cold, and I definitely owe a few favours too), and my nephew, Steve a teenager that is willing to pass on an entire ski vacation if we can get this machine running... Dave was under some pretty intense pressure.

Within minutes Dave had run through a diagnostic process that pointed back to the carburetor and fuel pump assemblies. The carb was essentially gutted and set-back to factory condition after a good 30 min soak to dissolve years of varnish that lined the bowl and jets.

It was nice to watch someone else work for a change, and I learned lots as Dave took the time to explain to Steve every step, and even put him on some tasks to move things along faster.

Here the ignition system has been verified to function, once new plugs were installed.

Steve handled the fuel pump and lines while Dave did the carb. The picture on the right is of a smug kid that knows that he'll be pounding the crap out of this machine before the day is out.

As it turned out it was the next day, but the $75.00 sled, survived 4 consecutive days of Steve and my wife's other 15 yr old nephew, Bryce.

They had about 7 or 8 Km of trails that they broke and burned off 50 litres of fuel on.

The machine is still running great, so it should have no issues with an old guy like me...

If it lasts through to the spring, I'll re-enforce the metal framing, and re-paint it, replace the skis and the like.

Steve's Xmas gift was one of the cast alum plaques that didn't come out properly...

So a standard wood version was cut on the machine while we worked on the snow machine.

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