I remember a King Kat poster at our Arctic Cat dealers shop when I was a kid. All i ever thought about was riding back then and I remember dreaming and wishing I could have a little time on one of those. Nice video. Love the vintage sleds from the 70's and early 80's.
My Dad owned a 290 and had a driver race it. A lot of races were with that sled! Along with the big brother 340! Years later the driver asked if I wanted some trophies. He had boxes full of them, many boxes! The 2 sleds were raced for only 2 years then they were given to the driver because our family moved.
This brought back memories of watching the races. They're off! King Kat pulls away from the group! Turns the first bend and "SNAP" there goes another belt! haha...love the sound of that engine, I grew up riding cats. Thanks for the vid brother!
This engine was custom built using two 440 Kawasaki 1975 Z mod top ends on a modified 800 four banger case from 1971, I think. I talked to the guy at this show way back when. Oddly enough my flapping mouth on a vintage site helped kick start this machine’s gestation. A bunch of us were chatting King Kats and the 800 Kawasaki four banger two stroke. It was only made one year and it’s a little underwhelming stock. Only 85hp in single plug skinny cylinders as uncrated. The stock carbs weren’t great and the stock pipes were brand new technology. The previous years most big Cat mods ran megaphones. Now as the 1971 race season progressed racers learned how to get the engine to the magic 100hp level, but we all felt the model was killed off before its time due to both rule changes and lack of development. So this night in this feverish chat room about three of us had a simultaneous brain fart: What if the screaming 1975 440 Z Mod top end had been developed for 1972 as an update to the KK? The Kawy Z was capable of 70 hp stock. So double that with two top ends on the 800 case or a custom mod case and stock it should be 140 hp. Even more would be possible with the factory mod kits for the 440. Well the owner of the Snow Rod here had a pile of 440 Z Kawasaki engine parts and he also knew where a basket case KK chassis was. 16 months of ass busting work later he hath created the monster here. Yes the engine has gobs of power that no 1971 open classer ever had. The clutching has been updated to modern standards because no vintage clutch will take that power. 880cc, eight spark plugs and four huge carbs and pipes. It’s a drag race symphony.
What a monster! Reminds me of the Kawasaki H1 500cc 2-stroke triple motorcycle -- way more motor than the chassis could safely handle. That's what makes all those machines in the mid-60s to early 70s so interesting!
My uncle had a Kaw 500. That thing was wicked. My dad put a 25 Hp JLO 2 stroke in my mini Cycle. Had the original clutch but it had the smaller torque converter however that mini cycle could go 80 miles an hour as soon as you punched it I raced my uncles 500 Kawasaki I could beat him up to 500 feet and then he would fly by me. That 500 Kawasaki was the first crotch rocket made a friend of mine bought it and he was pulled over by a cop and the cop said he was doing over 130 mph. True story
These sleds are pretty rare, back then racers could order a race sled to their specs and most of those sleds are a little different from each other unlike today's race sleds which are all the same depending on what class it is. My cousin had an 800 king kat triple, I think it was a '71. Wasn't as nice looking as this one but it had the megaphones and not the tuned pipes and it was RIDICULOUSLY loud. He also had a '70 793 triple with the pipes, both were gorgeous sleds and sounded absolutely incredible in person, they were so loud you had to have hearing protection on standing next to them. They were his grandfather's sleds originally, Heard lots of stories from his grandmother about the places they used to go riding at back in the day, she was a tiny thing and rode her 440 jag.
Sold my Dad's King Cat back in 2021 in the Estate Sale. Along with several hundred Other used Sleds. Accumulated during a 40 year Dealer for Arctic Cat, Yamaha, Kawasaki and John Deere.
For sure checking that the throttle, and cable are free to move both ways. If they are “frozen” you’ll know right away, however it may take a few actions to ensure the throttle, and carbs are free moving, especially free to,snap closed when you let go of the thumb throttle. Been many riderless sleds seen heading across the terrain at full speed, stuck throttle.
These things are pretty rare. Back when it was new did average people actually buy these and ride them with there buddies? Or was it like a limited amount made for special order? Like a snow pro sled
my dad had a 69 king cat 793 he raced and did extremely well with. our basement growing up had well over 100 trophies. in those days they made their own studs outta carriage bolts and he welded skate blades under the runners. very cool to see this machine.
beast. the secondary clutch looks to be from a ZR, with an aftermarket helix. what is the primary clutch setup? any race times or speeds? also, how is the ignition set up? since it was originally designed to only house an ignition setup for 2 cylinders. great job on mating the 2 engines! its not an easy task.
How do you figure? Anything that can be applied to make four strokes lighter can be applied to two strokes. It's just physics. 4 strokes will always be heavier, more complex and less poweful per cc.
You’re looking at at least 15k. Some guy had one of those and was offered 13k and turned it down. That was in 2005. Man I wish I had one. And many other Cat’s They are legend
Awesome machine. Does it really not have hood to cover the plugs and cylinders? I've seen a few different videos and I notice all are open. Looks sweet seeing all motor, but would think snow and elements would cause some issues? I'm probably over thinking it.
I want to put custom skii's/suspension/track on one of these to give it modern ground clearance and suspension travel, but keep the retro style and power.
I can’t imagine the excitement a person would have back in the day, buying an 800 king cat and taking it out for the first time after having ridden all the crap before it I mean, this sled still not perfect the 800 I mean 😅 I can see why their so sought after to this day crazy 1:33
So much YES in this video!..I've been forced to watch it several time's. Lol I just wish you could have blasted it across a lake, or field!...from Wyoming USA 🇺🇸 👋🤠
All I asked was what all the GAUGES for. Back in those days you were lucky to get a speedo & tach..... I remember when Polaris only had a red warning light for their liquid cooled sleds.
They look bad, and were the fastest free air 4 cylinder 800 ever built. IIRC, AMF also had a 4 cylinder JLO 800, built in VERY small numbers. BUT, the 793 Hirth triple King Kat was nearly as fast as the 4 banger Kat, with much greater reliability, and won a LOT of races. So the Hirth was actually the KING King Kat......
That is not a King Kat, It is a garage clone, very little original on it and it should be entered in shows as such. Most people have never seen a real King Kat if they think this is one. It is a nice sled but can not be judged as any kind of restored or original.
Thats exactly what I was thinking, if my info is correct, there are only 7 known to exist today and I know where 2 are. 1 is all chromed out and the other is all original, same owner!
Yep, the original king kat only had single plug heads and was a dedicated 800 Kawi motor, not 2 440s mated together...but it does also say open mod right on the sled, which means anything goes and likely nothing is original.
Snopro700 Can u tell me why it has so many gauges? Usually sleds (back then) just had a speedo & tach. Or temp gauge for liquid cooled sleds. This sled seems to have all the bells and whistles.
This sled is obviously modded for racing and my uncle has one so now u know where another one is upstate ny Cato to be exact he has about 15 of those old school sleds
