1997 Arctic Cat Zr440

I had a friend that bought this sled while we were in tech school for snowmobile repair. He slowly started modifying it and eventually collected parts to build a big bore for it. As long term projects often go, he had priorities elsewhere and it ended up sitting unfinished in his garage. Unfortunately he developed skin cancer which, a couple years later turned into a brain tumor. He lost his battle in 2008. When his wife was going through his stuff and asked family and friends if any keepsakes were wanted, my only request was to finish the sled for him. From there it could go to any family member wanted it. None did at the time so she signed it over to me and I bought home the chassis and boxes and boxes of parts. I finished it and started it for the first time on Christmas morning 2008 with more friends in the shop and his wife and 1 year old son on speaker phone. When the twin pipes quit singing, all we heard was his son on the phone yelling “VROOOM! VROOM! ” We all erupted in laughter and tears. Maybe one day it will go back to him if he has the interest, or to another family member if they request it, but it will always be one of my favorite sled builds.