On December of 2012, I got a call from Lonn Peterson of Thunder Products in Richmond, Minnesota. For those of you who don't know of Lonn or Thunder Products, let me just say he is just the smartest guy when it comes to building innovative products to optimize carburetor air flow and jetting for summer and winter sport vehicles. He is also a whiz at snowmobile clutching and has developed driven and drive products in that area as well. Check out his site if you are having any carburetion or clutching dilemmas.
Lonn knew I was into custom race styled hoods for vintage sleds and he said "why don't you make a custom hood for the Phazer?" His thought whizzed right by my head because I'm not really a Yamaha sled guy. I kinda lean Polaris and Ski-Doo. He said "you know that the Phazer is the industry's largest selling model of all time". I didn't, I thought it was the Indy. That increases the viability of any new product for an old sled.
I piddled with some drawings and kind of let it slide. In March I was picking up a motorcycle (my Storm) from Sam Niskanen, my favorite know-it-all mechanic friend. Sam had Phazer II outside his door which he offered to sell me. I did...now I'm getting' all cranked up about Lonn's idea.
Here are my ideas thus far. The Phazer is a pretty good looking snowmobile and I am resistant to altering its unique look. I wanted a cheap make-over kit which makes the sled look different but keeps the cost as low as possible. So I am building a race styled hood attachment that bolts on the hood with six screws. For those who wish a headlight, I will be experimenting with one that shoots through the nose scoop. As I continue through this process, I will send out more progress reports-if you’d like to be on the mailing list, write phil@phillittleracing.com and say “I want to be on the Phazer list.” If you want to see the progress reports to date – just ask for them.