Over 5 years since the last post. I'm happy to say that in that time the ZR 600 is still going strong - 1500 miles plus on that engine! Only issue was a hose leak at the oil pump. I swapped that out, no issue since with the engine.
But, the chassis, that's another story, all the shocks need a rebuild. At this point I don't think I am going to do it, we're in the market for a 2-up sled so I think I will either sell ZR outright, or trade it in towards another sled.
December 14th and I was just outside, 6am, in a t-shirt! Rainy but 61 degrees! Figures, have the Arctic Cat done and no snow!
Brief background: original 1998 Arctic Cat Zr 600 efi motor blew mag side bearings and took lower end with it. Bought a supposedly 98 efi motor from a dealer that only had 1k miles on it. Turns out it was a carb motor. Here is what I had to do to make it work as an efi.
1. Remove impulse line and fitting from crankcase. Replace with plug bolt and washer from dealer.
2. Remove carb boots and replace with throttle body boots.
3. Replace cylinder head with one from efi because an efi motor has a coolant hose that runs from the throttle body to the head, carbs do not.
4. Replace carb stator with efi stator.
That's it, in a nutshell. In my case it helped I still had most of my efi parts needed.
I should mention that since there was oil pump work performed I mixed up a couple of gallons of 50:1 mix to run on. I'd the oil tank level goes down then I should be good to go after that
We were fortunate here in mid-michigan to get about 8 inches of snow on Saturday. I was even more fortunate to take the ZR out for a ride! It ran great, from low speed to almost full throttle. No engine issues at all. There is a noticeable squeak from the track so I need to check that out, but if that's all that's wrong I'll take it!
