The next time a 1996 Arctic Cat ZR580 goes past you at 100mph with the skis dangling in the air, consider that it might be John Anderson’s sweet custom (and a bit more than 580cc).
That’s John doing the intro. When he isn’t working as Senior Technician in ATV Engineering at Arctic Cat, he’s working on all kinds of cool vintage and custom projects. Like the 4-cylinder ZR you see on the video.
With the help of his friend Kevin Hanson, Anderson mated two 530cc liquid twins, a feat which required three engine cases and three cranks. They also fabbed a custom stator and two ignitions to produce a 90-degree firing order (hence it’s wonderfully-sweet sound).
Hand-built pipes and silencers, plus custom 3-port exhaust completes the engine package, all of which Anderson was able to stuff into the ’96 ZR without chopping the hood.
Oh…and the tunnel is from a ZRT.
Anderson says the sled will dangle the skis for more than a quarter-mile, and well past 100 mph.
Nice work, John. (And thanks for the AI.com plug.)
4-cylinders!? Is it two 580 twins hooked together somehow?
Oh duh… clicked the video and didn’t see the rest of the article. 🙂
It sounds like a wild banshee! how much do you want for it?
Anybody who can do that, does not have cable T.V.
What a sweet sled! It’s qualities as a “sleeper” should not be underestimated either… I must have walked by it 3 or 4 times at the 50th celebration before I realized what I was looking at. It must be a blast to ride, and I really appreciate how natural that big monster of a motor looks in that chassis. Nice work and thanks for sharing!
Very cool sled but I beleive the hood is actually from a 1997 ZR, not a 1996.
That is beyond COOL!! I recently was able to see the El Tigre chassis that Scheele/Dimmerman put the 900 Thundercat triple in…..That was super cool as well….I’m thinking this one might be a little higher on the cool scale though! Regardless, both are truly some engineering feats! Kudo’s to these guys that can do more than dream about building something like this!
Yeah thats a 1997 ZR hood, and I would absolutely love to own this thing.
I love seeing talent like that going into ARCTIC CATS. wish that was my neighbor.