I am new to snow machines and looking at buying a new 2004 ZR 120 for my 10 year old son. He is not big and weighs only about 65 lbs. My experienced neighbor recommends the ZR 120 but feels that my son would be disappointed with the machine if the governor is not removed.

The local Arctic Cat dealer feels that the ZR 120 will fit my son fine for the next couple of years and agrees that the governor should be disabled. The dealer also says that the machine will probably be able to do at least 20 mph with the governor disabled. I spoke with the dealers mechanic who says that there is a gear in the crankcase that needs to be either removed or replaced. The dealers charge for removing/disabling the governor is $150.00. This price seems reasonable to me so long as the job includes removing or replacing a gear in the crankcase. Would you share with me your experience and opinions on this subject? Thank you.

P.S.
If my son enjoys the world of snowmachines, then I'll be looking for guidance to buy one for me. :christmas:

sounds a bit small for him.My 12 year old rides a 600 triple. It`s a bit big for her but she`s growing into it.Why not start him on a 370 or 440 fan that way you don`t have to buy another sled in 3 monthes when he out grows the little 120?

I purchased one for my daughter who is 8 and weighs 65 pounds. She is around 4ft 3inches and the sled fits her fine.

She has the wheel kit for the summer and rides it around the lawn for a couple of hours at least once a week. Regarding the governor, there are bypass kits available which consist of a wire-tie and a sticker for around $5. There are also other options too. Check Recreationa Motor Sports

http://www.recmotor.com/index.html

Appreciate the feedback.

Reveater, I may be wrong but think those machines may be too heavy for my boy to safely handle. Where the 120 is light enough, I'm hoping that it would also be spunky enough to be fun if the governor is disabled.

Krellheat, did you put the governor by-pass kit on and did it make a significant difference? Thanks for the link to Rec Motor Sports.

Any other opinions or experiences would be appreciated.

I have the bypass kit but have yet to put it on. I am waiting for my daughter to develop her driving a sled skills a little more.

I know she does not WOT because I can run beside her as she drive, well, until I pass out anyway. w00t Though she already took out the neighbor's bush and foot high picket fence going around a corner.

When she complains that the sled is too slow then I'll add the bypass kit and go from there with any other mods if needed.

I have done a couple of mods to my little guy`s 120 ,changed the drivers,
add a set of wheels in skid ,chain adjustor, by-pass (twist tie) not pulled tight,
removed air box ,drilled out main jet for larger size ,also air horn on carb,and spary
inside track with cooking oil each time he uses it......Buy him a Tekvest ......uncertain
that if going to buy pipe or install larger motor only about $200 in diffence ..
P.S. it easly goes over 30 mph now also will pull the ski`s ...which he loves....
Cape Breton stock...........Rec Motorsports are awesome guy`s to deal with!!

Forgot also clipped the track...
Cape Breton Stock....................

Yea cooking oil does wonders for speed.

Though I keep forgetting to do it to my daughter's zr120.

The guy I deal with at my local dealership told me that they seem to go through lots of parts when you disable the governor. He told me this as he was doing up a work order on yet another 120 with the governor disabled.

honestly, if the dealer is charging you 150$ for the bypass kit,,, he is screwing you. It is nothing more than a twist tie and you can do it in about 2 minutes,,,,,, nothing to it at all and if you want, I will post pics of how I did mine. (would have to take them first)

another neat bit of info,,, there is no chaincase on the 120,,, you simply have 2 gears,,,, you probably have a 10 tooth on the clutch and a 45 on the back,,,, I simply put on a 12 tooth at the clutch and changed the back to a 40. I too add cooking oil when he wants to ride, but I havent done any of the jetting work yet. He has a slight hesitation at take off and its a lack of fuel, but changing the jet from a 90 to a 75 should lean it out a bit and give me a little more kick,,,,,

I also agree with a chain adjuster for keeping the chain tight,,,, if it is loose, you can have a nasty slipping problem. I had that at first and the adjuster made a big big difference,,,,,

Thanks all for the replies. For clarification, I spoke with the dealer today about the gear that is supposed to be removed. I was mistaken when I said that a gear inside the crankcase is to be removed. What the dealer says is that the engine needs pulled to access a plastic gear which needs removed because it has a history of coming apart when the speed is increased beyond the normal governed speed. I'm not sure exactly what this gear is but for the time being will take his word for it. I'll look at the other mods that have been suggested once I have possesion of the machine. Thanks again. :)

strange,,,, I didnt pull any plastic gear off my sons and his runs right at 25 right now and has for almost a year now,,,,,

Here is the link to SporTech's Performance Manual which shows how to do the governor by pass for all 120s. It is a PDF file. Click here => manual (http://www.sportechinc.com/data/pdf/1/MM_manual.pdf)


Just curious LCWarner, How much did you pay for your son's ZR120?

Originally posted by reveater@Oct 25 2004, 04:24 PM
sounds a bit small for him.My 12 year old rides a 600 triple. It`s a bit big for her but she`s growing into it.Why not start him on a 370 or 440 fan that way you don`t have to buy another sled in 3 monthes when he out grows the little 120?
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I kind of agree. A 120 seems kind of small. I would look for an old 250 or 340 Enticer or something like that. At least I think they made 250's.

Originally posted by krellheat@Oct 28 2004, 07:05 AM
Here is the link to SporTech's Performance Manual which shows how to do the governor by pass for all 120s. It is a PDF file.* Click here => manual (http://www.sportechinc.com/data/pdf/1/MM_manual.pdf)
Just curious LCWarner, How much did you pay for your son's ZR120?
357838



Thanks for the link. The dealer and I will be speaking about this again. :bash: I paid $1700.00.

That is a very good price. At least he did go full retail which is about $2100. I paid $1800 here in CT.

Let me know how it goes with the dealer.

krellheat,,,

I couldnt get your link to work for me,,,, what is the addy,

I paid 1500$ for my 03 zr120, brand new in crate, and that included dealer set up, front wheel kit, and cover.

I did buy 3 sleds at the same time also, so I am sure that had a little to do with it,,,,

Originally posted by puree@Oct 28 2004, 11:03 PM
krellheat,,,

I couldnt get your link to work for me,,,, what is the addy,

I paid 1500$ for my 03 zr120, brand new in crate, and that included dealer set up, front wheel kit, and cover.*

I did buy 3 sleds at the same time also, so I am sure that had a little to do with it,,,,
358109


$1500 is a very good price indeed. Close to their cost.

Here is the address http://www.sportechinc.com/data/pdf/1/MM_manual.pdf

Yeah, they did hook me up very well,,, but I take all my business there now. I do all the work on my sled, but get all my parts and other toys from them,,,, so in the long run, they made out,,,
I also throw their name out anytime I get the chance (THE DZ BARN),,, hehehehe
I will continue to drive 80 mile one way when I have 3 dealers within 30 of my house,,,, at least there I get great service and I feel I can call them a friend,,,,,

thanks for the addy!!!

Same here. Except I drive through two states to get to my dealer.

wow, thats a tad bit farther than I drive,,,,but like I said in my post, the service is worth the drive,,,,,

It is only 120 miles from Hartford Ct to Mt Pisgah in NH.

Takes about an hour to drive north on 91 through Mass. Then I am in NH.

Brought the 120 home last night and it seemed to run very well. The governor mechanism was removed and my son is enjoying it very much as is. Track clips and wheels are on order and expected in next week.

There is one problem. The engine is hard to start. The engine wouldn't start this morning when the temperature was about 10 degrees F. Earlier this morning, the temperatures did reach about 0 degrees.

The salesperson at the dealership says that these engines won't start if the engine gets that cold and that I should put it in my garage to warm-up. I told him that I disagree and that if the choke is pulled and we have spark and gas, then the engine should start. After all, it's made for winter use. I moved the sled into the garage anyway. While waiting for it to warm up, I verified that the spark plug has a strong spark. I also noticed that the plug was dry. I think it should have been wet with fuel after all the attempts at starting?

I then called a different dealership (out of town) who says that it should start easy even in the cold and suggested that I put Heat in the gas tank since the engine had probably sat all year with old gas and possibly moisture in the tank. Anyway, I added a little Heat and new gas to the tank and eventually got the engine running. My boy used the sled for about an hour before stopping the engine. After about five minutes, we tried to start it and it wouldn't start until the choke was pulled. During the day, seems like we needed to pull the choke for each and every start even if the engine had just run a few minutes earlyer. I don't think we should need the choke if the engine still hot/warm? Seems like maybe the carburator is not working properly.

Have any of you experienced similar hard starting with the 120? And what are your thoughts as to having to warm it up before starting?

Regards,
Loren

catrules2000 had one for his son and had the same results,,, he went to all ends to get it running right including putting dial-a-jet on it,,,, never could get it to run right. I have had no problems at all,,, my son starts it when its warm or cold with no problems,,,,,

Same here. My daughter's sled starts by the third pull at worse.

I always use fresh gas--she tides until the tank empties.

Thanks for responding. First thing this morning, I drained the carburetor bowl into a glass jar. After it settled, there was one drop of water sitting at the bottom of the glass. At this point, the tank was half full and so I added a little more Heat and refilled the tank.

Also, I noticed that there was about one tablespoon of liquid in the Gas Tanks Vent line at the lowest point in the line before it goes back up. Since this liquid is blocking the vent, maybe the tank is being drawn into a slight vacuum and thereby pulling some of the gas back out of the carburetor which would cause hard starting. I blew the liquid out of this line. Either way, the tank was certainly not venting.

Additionally, I noticed one Note in the Operators Manual that implies that you may start the engine with the Throttle Level compressed. I had previously thought that this was a no-no. So today, all the starts was with the throttle partly compressed. As soon as the engine started, we would decrease the throttle before the clutch engaged.

Anyway, the temperatures today was a lot warmer (in the teens) and the engine has been starting fine all day. Don't know if it's doing better because the day is warmer or some of the things discussed above.

Thanks

How did it go the day after?

Originally posted by krellheat@Nov 9 2004, 06:52 PM
How did it go the day after?
361953


We've been having a warm spell since my last post. Most of the snow has gone. In the mean time, we've installed track clips and wheels. I'll let you know how she's doing as soon as possible.

Also, I was given the governor device that they removed from the engine. The main section is plastic with plastic gears. It is these gears that they claim has been known to come apart from the higher rpms.

can you take a picture and post it,,,, I did not remove the govenor, only bypassed it because I was told you have to have it in there,,,, its nothing more than a spring and you can overrev without it,,,,

I HAVE A 02 MINI Z , I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THAT PDF I HAVE ONE QUESTION? WHERE DO I GET A SPORTECH ZIP TIE?

Originally posted by goldbergrx1@Nov 12 2004, 11:56 PM
I HAVE A 02 MINI Z , I READ THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM THAT PDF I HAVE ONE QUESTION? WHERE DO I GET A SPORTECH ZIP TIE?
363000



DennisKirk.com has the kit. You will pay about $5 US and get (a) a plastic zip tie and (b) a sticker. Save your money, unless you want the sticker, and use any good quality zip tie. follow directions on the PDF.

have to agree,,, skip the sticker,,, use a zip tie,,,,more you tighten it, more it bypasses,,,

Originally posted by puree@Nov 12 2004, 07:19 PM
can you take a picture and post it,,,, I did not remove the govenor, only bypassed it because I was told you have to have it in there,,,, its nothing more than a spring and you can overrev without it,,,,
362992


My digital camera isn't working but I'll see if my neighbor will loan me his for one picture and post as soon as possible.

thanks,,, I will keep an eye on here for it, because you really have me stumped on what it is,,,,