Shark!

The Search For the 1977 Kawasaki "Shark" SnoPro Sleds.
Part 6: So What Happened to The Sharks?

By Larry Preston

January 15th, 2002 9:35 PM

So what was the fate of these remarkable machines?

"I went to California right after the last race of the season, and I can tell you that no sleds went there. None. No production sleds, no prototypes, no SnoPros" Gary Mathers told me just a few days ago. After searching for Gary all over Kawasaki and Honda for months, I finally got tipped off that Gary worked for the American Motorcycle Association. He called me back and sounded genuinely happy to talk about these incredible machines and his experience at Kawasaki.

"We knew the design was good. We had the horsepower. But the chassis was a bit too long and the front a bit too wide. We needed more time and more help to really develop the sled. By 1978, I'm sure we could have had a winner." But as we all know, racing was ended for Kawasaki before the 1978 season could get started.

As far as Gary knew, Duane Aho, the Godfather of the ThunderJet, was likely the guy at Kawasaki that wanted to go racing and got the racing program started. Aho may even have been experimenting with a ThunderJet tunnel on the new Kawasaki when Gary was brought in to replace Duanne. They likely built one or two like that, but they were never used.

Larry Rugland, Ray Tuggle and Greg Channell share a laugh inside the Kawasaki truck.

The search was on for drivers soon after Gary came on board. "We had a heck of a time finding drivers. Everybody that was good was already signed up with another team. Greg came from within Kawasaki and was an easy enough choice. We got lucky when we got Jacque. Jacque was a very hard worker and really tried hard". I asked him about those great looking leather suits the team had. "Truth was, Kawasaki's clothing line was just awful. So I called up Bates and ordered new suits for everyone. I caught all kinds of hell for that. But what else could I do? Everyone kept their leathers at the end of the year. I had mine until I sold them to some fellow who could fit into them. No idea where they went from there".

Of course this means that Channell, whom I've not spoken with, Jacque, & Witt may still have theirs. Ray Tuggle confirmed his leathers are still with him. "Did any of the drivers get to keep a sled?" I asked Gary, hoping to spark a memory. "No" came the answer I didn't really want to hear. "We had no policy for that. Each driver had a practice sled that they could take home to practice on, but they were consumer models, not the SnoPros. They may have those".

Rare, unpublished CJ Ramstad photo of the IFS Shark without the hood.

Gary's legacy with Polaris in 1974 was an extremely successful race team. He continued on to tell me that he dearly missed the boys in Roseau after moving on to Kawasaki. "They just did what needed to be done. They weren't all hung up on engineering. If we needed a part, somebody had made it before I had a chance to think about it. Eastman is just very good. He's still kind of my hero".

We talked for some time about his experience at Polaris. I asked finally built up enough courage to ask what he knew about there whereabouts of the Sharks.

"No idea. They probably got destroyed." We continued to talk for awhile about the practice all the manufacturers had of destroying some products by crushing them and burying them. I can only guess that this means they were likely crushed and buried near the Michigan plant, but for environmental concerns, no one at Kawasaki will ever admit that. I would speculate that only a precious few people ever knew they were buried, or where.

There are two executives (one current, one former) at Kawasaki who I believe know the truth about the fate of the Sharks. I finally got information on the whereabouts of the former Kawasaki executive, but to date, he won't return a phone call. The other Kawasaki executive won't return a call either, and I've been trying to call him for almost a year.

To date, I still have not heard from either driver. They may know something about what happened to the sleds. I did get an email that Jacque had once given away some parts for the Sharks, some skis, a plastic chaincase cover, maybe more. I'm still trying to get those parts or pictures of them. I have left numerous messages for Jacque, and no reply. Same with Channell.

There was one other lead I've been following to no avail. It seems Kawasaki does have a storage facility where they store products for historical purposes. The facility manager there was "kind of sure" there is no snowmobiles at that facility, but he made it clear he would make no effort to look for them, either. Even if Kawasaki did save some sleds, it seems doubtful they would have held on to any of the Sharks, especially when you consider the fact that their racing record was not that good after 1977. But you really can't blame the Kawasaki team for having a bad year. Thanks to the crushing success of the Polaris "Midnight Blue Express" in 1977, no team other then Polaris could claim 1977 as a good year.

Jacque in the SM 340 Final, Alexandria, MN.

It seems like the Sharks were loaded on to the truck after the last race in 1977 and drove off into the fog. From that point forward, the sleds were just plain gone. Like the Bermuda Triangle had swallowed them. Except for the photos and maybe a few parts, there's no proof they ever existed. All the effort and time that was put it to them, including my effort to try and find them over 20 years later seems like such a waste.

I warned you at the beginning that this story may not have a happy ending. I can now tell you that's not true. But unfortunately, it's only true because the story has no ending.

I will forever hold out hope that maybe, just maybe, someone will be able to come forth and give you and I some kind of closure. I would prefer an ending to the story where at least one lone surviving Shark is found, under several feet of dust in a locked up warehouse. Or maybe in the garage of someone that was smart enough to steal one and keep it under wraps all these years. Maybe it will wind up in the Snowmobile Hall of Fame where hundred of people every year will be able to see how cool of a sled it was. Maybe.

This whole Shark hunt started for me on a rumor that the Sharks were buried behind a building. It ends on a rumor that they are buried behind a building, just not the one where I was digging.

I sincerely hope that someone who knows the truth will read this article and give me a call. Or an email. Just because my Shark Hunting ends here, doesn't mean the story has to.

Larry Preston

January 16th, 2002 1:45 AM

Part 7: Post Mortem