The Search For the 1977 Kawasaki "Shark" SnoPro Sleds.
Part 7: Post Mortem

By Larry Preston

January 04th, 2003

I got three pieces of bad news tonight. First of, I learned from vintagesleds.com contributor Hal Armstrong that Duane Aho, creator of the classic Sno*Jet Thunderjets passed away. I don't know when, but I didn't know Mr. Aho was no longer with us. Next, Loren Anderson of the Snowmobile Hall of Fame informed me of some bad news. "We just learned that Susie SnowGoer Scholwin passed away. She is one of our inductees." My thoughts were with the survivors of the Aho and Scholwin family. Maybe they are somewhere that is covered with snow and the world looks a little brighter.

When the phone rang I was knee deep into trying to tear apart a Polaris SnoPro. Talk about a humbling experience.

"Is this Larry the writer?" I had to think about that. I've been called many things, but never a writer. "Maybe" I replied, still not sure of what to think about being called a writer. The caller eventually identified himself and said he has worked for the city of Shakopee for many, many years. He is also a snowmobiler and had heard for many years the rumors about the 1977 Kawasaki SnoPro sleds being buried behind the research facility in Shakopee.

He said he looked me up just to give me a call and let me know it was true. He had witnessed an actual shark sled being pulled out of the ground several years back when they where making way for a new building. He said there was way more then one spot where sleds where buried behind that facility. Kawasaki buried tons of crap all the way around that chunk of land. The one Scott County found was just one of many the City of Shakopee found.

Whenever someone said they had dug up some sleds back there, he ran over and checked it out. One backhoe of dirt contained a nearly complete 1977 Kawasaki SnoPro. The dirt had eaten away any rubber, the seat, all of the steal and a good portion of the aluminum. The hood was just an oozy pile of goo. He watched it get dumped on a truck and hauled off to the dump.

He also said Kawasaki had a habit of buying test sleds from other manufacturers, testing them for one season then buring them. Over the years he's seen Ski-Doo's, Scorpions, Cats - you name it - they've been dug up behind that facility. No wonder Kawasaki couldn't make any money with Snowmobiles.

Post Mortem:
It's been a long time since I thought about the Sharks. I have one of the photos from the article on the wall in my office. I look at it everyday and wonder how they (Kawasaki) could have been so short sited as to have not kept at least one Shark for posterity. Several people, since reading this article have made attempts to contact many of the same people I chased down while writing this article. So far, nothing new has been turned up. Jacque Villenueve still has not commented, Greg Channell refuses to talk about them (or his wife won't allow him), and the Kawasaki executives have all remained silent, even though most of them have gone on to other companies.

I thought I was very close to finding one awhile back. A well known Minnesota engine builder had died of a heart attack on a snowmobile trip. His girlfriend told me his favorite sled was his Kawasaki. She didn't know for sure why he liked it so much, except that he had told her it was extremely rare. She said it was low and had an independent front suspension...

It took awhile to get to see it, but I finally did, and again, disappointment. She was right that it was very rare. It was a prototype Kawasaki trail sled - complete with independent front suspension. But it wasn't a Shark. It's in a private collection now.

It is now my belief that they are gone for good - but I still reserve the right to hold out hope. Besides, I hear not one, but two parties are trying to build replicas of the sled from scratch. I would like to see that - I'd like even more to ride one.

The article has proven to be one of the most popular things ever to have been put on the web site, and it was picked up and published in C.J. Ramstads City Sledder magazine. I continue to get email all the time with questions, suggestions and ideas on the hunt. I've met a lot of great people because of the article.

So the time spent hunting the Sharks down seems like time well spent to me. Well spent indeed.

So I went hunting for another sled, just as rare, but with much better results...