mrmatt

Led, my condolences to you and your family. My wife went through this a year or so ago. Its tough, but you have to keep going.

Are these types of bead breakers any good?

Here is the 'how to' http://www.bansheehq.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18347 http://www.bansheehq.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22129

I host my pics at Imagestation and it has been really quirky lately. As far as rewelding a swingarm that is showing lots of cracks, I don't suggest this. Mild steel is an excellent material because it is somewhat elastic. It can deform slightly when put under a heavy load, and then return to its normal shape when the load is removed. But when this is done repeatedly the steel starts to change properties and becomes 'work hardened' and brittle. Essentially, the more a piece of mild steel is deformed, the less it can withstand the deformation. So as a piece gets older and loaded several times it becomes brittle and starts to form cracks. Once these cracks start to form, they become stress risers and will continue to propogate until noticed or failure. Rewelding the cracks will change the properties of the metal back to a condition more like it started. But in my opinion, once a swingarm has been worked so hard that it starts to form multiple cracks, it is time to get a newer swingarm that hasn't been worked so much. It sounds weird, but steel can wear out just like other materials.

In Indiana it is legal to ride the utility type quads on county roads. This law will vary from county to county. But basically, the law views utility type quads as farm equipment, so it is just like driving a tractor down the road. Indiana has a lot of weird laws that favor farmers. I'm sure other midwestern states are similar. I just haven't figured out how to convince Officer Bob that my modified Banshee can actually be used on a farm. 'cause riding on the road is about my only option for doing plug chops. Besides it is a hell of a lot of fun.

Blue, I have read you post this at least 4 times now. I went searching for it a couple months back and couldn't find it either. I think all of your previous descriptions got lost during the last major site change. T469, you're on the right track by using a jig, like Blue said you don't want to be off by even a 1/16" of an inch. It will translate into a significant axle slant, or a quad that runs down the road like a dog. If you are only going to shorten one swingarm, then I suggest using the wood jig like Blue described. A jig doesn't really matter what it is made of, as long as it holds the pieces in the right place. I made mine out of steel because I like to fabricate. Here is how I did it: The base pieces are made of 1/4" steel. On the larger plate I used flat stock and square steel tubing to make supports that bolt to the swingarm pivot tube and shock linkage mount. The swingarm must be parallel to the bottom plate when these are welded on. On the smaller 1/4" steel plate, I used flat stock as supports for the carrier mounting tabs. Then added supports between the flat stock to keep the spacing correct. The first key to my jig is that I had exactly two inches between the two 1/4" plates of steel when I welded all of the mounting tabs on. The next key is that I used 1/2" and 3/4" pipe to keep the two plates in alignment when they are slid together. The 1/2" pipe just barely slides into the 3/4" pipe and they must be parallel for this to work properly. I hope this made sense, just ask for clarification if it didn't. BTY, I will not finish another swingarm like the one that Blue posted. Working with the filler and paint just took too much of my time.

My wife, a couple friends, and I will roll in sometime on Thursday. We plan to leave Tuesday night and have a 30 hour drive. I'm sure we are going to have to stop and catch a few winks somewhere along the way. But when we get there we'll be in the Chevy shown below, pulling a 20' open car trailer loaded with Yamahas. We'll probably be followed by a teal Mustang.

IMHO, increase compression by either having your stock head milled or purchase an aftermarket head. The increased compression helps keep the motor pulling, even when the rpms drop and it 'falls off the pipe'.

Yea, what he said. I am 99% sure that I have shortened a swingarm for a guy that uses a PRM skidplate. I'll contact him and see if he can reply with what modifications were required.

I guess you have a custom left handed throttle huh? hehe, just messing with you. Whoops. Yea, I meant the right grip.

Even though I only live 6 miles from the Badlands, I voted for Haspin. They kick you out of the Badlands well before dark and they don't even allow alcohol at the campground. They don't really enforce any rules as Haspin, which, in my opinion, makes it a better place to party/ride. Badlands website: http://www.badlandsoffroad.com/ Website for Campground next to Badlands: http://atticacamping.com/ Haspin Acres' website: http://www.motocrosspark.com/

CT-370LR, check your inbox, you have a PM.

I run Haro BMX grips. The have the flange on the inside and plastic caps that go into the ends of the handle bars. BMX bikes use the same size tubing for their handlebars, so any BMX grip will work. Just don't forget to trim the flange on the left grip so that your thumb throttle doesn't get stuck on it .

. if you keep breaking your grade eight hardware, then try grade 5. I'm sure I'll get blasted for this. But in some cases grade 5 hardware is better. Generally speaking the stronger you make steel, the harder and more brittle it becomes. The grade 8 bolts have a higher tensile strength, but they are more brittle, so they break easier. The grade 5 hardware will bend a little bit before it breaks since it is more maliable. This is why you will see a lot of manufacturers use grade 5 hardware on suspensions, such as leaf spring bolts.

Those are looking good. Are they made from chromoly?

I won't say that I ride harder than you. I just ride in terrain that is probably rougher than you do. We regularly hit rocks from the size of baseballs to basketballs, but when there are trees on both sides you don't have much choice. A lot of 4x4 quads with independent suspension ride the same trails, which really rut up the trails. For some people the DG type works for them, other people are able to run the stock one for years. But the Armadillo is made from two pieces of extruded aluminum in an L shape that is 1/4" thick and it is the only thing that I will use. Just my $0.02.

If they actually produce that, it could be my wife's next ride.

As far as swingarm skid plates, forget about the White Brothers and DG type. They are the same thing. They are also sold under a few other names. But they are basically a flat piece of thin aluminum that has a couple of tabs welded to it to mount to the swingarm. I bought one and it only lasted one ride. The corners were bent up and one of the welds broke. Wasted $60. My wife has been running an Armadillo on her Warrior for two years and she doesn't avoid anything. She just slams into rocks, roots, logs, and ruts, the Armadillo has help up great. So after destroying the WBs skid, I ordered an Armadillo for my Banshee and have been extremely happy. I have heard that the PRM skid plate is very good as well, but I haven't tried it for myself. Besides, I don't think that you can run a PRM skid plate with a shortened swingarm.

That is too true to be funny.

danmit! my curiosity got the best of me and I had to look.

I just installed adaware. It significantly reduced the number of pop-ups that appear. But I still get a few. I guess I'll have to try spybot as well.

If you have the $$$ for an aftermarket swingarm, then go for it. With the aftermarket swingarm you can switch to a round house carrier design which is supposed to make adjusting the chain a whole lot easier. Plus most of them use round or oval tubing, which just plain looks good. If you plan to go this route, I would look into Quicksand Fabrications. I haven't heard a single complaint about Quicksand Fabrications. Except for one chrome plating problem, but they took care of it immediately. This is the type of company that I like dealing with. If you can't afford the aftermarket swingarm and have fabrications skills, then go to the post below and shorten it for yourself. http://www.bansheehq.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=18347 If you don't like either of the options above, then check your in-basket, because I just sent you a PM.

Thanks for the tip. I never really noticed that these weren't matched from the factory. This sounds as simple as gasket matching the intake and head on an American V8. Which is something that many of us have done before.

I definately want some too. I'll send you a PM once I figure out which color(s) and how many.

Yamaha GT-80