mavbike

Weekend Trail rider also :beer: Have an 2002 Shee. Purchased with cool head, PC pipes and factory sound silencers. Great for trail riding, but needed spark arresters for riding on forest lands. Ordered PC quite spark arrestor mufflers from Rocky Mountain (they said these are being discontinued?) Didn't sound any quieter to me, but they did smooth the hit just a little and now I don't have to worry about that sparky ticket. Also put 21" tires back on front and 22" on rear for more ground clearance. Now I need to order a 13 tooth front sprocket to get the gear back down (ride with the kids and some slow-pokes sometimes also). Working great for a trail bike :biggrin:

Fingernail polish remover on an old towl, with some elbow greese, takes shoe rubber off Chrome Harley pipes without hurting chrome. Don't know about melted nylon, but may be worth a shot.

Not baffles,,,,Packing. Mufflers are packed with fiberglass. Several options. I prefer the FMF packing kit (from Rocky Mountain ATV), but have used regular fiberglass insulation before. (Some people say there is no difference. Regular fiberglass home insulation seamed louder to me, maybe just me, or maybe I packed too much/tight.) I use paint thinner in a old Margerine tub, with a scrub brush, to clean old oily residue from core of muffler. While doing muffler, I will also pull pipes. Take a can of B-12 Chemtool and poor half in each pipe. Slosh around and soak for a while (while I'm repacking muffler). Don't forget to rinse with dish washing soap and water before re-assembly. (Could be a really cool backfire if exhaust is already full of gas fumes when you try to start it. :: ) To me, this is just part of regular maintenance. When you cruise at lower rpm or spend time in tight trails/woods, you just don't run it hard enough to keep everything burning clean. I may go for several rides with little or no build-up. Then one ride w/family and the oil will be dripping from the pipes.

And also how long did it sit while motor being done? If sat too long with fuel in carbs, carbs may need to be cleaned.

What he said. Start over, fresh gas, quality oil, 40:01.

I've sprayed them with copper coat and reused them also, when in a bind. I also melted a piston on an ATC250R that-a-way, when it leaked. Win some, loose some. $12 is cheap insurance.

If it is fuel, you have more than one problem. Gas turned off and still going to carbs means the little ruber piece behind the valve (in the petcock) is bad. Fuel going past carbs and into engine means floats are sticking. Should have been some fuel out of overflow (tube on bottom of carb) though unless it is stopped up also. I have parked the bike in the garage and forgot to turn the gas off. Several days later, I come home from work and the gallon and a half or so that was in the tank is now all over floor. The cylinder also had a lot of gas in it.

Been running Maxima 927 mixed 40:01, for years in bikes (2-wheels). If I ride easy, it does seem to build up (sludge builds up in pipes, and carbon on power valves). When I run it right, it mostly burns right off. (Hit an open area and it looks like the bike is smoking bad, from the sludge burning out of the pipe.) I'm sure there may be some more modern oils (read synthetic) that are better. I have stuck with the castor because pistons and rings have lasted longer (for me) than with other oils I had tried before. The Castor is not priced that bad. I do use the Maxima Stynthetic (blue lable bottle) in the cooler months because it seems to stay mixed better at the colder temps. It also cost more. I was getting 2 years on a top-end, when I rode every weekend. Maxima may not be the best, but it has been good enough for me. Trail riding with slower riders,,,lugging the motor,,,a two stoke is going to load up. When riding the Shee with a slower group, I will usualy let the motor rev a little before shifting (even though not accelerating very fast) or I will drop back a bit and then blow it out a little catching up. That helps keep it cleaned out and running good. When riding with a faster group, in tight woods, I go into the corners a gear high, keep the rpm up and use the clutch to control the power. Once you get the hang of it, you can brake into a corner, power around it (slipping the clutch), and launch out with the motor pulling hard. It's hard on the clutch, but it means a lot less shifting, the power is much easier to control, and you would be suprised at how much faster you will be around the corners. It also helps you keep it always on the pipe (running cleaner).

Anything can be destroyed. I have a Recon that is 6 years old. Use it for yard work (pull 64" finish mower). Have used it for trail riding. Also loan it out to other people to trail ride with us. Since it is our lawn mower, plus all the trail rides, there is no telling how many miles/hours are on it. It will be due a top-end before too long, and the clutch is just now beginning to slip. It's no Banshee, but I can't imagine anything being more reliable than that Recon has been. Next Quad for the wife (and for yard work) will probably be a Yamaha Wolverine though.

Take a look at givethemback.com. :ermm:

Kenda Claws up front and Kenda Bear Claws on the back. Good on soft terrain (mud, sand) OK on rocks. The Bear Claws do Not hook-up on dry packed dirt or hard clay. (Then again,,,I don't know if anything other that a TT tire would.) The Bear Claws are heavy,,,but I just trail ride,,,and they do good in the mud.

Wet plugs usualy mean rich jetting,,,but the high idle and hard to start can be vacuum (air leak). Did it start this all of a sudden, or have plugs always been wet.

That can be from running rich, or your choice in oil mix, your mix ratio, and/or from idle time/running below the power band. A clue would be plug reading and/or how often you have to change your plugs. I can't tell from the photo if that is oil (wet) or carbon (hard brittle coating).

Make a block off plate out of scrap metal!! Have torch, have dremel,,,will travel! (I baught one,,,looks good and only cost about $14 and change.)

Rebuilt a (car) transmission in the Kitchen of my apartment one winter. Used cardboard on top of plastic to soak up the fluid during tear-down. Glad I've got a shop now!!!

Been the bent axle route before on buddy's quad. soak old towel in ice water,,,wrap around axle at the housing,,,,cut old axle off with torch,,,,grind edges,,,,drive through housing with hammer and BF punch.

Congrats!!! Now if I could just talk mine into another one!!!

In order to be truly politicaly correct, there should be be three restroom choices in all public Buisnesses/Places. The only true question should be how to label His Hers & Confused? Or She He & She-it?

I trail ride only :cool: I ride for fun and the Shee is fun to ride When I buy a bike, I usualy have it for years (My dirt bike is 1996, other quad is 2000,,,ect.) In the long run, they all have to be rebuilt. I think the long-term cost of owning the Shee will also be less. Let's see,,,ride for fun,,,fun to ride,,,,cheaper in the long run!!! Yep,,,,I'll take the Banshee!!! :biggrin:

I also work a lot of over-time. AM hours are sometimes all I have. Wife uses the exact same word. Says I am OBSESSED. If a big ride is coming up, I have to get the bikes ready. Nothing like driving 3-6 hours for a weekend of riding and then having something put the bike down. Especialy if the problem could have been caught and fixed before the trip. I also built an Ironhead Sportster in 4 nights one time, for a Colorodo trip. :shoothead: So your'e not the only one :geek:

E-mail received. Thank you very much!!! :beer:

I think this is a really good question. In Louisiana, there are no laws that say a quad can not be made street legal. I don't see any difference between street kitting a dirt bike and street kitting a quad, as far as the RS code book. It may be fun if someone with some money could force the issue and see what happens. I think it is not allowed, only because it isn't done. BMW importing their new street legal quad ($50,000 street quad) may open some doors. Sport quads would be ideal because they are capable of cruising at highway speeds (posted speed limits on secondary roads). Smaller engines would also be less emissions and better fuel economy than driving you truck to work.

Don't know about the new Polaris 90 (4-stroke), but got a 2-stroke Polaris 90 for my nephew. It had both electronic limiter (easily removed) and set-screw throttle limiter. On tight trails, I could go faster on his 90 than on my Honda Recon (I only weight 140). I was impressed. We picked the Polaris for suspension travel. (Motor doesn't make much difference if you have to stop for every bump. Especialy with a little one that is going to sit all the time and may get bounced or kicked by the seat.) Don't know if it helps any,,,but I would buy the Polaris again.

Silly question, but did you check the plugs. My 2-stroke bike WON'T start cold, when the plug is going,,,and it gets hard to start warm. Fresh plug, it usualy fires 1st or 2nd kick cold and always 1st kick warm. My Shee just takes more kicks to start, but will still fire-up and run strong when the plug is going. New plug and it will fire 3-4 kicks cold, 1st or 2nd warm. (I've got idle mixture on Shee just a tad lean, because I put-put with wife and kids sometimes. I think that may be why it usualy takes more kicks to start. Been working though, I have to do a lot of idling before it kills a plug.)