Plastic
Tip #1
Everyone's always looking for something to keep their plastic looking good. I think I've found it, it's a silicone based detailing liquid used by professionals.It's called "Ultra Cote" made by Malco products. This stuff works, mud comes off easier and it stays on longer than your typical "Armor All". But, you guessed it, it's expensive, 5 gallon pail, about $100. Works nice on interior of cars and tires too! I don't think they every guessed a quad rider would find this stuff. Thank you for your time, Chad Harrison Huron, Oh. 2000 DS 650, 1985 ATC 350X, 1999 Honda Recon . Tip #2
Have you ever had to scrub off that caked on mud that soaks into your plastics and causes them to fade? Welll instead of buying the other stuff the other guy rcommends you can simply just put Rain-X (the invisible winshield) stuff for car windows on your plastics. After a long day of riding in mud just hit your plastics with a hose and it will come fight off.
Todd Petrignani
GRIPS
Dear Sir,I have a tip to share with you today that is simple and you might already know, but here it is.
Installing grips, first clean ends of bars thoroughly, then apply glue to both ends of bars, poke a small hole in the end of one of the grips. Only one. Begin sliding the other on, using the blow nozzle on your air compressor press it into the end of the grip with the hole, give her a couple shots of air, the grips expand, push 'em on while holding air to it, easy. This will also allow you to re-position them after there on. Thank you for your time, Chad Harrison Huron, Oh. 2000 DS 650, 1985 ATC 350X, 1999 Honda Recon .
AXLES & BEARINGS Here's a tip for you guys out there that may be a little rough on your quads.Maybe you like yo do a lot of "Muddin". Maybe you do a lot of racing. If you find yourself replacing those rear axle bearings more often than you like .....Consider purchasing an after market bearing holder. One that has much wider bearings or uses four bearings.The wider bearings will last much longer and you won't be replacing bearings as often. The initial cost can be a shock, but if you plan on keeping your machine for a while, it will be worth it.
Take a spare air filter with you when you go riding or when you go to the race track. Have it clean, oiled, and in a plastic bag ready to use. This way when have finished riding "The Dusty Trail", all you have to do is change the filter. This will enable you to clean the filter after your done riding for the day.
This will keep the exhaust flowing and the bike running with optimal performance.
As the packing begins to deteriorate the exhaust will get louder. We DON'T want that to happen.
Then after your done riding for the day ,and after you wash the quad ,GREASE THE BEARINGS. Do this after every time you ride in the mud.
Greasing the bearings pushes the mud and water out of the bearings. This will greatly extend the life of the bearings.
Here is a list of places you May be able to add fittings.
1) Upper and lower A Arms...(2) Steering column bushings...(3) Rear axle bearings
Things to note
When you put a grease fitting in ,Do Not put the fitting exactly where the bearing is. Put it next to the bearing. The grease has to go in through the side of the bearing.
You should only put a fitting next to an Unsealed bearing. If the bearing is Sealed , the grease can not get in.
You should NOT attempt to put fittings into a ball joint or tie rod end that is not made to have one. This will only ruin it.
I do not recommend putting a fitting at the swing arm pivot bolt. I do know that on the suzuki LT250 the bolt is exposed to tranny oil to lubricate it.
I have seen people attempt to drill the bolt to put grease fittings in and after they pumped it full of grease , the cases cracked and began to leak tranny oil. To: atvtech@off-road.com I came up with a good trick this winter to keep all of the bolts in place from my engine when I split the cases. Since some of them are different lengths you wanna put em back where they came from. Well heres how I did it, I took a sheet of cardboard about 1' square ( size is not important ). On the cardboard I drew a rough profile of the case marking the position of all the bolts. I then punched holes in the cardboard where my marks where to slide the bolts into. Whalla an economy bolt holder. When you re-assemble just put em back the way they come out of the cardboard. THANKS to...... Alan St. Hilaire for sending this tip in .I know I've needed it before. To: atvtech@off-road.com
I was having trouble with the Dip and Dive of the front end of my honda 300 when traveling through the rough and some gullies I checked with the local honda dealer and he suggested new shocks, the cost was prohibitive at over $250.00 , so I went to the local motor cycle junk shop and found some after market shocks from a 400 honda motorcycle.. the length was 3/4 longer and had an adjustable ring on the bottom. Bottom line is the new old shocks made my machine ride like a different machine... saved a bundle both shocks cost $24.00.. The Brand Name is HKD of Japan, 13 1/2" long. If you have any questions about this tip you can e-mail...... billyj@rmci.net TIP : For the honda 250r . you can take your bearing holder to a good machine shop & have them bore it for a double set .all it takes is too set it up in bridgeport type machine & bore the new depth for another set of bearings.there is plenty of meat in the holder to do this. but you also need to have them remove the same amount of mat. from the spacer that goes in between.(the width of the bearingx2)(bearings=.470 so .940 removed from the spacer)it should only take 2.5 hours maybe 150.00$.cheaper then 300.00$.(this is what i did too mine)see i work in a machine shop. This may work on other ATVs also. also for a little harder clutch spring for the same bike the cr 500 spring works good only 20% heaver then stock. thanks for letting me spit this at you .see you in the dunes. SANDAHOLIC Well if you find you have a bent or broken blaster axle get a torch and care fully take the ring on the disc side off of the axle.
Find a used stock banshee axle and put the ring on the disc side of the banshee axle in the same spot as the blaster and weld it on there.
Wah Lah!!!! a cheap Extended axle!
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Off-Road.com, Inc., a Hawaii Corporation and it's Internet site at "www.off-road.com"is not affiliated with in any way, K-III Communications Corp., McMullen Argus Publishing, Inc.or the "in-print" magazine, titled "Off-Road".
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