What did you do to prep for spring quad season

[LMI 12]

Hey all,

It's been a while since I posted.  Fan trouble and the replacement I sourced on amazon is still working great on my 2005 Suzuki KQ700.

Unfortunately this year I lost my outdoor best friend.  He's that go to guy for everything … the day run, may walleye opener, last minute hey my boat's at work get your a$$ over here with your rod and let's go kinda buddy.   I bought the quad last year in March and with him gave it the once over and prepped it for fall hunting season, but cancer took him before we could enjoy this new aspect of outdoor life.  We planned an October trip into the bush with our quads guns and tent trailer.   It never happened.   A tribute to our fallen and lost.... But in their memory take the opportunity to grasp every minute of the outdoors you can, life is short... you can sleep at the end...

I've curious what everyone has been doing to prep for the spring season.  I mounted my battery and the quad started up straight and easy, just powered it up once or twice to juice the injectors and it fired up after a couple of seconds.  I let it run, confirmed fan started, checked charge voltage.  all good. I did all my oils in the fall to make sure no water was present anywhere so skipped that this spring.

So what have I done over the winter to prep for quadding?  I've been researching.  This year I am going to cross over quading with brook trout fishing.  So I have been pouring over my old maps from my youth, google maps... looking for those faint markings of trails I can't travel in my F150 (well not yet, paint still looks pretty good ).

 

 

 

 

[LMI 12]

I've got 3 spots picked out.  One is a widening of a creek below what looks like a set of rapids in google maps.  I have a travel a pole line essentially due North, and I think I see the faint markings of a trail, but regardless the pool is about 400m west of the pole line.

The second spot is a stocked brook trout lake, I found it after being a little curious while snow shoeing.  a sled passed me pulling a covered pelican sled. Ice fisherman I thought.  Knowing the area fairly well, and based on the time of day (past noon).  I figured they had to be going somewhere close but I wasn't aware of another lake in the area.  I figured it had to be close because at 12:30 in the after noon here there was only about 4 hrs of daylight left and they would have to travel a while so it just didn't make sense to me.

when I got back from the snow shoe trip I poured over my maps, found a couple of little lakes, zoomed in on google maps, only 1 had a name and I looked it up on the Ministry web site and found that they stocked it!   So that one is probably going to be a bring some spare gas and an over night tent/bag sort of thing even though we have a ton of day light.  There is one water crossing so late summer when water is low is probably the best.

No here is the funny thing....some week after being curious about the two guys on a sled going somewhere late in the day... I went snow shoeing again and low and behold when I came to the parking spot the guy was loading up.  I asked him if he had passed me a couple week earlier and he said he did (not many snow shoers about).  I asked him where he was going fishing that day as I noticed his pelican pull-behind covered sled.  he said he wasn't he was with his brother checking their trap line.  So I discovered a stocked lake based on a fantasy I dreamt up!

The other spot is a lake I discovered year ago that is supposed to have speckle (brook) trout.  I've been working on an idea to mount a canoe rack on my quad... if anyone has thoughts on that would love to hear them.

[mikeexplorer 164]

First, sorry to hear about the loss of your friend.

I do most of my prep work in the spring. I check all the bushings, brake pads, bearings, etc. I just follow for miles as far as changing the oil on the machines. Since I use synthetic, it is every 1,000 miles. During the winter we don't ride much, so I make sure to go out there every two weeks and fire them up and let them run for a good 10 minutes to warm them up and get rid of any moisture in the oil and such. They are kept on battery tenders all year when not in use.  I also check the air box and other areas to make sure a mouse didn't make a home during the winter. I keep one machine in a canvas shed, so I spray that area with peppermint oil to keep the mice away.

This year, my machine is on year 5 of the battery, so I will pull it out and have it load tested, being that this machine is EFI it is sensitive to the battery condition. The other two machines are not EFI so it isn't as big of a deal.

I do keep an eye on the bushings because they are a high wear item since we ride in coal country. The coal dust eats the crap out of the bushings. The internal axles when I pull them will be worn out but shiny like it was lapped.

Mike

 

[Gunny 67]

Like MikeExplorer wrote, sorry to hear about the loss of you riding buddy. Cancer sucks !!! I had it, hope it never returns !!

OK, to reply to your question ... since I run tracks in the winter & ride year around, I service The Beast (2014 Can-Am Outlander MAX 1000) twice a year. Once in the spring when I take the tracks off, & once in the late fall when I take the tires off. So, I just took the tracks off & my Beast is in pieces. I replaced the water pump & impeller with a Boyesen high out put set up. I replaced the plastic thermostat housing with some aftermarket aluminum ones & changing out all the plastic coolant hose fittings (A "Y" & "T" fitting) with aluminum ones. I'm having a custom thermostat housing made with a by-pass block off when the thermostat is open & I also am having a custom 1 inch aluminum "T" fitting made. And of course, I drained the coolant & will be putting fresh coolant back in when the coolant parts get here & installed.

Next, I'm having the ECM reflashed. Is it worth it ?? Does it really work ?? ... I'll let you know when I'm riding again & get a few miles on round rubber under my belt.

I changed the front diff oil, the engine oil & filter & the tranny oil. (I do this in the fall to, along with the rear diff) The rear diff has a leaking pinon seal, so that will have to be changed & fresh oil installed.

Grease all the zerk fittings (I do this several times during the year)

I remove the handlebar mitts I use in the winter & reinstall the handlebar brush guards.

I rewrapped my exhaust with DEI Titanium heat wrap as well as added some additional heat fighting items over the exhaust.

I have a headlight that needs some attention because it's not working, but I need the ECM installed to complete this task.

Changed out the spark plugs.

Ordered some aftermarket footwells because I hate the factory Can-Am footwells & finally just got fed up. (The right side one has to be removed to change the tranny oil)(I modified the clutch side one, but it's a royal pain to remove too.)

I still need to clean & look over both clutches & inspect/replace the CVT belt.

And last, I'll need to reinstall the Ricochet skidplates.

 

It'll probably be another couple weeks before all the parts I've ordered come in & I get everything put back together. 

 

 

...

[Scott Matthews 1]

Well my prep was to purchase a 1989 Big Bear for $250. Now I am going over the electrical to get the bike running as it has no spark, then I will give the bike a good once over to make sure the brakes/suspension/drivetrain is in good shape!

[Frank Angerano 430]

You will get there brother. And it’s very rewarding when you do.   Once it’s running right then all the other stuff you want to do is a blast.  

[Gunny 67]

Here's a little video of what I've been doing since I took my tracks off in April.

 

 

 

 

...

[Frank Angerano 430]

Busy bee !  looking good brother. I like the stiffener plates on the rear. Shop looks great and I love the table.  Probably one of my next purchases.  Nice work.  

[elektro21 2]

Good tips suggested here...

I would add for those with carbs to start in the Fall season with adding a fuel stabilizer and also draining the float bowl on carb.  Disconnect/remove battery and place it into a location that will not be freezing.  This should make your Spring prep go much faster and get you back on trail in the Spring.

[Thomas Martin 0]

I prep by planing my first ride bringing way more then I need to take care of  obstacles  For the first ride but other then that change the oils check everything and make sure it’s running right