1995 Polaris Magnum 425 journey

[lbdrummer3]

Neighbor gave me this quad that's been sitting outside in the east Wyoming snow and rain for at least 5 years, maybe longer.  Looking to share my revival discoveries with others and hopefully learn from what others have already done on here.  

[Big_McLargeHuge]

I've got a Magnum 425 revival project of my own going on - I'll be interested to see what you find!

[lbdrummer3]

I solved a no spark issue already and got the engine running.  The transmission is not going to be easy.  Was hoping to get this thing running for work this weekend, that ain't gonna happen...  Now I think it's getting parked in the corner of the shop until I can find a transmission, an output shaft that doesn't cost and arm and a leg, or another quad with blown engine, or anther quad project that isn't going to be a money pit.

[lbdrummer3]

Just an update on this.  I've decided to back burner this project.  A new output shaft from Polaris if $450 and there is a used trans on ebay for $500.  I still don't know if the 4X4 hubs function and have to replace all of the chains.  There is just too much uncertainty with all of the other things that could be wrong to dump that much money into it at this point. 

I think the best option would be to find a decent Magnum that has everything working but with a blown or tired engine and do an engine swap.   Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, the engine and transmission for this was only used on the 95 425 Magnum 4x4 with no other interchangeability that I can determine.  If someone reading this has better resources to check where these components interchange, please help me out on this.  It would be easier to find a blown up quad if I didn't have to only look for one unique year and model.  This is like trying to find a unicorn right now.  

In the short term, I found an 85 Yamaha 200 Moto4 to get me though the spring planting and maintenance.  She's a bit rough and tired but it was a good deal and I'll be posting some content on it later.

 

[Gwbarm]

Sounds like quite a bit of money and uncertainty of other operations , probably a good idea to put it on hold, that's the problem with fixing old bikes parts are so expensive which drives up the used parts price, and Ebay hasn't helped that much, people go on eBay to see what their stuff is listed for and base price on that, but it does not always sell at the listed price, in fact the last two items I bought off eBay had a make offer listing, I made an offer of what I thought it was worth and they took it, I won't cheat anybody I will pay what I think its worth based on condition and the amount of mud the seller didn't wash off the item before they listed it, don't mind throwing money at one to fix it if i really like it, if I don't really like it I won't. I will buy something else I really like, especially in your situation , you need it to work right now, no time for messing around.

[Big_McLargeHuge]

Yeah - I think mine is going down the road as well since it tried to murder me this weekend.  I was taking a load of brush to the dump on a straight road - there was a crunch and the ATV suddenly pulled hard left into oncoming traffic.  It took everything I had to gather it back up and get it on the right side of the road.  The electric start quit working and it doesn't seem like its charging the battery anymore - I think some kind of short may have engaged the 4WD while I was at speed.

I'll fart around with it for yard duties and try to figure out what's going on, but I'll never trust it.

[Gwbarm]

Sorry to hear that hopefully its not too bad,

[Gwbarm]

So you got it going how much did you end up replacing.

[lbdrummer3]

5 hours ago, Gwbarm said:

So you got it going how much did you end up replacing.

I'm just into it for a battery and a diaphragm for the carb.  I picked up an old Yamaha Moto 4 and it uses the same battery so just 20 for the diaphragm at the moment plus about 3 hours of tinkering.

[Gwbarm]

Oh, OK, so this wasn't the Polaris it was the Moto 4 you were riding.

[lbdrummer3]

44 minutes ago, Gwbarm said:

Oh, OK, so this wasn't the Polaris it was the Moto 4 you were riding.

I'm the OP, Big_McLargeHuge was the one riding his.

[Gwbarm]

Sorry! I got confused, seems to be happening more as I get older.

[lbdrummer3]

Boy know the feeling, right there with ya.