One thing that got left off that most people overlook. I'm a professional mechanic and I overlooked it. THE DIFFERENTIALS, check them for leaks, proper oil level, and condition (i.e. if its brown its got rust in it and the bearings are shot, or if its got metal in it). also play in the bearings. I just had to fix my 07 420 Rancher rear diff because I didn't check it when I bought it. If I had it woulda been cheaper. Even with this list of things to check for you can still get a bike with problems. Most of the time 4wheelers get beat to Hell. I know every one I've ever ridden has. Never rolled one fortunately, been close. They go air-born and get over-reved, buried in mud and spashing through the creek. I won't own any ATV other than a Honda. They take the abuse the best I've found. Cheap and easy to fix too, except for the tools of course. Those are stupid expensive. I may be offering a cheaper tool to pull Honda diffs apart here pretty soon. Gonna see what my machinist buddy says on the cost of making them.

That’s a great story. Scary but great. I just bought my first winch for one of my bikes. Not sure how it’s going to go since I’m not a winch kinda guy! If it goes well I’m ordering a second one. So take a look at this winch I picked up and any feed back would be appreciated. Thanks.

So here’s a question. I have seen a few members that have recently purchased a used bike/ATV. Also a HUGE amount of so called new members who have purchased a used bike and have come here “just here for a manual”. Some have been disappointed with the bikes and or knew they were getting a broken bike with some mechanical experience thinking hey I can fix it. So here’s my take on buying a used bike. Anyone who has followed some of mine and other members posts about what to look for when buying a used bike here’s a few pointers on what to look for. 1. I always check the oil and look for moisture, metal shavings and color. 2. Feel the compression or take a compression tester with you. 3. Check for spark (if the bikes not running) 4. Take a small jumper pack to verify that the starter cycle works and the bike cranks. 5. Look for bent or cracked frame/welding that was done on the frame from maybe a wreck. 5. Mismatch plastics by looking under neath. 7. Bolts on the engine/frame that look like they are stripped from someone taking the bike apart. 8. Any kind of scilicone or gasket adhesive that was used on a cover plate or engine seem where the engine was taken apart. 9. Patches on the exhaust pipes with sheet metal or jb weld patch material. 10. Wiring messes on the harness like bundles of tape where the harness was opened up and taped up for an after market device or just plain butchered up. 11. Put the bike in gear (running or not) and roll the bike back and forth to see that the gears work and you feel resistance like the engine is trying to spin while pushing it forward as if you were push starting it 12. I keep a vin# decoder website on my phone as a favorite to double check the year of the bike . All though nothing is fool proof these tips will help you along while buying a used bike. Not only that but it will help you negotiate a fair price for a bike that may have one of the above problems. I have minimized this entire process down to about 15 mins. I buy all the time so I don’t expect you to do the same or have a compression tester etc but use some of these tips when buying and go into the purchase with confidence! I would like to hear anyone else that has any input on buying a bike and what to look for!

My name is Gabriel. I am from Argentina. I have some bikes 1979 DT 100, 1974 CZ 250 Enduro & 1990 Bayou 220. I am sorry my english is not good. Thanks.

im going to try and let you know. Thanks

You can get it at any auto body paint supply shop. Its in a square can. So you have to follow the directions or ask Any local body shop and they will tell you how to use it. It’s sprayed on and then the clear coat. You can also add a little to the clear coat for flexibility. Use a DuPont clear coat as well. I can’t wait to try it.

also if you have an aftermarket exhaust it can play havoc on some machines without some fine tuning.

lmfao ... my wife is too upset to even look at mine ... and then I ran across this just now on craigslist:

@mikeexplorer you winch, but you save @Frank Angerano I like it. Probably that 2500# badlands is same as your 2000#. I imagine both max out around 90% and the badlands a bit lower. I bet we can find comparable pics of internals and have a "battle of the winches" sticky. Actually, be cool to have a sticky of "winch savers!" heh

lol also dont want to leave out the other folks that helped out on this thread too.. 😎👍 Thanks guys!

Nah man I didn't take any pictures. I was too funky and didn't want to get my phone nasty. Too concentrated on task. Word of experience though. Don't do what the manual says about installing the snap ring on the pinion needle bearing before you put it in. It will pop out of the grove and get jammed. Its a royal pain in the as* to get the needle bearing out w/ out destroying it. I had to pull my old needle bearing out by welding a long bolt inside of it and using a slide hammer. Its mostly back together now. I'll take some pictures of my ride when I'm done.

It wasn't "life saving" the driver of the side by side was ready to bail if the machine let loose. (Passenger already got out of the machine and is sitting on my girls machine in picture) She had to sit on her machine to add weight because the quad was lighter then the side by side and was being pulled back towards the drop off. She winched to my machine, I was winched to a tree holding everyone in place. The side by side in trouble can be seen in the background. I was winching in and had Michelle run her machine to help pull the side by side out, her quad lost traction and bam, that blew out my winch's gears. (but the winch held, I just could no longer spool in) Her quad is also equipped with a WARN winch and was more powerful then my old one. (at the time my machine was a 2007 400, came with a WARN 2000 lb winch) Hers was 2500 lb winch, With the added weight on her machine and careful winching, we pulled the side by side out. The side by side had some kind of aftermarket winch and was not strong enough to pull the machine out, this is why we had to do it this way. In the end, nobody was hurt, and we all got out safe. This was a true test of winches. Mike

lol thanks and no, its a real bike- still get the tick on the exhaust, I'm hoping to order a new valve rocker and axle soon. And no I'm anything but a mech professor... I'm 15 and just getting started with engines- this was my first tear-down. Huge shutout to Frank for the awesome help on this bike!!!👍👍 would not have attempted this without this forum.

this was an amazing thread to follow. congrats Jacob even if you did not sell it. great "internet" break-down and assist Frank 🤯 not sure I'll ever have the time to chase down and resolve these issues like ya'll did (and hope I do not). wish I was closer to buy the bikes ya'll work on/flip!! but JS, come on, no pics? maybe you were messing around with Frank whole time and no real bike? you a mech professor?

Ranchers! I have no interest in Honda, not technical or valid - just personal heh so, Imma stock up on some testing parts, Frank.. please share links to your trusted vendors! I'm going to push the one that doesn't start: https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/snw/d/west-sacramento-honda-rancher-350/6792299892.html how would you test the one that we'd have to all lift or winch?

Hello, great tips. I bought my first atv used and boy did I get screwed. These tips are exactly what I needed to know. The previous owner told me the bike was perfect and great condition. Only to find out the clutch was completely burnt out. No air filter, missing screws on the frame and fender. Front differential not working all the bearings broken and the screw is broke off in the case. I can go on and on. The shocks are leaking oil. The list goes on. I appreciate your list of tips.

thanks guys! yeah I know this place is the best for atv help, I tried to be a silent member glad to hear that is not heavy metal 🤘in the oil. I will change it 3x/week if I have to for a while. It is hard for me to tell where the leak is coming from as it sits, I'll try to lift it enough to get under and see or wait until I roll'er in the snow and take a look while she's on her back

Hey @pokerl0w welcome to quad crazy. Sounds like you have your hands full with this bike. That pic yiu posted with the oil leak is at what location? You can’t really see from that pic. Metal shavings (aka fary dust) could be from so many things let alone the piston. As long as it’s not chunks of metal. I would drop the oil and filter ASAP and get some fresh stuff in there. As far as the leak goes, if it’s not a major job/location of the leak and you have a place to work on it maybe change it out. If it’s a major job then just stay on top of it until you can fix it. It’s a tough call buying a used bike. You never know the history. Hopefully you can get it fixed up. I would be a little careful with the plowing until you see what’s going on with the bike since a plow can put a lot of stress on the engine and drive train. Last thing you want is blowing the engine up or even worse having something blow a hole in the engine or a seal blowing out and it’s oil all over the pace as well. Good luck with the bike and any questions or help you need this is the place for answers.

I do agree WARN winches are pricey, but I have always had a WARN winch on all my machines and it has never let me down. One time I blew out the star gear in mine, but the winch was overloaded in a desperate attempt to pull a side by side out of a dangerous situation. The gear gave out first rather then destroying the whole winch. $30 in parts and the winch was good to go again. I also use it for plowing, the winch gets a good workout with the plow. I personally think they are worth it since when you need it, you need it. Maintenance is also needed, every two years I take them apart and clean them out and re-grease the winch. I have an excellent PDF guide on how to do this (attached) Winch Cleaning Guide.pdf

i bought rear tires from them 2 years ago and stud nuts,checked price for front 2 weeks ago same tires 12.00 cheaper on ebay.the oil filter they sell didnt include 2 orings needed for my atv

i just got a Kawasaki Prairie myself.. i looked at a couple bayou's but did not like the trans setup... i am all so plowing snow with mine once i get the plow fixed... i liked the fact of the CV trans with belt... this way if i hit something hard it will give in the belt and hopefully not rip gear teeth off in trans... i got mine as a basket case. so.i been bolting it back togthere with the help of a repair manual i bought on line...i have not yet hit 10.post on this forum to unlock that yet... i can tell you if you keep running it you will probably be money ahead to find a used engine off of ebay.

Maybe we can get together! I'm 60 and still bang it pretty good on my beloved 2-fiddy-R. I have been to Silver Lake to ride the "dune". lol

Rocky Mountain Cycle is one of my favorite vendors. Everything I have ever ordered from them was received very quickly and came exactly as ordered. Also in my opinion their Tusk line of products provides some of the best value in Motorcycle/ATV products.

Quadcarazy - that's a very useful subject - reviewing vendors

I have bought from them, i purchased a set of 4 point harness belts, service was good, delivery was good, pricd was fair tge only issue i have is that it was in US dollars and i am in canada so with exchange and shipping it was a bit pricey. Bob

I bought some ratchet straps from them. They sent the wrong ones. Simple phone call had the correct ones on the way and I got to keep the wrong ones. I'd call that good customer service.

I purchased from them tires and rims several times and a soft rear pack for my girls quad. I never had an issue with them. Mike

Check out this club started by @Dravkracing or maybe start your own club here and you'll be able to find some folks. Also, try the member map https://www.quadcrazy.com/membermap/

I mounted my badland into the bumper of my bayou with the mounting plate onto a 1/8" piece of garden bed liner... thought for sure it would snap first time I used it but i guess bed liner is tempered and it has never bent out of shape or snapped and Ive done stuff to it that made the winch complain. Parked the bike behind a stump and pulled a shed upright with it- I know for a fact that it was pulling a LOT more than 2500 pounds. It was an oak stump and it started breaking lol... didnt do a thing to the winch or homemade mounting plate.

Don't forget the simplest things first. 1997 Fourtrax300FW was running fine, stopped it to split some firewood, wouldn't start back up, plenty of fuel. I pulled the sparkplug, zero spark. I read a couple forums which made it sound like the most common problem for no spark was the CDI. From a YouTube video, I followed the instructions and used the multi meter Ohm meter to check the resistance on the two coil leads and the reading was about 0.8 as expected for a good coil. Ordered a CDI, replaced it, still no spark, but when I was checking it I noticed I was getting a shock holding onto the plug wire. Used a multi meter to check the spark plug (from instructions on YouTube videos) and there was no continuity on the spark plug. Replaced the spark plug, turned the engine over with the plug grounded to the cylinder head, visible spark. Then reinserted the plug, and it started right up. The moral of the story, if you don't have a spark, you may want to check the plug, or replace it first. That was the cheapest option, and it would have saved me the time of pulling the front cargo carrier and plastic off to get to the CDI, and order and pay for the CDI. I hope this helps someone else down the line.

hey you too man! And thanks to the forum and especially you for helping me through this rebuild!!👍👍 It actually turned out better than I expected.