DirtDemon

I would say that the Harley is still probably worth more and you should get some cash or something else on top of the Honda in the trade. But if the quad is worth more to you than the Harley, then... I will also confirm that the quad in the picture is a TRX 450R '04 or '05 like Tages said. The early 450Rs have an oil cooler and a stronger tranny. Most desert racers prefer these older models because of these things. I had an '04 and it was a good bike, the have a completely different personality than the '06 and newer. The newer ones are faster, but the old ones have more low end grunt and more potential IMO because they have a longer stroke and a more aggressive cam profile, add a big bore cylinder and a high comp piston, these things can be a real beast.

If it is bad gas, it would be best to drain the tank, and maybe put some seafoam in with the fresh gas to try and help clean things out. I would say you need to clean out the carb, but your machine is fuel injected, so you may be having problems with the FI not wanting to work because you are having problems with the battery, the charging system, or bad connections. I would check all of your electrical connections and make sure they are secure and make sure the battery is full. If not, top it off with distilled water, and try giving it another charge and see if it helps. If your battery is not in top shape, the FI will not work. If you keep having to put it on a charger after that to get it to start, then you most likely need to replace the battery. Good luck.

Welcome, glad you like what we have done with the place.

It sounds like you have an old FMF Megamax tunable exhuast. Yes it works just like a Supertrapp, you can remove discs to create more back pressure which is supposed to create more low end response and quiet the muffler a bit. If you add discs, it will decrease back pressure, making it louder and giving the machine better top end performance. You can still get replacement discs for that muffler if you feel you want to add more. Keep in mind, if you change the number of discs, you may have to re-jet depending on how much you chance it.

We do have a Yamaha tech here, he may chime in with some info, but I also think you would be best off checking ebay or another source for a service manual. I believe they are a must for anyone who is going to be working on their own macnines. You may even be able to find an owners manual on ebay, it will have simple service info like what types of oil to use and where to put it.

Start inspecting your wiring, if the same problem is causing both of your symptoms, this could be like chasing down a ghost. Hopefully you can find the problem quickly. I would strongly recommend getting a repair manual with a wiring diagram, there will be lots of valuable info in there as well as some troubleshooting tips. Good luck.

Looks good, how do the stock shocks feel with the longer a-arms? If you are light, I imagine they will work good, but if you are a bigger person, the shocks may feel a bit soft and get over worked. I know when I put extended a-arms on my 500R, the stock shocks were way too soft, the front end would just dive everytime I hit a bump. I had to replace the shocks, but I was about 220lbs at the time and stock 250R shocks are not that good to begin with, and they were also quite old. The 450R has much better shocks on it.

Could be alot of things, the speedo problem could be the speedo itself, a fault in the wiring, or whatever sensor the speedo gets it's input from. As far as the problems being related, that would depend on what is causing your machine to shutter, does it seem like a mechanical problem that is making the machine do that in reverse, or does it seem like the motor is cutting out? It sounds morel ike a mechanical issue from your brief description, and the fact that the machine doesn't move makes me think it is a problem with the gears not engaging or something is broken or slipping in the reverse gears. If the motor is cutting out, they could be related I guess. I would start by inspecting all of your machines wiring, look for damaged wires and loose connections. Could all be just because of one loose ground wire somewhere. The more you find out and post here, the better we can guess as to what is causing your problem. Good luck.

Anytime, there is actually a thanks tab at the bottom right hand corner of each post, if you want to thank a member officially, you just click that tab and you can add a tag at the bottom of the thread that says that you are thanking said member for this post. I hit the button on your last post to show you how it displays. You are welcome, and don't hesitate to ask more questions if you got them, we are always glad to help out.

Dead thread alert. This was one of those one time posters, thread was started over a year ago, he did check in last April, but has not posted since he started this thread.

Anytime, we will be here.

Are you talking about the lever itself, or the whole master cylinder/lever assembly? I assume you mean the whole thing. As far as I know, if you can bolt it up, it will work, just make sure the banjo fitting that attatches to the master cylinder is the same size for both machines.

Well, it sounds to me like the motor has to come out of the quad anyway. I would take it out, and compare everything side by side and make you decision based on what you see. Alot of those Honda utility motors are identical, and they have been generally the same for years. You may even be able to swap parts inside the gearbox to make it match up with your quad. If your 400 motor is sitting there doing nothing, and the other one is junk, I don't see what you have to lose by just checking it out, and seeing how it will work. Good luck to you, whatever you decide.

First, I will point out that the pilot screw on a four stroke meters the fuel not the air in the pilot circuit. Therefore, it is more of a fuel screw than an air screw, but it is mostly referred to as the pilot screw. The screw is used for metering air to the pilot ciruit on a two stroke, that is where the term air screw comes from. This is pertinant because, turning the screw does the opposite thing on the different carbs. On a two stroke, turning the screw in makes the pilot circuit richer, turning it out makes it leaner. This is opposite on a four stroke, since you are metering fuel, turning the screw in makes it leaner, turning it out makes it richer. Next I would ask what a thourough cleaning of the carb means to you? Did you take EVERYTHING apart and clean all the holes and passages? If not, then I would say that you need to clean the carb out again. If you did actually get everything out of the carb, and you just need to get it tuned back to where it is supposed to be, then... Start the enginge and let it warm up, adjust the pilot screw in untill the machine starts to run very poorly, then begin to turn it back out. Keep turning the screw out until to the point at which the machine idles highest. Once you have done that, you can adjust the idle screw to where you like it. Hope that helps, and good luck.

Once you get in there, and can see how it is set up, you may better understand how it works. Good luck.

One suggestion, do not use a conventional 2-3 jaw puller to remove your flywheel. There is a specific puller made for removing the flywheel on your machine, and they aren't too expensive. It screws into the flywheel and has a bolt on the inside that screws in and pushes your flywheel off. You can get away with using regular generic pullers sometimes, but I have personally seen flywheels ruined by using the wrong tool. I definately agree that it sounds like your starter clutch is the problem.

If you did the head, then you are probably right about the rings. You should be able to get piston sets in .5mm increments, so the next size up from stock should be 85.5 if stock is 85. Make sure to have the cylinder measured before buying the piston, just to make sure you haven't worn it to the point that you have to go even bigger. Good luck, hope everything works out well.

Messed your threads up when merging posts, I meant to leave the stuff about the timing chain separate from the question about your compression issue. I made a new thread for the compression stuff titled accordingly. Sorry for the confusion.

Messed up when merging your threads, accidentally moved everything into the timing chain thread. I only meant to merge the two that both pertained to your compression/vavle problem. Made this new thread and left your timing chain thread by itself, since it is of a different subject matter. Sorry for the confusion.

You can drill jets out to make the orifices bigger, but generally, you just remove the old jets and install new ones. Obviously, there is no way to make jets smaller, so the only option for smaller jets is to change them. Changing jets is very simple, the main jet can be accessed through the drain bolt in the bottom of the float bowl, it just unscrews from the carb and you screw the new jet in. To get to the pilot jet, you have to remove the float bowl, the pilot jet sits just in front of the main jet. The needle is accessed fromt the top of the carb, the needle sits in the slide valve or piston valve, depending on what type of carb you are dealing with. A slide valve is manually moved up by a mechanical connection to the throttle, it controls both air flow and needle position, a piston valve controls only the needle position, as it moves up and down in reaction to airflow through the carb, in this type of carb, the airflow is controlled by a butterfly valve. In most slide valve carbs, there are grooves at the top of the needle, where an e-clip sits, moving this clip up on the needle for a leaner setting, down on the needle for a richer setting. In most piston valve carbs, the needle position generally fixed, but can be adjusted by a washer. Generally needle tuning in this type of carb is done my changing the spring that holds the slide vavle down, or by drilling out the holes in the slide vavle.

I am familiar with Monroe, I have been lucky enough to have a job that required me to visit your fine penitentiary a few times. When you have 3 cylinders instead of one, the exhuast definately gets more tricky. The Warrior exhuast should be much easier to modify. Changing the lenth a little on a four stroke motor isn't going to have much of an effect. If you change the dynamics of a two stroke expansion chamber even slightly, it can have dramatic effects on enginge performance. For simplicity, it you were to ever try a snomobile engine, I would try to find an air cooled twin cylinder. The exhuast would be easier to deal with, and no need for a radiator. For the Warrior motor, one thing I would definately do is find a heavy duty aftermarket clutch and the stiffest springs you can find for it.

You need to run richer jetting with higher air flow and aftermarket exhuast. You will likely need to go up a few sizes on your main jet, after installing the bigger main jet, you can probably move your needle clip back to a leaner spot. As for the pilot circuit goes, you should be able to get the adjustment you need by turning the screw out a bit, if you can't get rich enough by adjusting the screw, you will want a bigger pilot jet. Also keep in mind, if you are running with a modified airbox lid, or no lid at all, you will need to go even richer. BTW, I am going to delete your post in the other thread, since you have your own thread here. Good luck.

I know this is way off topic here, but I think this thread may be dead anyway. You say you have talked to someone from Black Widow ATV. I have heard legend of a counterballaned 625cc two stroke motor made by the folks at Black Widow called the "Red Head". I have always wondered if it were true. I have a picture of said motor, and as you can see, it appears to be in a Cannondale frame.

Good deal, glad to hear you got it fixed, and thanks for coming back and updating us. Alot of people just leave these threads hanging and we never find out what happened.

If you have a Photobucket or other similar type of photo sharing account, you can paste the img. code into your post and the picture will appear. I hope you like the new ride, let us know how the maiden voyage goes.