MarkinAR

Probably not a lot you can do for power since those are weird hybrid honda knockoffs usually. Lot of proprietary stuff. Maybe you can change the clutch springs or add a shim to lower the gear ratio a bit?

Have you checked the plug to see if its rich or lean? Sounds like it's running out of fuel once its warm, I'm wondering if the plug shows it to be lean. Or maybe a plugged fuel cap vent causing vaccum lock on the tank?

New OEM harness is $150 on Partzilla. That's probably a lot cheaper than hours spent tracking down an internally broken wire or sheared insulation causing a ground short. On ATV flips I nearly always undervalue my hourly rate and assume that as long as selling price is higher than what it took to get it ready to sell then I'm good and making a buck. But I rarely figure in cost per hour for my time. Assuming that Frank's suggestions above don't resolve the issue anyway....

@Dra O Just north of LR. Small world! I looked at the member map a bit ago and was surprised how many members there were of this site in the central part of the state. Only a few active ones though...most were past members.

Disappointing nanny state. Hopefully the US doesn't follow suit. I'd be interested to see who owns Quadbar and Lifeguard since the folks saying these must be adopted are mentioning these products as the two options available to remain in compliance.

Skirt slap in the cylinder like that is not totally unusual when the rings are worn completely out. Chevy 5.3's often have that same skirt slap. I'd run a hone through it and see if they clean up. If they don't and are deep enough to feel with your fingernail it either needs to be bored up a size or a new cylinder. If i was flipping that thing i'd put a cheap cylinder and piston on it and send it on it's way. If i was keeping it to ride for a while i'd either bore it or get a better quality Weisco kit or similar.

That looks like the rubber bushing that should have been inside the plug boot just came off and stayed on the plug. Can you get to it with a pick and try to bury it in the rubber and pull it back out? My spark plug sockets always do that so I have a few without the rubber bushing in them from that very scenario.

I'd run the power wire that goes directly to the winch to the battery; those carry quite a bit of amperage and need the heavy wire to the power source. The winch solenoid though can be wired to about anything since it's low draw. Last one I did, I put a rocker switch providing power to the solenoid so it's not hot every time the key is turned on. With a separate switch, the solenoid only clicks closed when I want it to. I took power from the ignition switch for the rocker switch. Folks often use the ignition switch for the winch solenoid directly and if it's always on it tends to burn the ignition switch up quite frequently.

do they straighten up with someone on the quad? or are the shocks cranked up? it just looks like it's sitting a bit high making the tops come out a bit. likely with some weight they sit normally.

So the 300FW saga continues. Back together and rode 2 weekends and it turned into a mosquito fogger. Dude is burning oil by the mouthful. After further consideration, i figure this is about normal. Blowing the output shaft housing interrupted the oil flow to the head and thus overheated and softened the rings in the 10 seconds it ran with the side of the motor broken. Woops. New OEM rings came in the other day and we pulled the motor to give it a good once over. Should be back together and back to normal by the weekend. Funny how one problem can cause so many issues down the line. Edit: yes i know you can change the rings with it in the frame. But a half dozen bolts and a strain on the ole lower back and the motor is completely accessible on the floor.

@Frank AngeranoWhat are the chances that the glue turned loose from engine heat and then restuck when it cooled off? Looking at those magnets better, I'm almost positive they bunched together with glue in a liquid state due to centrifugal force. Either way, that's a first for me. Seen em cracked, falling apart in pieces, missing chunks, turned completely loose. But never bunched up like that.

Sorry to jump in about a dozen conversations behind but if the relay is clicking and it's not reliably starting it's most likely the solenoid. The relay clicks closed and throws electricity to the solenoid to close it. If it's not closing reliably then voltage doesn't get to the starter. My oldest runs through solenoids constantly because of mud and water. They get wet inside and corrode in days and then they're trashed.

Damn. Easy there gents, I was only relaying a previous thread I read somewhere on here. But would it not stand to reason that a CDI does indeed have a shelf life due to moisture? Bare metal crusts in ambient humidity so maybe a CDI on a shelf for a few years could draw a bit of humidity? Especially given that there is no QC on imported Chinese parts?

I have read that a CDI can go bad sitting on the shelf. Something to do with needing electricity to flow through it to keep it healthy. There is a thread somewhere on here where a guy went through like 6 before getting one that would work. So most likely yes, defective CDI.

It's simple, but make sure the fuel cap is venting correctly. My oldest had a 400ex and he cut the fuel cap vent hose off and put a neat looking little grenade cap on the vent line. But it didn't move enough air and vacuum locked the tank. So it would run a few minutes, sputter and die. One day I was in the garage working on another bike and heard the tank slowly sucking air. Replaced the cap vent line with a normal hose and it ran perfectly.

You can bypass any relay on the bike if you really want to. A relay is just two circuits, if one closes it closes the other. So just jumper the two that complete the starter circuit and see if it'll bump. Then again, a relay is only abut $7 at a parts store so it's a cheap trial if you want to just replace it. Look in the auxiliary lighting section at Autozone or whatever parts store. I bought a couple extras to use in troubleshooting and to have one on hand when one goes bad.

If no lights and no starter button I'd look for a blown fuse between the battery and starter solenoid. Can't really tell much though until you start at the battery with a test light and work your way forwards.

Sounds more like the jets are stopped up. Have you been through the carb yet? There may be enough fuel to rev unloaded but cant supply enough fuel under load due to blockage.

Do the headlights come on? If so, then the likely culprit is the neutral safety switch. Theres a green wire and a black or white wire right by your left heel sitting down. See if there is continuity on that switch when in neutral. If theres not, then there's the issue. You may be able to pull the left brake lever fully and bypass the neutral safety switch also. My 93 kodiak would do that.

Bayous here in the south aren't readily available in decent running shape. Most of the decent 2wd were discarded in favor of 4wd so they are usually too far gone to bring back. Last one I flipped was a 98 220 I paid $200 for and flipped for $500 and that was a bit low but it was profit and gone in a couple hours from listing it. Have another one bought for $300, it's a complete 300 2wd, should fetch $650 or so. To OP in this thread, I say make it a rider if you have the skills and then keep or sell.

I primarily did it the hard way so I could see the transmission gears inside and maybe get a finger on them should they slide. It turned out that it was good to stick a finger in and roll a gear to get it to mesh with the splines on the drive shaft. First 300 i've been into. While it's quite a bit different than the Yamaha and Kawa's I've been in, it's normal Honda. Simple and utilitarian. Not overly complicated.

Further update: back together and rode yesterday. I replaced it back tracing the shaft with PVC so the gears wouldn't drop sitting on all 4. Unfortunately this requires pulling the side of the motor. I'm told you can lay the bike on it's side and carefully lift the output shaft out and slide the new one back without taking the clutches out. I didnt trust that and did it the hard way. $70 or so in parts and the 300FW rides again.

Always the best idea. The imported cylinders are soft and only last for a bit. For a quick low buck flip I'll do them before paying machine shop prices but for one I'm keeping I'll just hone it a bit if it's not worn smooth out or punch it a smidge and rering.

I bet that's it. Thinking back, this was an electrical fire at some point so if you replaced the harness and the usual plug, plug wire, coil, etc test good then you've resolved about every end point on the harness that has an effect on performance...so it almost has to be the flywheel and/or stator. I assume you ohmed out the reg/rect and it's good. I'm firmly convinced this is electrical related.

You and I both hate throwing parts at it without knowing they actually need replacing...and flywheels aren't exceptionally cheap. But I'm not sure what's left, you've pretty much ruled everything out. Listening to the video, I'm not hearing a fuel issue, I'm hearing something electrical intermittently cutting off under load. Under load issues are nearly always heat or gravity related so if it does it with a cold motor that almost only leaves gravity.