MarkinAR

Core support will pull back out, I've been rebuilding cars for nearly 40 years. Likely just need a hood and a lot of elbow grease.

I hope you find the magic bullet. So many we run across need the plastics freshened up but I haven't seen the great option yet.

Just go through it and fix all the little issues. My oldest was wanting to do some flat track racing but it may stay more trails oriented. We have another one a little newer that was lowered and what not to flat track but its about worthless on everything but flat ground.

Update on this one: rear ujoint on the front driveshaft took a crap, got the yoke in a bind, and dropped the middle drive gear on the ground, shredded the yoke, snapped the transfer case in half. Yes, completely broke it off and it hit the ground. On the plus side though, i picked up a complete transfer case from Grumpy's for $85 and another $30 for yoke and ujoint and started putting it back together last night. It's going on the market as soon as it's back together. This one is a turd, too many previous "mechanics" have about ruined it.

So here is the newest project in the garage, a '99 400EX. Came with full belly pan, DMC Alien exhaust with dual header, few other little fun additions. Only down side here really is the stupid Chinese carb, but it is what it is. Only paid $800 for it and it runs like a scalded dog. 70MPH on the top end, verified with a truck behind it and you have to fight it to keep the front wheels down through 4th.

Never did get time to work on this Big Bear. Sold it off with the parts I had rounded up. Think i ended up making $20 on it after sitting untouched in the garage for 3 months so can't complain.

Heating works really well if you get it just to where the surface is shining and then dash it with cold water. Auto restorers have been doing it for decades on interior trim. If you don't flash cool the plastic though, it just goes back to oxidized looking. I wonder if the ATV plastic leeching a bit of oil over time will hurt the clear? Looks good though. Can you get the flexible clear you used in a satin?

Ha, that's interesting. An old Honda manual I have said to line it up using the hash mark right by the T. Wonder if I mis timed the last yamaha i rebuilt then....

So the clutch still wants to slip a bit if you throw it WOT in middle gears but doesnt slip if you ease it to WOT. Probably centrifugal clutch. But anywho, here's a couple shots from yesterday's ride.

What is the opinion on carb kits? What's one of the better brands of aftermarket? OEM is always preferred but not practical, chinese cheapie is never a good option. Thoughts ?

That's how you know. Real mikuni or kehin say it. Chinese copies dont say anything on them.

Maybe try covering the on/off switch on the handlebar and the key ignition switch to keep it in the shade and then let the bike sit in the sun a while and see if it'll start? could be water in one of the switches expanding enough in high heat to short a switch? long shot...but maybe?

Not sure thread lock would be a wise idea since it would still need to be adjustable. Seems this is going to be a rig job....

Gonna pull the side of the case again and inspect. Hopefully I can drill and tap a size up and use a bolt nut combo to replicate the current function. Not sure as I've not looked at the way it's made but surely I can replicate the function.

Mystery somewhat solved. The threads in the case for the adjustment screw are completely gone so adjusting is best guess based on feel. Without threads it's also not keeping pressure on the clutch.

Centrifugal clutch I regrooved and worked the drum smooth. Seems to pull fine until you hit WOT so I'm pretty sure it's a clutch pack issue. Thanks for the input. I'll try readjusting when it's back together and if that doesn't work shim the springs a bit.

Now that's some knowledge, thanks bub! Once I get the head back together I'll run through adjustments one more time.

This Kodiak is a turd that won't flush. Front diff seal is pouring and it started making an odd knock while running. turns out the odd knock is the cylinder popping up and down against the motor case bc the previous "mechanic" stripped the head bolt threads on one head bolt and the cylinder has a bit of wiggle. Waiting on helicoil to arrive and a diff seal and we'll try again. Turd I tell you!

That's awesome, congrats on bringing it back to life! Its amazing how it fires right off once everything is in line.

Sounds like you're chasing a pretty tough issue. Could very well be a broken wire somewhere in the harness, looks like it's worth a shot trying a different harness. You're moving in the right direction.

I'm curious, why did you throw so many parts at it? Were they missing or did you just replace all of it trying to nail down the cause of no spark? On a side note, sometimes cheap ebay parts can be bad out of the box. I had a bad spark plug boot once. It's worth either doing a continuity test on the boot or just take the boot off and see if you can get spark from the wire itself without the boot.

If that's a winch solenoid as I suspect, just take the leads for it loose at the battery and see if that fixes the battery drain. I assume there are normal positive and negative leads at the battery for the bike plus the two winch lead wires?

Ignition switch? Run/kill switch on the handlebar? Is there a place for a safety switch like on kids atv where it has to be in place to run?

That's a winch solenoid, if I see 2 in and 2 out correctly. Signal wire that goes to it must be on the hot wire when it should be on a switched ignition wire. Or the solenoid is just bad and stuck in the closed position.

Did the same on one a while back. Older lady needed one to run a half mile to a deer stand. Told her if she'd use it and not let it rot like I pulled it from, take it and be happy.