Dwight Williams

So I got around to addressing the rusty front end today, looks like I'm going to be doing some welding. Those control arms weren't held on by much, once I cut the bolts off I realized just how bad it is.

Hey, I'll chime in real quick, I just went through the same thing on the same bike. I have two machines and I could take the CDI from the good bike and put it on the bad bike, no spark, I could take the bad bike's cdi and put it on the good bike and it would run, therefore I thought my CDI was good. I swapped everything else, including the flywheel, I got it to spark with a flywheel from a newer one but when i ordered the exact same flywheel - no spark. I finally bought a cheapo chinese CDI from ebay and it now runs. All I can think is that there is a tolerance stack up where something on that bike is just weak enough that an older cdi unit just won't fire. Anyway, for what it's worth.., my .02. Good luck! I have three of these quads presently and they all run, two have the older electrical system and one is the newer style. Let me know if you want me to check anything for you.

Ok, so it still went into reverse without the lever so I took the right side cover off and found the cam stopper was worn so bad that it would roll off the edge and go into reverse all by itself. I welded the worn spot on the cam and ground it back down to a shape somewhat resembling square and put it back together - all good now. I noticed the clutch disks were pretty worn as well so I just ordered a new set, as soon as they come in I'll get it put back together. thanks

I adjusted the idle today and it is MUCH better. Thanks Frank, I'll have to look into that reverse cam stopper, maybe that's the issue.

Ya, seat was completely missing, airbox too. I took it for a ride today in the snow just to play around a bit. It's a tank for sure. I feel like bringing this thing back was the right thing to do, even though it'll probably not make me any money if I sell it. I ordered headlights and shift knobs today (they were also missing). I need to start ripping into the front end next to address the heavy rust around the lower control arm mounts.

Update: After going through the carburetor I was able to ride it around a little, the high/low/superlow lever was missing so I couldn't test that, but 2wd and 4wd work fine. One front brake worked, the other locked up, therefore just a short ride around the front yard. I went through the front brakes, they now work. I had to use a hammer and a floor jack to free up the foot brake lever but that now works as well. I sorted out the wiring and it now works as it should. I still have a long way to go, so much rust up front, the CV boots are torn, there are no headlights, but the thing is starting to become somewhat useable. I'm into it a whopping 350 bucks, mostly because it needed a seat ($80) and an airbox (another $80). Other than that, small bits and pieces here and there. I'll post some more pics once I get the plastics fitted back on it.

So, the new flywheel didn't fix it, nor did another flywheel off of another newer quad. Just for fun I ordered a cheap CDI unit from Amazon and bang! Spark again. I can still put the original CDI on the other bike and it runs. I suspect a tolerance stack issue, weak pickup/flywheel matched with a weak CDI. The other bike must have a slightly stronger pickup and/or flywheel so the CDI works with it. Anyway, now that that works I need to find the source of an engine knock. thanks

I have a 99 Kodiak 400 4X4 that I picked up for $300. The previous owner had modified the foot shifter by welding a piece of rebar to it so he could hand shift while plowing. As you can imagine, the allows for much more torque on the shifter than it was designed to have, and he broke the stopper off of the the shift mechanism. No big deal, I ordered the part and put it back together, went through the carburetor and off we go, it runs pretty good. The first thing I noticed is that when I put the shifter all the way down it goes into reverse, I'm supposed to twist a knob to get it to reverse but this seems to be disabled. Also, once in reverse, it's a bugger to get back out. I have to hold the shifter up, then quickly back down and up again to get it to come out. All forward gears work fine, clutch is tight, no problems. The reverse cable and lever are in tact and seem to move freely. My question is this: What does one normally have to do to get this thing into reverse? I assume put it in neutral, twist the knob, kick the shifter down. Does the brake need to be applied? I'm not sure what's going on here, I suspect it's been 'modified' as it goes into reverse without the proper precautions, just not sure if the mods were external on internal. thanks

Well, I got the top end put back together yesterday and it fired briefly. Today I sorted out the starter solenoid (bad ground) so I could manually choke it and hold the starter button - the choke lever is missing and the cable is broken, the throttle cable is also broken so I tied a string to the linkage for now. Anyway, I held my hand over the carb long enough to get it to fire and it actually took off and ran! I don't know how long it's been sitting but wow did stuff fly out of the exhaust - soot, dust, sparks, you name it. Anyway, I adjusted the idle (the adjuster is broken too) and it idles ok, sputters and pops a bit but it also has no air box and the carb hasn't been rebuilt yet, I just went through it and made sure all the passages were open. I'll get some time later in the week to shore up the wiring enough to actually put it in gear and drive around the yard a bit. Oil is milky again so I'll have to do another purge. So far so good, I'm into this thing less than a hundred bucks and it looks like there may be hope. I'm not sure it won't smoke though, the cylinder was pretty crusty from all the water sitting in it. I honed it out but that's about it. I have a new (used) throttle cable here that i can slap on, front brakes work but rear pedal is locked up. The wiring is twisted/clipped/taped together right now so I'll have to start working on that, the previous owner cut the fuses and stuff all out, lost some connectors too. I tried to attach a video, not sure if it'll work though. IMG_0540.MOV

Thanks, I'm watching a few on Ebay as well, I appreciate you keeping an eye out though. I've got a few parts here and there too, let me know what you're looking for. I was planning on putting tires on it but it looks like I need a wheel now as well, it's pretty bent. I agree about the OE carbs, I'll always take one, crusty or not. Once cleaned up they run like they were made for it (hmmmmm).

I didn't break a banjo bolt, I cracked it, as in 'crack it a bit' to see if it spit oil, and it did. Sorry if I wasn't clear on that. Anyway, the kid I bought this from threw parts at it, a starter and solenoid (he wired the solenoid wrong so the starter spun backward), and a carburetor. Turns out the original carb was in pieces in a bag with bolts, etc that he gave me. I put the carb back together and it fired up and ran perfect. I adjusted the idle again and took it for another ride. It runs fantastic, and when I got back, no smoke and no clutch rattle! I assume the clutch just needed to be wet again after sitting. I can't believe how good it runs, just perfect. I'm starting to feel that my $250 investment wasn't so crazy. The brakes however, are terrible, and one back wheel is on backward and bent. It pulls pretty hard to one side because the back tires are different sizes. I still have plenty of work to do but this last ride made my day. Onward and upward.

So I got this all put back together, runs great, idles poorly (chinese carburetor). I should be able to get that adjusted out. Anyway, I've got a little smoke from the tail pipe when I rev it up. Also quite a bit of smoke from the base of the exhaust where is comes out of the cylinder, like it's leaking somewhere? I cracked a banjo bolt up top and the oil pump seems to be working fine, no rattles from the top either. It's got maybe 5 minutes of run time on it. How long should I give it before I'm concerned? I know the cylinder had a few scratches but it was at 120-125 psi before I tore it down, so I figured it couldn't be all that bad. Also there is quite a bit of chatter from the right side when I put it in gear, I'm assuming the clutch has some issues so I'll be tearing into that. This thing has had a rough life but it sure seems to run strong now.

Ya, I plan on draining the front diff as well. Good point on the battery causing the corrosion. I looked inside the best I could, I don't see any rust down low - I hope that, although water and oil separate, there was enough dilution in the water to prevent corrosion. The upper end took the worst of it, cylinder and piston as there was no oil to protect them and the rings allowed the water to sit there. I hope all will be good, I'm waiting on the new rings to get here to put it back together and test drive it. thanks

It's a 300, technically 280. I just ordered gaskets and rings. Oh, and a throttle cable. I'm a bit concerned about the front end, it looks like it was dunked in salt water or something (We live 10 minutes from Puget Sound in Washington). Anyway the whole things a little rusty but the bottom bits of the front end are really bad, lots of scale. I'll start chipping away at it to see if I can determine the structural integrity of things. I think the mounts for the control arms are the worst parts. It's weird because everything on the rest of the machine is typical, a bit rusty here and there from sitting but nothing like the front. Anyway, I can't wait to get it back together to see if it'll move. Most of the money I think I'll spend on it will be ordering the parts that are missing. Seat, racks, shifter knobs, headlights etc.

Here are a couple of pics, I have the plastic taken off but it's still a glorious beast.

For sure - do you think I can reuse the gaskets?

Ya, that's what I thought. I need to get it running in order to check out the drivetrain. I pulled the top end off, the cylinder is ugly but not scored or scratched at all, no pitting. The reason for the low compression is that the compression rings are stuck. If I thought the gaskets would seal again I might just loosen up the rings and put it back together just to finish checking things out. The piston is in good shape as well, timing chain was nice and tight. It's got 2800 miles on it, not too bad for it's age. I think I can do a quick hone on the jug, order rings and gaskets and put it back together, assuming I can change the cam and rocker later (it looks like I can do that without removing the head, correct me if I'm wrong). The plastics are ok, they've got hairline cracks like they're real brittle but mostly in tact, one of the rear fenders has a crack around the rack mount hole but not too bad. Ya, that's the best deal I've seen so far, I've been buying these for a couple of months now just for something for me and my son to do, they're fun to work on and more fun to ride. I paid $500 for a '95 bayou 220 and an '02 Honda 300ex last month, the Bayou needed a carb cleaning and the muffler reattached, the Honda needed a CDI - that's it. We've been riding them on the weekends and having a blast. I bought another Bayou 220 for $400 that was really clean but had a broken shift lever, I fixed that but it also has a knock I'm trying to track down, and in the middle of that I lost spark (thanks for the help on that BTW). I also bought an '06 Bayou 250 for $200 that's had a rough life, I'm putting the top end on that as we speak (thanks for the help on that one too). It's always nice to find a real clean one, this Suzuki is certainly not. I've been looking for a 4X4 for while though and I couldn't pass this one up.

I'm going to order another flywheel on Ebay for this one and put the good one back on the '06 for now - I'm trying to get the '06 put back together so I can get it out of my garage. I can't see any difference between them but there must be, otherwise Kawasaki would use the same part number all the way through. I'm not surprised it fit on the shaft as the bottom ends are exactly the same on the two bikes. The diameters also look the same but I'll try to get some measurements on them when I pull it back apart. thanks

Yes, new seals all around. I currently have 3 quads in different states of repair now - I just got another project this week and I'm tearing the top end of it down today. Stand by for more questions LOL.. Thanks!

Ok, so I bought this scream of a deal the other day - a 94 King Quad 300 for $40.00. It's been sitting outside with no carburetor on it for about a year. Its rusty, missing some parts, wiring is all cut up and spliced etc. No seat, no racks but the plastic is all there minus the headlight housing. Anyway, who can pass up a $40.00 quad right? I get it home and looked at the sight glass for oil level, it's about 1/2 oil and 1/2 water. I drain it, refill it and turn the motor by hand (recoil starter is missing) and it turns over just fine. I worked on the wiring for about an hour and got it to turn over with the electric starter and got enough of it sorted out to get a spark. Did a quick compression test, 70 lbs. Wet test bumped it up to 90. Ok, so rings and cylinder washed out with water for a year, not too surprised. I thought 'what the hell' and sprayed some starting fluid in it and it ran for about 2 seconds - enough to show it's got life. Since then the compression has gotten worse, I can't get enough pressure to activate the carb diaphragm, therefore no fuel pump either. The compression is now around 60. Anyway, my question is....is it worth it to try to get this thing going? I tore the top end down today and the cam and one of the rockers is pretty worn. I figured a top end job would be about $100 or so, depending on the condition of the cylinder but I'll probably have to put a cam and rockers in it as well. Doing some research on ebay I figure I'll have to spend about $500-$700 to make the whole machine right again. Much less just to make it run and use as-is but I won't really like it until it's right. I don't mind doing the work, I actually enjoy it but I'm concerned about what all that water did to the rest of the internals, I can't really test it all out until I can make it run. I know it's a basket case but I'm not into it much at all, even if I do the top end and find something else wrong I'm still not out much. I'm leaning toward ordering the top end parts and going from there unless you can convince me otherwise - any way to check the rest of the internals without tearing it down? I plan on flushing the oil cooler before I do another oil change, I've drained it twice now and it gets milky almost immediately just turning the starter - I suspect the oil cooler is polluted badly. I'll get some pictures today if anyone want to see them. thanks!

I checked and re-checked. I found what may be a slight taper but barely noticeable. I was able detect it on the old ring. After measuring over and over using speed square on a flat quartz countertop I go somewhat consistent results. I suspect it has no taper though since there were no markings. Anyway, it's ready to go back together as soon as I get the new valves - they should be here tomorrow. thanks

Yes I looked at the rings very closely, no marks. The mark on the original is very easy to see. No writing, no dots, stamps, paint etc. Just plain black. I'll check for taper with a straight edge, thanks for the tip!

The dark spots are just grease/dirt from my fingers, I got the new piston and rings but I'm perplexed. There are no markings on the rings. The originals only have a mark on the second ring down, and it's supposed to have a taper according to the manual. The new rings have no marks whatsoever. I'm sure the oil rings don't matter but the compression ring should. I can't see the taper with my naked eye. The old one doesn't appear to have a taper either but it may just be worn down enough to not see it anymore. Anyway, if the ring has no marks does that mean it can go in either way? The instructions are generic but they do state that that the marks go up (assuming there is a mark). Thanks

I tore it down, intake valve is bent, I ordered both. Cylinder is pretty scratched up, timing chain is really stretched. I ordered a stock piston and ring set but now I'm wondering if it'll have to be bored out to a bigger size just to clean it up. I tried a ball hone and it didn't really touch the scratches. I think once I get the top end all done it'll be ok. I was tempted to put it back together with the scratches but I know better, why do all that work and have it smoke or have low compression (or both) and have to do it again. I'll take the jug to a machine shop this week and drop it off to be done right.

I compared the two with a screwdriver and there was no noticeable difference, not exactly a scientific test but still, it's weird that it was running and suddenly quit, does a flywheel really just die like that? The flywheel was literally the last thing I thought it could be. Anyway, I'm also not sure why the part numbers are different between the two flywheels, I know that the 06 has an alternator vs a mag/stator but the flywheels don't physically look any different. I'm tempted to put the '95 flywheel on the 06 when I get the top end done and see if it will spark. thanks