Mech

These are just cheap bins. My bins get a bashing and one's cracked down one side from being too rough on it.. Cheap tough bins suit me.. They are super handy..

I've got a couple of plastic "fish bins" on my bike. I made mild steel straps running down inside for strength and the outside straps have hooks that hook under the carrier rails to keep them in place. I can push the bins at the top and they tilt forwards or back and dump whatever's in them. They are handy general carriers, and I use them to shale my drive. Shovel the shale in and tip it out. Tossing stuff in them's easier than tying it on.. and I've already got enough tied on with the spade, shovel,, pick, rake, slasher, and sometimes firewood. The bins, when they aren't being used for shale have handsaw, kero, axe, wedges, short ropes, sledge-hammer, chains, chain-block and shackles, spanner.. stuff that's hard to tie on..

Yes you need to take that belt drive system off and fix the wear, and what caused it. There should be some identifying numbers somewhere. There might be a plate on the steering head or frame somewhere, or there might just be numbers stamped into the frame. If you post a picture someone may know it, or, paste a picture into google and see what it finds.

The video didn't work for me. That brass dust/chips will be coming from a bush behind that outer pulley sheave. It sounds like you have several problems to fix now though, and if that bike is as badly made as I think it is, it might be time to cut your losses and quit with it now. I'd try and identify it first off. You need to know whether pars are available, and how much they might cost.

Here's the diagram. I've looked at a few and they all seem the same. If the key is off the fan circuit shouldn't be connected to anything. Even a short to power in the fan power wire, (which could keep the fan running), wouldn't make it not work when the key is on. 2004.bmp

Leaking exhaust at the head, or muffler, or a modified "high flow"(empty) muffler. Does it idle ok ? Does the mixture screw change the mixture from lean to rich in a half to one turn ? Have you been adjusting the idle speed and mixture to get the best idle at the slowest speed possible. with the idle speed backed right down ?

Ha.. good stories Ulf.. I've had bikes stuck and the quad, and subarus, but I haven't driven any trucks/utes off road, well not far enough to get them stuck anyway. . My sons are bee keepers and they are always coming home with pictures of proper 4x4 trucks sideways at what they tell me is seventy km, with four or five tons of hives on, or utes with a front wheel over a bloody big drop, on a bad camber, and uphill.. I've been out with them and it's running out the winch cable to get in, and again to get out of sites. All in a days work. They love it. Head off at 2am to get there an hour before dark.. working away quietly with the bees in the first glimmer of light, still and cool, gentle murmer of voices as they discuss hives.. Bloody lovely way to make a living and work.. Some of us are lucky... Oh yeah... and the point.. I taught them the ways.. And so it goes on.

ha.. It's a good test of them if they can back down.. the weights all go to hell, the brake proportioning all goes to hell, some transmission systems think it's fun and try to go faster, others just disengage... and then they need steering.. Well done. I think I would have got off, roped it to a tree if needed, and swung it around the other direction. I'm a sook !

I saw your appraisal of the quad Ulf.. very good.. Good to get familiar with them. (no not like that ! )..

I've looked at a couple and they both show the key switch having two power in and two power out, both working in parallel. One power out feeds the fan only, and the other power out feeds all the rest. I'd guess the switch needs pulling to bits.. one of the slides playing up.. I'd say. But check it with a gauge before you pull it off and to bits.

Ok.. I had a look at what I hope is the right manual, and I'd be checking the key switch's operation.

I like nature Keys. I don't tear it up.. And that is a jeep, with road tyres.. Waaaay out there with you explorers... The trouble with lies is that they don't stay the same in our minds when we are retelling them.. It all gets confused and we contradict ourselves.. It's a bugger really..

I think we're just getting confused by it's road tyres Dave.. They make it look like a jeep out in the wilderness.. Bahahaha.....

The orange thing in the picture sure looks like a jeep.. No matter.. What would I know..

Do you know the full model designation ? ymf450*** What are the *** ?

Lucky the jeep was able to get to you huh.. No Jeeps if you go out with Ulf..

Manuals are available to download elsewhere.. Some you can read and search one page at a time online which is handy if you have limited or slow data/internet. Handy too to verify it's really for your model before you download.. But keep posting.. and you'll get one here. Your bike is water cooled right ? And does it have belt drive, or a solid trans with five speeds, and if belt, how many forwards speeds does it have ? I'll see if I can find the right manual and have a look.

Your point being ?

Yeah very nice. I do think it looks a little better with the small hook.. but what the hell.. make it a feature. (as my builder mate used to say).

Yeah it look like fun.. for the dunes.. A bit too short, but that would add to the excitement huh. If you really must go out doing your serious four wheel driving, doing the aggressive trail riding, with its river crossings, and huge, hub deep mud holes.. You should learn how to get out when you are stuck. You should look up how "shear-legs" work. That would have had you out of there in a moment with no strain on anything. You could get your mates and a rope and done what's knows as "snigging", and had it out in ten minutes. If you use a tie-down strop off to the side of your winch cable you can pull from the side where you don't want to take your buddy's buggy. That often helps. A single man with modest pulleys and a rope Keys, can move a thirty foot boat up a chest high bank, using shear-legs. A single boy, can drag a quad hundreds of feet, up a steep slippery hill he should never gone down, with a rope and snigging. Perhaps, if you asked nicely, Ulf in here might take you out and show you how to drive a belt drive, and have some real adventures. You got about as much chance as STM coming to fix your problem for you... Might as well ask. You need lifts ? ? ?

Can't help you with that one. If you look up a new bulb though in an online parts place, you could manually compare the new and old models to see if they are the same, or, some parts sites have a feature where when you look up a part, and there will be some way where they tell you all the other models that part fits. Sometimes there is a link in the part index, sometimes just clicking on the part like you are going to buy it takes you to a page that tells you. There are only a few designs of fittings, but there are different power ratings for bulbs. A little different power rating will be ok.

I absolutely agree Gw.. This an excellent site. Well done you admin guys.

Even if the frame was a little bent and the bearings misaligned, it shouldn't damage a bearing doing that work in a hurry. Side thrust will destroy a bearing real fast. Even if you were installing it by driving it on the inner race, which would normally be bad for a high speed bearing, it shouldn't harm it in this situation. The bikes are made for off road use, and the swing arm bearings normally last for years and years, till the seals wear and the bearings rust. Those bearings don't usually break, only rust. Was the original bearing really actually broken without rust, or rusted and hammering till it broke ? The answer to that might confirm it's alignment, or not If it is a bent frame causing the misalignment, then the misalignment should always be on the same side when you assemble it.. I think.. Just mussing here.. I might be wrong about that. The position of the engine will not effect the bearings or the position of the swingarm. The swingarm and/or engine can be a little out of place, as long as the drive shaft isn't rubbing inside the arm. Having a little gap on one side should not be a problem. The bearing failure I'm sorry to say is almost certainly something wrong with the assembly work... The bearings are I think, from memory, perfectly common ball bearing races.. They will have a number on them. 6204 or something like that. If you take the number to an engineering supply place, or a bearing specialist, they will be able to supply one easily, off the shelf, and if you take them the dimensions of the seal, or an old seal, they will supply one of those too. At least they are easy to fit. I'd sling a new one in and take extra care about the order and torque of tightening.

I take it you have the manual and did the bolts up in the right order.. The right bolt goes up solid first, and then the other side snugs up till the arm's positioned right is the theory. You have the solid bolt on the right hand side, and tightened that right up tight first ? And the bolt and locknut on the left. Did you hold the left bolt while you were tightening the lock nut ? If the left bolt tightened as you were tightening the locknut it would put too much pressure on the bearings and would wreck them. You did read the torque figures right.. didn't take LbFt for KgM or something ? That, doing things too tight, would explain the bearings failing. That seems the most likely reason for the bearing failure and the miss-positioning. If you did things in the right order and torque and the positioning was wrong it could be because the new bearings, or one of them at least, was a different width. Bearings do come in different widths. Different widths though shouldn't cause a bearing failure.. Over tightening the bolts onto the bearings is almost certainly the cause of bearing failure.

Ha.. You're a good bugger Admin.. And Aj.. Too helpful ! Onya...