Richard1234

You are likely correct though it seems to last longer than I would expect from bad valve guides.  

I doubt there is much to do anyways as if it is valve guides or piston rings or whatever, I will likely have to learn to live with it.

I was more curious if this was a common thing with Suzuki quads.   

So I bought three older quads for the farm and the two Suzukis (1986 and 1996) both smoke (oil) quite a bit on start-up, while the other (Yamaha) doesn't.  It isn't a big deal except that I start them in a garage and it gets a bit smokey and smelly! 

Is this a common Suzuki thing or did I just get lucky?? 

If it's a common issue, is there an easy fix?  (For the record, they both run good, and both clear up as soon as they get a bit warm).  

On 12/31/2021 at 7:30 PM, jamo said:

I also have a Yamaha big bear 350 with a plow. I found that the two parallel bars supporting the blade were hitting the ground before the plow blade was all the way down, leaving about 3 inches of snow that wasn't plowed. I had to bore new holes in the brackets that the blade is attached to so that the blade was several inches lower allowing it to go all the way down to the ground. Much better snow removal here in Kalispell, Montana.  My battery also went dead from constantly raising and lowering the blade while plowing. Is this normal? Shouldn't the stator be charging the battery enough that this wouldn't happen?

I haven't had any battery issues plowing with my 350 Big Bear. 

I try to keep the blade an inch off the ground as I have a rough gravel driveway.  My blade seems to tilt a bit when I rotate it to push on an angle.  I'm not sure if the quad "rocks" or if the mount moves, but the trailing side seems lower regardless if I push left or right.  Any ideas?       

It's a bit nasty pushing snow when the temperature drops for sure.  The high today was -9F (-23C) (low at -22F) and with a fair bit of time mucking around trying to get the old girl started (I ended up removing the plug and heating it up) it got a bit miserable on the hands and feet. 

We've enough snow now that the original advice of pushing a wider path than you need has really come into effect! 

I sorted out my neutral issue.  It's up clicks to get to neutral, not down like the later Quadrunners.  Lol.

I also had trouble getting it to rev up, but putting a bit of an air restriction seems to work.  (It has no air filter element currently).

So, I will have to sort out a fabbed up air filter for the box.

1 hour ago, coyote56 said:

along with some other issues... I am hoping you did an oil change.

 

I have bought another identical bike to this, it is in a lot better shape but it has a stuck valve. I figure if I am going to go ahead and repair that, I may as well put new rings in it while I am at it. Then again it only has 928 miles on it... so I kind of hate to tear into it that much but well.. its not that much of a bigger step.

I didn't actually.  I just drained oil until it got back in the sight glass.  It was barely run with the oil as it would only run on full choke.  Is there a reason to drop the new oil?   

Well, I seem to have picked up the Quadrunner bug.

I bought a second one, a much older and physically smaller 230.  2WD, semi-auto, pull button reverse.  The fellow got it to run, but certainly the carb is blocked up as it only ran on full choke.

Controls are much different, and I'll have to look into the clutch/transmission as I can't seem to get it in neutral, though the previous owner was able to while loading???  I may be missing something.

Does anybody know if the early Quadrunners were still "5 gears up" with neutral at the bottom?  I should be able to knock it into neutral without the motor running, correct? 

Expect lots of questions, as this one needs a ton of work, lol.

Long shot, but did you get the oil level right in the sight glass?

I just bought a quadrunner and the owner had filled it up til he could see oil in the fill tube!  

I'm guessing being that full might cause some smoke!

I assume it's like a car or truck differential which needs to be vented to allow for expansion of the fluid with heat.  Thus the water gets in the top vent and can't get out. 

It means the quad got good and wet, as in sunk in water for a bit.  Same thing can happen to your truck when you back a boat down a launch, but more expensive, lol.    

Ya, I think that should work.  I'll take a look for one or even just use nylon line and a couple hooks to make one up. 

I think 3 passes would be enough.  Much more and I won't have enough distance from winch blade to lift it up and out of the way.

Thanks!  

Is there an accepted way to stop slow leaks in these low pressure tires?  I have one that leaks down after a few days.

Is that sealant spray that goes in through the valve stem a good idea on quads, or should the tire come off the rim and re-seat it?

Tires are new (according to previous owner), and I don't see any damage on it.  

8 hours ago, Freedomflyer said:

Angle blade and run the length if you can, if you get large amounts of snow frequently and are able, pushed it WELL off each side of the driveway because it will build up making it more difficult to plow as winter drags on. Of you don't get it far enough off your driving lan will become narrower and narrower as winter progresses.

Ah, I should have signed in before I went!  It wasn't near as deep as here in the city, so I should be able to expand the narrow lane I cut.  I did end up angling the blade and made 4 passes up/down the lane.  

I was surprised how easy it pushed.  The Big Bear had no issues with tires spinning nor motor loading up even as the blade overflowed heavy wet snow.  With the long straight driveway, and room on each side, clearing the snow doesn't seem as daunting as it did before!

My only issue is that the winch isn't sensitive enough to adjust the blade an inch or two at a time.  I will need to modify how I'm grabbing it so that I can position the blade more accurately.

But over-all, seems an excellent (and kinda fun) way to clear snow!

Any advice regarding clearing snow with a Big Bear 350? 

I've a long straight driveway to clear at a new hobby acreage and we got lots of fresh snow!  Is it any better to angle the plow and run the length, or push the snow side to side into the ditches? 

I've never plowed snow before and have a steep learning curve as to what will prove more efficient! 

Any advice from the experienced would be appreciated!

Hi all.  First time atv owner (at 56 years old!) and I picked up a pair of them for a homestead (4 acres) that I bought.

I got a Yamaha Big Bear 350 for working, hauling and clearing snow, and a Suzuki Quadrunner 250 for zipping around on or for my nephew when he visits. 

Both are mid 90's so will be needing some maintenance to stay running!

Rode it around this weekend and the problem was gone.  Maybe it just needed some gas processed through it.

Fingers crossed. 

1 hour ago, coyote56 said:

I cant tell you what the needle clip setting us but the air mixture screw should be 2 full rotations out.

Assuming the screw opens air, that would explain why it seems to idle lean.  It even backfired when I shut it down.  

Argh, comes apart again.  (I had a bit of trouble getting the air box back on etc.)

thanks though!

I can't download yet (10 posts?) but thank you for what will be a great link. 

Hating to push my luck, but do you have an owner's/operator's manual for it too?  

Thanks, definitely it surges to high an rpm for sure, but it has a nice relaxed idle in gear.  I expect if I lower it much it will stall out in gear, but I will try it out and see.

I picked up a Big Bear 350 and took it out for my initial drive.  Runs good but noticed that sitting in neutral the rpm would slowly increase so that shifting into gear produced a strong jerk forward, and then revs would stay down.  It seemed worse as it warmed up.  Happened every time I let it sit a while idling in neutral.  (It also seemed to make reverse hard to engage.) 

Is this typical, or is it a carb issue, or is it a clutch adjustment issue?  Any advice appreciated. 

Hey all, just bought a rather ratty non-runner quadrunner that I am working on. 

Carb idle jet was blocked up of course and the clip had fallen off the needle!  Anyways, got it cleaned up and running, though rough.  Was wondering what the factory set was for the needle clip and the turns out for the mixture screw (the one inside the carb with access through the float bowl).  I guessed at 2nd down from the top of the needle and 3.5 turns out on the mixture, but it seems off.

Can anyone with a service manual let me know please. 

Thanks