Gwbarm

Over here in the south it means bring your own beer

Thats nice to know oldbear there is an interstate battery store local , I will give them a try.

Faded Camo

Thanks for all the response all good advise. I have no problem finding one . I thought I was buying a good one when I got the duralast gold that is their best battery but didn't last a year , I also might add that this is the first AGM that I have bought, I did so because the AGM in my Jeep lasted 9 years, so I thought they were better. I think I will go back to SLA I seemed to have better luck with those.

I did go to there site and searched for a battery to fit my suzuki , no results, from what I saw they seem to be more for golf carts and other applications. I will continue looking Walmart even sells them on their site, but still nothing for the ATV.

Im like you I was very interested in the synthetic rope , but I think I will stick to steel I never know what I might be pulling next.

Good information here I thought AGM batteries were to top they are definitely more expensive

I completely agree with complicated oils have to research what to put where.

I have one of the smaller ones shown in your photos, it always works but it seems to really work hard pulling no where close to its limit , especially if your loading an ATV that won't roll, which I do occasionally, I am going to get one of the larger ones, im always afraid the cable is going to break, thanks for the info and photos.

Thanks for the response Trojan is not a brand I am familiar with but I will look for it. All the small battery I have bought in the states have a 3 month warranty including lawn and garden batteries.

The smoke at start up, especially if its been sitting for a while, is oil leaking past the valve guide seals and getting into combustion chamber, very common on older engines. If your black plug is shiny its oil burning, if it flat black its too rich. Strange that it runs and idles fine for an hr, is seems like something is heating up. When it cools will it idle again. You might check your choke cable to make sure its not sticking and is doing what its supposed to do. Mech gave the correct procedure for adjusting carb I would start there . The only thing I might add is change the plug, iv had plugs not fire as well when they get hot, drove me nuts trying to find that.

I am in need of replacing my battery. The last one I bought was a Duralast Gold AGM from Auto Zone. It is not quite a year old and won't hold a charge. I called to check on warranty and only 3 month. Just curious what other members are using and how long they last.

Several things I have noticed when changing to synthetic oil, clutch side gasket leaks, shift lever oil seal leaks, now these are older bikes the seals may have needed changing anyway and the sludge from the Dino oil may be all that was keeping it from leaking, my theory was once the clean synthetic oil cleaned the engine the seals started leaking. I also noticed that synthetic oil same weight seems thinner and an engine that is already burning a little oil will burn more when switched to synthetic. Just my observations.

Thanks I will try the polishing paste first, wasn't sure if that would work on the camo like it does with plastic.

I have a 2007 Suzuki Eiger with camouflage finish. Over the years the finish has faded to a blue green color, its not as annoying as some that I have seen that faded to purple, but I still don't like it much. Im sure this has happened to others on the forum. Just curious what you guys do to fix this. I was thinking of mixing up some clear with a hint of yellow in it to neutralize the blue green but will have to do some testing to get it right. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Unless im understanding you wrong a swing arm boot is not really an oil seal more of a dust dirt shield. As far as gear selector goes I would check my wiring connectors going to the information center and check fuses since none are working. You should be able to tell if your in low or high by feel, in low it is a lot more powerful like just creeping along . You say loosing oil is it leaking or just going away and is it differential oil or engine oil.

I looked for some used plastics for mine several months ago I found a few for sale on ebay ,and marketplace, craigslist the ones I found were in very bad shape and were expensive. So I ended up getting new from Motorsport for only a little more than the used ones in bad shape. Most of the ones I found were over 100.00 and then they want to stick you for shipping so now your into it for 130.00, then you have to buy paint primer and sandpaper, that runs it up close to the price of new. Just thought I would relay my experience.

Welcome ! This is a great site lots of good people to help with problems. I joined about 3 sites before I found this one and it is by far the best. Lots of activity and knowledge being shared and the moderators go out of their way to help.

Just my opinion, I think the newer synthetic oils are great, but the older bikes were made when we were not a synthetic world. I have older bikes also, I have a 2000 Big Bear 400, I still use Dino oils in them because that is what was recommended at the time of manufacture, and changing from Dino to synthetic I seem to get leakage where I didn't have a leak before.

I ride similar to you no deep mudding but I don't like getting stuck after a hard rain I like the Kenda Bearclaw it seems to be somewhere in-between

Nothing wrong with Harbour freight winches I have 2 that I've had for 20 years, before the Badland brand they sell now , never had a problem with either one. They are not used much but when I need them they always work.

Ive had trouble with those caps also, when in doubt replace it, they are cheap also the carbon wires are also prone to break somewhere between coil and plug I would go ahead and replace the wire as well and check all coil connections. I agree if it cranks as easy as you say with no smoke, compression doent seem to be a problem, but strange readings, a 4 stroke engine should barely run with compression of 75 if at all, and would certainly be hard to start. So im thinking your 120 maybe closer to .correct

Iv had a few no name ones and had lots of trouble finding parts, maybe yours won't be that way.

You shouldn't have to cut the cable the spring and plunger holds it together and the plastic piece just holds it to the engine, I was replacing my carb any way so I had it out and even with it out it was difficult to get the new plastic piece to screw into carb not enough room for a wrench or fingers ended up using needlenose pliers. I tried the aftermarket carb only because the OEM for mine was 600.00, more than I paid for the bike, figured if it didn't work good it was a 40.00 gamble, but so far I couldn't ask for better.

Due to the age of the machine and the reputation of abuse these engines get I agree with mech it could very well be the rings, but it could be a combination of worn rings and leaky valves. If the rings were worn bad enough to cause this problem it should be smoking a lot. Always check the compression with the throttle completely open. If this happened to me the first thing would do would be try a different compression tester, I have not had good luck with testers accuracy. You said the more you tested the higher the compression would get so the more rotation the more oil is getting pumped through the system and would also point to rings, but because of the popping and backfiring I would think leaky valves, there could be carbon deposits not letting the valves close completely, I would suspect the exhaust valve. You said that when it gets hot it won't start that does point to low compression or flooding . Maybe do a compression test when it won't start hot and see what you get. Just my thoughts.