geezer99

I had an old Yamaha 250 dirt bike that had the stator crap out. Dealer wanted $300 for it. I couldn't afford that, so I rewound it myself for about $20. I just bought a spool of the same diameter wire, made a jig to attach the part to my wife's sewing machine flywheel, began winding on wire to get the same fill. Worked fine. tom (cheap bastard)

When I was a kid, one of my chores was to polish my Dad's shoes. I always liked the picture of the Kiwi bird on the can of polish. tom

I can confirm that is was a flat six. Mine was the dual carbureted model. A friend had a fancier version with a turbo charger. That was a fast auto. It should be noted that to save $15 per car GM left out an anti-sway bar in the early days. This caused a tendency to roll over in aggressive turns. Ralph Nader wrote a whole book on the topic. GM finally made the required changes, but the car was soon dropped. My buddies car cornered very well. I guess it was an newer model. In my case, I guess it's better to be lucky than smart. tom Here's wikipedia article on the history of the song. https://americansongwriter.com/meaning-of-yankee-doodle-song-lyrics/ Apparently it was written by the British to insult the colonists, but was taken up by the Yanks as a taunt to the Brits. tom

Regarding changing to a higher quality oil after a life of lower quality: Back in 1970 (newly married, and little money) I traded an old farm truck for a early 60s Corvair. I was driving it on the freeway, and a huge bang sound and no drive power. Pulled over, popped the hood, and found a rod poking put of the crankcase. I had recently changed oil. My go to oil was Rotella T, a high detergentcy oil. I later found out that the previous owner had been using a very basic oil with few detergent additives. My take was the higher detergentcy oil loosed some chunks of deposits that then clogged up an oil passage to the failed rod. This is all anecdotal, and I could be way off base, but I would be wary of changing types of oil on an old vehicle. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. tom

I'm with you on testing one thing (connection) at a time. But, I'm impatient. So did 'em all. I figured if the symptom comes back, I'll use the systematic approach. I did examine each connector as I went, but did not see any obvious problem. If the saga continues, I'll update this post. Thanks for the reply, your advise is great. tom

Almost a year on the Lowes-Axis 500. It was dying at idle unless I gave it some throttle. That made shifting into gear result in a big lurching clunk. This problem was intermittent. I first checked the fuel injector. I removed it and let it spray into a coffee can. It made a nice even spray. I used a magnifying lens to examine the nozzle. It had no signs of contamination nor poor geometry. The coil measured a reasonable resistance, and banging it with a screwdriver handle made no difference in coil resistance. Neither did flexing the wires make any change. So I reinstalled the injector and unplgged and repluged every electrical connector in sight of the engine compartment. Yahoo. For over a month now it has been running fine. As an avid tinkerer and builder of electronic projects, I have noticed how many faults turn out to be poor electrical connections. I guess the moral of this story is that before replacing electrically driven parts, check all connections that are remotely related to the system under suspicion. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it. tom

Just did y first engine oil change. It was a messy pain in the as*. Access to oil drain is through a small opening in the belly pan. While I like the concept of underside protection, this pan has many holes of varying sizes. There is no way to avoid a gush of oil onto the hand or tool unscrewing the drain plug. Even if you use a really big oil drain pan, it runs out many holes and makes a big mess. The oil filter is even worse. It is located horizontally, near the top of the engine, in a valley. There is no good way to remove it without a mess to clean up. tom

I used to have a 1981 Honda 250 dirt bike. Instead of an oil filter, it had a centrifugal oil separator that caught particles in the oil. You had to remove one of the big case covers to do this. I did it when I first got the bike, (2000), and there was probably a table spoon of debris. It looked like the sludge was mostly clutch lining wear particles with a few metal flakes for decoration. I cleaned it, replaced the side cover, new oil, and rode it another 20 years before I sold it. I don't know if Honda still uses this technique on newer machines. That's why I always like to get the service manual for anything with an engine. tom

Howdy, I'm a mechanical engineer that has been working on, breaking, fiddling with, building, and reading about just about anything with mechanical parts. I have done all my own fixing of stuff since I built my first motor scooter in 7th grade. I was born in 1949, same as my 8N Ford tractor. Consequently I have enjoyed the evolution of technology in so many areas. At 74 I am still having fun learning new things, so this forum will be a great source. tom

My Axis 500 has a solid spool rear end. That gives great traction for hills and pulling, but it tears up a wet lawn on sharp corners. I wonder if a true limited slip differential or a lockable differential is available in the after market? I googled with no results. Thanks, tom

Yes they will. The backside of the dam for our little pond is about 30 degrees, and from a standing start in low range, Axis 500 will zip right up it. If muddy it will require a running start, but that is more a function of tires than drive train. tom

I've been cleaning carburetors for the last 60 years. Compressed air and broom straw following a soak in carb cleaner are my goto methods. I have never had gunk so stuck in an orifice that it needed a gas welding tip cleaner or a drill. The tip cleaning kit you show would work fine, but you will need to be careful not to over-do it for risk of enlarging the orifice. I have used drills to enlarge jets, mostly with poor results. Most engines seem to run best with the factory size jets. Hopped up engines are a whole different story. I have been satisfied with factory performance, but I respect the folks who like to hot-rod their equipment. I knew a guy that built sand rails back in the early 70s. He souped up everything, and nobody could come close. I remember he rebuilt a rear end out in the dunes at sand lake on the Oregon coast. He practically had a service station in his trailer. tom

Geeze, I'm 74 and people are still telling me to "grow up". tom

Well, it's been three months since I bought the Axis 500. I've got about 60 miles on it in approximately 40 uses. No problems to report. There are some things that annoy me though: Worst is the gear noise. I reported that last time, but it doesn't seem to be changing. The safety inter locks are also annoying. I leave the seat belts clipped together all the time except when I take my grand-kids on a ride. Gotta be a good example, you know. In order to change between H, L, R, you have to step on the brakes hard, or it won't shift. I really like the dump box for the stuff I do. I used the winch to pull a log off one of my trails. The winch seems to be a realistic size, and can skid all four tire. No need for a bigger one. Chores I used to use a wheelbarrow for, I use the buggy. I need a better name for it. whoopy, buggy, quad, ATV, whatever? tom