BruinBeater

Rear brake shoes and the needle and seat came in for machine #1. The rear shoe swap went easy. I always cut the old springs out. Cleaned up the posts that the shoes swivel on, and the cam that rotates to spread the shoes. Applied molybdenum paste to those surfaces. Cleaned out the drum. Cleaned the splines, applied molybdenum paste to the splines too. Brakes not only work, but the shoes retract now so, no more drag. Pulled the carb, replaced the needle and seat. Love these carbs with the set screw and o-ring to hold them in vs pressed in seats. Reset the AF scre to 2.25 turns out. I previously adjusted it when it was idling weird due to the choke cable boot not being in place. Felt confident enough to put it all back together vs be testing it with the fuel tak sitting there. Turned on the gas and it was leaking everywhere! I forget to install the float bowl drain screw. I removed it to polish up the tip with some maroon scotch brite. Put that back in and then started it up. Runing great, stopping, and no more leaking from the overflow hose. I parked it outside overnight with the drain hose on the floorboard for easy detection. New A Arm, bushings, air filters and some misc stuff got delivered this AM. Will probably wait till Tuesday to install all that then hopefully be done. We'll, not true, 1 needs a battery for sure. One is still working but its 5 years old. Figure ill just swap them both

While working on quad #1, I found that the rear brake shoes need to be replaced. The lining had totally come off the shoes when the drum was removed. I found a set of NOS EBC shoes for $20 shipped! While the shoes are in transit, I pulled it out of the garage and pulled in quad #2. I gave it the same treatment. New plug, carb clean, valve adjust. Test run went well, its a bit cold blooded compared to quad #1. Maybe I'll back out the AF screw a bit to see if it changes anything. #2 needed front pad, they were totally gone. Rotors are actually scored a bit. Found the lower A-Arm took a big hit. Its all bent up. Don't want to take a chance of a malfunction when kids are riding it so I recommended replacement. Bought a new one and 2 new bushings. Ended up buying new air filters for both machines. They are pretty dry rotted. Took a look at #1 and noticed a tiny drip out the carb overflow. So I ordered a new needle and seat for it. Waiting on parts now.

Got a chance to work on this again. Put the carb back together. Cleaned up the boots on both sides. Installed carb. Dumped the fuel that was sitting in the tank. Looked and smelled bad. Put some fresh in and swirled it around a bit and dumped that. Came out looking ok this time. Threw the tank on, put a lawn tractor battery in the storage box and hooked it up. Hit the start button and it fired right up! Fuel was leaking everywhere. The float was stuck and the bowl drain tube fell off. I shook the bike to see if that would dislodge the float. No luck but when I shake the bike, it bogs down severely. Weird..... Tap on the carb a bit with a screwdriver handle and it quits leaking fuel. 1 problem solved. Cut a 1/2" off the drain hose and reinstall. Now it wont fall off. 2 problems solved. I was scratching my head over the bogging when shaking the bike deal. Even if I just gave it a little jiggle with the handlebars it changed how it ran. After staring at it a few minutes I noticed that the choke cable is pulling out of the boot that screws into the carb. Surely this can't be the issue. I pushed the cable back in, started it up, and the bogging went away. Took it for a test ride and adjusted the A/F screw a bit. By now, its running pretty good. I cleaned up the oil cooler, pulled it back in the garage and changed the oil, the diff fluid, and started putting the plastic back on. Time to move on the 2nd quad.

I got asked to work on a pair of Yamaha 350's. One has grizzly stickers, one has bruin stickers. Both are 2wd, straight rear axle. Not sure what year. I'd guess '04-'08. Both have a no start condition. Both have been sitting 2+ years. One came with box of parts the owners 15 year old kid removed to try and get it running. Started working on one last night. Pulled the rack, front plastic, fuel tank, recoil starter, carburetor. Removed petcock from tank, cleaned screens, made sure if flows air, reinstalled. Drained fuel tank, put in fresh fuel, swirled it around, letting is soak and will drain and check it later. Cleaned up the motor a bit since its covered in mud. Checked the valves. The intake had less zero, actually, probably less than zero clearance. The valve seems like it was hanging open just a touch even at TDC. The exhaust had maybe .004 clearance. I assume that went to zero once running. Adjust intake to .008. Adjusted exhaust to .018 Scrubbed the carb in a sink with a toothbrush, dawn, and water. It looked like a mudball. After that, sprayed it down with carb clean and took it to the bench. A/F screw was 1.75 turns out. I'm thinking this is a factory setting. It seems like this machine was never touched by a mechanic. All the jets actually seemed clear. The bowl had minimal residue in it. That about as far as I made it for the night. Going to get a fresh plug, clean the air filter, add some fresh gas, and see if it will run. If so, I'll probably clean up the oil cooler before putting it back together. Maybe change the engine oil and rear diff fluid too.

Got asked to take a look at a 2014 Can Am Commander 1000 for an overheating issue. Owner says he's been having issues for awhile. Had another guy put a new electric fan on it and its still overheating. I take it for a test drive. 1 mile on asphalt and temp gauge is pegged and machine is telling me its overheating. Looking at it in the garage and I see, it low on coolant. As in, the overflow tank is empty. Can't see it in the radiator. Not sure how far down it is. Took out the seat, and center console. I see coolant on top of both cylinders. Its leaking a tiny bit from each coolant outlet on top of the cylinders. They are plastic with a metal bleeder screw. Both leaking from the bleeder screw. Tried to tighten them but I can tell they are stripped out. Bought some aftermarket coolant outlets from Quad Logic. They came with a new bleeder screw and crush washer for the screw. They did not come with a new gasket. Bought a new OEM thermostat. Did it really need one? I'm not sure, I didn't bother to test it. Its not a cheap part but not terribly expensive either. These commanders are a pain to bleed all the air out of the cooling system, I only wanted to do it once. Remove the plastic screen from the firewall so I can access the thermostat. Cut all the old hose clamps off (OEM Crimps) Replace the T-stat. Install new hose clamps. Install new coolant outlets on top of both cylinders. Now its time to bleed the system. I have a "NO SPILL FUNNEL" Remove the radiator cap and attach this in its place. Fill the funnel up about half way and let it sit for awhile with the bleed screws open. Once I see fluid out the bleeders, I close them. Squeeze the hoses a bit and watch the air bubble come up into the funnel. Once the system is full, I drive it to a hill in the yard and put 1 car ramp in the middle of the hill. I drive up the car ramp with the left/drivers side tire. This puts the radiator cap up nice and high. Let the engine run for as long as it takes to get the air out. I keep the full at least 1/3 full. I rev the engine to 4K rpm. I jump out and squeeze the upper rad hose, the lower rad hose, and both lines to the cab heater (aftermaket) I keep doing this till I no longer see air. I also crack the bleed screws loose on top of the heads during this time. The fan cycled on and off multiple times. It took approximately 45 minutes till no more bubbles were coming up into the funnel. Remove the no spill funnel and top off the recovery tank with the coolant trapped in the funnel. Took it for test run up the road and hit a little trail. Outside air temp was 92F and 90% + humidity. Machine never came close to overheating on the ride.

Hey all, BruinBeater here. Just joined up from the Pittsburgh, PA area. Got a Polaris Sportsman 1000 and a 570 in the garage that don't get ridden quite enough but looking forward to a family trip this fall. I'm the unofficial mechanic of the extended family. In the past month or so I've replaced a transmission in a Chevy Silverado, rust repair on a Chevy Malibu, electrical repair on a Subaru Crosstrek, overheating issue solved on a Can Am Commander, and right now I have a pair of Grizzly and a Bruin 350 in the garage. Both have a no start condition and have been sitting for 2+ years.