Thanks for such a great website. Very helpful. I recently purchased a very disappointing Polaris 570 Touring ATV and after just one month, traded it in on a new Honda Rubicon. So far, I’m very happy with it. I have several thoughts on the different machines ( I use a four wheeler several times a week for our cattle business and have worn out a few Polaris and one CanAm).
One problem we have is brome grass seed clogging up the radiator. I made a screen for the radiator. If you want to build one, make it 10 5/16" wide and 11 1/2" tall. I haven’t noticed any decrease in airflow.
Second is a receiver hitch. Must have on a farm / ranch.

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My wife wants them for her ’12 420 Rancher rear tires. I’ve never heard of them. GBC Motorsports Dirt Devil. Also She wants taller tires bc she borrowed a set last summer due to running over a piece of metal that cut a 6 in hole in her original rear and the ones she borrowed are taller and she likes the way it looks. Sooo the orig size is 24×10-11. 25×10-11 should fit her orig rims right?

Thanks, RK

My wife wants them for her ’12 420 Rancher rear tires. I’ve never heard of them. GBC Motorsports Dirt Devil. Also She wants taller tires bc she borrowed a set last summer due to running over a piece of metal that cut a 6 in hole in her original rear and the ones she borrowed are taller and she likes the way it looks. Sooo the orig size is 24×10-11. 25×10-11 should fit her orig rims right?

Thanks, RK

It’s time for a new project! This is a family TRX 125 that has been sitting for the last 15+ years. My goal is to get it back in running condition so a new generation of family can enjoy it. Here is a picture or two:

Attachment 25314Attachment 25315

Earlier today I was introduced to an organizational app called Trello and will be using that to help organize my project.

Punch list:
Pour oil in cylinder
Clean inside of fuel tank (cider vinegar)
Replace Carb
Replace fuel line
Check/replace air filter
Replace battery
Drain and replace motor oil
Check wheel bearings
Replace tires

And so it begins …..

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hello everyone I just wanted to share my DIY project witch is a Cree led flood and spot light install.
The Cree flood as low bean just a 7 inch bar
The Cree spot as high beam again 7 inch bar

I had to wire them to the low bean wires because the moment y turned the high beams the low beams would go of, and I wanted them both on as high beams.

So I wired both to the low beam wire and installed a switch so I could turn the spot in or of here’s a vid of the lights working . Have a look for you’re selfs

https://youtu.be/elJXsEYmguA

Just brought home a 1981 ATC 70 from the extended family farm. I’ll be writing up and taking pictures as I work on it.

I know that it needs:
New gas tank – already have a plastic replacement. Have the original, but it has a couple pencil sized holes. Anybody know if that can really be fixed?
Clean/repair carb – have the kit already
Replace filter
Replace front tire – have the new tire, just need to put it on.

Optional/Things I’d like to do eventually:
Replace wheels with SHINIES
Add headlight (classic vs led?)
Repair original tank or replace with metal
Add rack to back

If anybody has suggestions or links to posts that will speed up these processes, please let me know.

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Alright, so I was offered a very reasonable deal for my brother-in-law’s old ’99 400EX several weeks ago. It hadn’t been ran in probably two+ years and he had mentioned he’d like to sell it now that a CanAm Commander side-by-side is in the picture.

I ended up grabbing the truck and trailer the following day and had it picked up that morning…I drained the old gas, poured some fresh 91 in it and got it to idle relatively nice, so I grabbed a five gallon gas can and ran to get some fresh 110 to blend in.:laugh:

I remember using this thing many, many years ago and always thought it was pretty sweet, especially since it managed to survive some heavy riding. So, anyways, after many orders with Rocky Mountain ATV (gotta love their frequent buyer program) I’ve finally managed to get the majority of the repairs and mild restoration work completed.

I’m still waiting on some parts I missed in my last order, but once those arrive I should have it back to running condition again.:icon_ peace: He piped it and had installed a larger main jet a long time ago, but said something about not having luck changing the position of the clip on the needle…With a stock air filter, it ran quite rich, but I’m going to see what it does with a K&N (with Outerswear sleeve) before I take the carburetor off and begin swapping out jets with my arsenal of them.:dry:

Now, onto the pictures!

Fresh off the trailer:

Pics prior to getting started on the work:


Got nubs?:icon_ cry:

Sorry for not doing this earlier but I still don’t have internet at the house yet and doing this on a phone would cause my thumbs to detach and run off. I wanted to do a writeup of a 440 ex build that would answer a lot of questions people have that are asked repeatedly, this will include some suspension questions as well. And since I’m not doing anything crazy or out of left field I thought this would be good to do. Sooooooo……..

Just like most, I love my 400 but……Im not a small guy (210) and it could use a little more pep than it had. It was all stock internals with bigger jets, HMF performance slip on, UM airbox, 13t front sprocket, with the UM air ducts and a wrapped header. The thing was; I was happy with it to be honest but the last few times I rode I noticed some blue puffs when letting the engine brake after a long hard WOT pull. Knowing the previous owner had never been into it I knew it was time. Its a 2001; think about that, 14 years old and now its getting its first top end. So I did some reading on the 440’s and decided to go that route. Not being made out of money, I went as cheap as I could without getting junk. Here is the list…………

-440 cylinder and piston (namura 11.1 to 1) – ebay 350$
-Stage 2 hotcam – ebay 125$
-Kibble white HD valve springs and titanium retainers – ebay – 100$
-Drivetrain performance HD clutch kit with cork friction pads – drivetrain performance 50$
-Used (barely, I knocked somebody on the head for this) hinson basket and new OEM hub – ebay 80$
-CR cam chain and new chain guides and tensioner OEM – motosport 175$
-Complete engine reseal kit – motosport 30$
-Curtis sparks ignition box – Curtis sparks 150$
-OEM crank bearings – motosport 35$
-GT thunder head studs – ebay 100$
-450r carb – ebay (knocked em in the head on this one too, it was new) 80 bones
– A pile of keihin assorted jet sizes for R carb – jets r us 50$

That’s it for the engine. Seriously…..After I pulled the engine and stripped the frame I went to town on the engine. I wanted to split it to see how everything looked before I went too spendy on cranks, bearings and all that. But real talk; there was nothing in there that showed extreme wear at all!!! The only things that were worn were a few teeth in the trans but very minimal wear. The clutch basket had been gone and I knew that before all this but just lived with a grabby clutch and stiff lever. I got new crank bearings only because the manual says to replace them, but they honestly didn’t need it. The crank was pristine, I really don’t think the last owner ever really ran for more than a day or two since 01. First I went to work on the head, checked everything over, hand lapped valves, installed the HD valve springs, cleaned her up real good and done. Resealed the motor, crank bearings in, put the halves together, and started on the cylinder (the old liner was my blue smoke, she was gone!). The stud kit can be done at home but you MUST use a drill press and you MUST do EXACTLY as the instructions say or you will mess up a brand new jug. Its not bad and anybody with some good mechanical knowledge can get it done easily on their own. Assembled the piston and cylinder on the bike (they fit fine together, saw a lot of horror stories of namura pistons and "ebay" kits but I have always had good luck with them) and on went the head. Installed the cam and rocker box, cam chain and clutch, and all the covers. I run rotella T 15-40 in it and just about everything I own with a small engine, mobil delvac 3000 will do too (cat DEO 15-40).

I sent the frame off to be powder coated and once it came back, everything went back on. I replaced a bunch of hardware that was rusted and stripped out or seized, replaced the dreaded swing arm bolt (which kicked my A**!!! getting it out) and replaced almost all the connectors on the bike with deutch DT connectors. I never trust those dinky bullet connectors and hate the PITA factory connectors. I installed a second oil cooler as the weather here in southern VA in the summer stays between 90 and 100 for the most part and I do a lot of woods/trail riding so I knew cooling this pig would be crucial. I used rubber fuel line and screw clamps to tie in to the factory cooler lines for the second cooler. Its a 12×8 (I think) aluminum pro-cool unit from auto zone, it will take you for about 40 bucks and comes with the hose and clamps you need already in the box.

Now for the suspension. The factory suspension plays a cruel trick on you. Just putting around on the trails, its great. But as soon as you roll onto the track like I occasionally like to do and rip it up for a few hours, brace yourself, because the front is softer than a kittens belly and valved for a fresh paved asphalt drag strip and the rear; it is wonderful until the last 6 in of travel and the shock and spring might as well be a steel I beam and you will feel your spine bunching up in your neck every time you land. So I went with a gt thunder XC rear linkage and 450r front shocks. The fronts are great but the springs are too stiff. With my weight I run the pre-load rings on the very top threads and its about right but they will still pick the front of the bike up about a inch. The linkage will lower the bike about a inch and you WILL need a stiffer spring. And take my advice, get the spring because it will allow the swing arm to travel right up into the bottom of the air box on landings and break the welds/plastic tabs (oem) on the box. I was still wanting more out of the suspension so I picked up a set of lonestar sport +2 arms and a axcalibar rear axle, she is right on time now! I love it everywhere. I will be getting some new springs and possibly a re-valve in the future and i’m sure it will be perfect then. Oh wait, what about the engine…..

Ran great but…….hot!!! I was running 97 in it and even with the added cooler oil temps were still holding around 200 flat out. I know this because im using a " CR’s only" oil dipstick thermometer. So I picked up the cooling fan from the fine fella on here and put it on. Dropped about 20 degrees off of it but I still felt it could do better. I was prepared for the fact I would possibly have to run cam 2 in it so I did. I slapped a 200 main jet in and filled her up with 110. Now…….160-175 all day in the dead heat trail riding, and runs like a raped ape. BTW, I use the run it like you stole it break in procedure and have never had a problem with any small engine, just my opinion. Start it, let it idle up to temp, then run the wheels off of it like you hate it for 5-6 passes at temp, Let it idle after for a few min till cools down a bit and shut it off and let it cool completely. Then repeat but this time after cooling completely, change the oil and filter and re-adjust you valves and your good to go. speaking on the valves. The ex’s are already super noisy up top to begin with and this cam makes it 1000 times worse but it runs great and hasn’t gotten worse so im guessing its the nature of the beast. I know now I need a standard front sprocket because it is just too much gear for the power . It could be faster, but for me and all the stock bolt on 400’s out there, bullet fast but no 450r by any means.

Outside of all that, completely happy with it. I just don’t think spending thousands of dollars making it just a tiny bit faster would have left me feeling the same way. In the woods, on the track, drag racing, putting around, don’t matter. Its just like it was from the factory but like a "stage 3" version. Its pretty forgiving everywhere and the first big ride I went on, burned through a whole tank in the first 3 hours there. That’s how much I liked it. I went easy on it for the rest of the three day trip and didn’t have one problem. All the pics (and more to come soon) are on my user page. She is till running strong and im super happy with it. Futer mods are as I said new springs and possible re-valve all the way round, bigger oil tank, and new plastics one day. :icon_ rocker:

Sorry for not doing this earlier but I still don’t have internet at the house yet and doing this on a phone would cause my thumbs to detach and run off. I wanted to do a writeup of a 440 ex build that would answer a lot of questions people have that are asked repeatedly, this will include some suspension questions as well. And since I’m not doing anything crazy or out of left field I thought this would be good to do. Sooooooo……..

Just like most, I love my 400 but……Im not a small guy (210) and it could use a little more pep than it had. It was all stock internals with bigger jets, HMF performance slip on, UM airbox, 13t front sprocket, with the UM air ducts and a wrapped header. The thing was; I was happy with it to be honest but the last few times I rode I noticed some blue puffs when letting the engine brake after a long hard WOT pull. Knowing the previous owner had never been into it I knew it was time. Its a 2001; think about that, 14 years old and now its getting its first top end. So I did some reading on the 440’s and decided to go that route. Not being made out of money, I went as cheap as I could without getting junk. Here is the list…………

-440 cylinder and piston (namura 11.1 to 1) – ebay 350$
-Stage 2 hotcam – ebay 125$
-Kibble white HD valve springs and titanium retainers – ebay – 100$
-Drivetrain performance HD clutch kit with cork friction pads – drivetrain performance 50$
-Used (barely, I knocked somebody on the head for this) hinson basket and new OEM hub – ebay 80$
-CR cam chain and new chain guides and tensioner OEM – motosport 175$
-Complete engine reseal kit – motosport 30$
-Curtis sparks ignition box – Curtis sparks 150$
-OEM crank bearings – motosport 35$
-GT thunder head studs – ebay 100$
-450r carb – ebay (knocked em in the head on this one too, it was new) 80 bones
– A pile of keihin assorted jet sizes for R carb – jets r us 50$

That’s it for the engine. Seriously…..After I pulled the engine and stripped the frame I went to town on the engine. I wanted to split it to see how everything looked before I went too spendy on cranks, bearings and all that. But real talk; there was nothing in there that showed extreme wear at all!!! The only things that were worn were a few teeth in the trans but very minimal wear. The clutch basket had been gone and I knew that before all this but just lived with a grabby clutch and stiff lever. I got new crank bearings only because the manual says to replace them, but they honestly didn’t need it. The crank was pristine, I really don’t think the last owner ever really ran for more than a day or two since 01. First I went to work on the head, checked everything over, hand lapped valves, installed the HD valve springs, cleaned her up real good and done. Resealed the motor, crank bearings in, put the halves together, and started on the cylinder (the old liner was my blue smoke, she was gone!). The stud kit can be done at home but you MUST use a drill press and you MUST do EXACTLY as the instructions say or you will mess up a brand new jug. Its not bad and anybody with some good mechanical knowledge can get it done easily on their own. Assembled the piston and cylinder on the bike (they fit fine together, saw a lot of horror stories of namura pistons and "ebay" kits but I have always had good luck with them) and on went the head. Installed the cam and rocker box, cam chain and clutch, and all the covers. I run rotella T 15-40 in it and just about everything I own with a small engine, mobil delvac 3000 will do too (cat DEO 15-40).

I sent the frame off to be powder coated and once it came back, everything went back on. I replaced a bunch of hardware that was rusted and stripped out or seized, replaced the dreaded swing arm bolt (which kicked my A**!!! getting it out) and replaced almost all the connectors on the bike with deutch DT connectors. I never trust those dinky bullet connectors and hate the PITA factory connectors. I installed a second oil cooler as the weather here in southern VA in the summer stays between 90 and 100 for the most part and I do a lot of woods/trail riding so I knew cooling this pig would be crucial. I used rubber fuel line and screw clamps to tie in to the factory cooler lines for the second cooler. Its a 12×8 (I think) aluminum pro-cool unit from auto zone, it will take you for about 40 bucks and comes with the hose and clamps you need already in the box.

Now for the suspension. The factory suspension plays a cruel trick on you. Just putting around on the trails, its great. But as soon as you roll onto the track like I occasionally like to do and rip it up for a few hours, brace yourself, because the front is softer than a kittens belly and valved for a fresh paved asphalt drag strip and the rear; it is wonderful until the last 6 in of travel and the shock and spring might as well be a steel I beam and you will feel your spine bunching up in your neck every time you land. So I went with a gt thunder XC rear linkage and 450r front shocks. The fronts are great but the springs are too stiff. With my weight I run the pre-load rings on the very top threads and its about right but they will still pick the front of the bike up about a inch. The linkage will lower the bike about a inch and you WILL need a stiffer spring. And take my advice, get the spring because it will allow the swing arm to travel right up into the bottom of the air box on landings and break the welds/plastic tabs (oem) on the box. I was still wanting more out of the suspension so I picked up a set of lonestar sport +2 arms and a axcalibar rear axle, she is right on time now! I love it everywhere. I will be getting some new springs and possibly a re-valve in the future and i’m sure it will be perfect then. Oh wait, what about the engine…..

Ran great but…….hot!!! I was running 97 in it and even with the added cooler oil temps were still holding around 200 flat out. I know this because im using a " CR’s only" oil dipstick thermometer. So I picked up the cooling fan from the fine fella on here and put it on. Dropped about 20 degrees off of it but I still felt it could do better. I was prepared for the fact I would possibly have to run cam 2 in it so I did. I slapped a 200 main jet in and filled her up with 110. Now…….160-175 all day in the dead heat trail riding, and runs like a raped ape. BTW, I use the run it like you stole it break in procedure and have never had a problem with any small engine, just my opinion. Start it, let it idle up to temp, then run the wheels off of it like you hate it for 5-6 passes at temp, Let it idle after for a few min till cools down a bit and shut it off and let it cool completely. Then repeat but this time after cooling completely, change the oil and filter and re-adjust you valves and your good to go. speaking on the valves. The ex’s are already super noisy up top to begin with and this cam makes it 1000 times worse but it runs great and hasn’t gotten worse so im guessing its the nature of the beast. I know now I need a standard front sprocket because it is just too much gear for the power . It could be faster, but for me and all the stock bolt on 400’s out there, bullet fast but no 450r by any means.

Outside of all that, completely happy with it. I just don’t think spending thousands of dollars making it just a tiny bit faster would have left me feeling the same way. In the woods, on the track, drag racing, putting around, don’t matter. Its just like it was from the factory but like a "stage 3" version. Its pretty forgiving everywhere and the first big ride I went on, burned through a whole tank in the first 3 hours there. That’s how much I liked it. I went easy on it for the rest of the three day trip and didn’t have one problem. All the pics (and more to come soon) are on my user page. She is till running strong and im super happy with it. Futer mods are as I said new springs and possible re-valve all the way round, bigger oil tank, and new plastics one day. :icon_ rocker:

This is my first Quad to build.
Found the quad outside a tire shop and the guy had plans to do a rebuild but never got around to it. A common story. The engine was all in parts in a bucket and was assured all the parts were there. Mostly true. I am upgrading to an 88cc and new racing head. Been slow going with not all the parts and finding out as I go. Having fun anyway.
included a couple of pics

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