Yeah, it's a quad.......BUT

[Joshwfl]

I couldn't pass up this deal. MINT 89 LT500 Quadzilla!! I was too psyched to ride it so here's the crappy cell phone pics.

[britincali]

Sweet!

[iggys-amsoil]

Sweet!

X2

Here's a tip, though and as clean as it looks it may not have this problem but the following is good to know just in case.

Check the color of the head. Has it turned brownish? as compared to the bottom of the cylinder? If so it has an over heating problem.

What can happen to these is that the crank bearing boss' (the cases themself's) are not strong enough. The water pump shaft is sloted like a chevy distributor. Which in turn wears stress' out the pump bearing loosing coolant causing the overheating.

I found this out years ago by the owner of Trinity Racing.

The fix, is to machine the cases and have bronze bushings installed. That was then so the fix may have changed since then.

[lewisclan]

nice

[eyesky2002]

Here's a tip, though and as clean as it looks it may not have this problem but the following is good to know just in case.

Check the color of the head. Has it turned brownish? as compared to the bottom of the cylinder? If so it has an over heating problem.

What can happen to these is that the crank bearing boss' (the cases themself's) are not strong enough. The water pump shaft is sloted like a chevy distributor. Which in turn wears stress' out the pump bearing loosing coolant causing the overheating.

I found this out years ago by the owner of Trinity Racing.

The fix, is to machine the cases and have bronze bushings installed. That was then so the fix may have changed since then.

Listen to this man, having owned 2 of these things; one of which I had Trinity do the motor I can tell you he is correct. That same issue makes the crank seal last a week or two, these things like to lean out bad! Went thru two 4-5 hour top ends before sending the motor to Trinity and solving the problem. Pig lasted forever after that and never touched the jetting!!

[Power_Stand]

An old two stroke, its got to be good.

[100hp honda]

sweet bike man . theres a guy named dr. Q in california that makes these machines into reliable powerhouses- they had a few engineering flaws from the factory but are rumored to be real good bikes after a few mods. as stated, i think bronze bushings is one fix and copper head gasket is another. cant recall exactly but special wrist pin washers might be another. and i believe '89 was the best year because it used a larger intake than previous years

[100hp honda]

check out this site if you have question. its %100 qaudzilla and lt250, they know all the tricks to making the qaudzilla kick ass

http://www.quadracerhq.com/forum/index.php

[Joshwfl]

I rode it for a short time on trails this morning. Definitely a fun bike. Big problem now though.

I quit riding when it started smoking BAD, smoke like a mosquito fogger, and bad enough that I couldn't see behind me. Got off the bike and the smoke was so bad I couldn't see the motor to try and diagnose anything. Not only is it smoking (blue/gray), but there is oil dumping out the exhaust. Not just a dribble, it actually runs out in a small stream. I just ordered both crank seals, and I'm about to go into the garage and pull the cylinder off right now. I'm still happy with it for what I paid though.

[Ported&Polished]

I'm not a big fan of those, the 250 size frame and weight is more fun imo. But, it is a fun machine, just needs the mods. I also heard that if you try to squeeze more power out of them, you will need to have the crank balanced and welded for strength.

[MICK]

Several folks in my family own those. Including my Grandpa They're the only quads I think are fun. I like'em. I've ripped up hundreds of miles of Oregon's Coast on them.

[iggys-amsoil]

The cases are going to have to be split.

[Joshwfl]

To change the crank seals? I know I can get to the clutch side, I just took the clutch cover and clutch out. Is it the left side seal that needs to be split to get to?

[dannygraves]

a buddy of mine had one of those and loved it, but couldn't figuire out why he kept killing topends...
the ironic thing is yesterday he brought by a couple of lt250 jugs he wants me to do some porting work on and a busted swing arm I welded the swing arm still had fur on it from the rabbit he ran over that night

[nmdesertrider]

time to find a Suzuki RM-Z 450 roller

[100hp honda]

all joking aside brotha, if you plan to keep the bike i would go to that site i posted and read and ask questions, those guys know qaudzillas like the back of their hand. the qaudzilla in stock form wasnt a good reliable bike like the cr500 is, but it can be made good with some minor mods that weve already told you about. the brass inserts are a must, and there was other little mods that should be done also. if you plan to sell real quick and make a few bucks, then just replace the seals. im no qaudzilla expert but ive frequented that other forum and i read what some of the flaws of the bike are

[Joshwfl]

Thanks, I registered yesterday but I'm still waiting for an email from an admin.

[MICK]

I believe '89 was the best year because it used a larger intake than previous years

I'm not a Quadzilla guru. But this is what I've gathered riding them and listening to what the owners gossip about.

The '87 had the larger intake. And in terms of all out power leads it's predecessors. Suzuki took some fire out of the the later models while also closing up the transmission. An odd combination to me? As I understand, running an '87 jug on the late model bottom end is the hot ticket.

[100hp honda]

i knew some years used bigger intake. if it was the early years sorry for the misinformation.

disclamer: dont listen to my ass backward info

[eyesky2002]

As I understand, running an '87 jug on the late model bottom end is the hot ticket.

But the 87 jug had one less head stud and was prone to blown head gaskets, I believe Trinity had a mod that added larger studs and modified gasket!