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

Posted: August 15th, 2008, 7:55 pm
by 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.
Image

Posted: August 15th, 2008, 7:57 pm
by britincali
Sweet! :cool: :cool: :cool:

Posted: August 15th, 2008, 10:36 pm
by iggys-amsoil
britincali wrote:Sweet! :cool: :cool: :cool:
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.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 6:37 am
by lewisclan
nice

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 6:43 am
by eyesky2002
iggys-amsoil wrote:
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!!

s

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 7:04 am
by Power_Stand
An old two stroke, its got to be good.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 7:52 am
by 100hp honda
sweet bike man :cool: . 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

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 8:12 am
by 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

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 11:02 am
by 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.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 11:12 am
by 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.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 11:49 am
by MICK
Several folks in my family own those. Including my Grandpa :lol: 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.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 1:36 pm
by iggys-amsoil
The cases are going to have to be split.

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 1:44 pm
by 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?

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 6:27 pm
by 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 :shock: the swing arm still had fur on it from the rabbit he ran over that night :roll:

Posted: August 16th, 2008, 8:17 pm
by nmdesertrider
time to find a Suzuki RM-Z 450 roller

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 8:19 am
by 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

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 10:40 am
by Joshwfl
Thanks, I registered yesterday but I'm still waiting for an email from an admin.

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 4:33 pm
by MICK
100hp honda wrote: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.

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 5:14 pm
by 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 :lol:

Posted: August 17th, 2008, 7:49 pm
by eyesky2002
MICK wrote: 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!