double suzuki lt250s rebuild

[ktmbk]

It's been a while so here's an update.
Snow in slowing me down right now since I can't work in my shed due to too much junk in there, It will have to get warmer out before I can go further. I can't even ride it in the snow, I lost the rear brakes on a ride a few months ago. Seems the pads gave out and then fell apart, just leaving the backings. Also the caliper needs a rebuild bad, it's enough to not want to risk it.
It sucks, my 185 now needs a petcock - cause of a fuel leak, no snow riding for me.

The other frame was welded in a few spots. However there was some issue getting a straight clean weld in some areas so my buddy wants to clean them up for me before I take it back. It's a strong solid weld job and I'm not worried about any strength issues, but just not pretty.

[ejam]

ktmbk, I just picked up a 89 lt250s sunday. Had a blast riding it. But I have some questions. I noticed that I have an oil leak from the bottom of engine. There is some king of cover plate, maybe oilpump cover. Is there an o-ring behind that plate, or gasket? One more question. Where did you find the nerf bars?
I was lucky enough to find this one with good compression and very strong running engine. At first, it would not idle right, and had some hesitation. Put some sea-foam in gas, and cleared it right up. idles good, and has good throttle response.

[ktmbk]

Congrats, enjoy, there great bikes. If taken care of they run great and last forever. Once upon a time they were competitive with any four stroke quad out there, not so much now, but still great bikes to ride. With a good running engine there are probably many years left in the bike. This model was made for only two years, and they are a descendant of the legendary 230s model (and do share many parts, just never the ones you will seem to need).
There are also not a lot of them out there, Your now the fifth or sixth I know of (my two, one in jersey, one in a salvage yard out west, one in pennsiltucky, yours, and one from up north in the main area which may or may not be my second one).
That cover on the bottom goes to an oil screen, and it does have an o ring seal on it. they go for $2-3 if it's suspect I would just get one next time you get some parts. I don't remember if it's easy to get to with the engine in the frame but there is only three bolts to get that cover off. Check around the engine to make sure that there is no cracks hidden in it, these bikes are known to throw chains and crack cases. This usually is from worn bearings/bushings in the swing arm, worn chain and sprockets, or a mis-aligned engine. Defiantly check those areas over and keep an eye on them. prevention here is much cheaper than replacing an inside case.
The nerf bars are Graydon pro-line units (I also have a skid plate on the bike by them), I got them on ebay many years ago. They were listed for the quad, not universal types, I'm not sure of availability now. Many oem parts are still available new, and many more used. I get my oem parts here (http://www.hondapartsnation.com/page.../1/Suzuki.aspx) good prices but wait for a few things cause shipping always seem to be $20. Used you can find many 230 parts will fit, but also parts from a lot of other bikes can fit with little to no modifications to them. The Trick is to do research before you buy.
It sounds like you fixes your first problem, the carbs are really over built on these bikes, hopefully you can use some of my above posts to help if you need to ever go into them. Also it's been a while since i have been down your way, If I remember you got some nice woods down there to ride in (I have family a few hours north).
I said it before, these bikes are either great, reliable, and run forever or they are complete junk, sounds like you have the first, maintenance is the key to them.

[ejam]

Hey thanks for the reply. I always seem to find the rare bikes. Had a 1987 honda xl250r back in the 90's sold, bought a 1983 xl600r sold for 2000 xr250r(not rare) Got a 1985 ATC250SX, and now the 89 lt250s. I noticed on the carb., that there is a black plastic pull knob. Is that a hot-start? I have a service manual on its way.
I will have to pull the quad out and take pictures tomorrow and post them. All the plastics are in good shape. The frame looks like it has been repainted 1 or 2 times, but the engine looks nice and clean, only the one oil leak.
I was told that the tires could be the originals, they are harden and showing cracking, but hold air. I was impressed with the power it has.
I have my eye out for the nerfbars, and maybe a good aftermarket/used axle carrier.
My intensions were, to find a quad that I could beat around on and have fun, but now I think I will do a simi restro and ride it nicely.

[ktmbk]

That knob is a summer/winter choke setting selector. It limit's the choke when in. In my opinion it's over engineered, but I'm not a carb manufacturer.
Sounds like a good bike and I'm sure you can beat on it no problem, be sure to keep up on the maint and to look her over often for repairs, after all she is 20+ years old.
look forward to see some picts.

[ktmbk]

Hate to bring up the old thread but it's time for an update on it.
Finally dragged out the bikes so I could go over it to see how much was left to do. The last thing I did was starting to rebuild the rear caliper, only to find the bracket was stripped out and fixed incorrectly by someone in the past. This and the winter doomed the bikes to be put aside for a while. I got a caliper bracket coming from e-gays along with a set of pads, they are actually new production from a different bike but I checked it out and are compatible. They are still available from Suzuki but funds are an issue this week. The main one started with three kicks, I was surprised, especially after sitting for a year and a half. Had to still drop the carb bowl to clean it out, remove the inline fuel filter since it was jammed, fresh gas, a good overall cleaning, I swapped the front skid plate off the second bike onto the main one, also the front tires since they had more tread, the oil had some junk floating in the oil so i got some lightweight oil in there to flush it out (all i had), gonna have to change it and the filter anyway before I ride her anyway (Anybody noticed the resemblance between 5w20 and canola oil?). Tomorrow I"m planning to scrape some of the corrosion off the brake rotors. With luck my bracket will show and i'll be able to finish the caliper next weekend, with luck it will then be a good running bike.
As for the second one, after finishing the rebuild on the engine and carb, starting to collect chassis parts to rebuild it, and having some really impressive, strong, but quite sloppy welds to repair the damage to the frame (apparently the damage was in hard places to get to, for someone i'm sure was quite toasty at the time). Well in short, while looking her over with her nose in the air, I discovered the front of the frame is tweeked, actually is off a couple of inches I'm not even going to measure - it's that bad. No doubt it was the same accident that cracked the frame by a previous owner. Funny the tire alighnment and bars are actually adjusted to keep her riding straight. I'm sure it couldn't have tracked good, never drove her so i never knew. Unfortunately without a new frame or a crazy repair the second bike is done (so who has experience with a swap to put a trike front end on a quad frame?)

[WJG1000W]

wow seems like you just cant catch a break