Hi all,


Through some wheeling and dealing have 2 TRX300's - 1 of which I want to trade for a '98 Foreman 450 which needs some work.


They both seem in very similar condition (pretty good), 1 is a 1990 Blue, the other is a 1988 was red, now green.


I plan on keeping the green plastic, just trying to decide which to keep, looking for differences to make it easier. Today I ran compression tests on both I thnk the specs say 178-208 in the book. My tester is hard to read so my number might be off 3 to 5 in either direction but these numbers are close...


One tested at about 165-170 dry, 175-180 wet - never smokes when running.

The other tests at 175-185 dry, 185-195 wet - smokes a little then goes away.


I am not sure what could cause the one with better compression to smoke some, wondering if I over filled the oil a bit? but other than that... what do you guys think, would you rather have less compression and no smoke or a little smoke and compression within the factory specs?


I have no idea given the results, any help opinions appreciated.

 

How are the consumables on the rest of the machines. Bushings and bearings, drivetrain, cables all add up in a hurry. Maybe one frame is in better shape? With machines that old, they could probably both benefit from a fresh top end and valve job soon. A little smoke at start up doesn't scare me to much, but it is a sign of issues to address in the near future.

 

Thanks Scooter,


Forgive if questions are dumb, I am new to all this... I have not done much with the one that does not smoke, it needs rear brakes for sure - both cv boots look good maybe a bit more rust on the boot clamps on the 88 at least in the front, both shift smooth.


The 88 was more rusty but everything works - this is the one smoking a little, something I did not notice before I changed the oil, it has the better compression.


The 90 looks cleaner than the 88 did, but I know the 88 sat for some time before I got it and worked on it and cleaned it up, I wire wheeled the entire frame on the 88 and painted it but it was rougher than the 90 when I got it, I also did my first ever carb kit on the 88 if that could cause smoke...


Both frames look solid. I did change all the gear oil on the 88 and you can kinda see a bit inside there and the gears were shiney and there was no sign of metal flakes or anything, I do not know how to check drivetrain beyond that - neutral light works on the '88, does not on the '90...


I can change out parts for this trade as the guy I am trading with plans on building a mudder out of it so he is going to mod the snot out of it... the 90 is a little under specs for compression - no smoke like I said, the 88 is in spec but has the smoke...