Jack,

I've got an '87 LT80 with tons of your badass engine goodies that I put together several years ago (you may remember me). Anyway, I'm redoing this quad for my younger son. It's going to be even better than before. I've added chrome Teixeira Tech long travel A-arms to replace the other aftermarket A-arms that I had, and I've added a Teixeira Tech rear extension (new rear mounting plates that move the axle back about an inch or better), adding Durablue extended axle to replace homade aluminum wheel spacers, brand new Elka dual rate shocks made specifically for the long travel A-arms and the rear extension plates (rear was a PITA to install, but it works awesome), and a few other small things that it needed.

I started tearing into it because, first, a couple of the rubberized bushings in the engine mounting system in front of the motor had developed a ton of play that couldn't be fixed just by tightening the bolts. The rubber had actually started deteriorating, so I pressed in new ones.

While I had the bike up on the bench, I decided to tear into the clutches just to inspect because I noticed that part of my sidecover gasket had ripped and was sticking out a little. Plus, I haven't been in there for awhile. Everything looks suprisingly good though, but I had a few questions. I had you mod my original clutch shoes instead of starting with new ones. I wondered if that was a good idea at the time because they didn't appear to have too much shoe left, but they still are holding up. They don't look like they have much left, but they're not too much different than when I started from what I remember. They've been lightened and have stiffer springs that you installed.

I also want to inspect the front rollers. I believe I'm only running 3 of the 6. Being an '87, I do have the better "red" rollers which you said seem to last longer, but still I want to inspect them. I'm a little leary of taking the front mechanism apart as I'm not sure if it's very easy to get back together. Any advice? I also notices that the keyway on the crank that holds the front pulley system from slipping seems to have put a gouge in the pulley. The key and the keyway on the crank look good.

I'm also installing a new belt. Mine never slipped, but it has some cracks in it so I figured I might as well replace it.

Anyway, just wanted to get some advice from you while I'm in there. This motor is a race motor with all of your goodies except a lightened flywheel. It still runs VERY strong. But I just want to make sure I freshen up anything that needs it. I might want to send you a few parts to have your eyes look them over. PM me with you phone # if you'd like to hear more details outside of this thread. There are some additional things that I'd like to ask you about also. It's been ahwile and I can't seem to find your #.

Thanks Jack!

Pat Jaegers

 

Hiya Pat,
So I'm guessing you're going to run the CT long travel pipe.
I'd like to see a pic of that gouge.
Phone number is below.

 

Believe it or not, I'm running a "modified" Trinity pipe. When I bought it new years ago to go with my built motor, their jig must have been off because the thing didn't even come close to mounting up with the stock rear setup. The rear bracket was off on all 3 planes. Lots of cutting and weldind were required to the mount.

Over the years, it had developed a crack where the mount is welded to the pipe, so I needed to patch that up anyway. With the help of my brother, we cut off the factory Trinity mount, patched the pipe, remade the mount, and also did some minor "reshaping" of the pipe with a press and some custom cut wooden blocks so that it clears the new location of the rear Elka shock. Total PITA to do, but it works. We ran it a few times with the extended rear end before I tore it down, and there was no noticeable performance drop, which I was worried about.

Now though, the steel mesh in the silencer has broken away from the end cap of the pipe, so I've got to fix that too. I'll repack it while I'm in there. Using the Trinity Pipe has really turned into a labor of love. It's been way more work than it should have been, but it does perform well. If I have any more issues with it, I might just have to try a CT long travel.

I also had to do some pretty custom stuff to the rear brake cable mounts to get it to fit correctly. That was not easy, and I might still try messing with it some more because while I got it to fit, it currently lays against the front of the expansion chamber and the outer rubber coating is basically melted flat.

I'll call you one evening over the next few days. Thanks in advance for your help!

Pat

 

Jack, texted you some pics last night, and I sent you a PM on here with some detailed questions.

Thanks,
Pat