Ask the Editors Week of May 2nd

by ATV Connection Editors

Hello ATV Connection readers, welcome to our latest feature! Due to the rising popularity of the Ask the Editor forum, we have decided to expand the idea and post responses to the homepage.

For those of you who are new to this, basically, if you have an ATV related question, you can ask our editors for help or advice. Create a forum account if you don’t already have one, then create a new thread in our Ask the Editor section. It’s easy and fun!

And without further ado, here are this week’s questions.

Dear ATVC:

I have a 1987 Suzuki Quadracer and it will start but only idle. When you apply the throttle, it bogs down and wants to die. Any ideas on what I should try?

Thanks,
Kenny (kennayz)

Without more detailed information, the best advice we can offer is starting at the very beginning with diagnosing your Quadracer. Drain the fuel and replace it with fresh gas properly premixed with quality 2-stroke oil. Flush the fuel lines as well.

Take apart your carb and drain away the old fuel from the float bowl. Then clean out the internals with carb and choke cleaner. Check to make sure your jets aren’t clogged.

Replace the spark plug and fire it up. Fine tune the air and idle adjusters (screws) on the carburetor. If none of these efforts alleviate the bogging when throttle is applied, check the engine’s compression. It is possible the piston or rings have worn to the point that cylinder compression is compromised.

If the engine’s compression checks out, it may be time to take a look into the top-end for damage (chips or cracks) to the reeds. Finally if these appear all right, the last possible option is that you have an air leak. A simple way to check for such leaks is to fire up the engine and to spray a coat of carburetor cleaner along all of the engine’s exterior mating surfaces. If the engine’s idle tempo changes briefly when you coat a given surface with the spray, you have found your leak.

But start out by keeping it simple. Use the adjustments on the carburetor as a starting point to increase the idle. We’re quite certain that should point you in the right direction. If the machine has sat for an extended period of time, there is a good chance the gasoline in the carb has dried out, leaving behind a varnish film. Often a good cleaning is in order.

While the following resource targets the carburetors of Honda 4-strokes, we find this resource helpful in breaking down the carb-cleaning process into manageable steps: http://users.rcn.com/kochc/moto/carb/carb.html

Dear ATVC:

I recently bought a 2007 Can-Am Outlander 400 HO and was wondering what the top speed on this quad should be? Right now I’m getting about 53 mph. Just wondering if now is the time to do a clutch kit and replace the belt?

Suptech

The good news with riding weather approaching much of the country is that you should be fine with the clutch and belt for this season. A brand new unit with our “light as a feather” test riders in the saddle was able to achieve about 56 mph with a healthy tailwind and gravity working with us. It’s entirely reasonable that a 2007 model with a few miles on the clock would yield top speeds around what you are reporting.

We have heard reports of machines like yours responding very well to after market massaging (Big Gun exhaust, Dial-a-Jet, K&N air filter, TPI valve, etc.) that yielded GPS confirmed top speeds in the high 60’s. So when the time does come to update your machine, perhaps some selections from the healthy after market that exists for this model will be worth considering to more than offset the effects of time.

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