Hello all! Newcomer here. Sorry for the long read, but this is my first Suzuki and I wanted to make sure I'm doing things right.

Over the last few months I bought a very beat up and used hard 1985 Quadrunner LT250EF. I bought it for $375 so I can't complain all that much. The lights even work on it! Didn't expect that at all! I'd love to get new fenders cause they are a horrifying mess. But they are seemingly hard to find for a good set reasonably priced that isn't messed up.

Anyway, since buying it I made fit and slapped on an old Polaris front fender that was lying around in the garage at work. I have yet to paint it to match. Keeps the mud off me so I'm happy enough for now.

Whoever used to ride this thing around didn't like chain maintenance I guess. The front of the chain guard was totally ripped up and it damaged the chain enough to where I went to back up and it broke it. The old chain was worn as heck anyway. Very sloppy even though it was tightened all the way. Bought a new chain and slapped it in there. Sprockets were all in decent shape so that's good! I also cut off the damaged part of the guard so now it doesn't hit the chain any more.

I found out that it didn't like going down hills using engine compression and it would start coasting, so just yesterday I changed the one way bearing. Problem solved. When I removed the old one, it fell apart into little pieces all over the garage floor. When that happened, at least I knew I bought the right part.

I did what looks like its first oil change in the last 20 years being I had to take it apart anyway. The old oil looked like MUD! It was nasty. Slapped in a new filter and it took about 2 new quarts of 10W-40. I had to salvage the old clutch cover gasket because there was nowhere to get a new one handy. I added a thin layer of Kimball Gasket maker to seal the deal. No leaks! I couldn't get a new air filter so I ordered one.

Tires are shot as crap. They are cracked all over and after sitting for a few days or so a couple of them go flat. Looks like there's a tube in one of the fronts. I just put a decent amount of slime in each one while I figure out the best place to order new ones that don't suck but also don't cost a small fortune.

An odd thing that happens though is that while driving, the idle screw actually turns itself INWARD! So when I go to stop after a long stretch, I put it down into neutral and it revs like a son of a b. I have to keep turning the screw outward to get it back to where it belongs. I know it's the screw moving cause I was paying attention to its position. That and I had to do this probably 10 times. If it wasn't going in on its own, I would have pulled it right out of the carb by now! I figured it has to be the fact that it's missing the idle screw spring. Anyway, I partzilla'ed a new screw, o-ring and spring. That should be ok after I get them this week. That's weird. I can understand a screw vibrating loose, but what the heck? How does it actually go in?!

So that's the rundown of my new toy. It's added to the roster of other toys of mine. The main reason I wanted to post here and go through this stuff with you guys is mainly because I have a couple more questions.

My 9 year old son has quickly outgrown his little Chinese Panterra 90cc. It's actually a great running little machine, but recently I let him try out my old Moto4 and Bayou 220 in flatter areas, and he's doing very well with it. I've taken him out past the woods by my home where it's very diverse with flats, hills, rugged paths, etc. All types of terrain. He loves it. He's getting better very quickly and he can't get enough of it. He is cautious, but not afraid. There are some places he still refuses to try. Good for him. He has common sense and he doesn't want to get hurt. (I wish he expressed that sense more at home with other things!)

Anyway, the Moto4 has crap manual brakes compared to the Bayou and the Quadrunner's hydraulics. The Bayou is actually for my daughter so I want him to have the Quadrunner. The thing is, the Quadrunner is a beast compared to the other two because as soon as you give it more than half throttle, it will flip even my 260lbs *** right on my back. The thing is an animal of a quad for its size. It will definitely smoke my other quads hands down. Its light body also makes it more dangerous on hills because the tires spin easier and the front end comes up very easy.

I want him to be able to use it because he sits on it very comfortable. His feet are sturdy on the pegs and he can hold on easier and not have any sliding of his butt going on. He's secure on it. We went out with him using it in the easier areas last week. I'm fixing it up as best as I can for him because he's enjoying it so much. But I want to be able to hold it back so he can't full throttle it and get hurt on it. For one thing, He doesn't now, but you know the time will come where common sense will stop momentarily, he'll do something dumb and try to push it too hard. I know you can adjust the thumb throttle to not go all the way, but is there a better way to govern this beast so he doesn't lose any torque for getting over things easily?

If you made it this far, thanks for the time! Is there anything else I should know about this quad that I may have no clue about? Like I said, this thing is different from all my other toys in terms of handling, speed and power. I want to make sure everything on it is right and I know what I'm doing because my son will be the one on it. Don't get me wrong, he won't be out by himself without me there for years, but parents never stop worrying, you know!