i have a 2004 honda recon and after awhile when im riding like after 10 minutes from starting it the engine starts to sputter and if i give t gas it either jerks with power or stalls. i have replaced the air filter, oil, spark plug, and the spark plug coil, i am also noticing that its burning some oil. i am starting to get a little ticked off but am willing to spend some money to get it running good again. i havent ridden in over a month and would like to go for a ride where i dont have to worry about my quad..any ideas apperciated thanks

 

come on guys i need help, im in a pitt of wonder, and dont know what it could possibly be

 

How long has it been since the valve adjustment was checked? How old and stale is the gas in the tank?
But it sounds like its got a carb issue.
When you give it gas (and it sputters)...is that from idle? Does it get better with the lid to the air box, off? Or Does it improve by having the choke on?

 

since ive had it i havnt checked the valve adjustment, and that was goin to be my next guess, and now ive had a full tank for about a month now and i have never drained it completely....i have adjusted the idle speed and that either made it worse or the same, i did try without the lid and the only difference is its louder, and it gets a little bit worse with the choke on....i have also noticed that the engine gets hot way to fast and the muffler is really hot after a small amount of time......could it be a bad piston?

 

Id say its more like running too lean, if the exhaust is getting hot. But the quads symptoms are rich...runs better cold.
How many turns out is the mixture screw? Is everything stock...lid on and filter oiled? How did the old spark plug look?

 

ill have to take a look at the mixture screw, but everything is completely stock, and i got the filter oiled and the lid is on, the old spark plug was badly fouled, also i pretty sure i should be able to gun it and just do a big burnout but when i do it stalls

 

How much do you weigh?

The recon doesnt have a cv carb, its just a slide carb, and if you demand alot of throttle, and the motor cant keep up, itll bog. Snapping the throttle open on a high traction surface, is gonna put alot of load on that motor, and at low rpm, the vacumn just drops too much, to allow power to build. Its just like on the old 4bbl carbs that were mechanical..they would bog if the throttle plates were opened too quickly, and thats why the vacumn secondarys came about, and that is why the motorcycles and atvs are going the route of cv carbs.

I think the only way to get the recon to do a burnout, is to lean over the handllebars, and get the back as light as posible, and hold the front brake, until the back tires are spinning good.

 

im only 15 so i weigh 135, do you think its not a big enough engine for me?

 

A 250 is just fine, for most purposes, but it does have limitations.

 

yea, thanks for your help