i just got my honda fourtrax 200 workin. and i got to say. its the fastest 200cc fourwheeler ive ever ridden. my happyness aside. it needs a muffler . it currently doesnt have one installed. i was wondering if it is hurting the engine by not having the muffler on. its very difficult to find mufflers that are compatible with my quad since its an obscure year and make. but i like to ride it arround my property ( i live in the hills of oregon) and im not sure when ill be able to get one for it. so am i hurting my bike atm by not having a muffler or is it just a noise issue. also is there any after market mufflers i could buy for it. i havnt found one that would fit my bike yet.

 

I would not ride it if it were mine, Its might be running way too lean and burning your valves.

 

is there any way i could find out if im runnin to lean ?

 

As long as you have at least a pipe on it and your not running lean your fine. Learn to read the plug to see if your running lean.

 

im kinda new to this quad world, how do you read a plug ? and i have a pipe. its just missing the muffler... my neighbor gave it to me like this. it was bout to go to the dump. but i decided it was worth trying to fix. after cleaning the carbeurator and buyinh a new battery for it. it works fine. i put a brand new spark plug in there. would you mind explaining to me how to read one to figure out if its running lean ?, after i warm it up it idles fine. if thats any help

 

I will give you the short version:
Pull the plug.
If it's black your too rich, which willl hurt power and fuel mileage but nothing else.
If it's tan, like a cardboard box your on the money.
If it's white, your lean. Not good. You could hurt the engine is too lean.

BTW, congrats on the new free quad. I love stories like yours.

 

Personally, I would worry about being to lean. That may be why it feels so "fast". Lean is fast, but it can melt down your engine too.....

Try an FMF MegaMax II. In the old days, we could always make one of them fit if we couldn't find anything else. It's an old style muffler that you can tune by adding or removing plates (fewer plates for low end power and less noise, and more plates for high end speed but of course it will be louder). They are spark arrested and forest service apporved....don't want to go starting a fire next summer!!!

http://www.fmfracing.com/produ...og.aspx?CategoryID=126

 

thanks for the reference friend. it is much apreciated. these are kinda spendy though. i was thinkin bout spending under 100$ on this one, or close to it. i was lookin at a cobra exhaust that is 115$ for the atc110 . would that fit too ? i guess my second question would be. does it really matter what muffler i get as long as i can fit it on ? adjusting brackets and places to screw it to the frame dont bother me.

 

leaner is meaner, my buddy rode his 400ex straight header for over a year and didn't fry the vlaves or blow it up or anything.