I need some help!
I'm looking to get some tires and skid plates.
I think maxxis tires all around, and douglas rims with a +1" off set.
How do you all feel about the +1" off-set.
I'd like to keep the tire sizes stalk.

Now what skid plate, I'm hiering DG quality isn't all that.
These skid plates cost a bunch, I realy need some practical expereriance reviews here.

I'm trying to get a set up for some cross country racing, I know I need a little power, but after the wheels, tires and skid plates I don't know if I'll have the money before the season starts.
If I could leave the motor a lone for a while and work on the chasis set up I could come back to the motor in late summer.
I also need a steering dampner!

I'm just looking to braek out racing, and only have goals of finishing rite now, but I think I can save some money and time with all your help.

 

I have douglas .190 wheels with the stock offset. I am running 20x11x10 Shredders on back and 21x7x10 Ohtsu H-Track(stock 250r) tires on front and I love them. The only thing I will do different on the front tires will be going with 22x7x10. The Shredders wear great and get awesome all around traction. My next rear tires will be either more Shredders or Razrs.

As far as skid plates go, I have a DG swingarm skid and it bends very easily. My chassis skid is one I made from 1/8" aluminum and it works great. I have seen the PRMskids on a Lakota and they looked great.

I am in the same boat as you about the steering damper. I haven't found a company that makes one for the Lakota. You might have to adapt one from the Mojave. I rode a 400ex with a Denton damper and it made a huge difference.

 

hi gaff;
about the tire ?. i've got two sets. hole shots-20/11/10 on the factory rims, and maxis alltracks 22/11/10 on douglas .190's . the hole shots work great in everything except even the lightest mud, the alltracks are like the stock tires only better. my lakota is more tippy in the corners with the alltracks wereas the holeshots slide around better making it better to set up at the corners. going by my bathroom scale i didnt save any weight on the rears with the alltracks and .190's compared to the factory rims and tires.

about the fronts, factory size maxis front pro's on .190's saved about 1 pound each. they work well but i think the maxis razr's might be better because of the design, the alum. rims do look cool.

moving the offset i think would be a good idea.

i thing the next best step would have to be the piston(10.5-1)and some head work.

i raced a 650 praire today, got smoked in a drag race, but given enough room on the trail i could have passed him in the corners, he could'nt pull away in the tight and twistes. he's about 26 and i'm 47. also i would not trade him even up. the 650's to top heavy like driving a small car sitting on the roof.

98 lakota
no racks
k&n, holes drilled all over the snorkel tube and filter cover
138 main
ids2 12 discs
two 3 inch automotive type fog lights from auto zone mounted on the black plastic where the mojave head light is (the top flat part)with the factory switch.
13t sproket
mobil 1 mx4t 10w40 (it makes a differance )

 

Vlucdog, you have the exact set up in tires I have been thinking of. Interesting on the Pro's. I may look into Razrs too. I have been thinking of Alltrac in the rear too, but I kinda felt they would be very similar to stock. I have heard a lot of good things about Bandits. Those are my second (maybe 1st now!)choice. So the 650 smoked you huh? I have been hearing that the 650 will outrun a stock 400ex, but my buddy (who owns 1 of course) doesn't believe me. I know that 400ex will absolutely smoke my Lakota, in a straight line drag anyway.

 

I'm running titan fast trakers in the rear.(stock size)And they rub the battery box when i'm turning and sliding the rear end around.I need new front tires and i will probley go with maxxis front pro's.

 

Boy, thanks alot, you all gave me a bunch to think about.
I've been realy leaning towards the razors,and at stalk sizes. But as big bad400 posted he has rubbing on the battry box, I have this on my stalk tires, Won't the razors be a little stiffer so this won't happen.
I checked out the rpm site 98lakota posted, these skid plates look real good, front bumper as well, has any one have any of these.
I also am looking into a higher set of handle bars. I'm 6' 1" and it seems the bars are to low for me, when I do alot of aggressive riding, the front part of my shoulders get worked pretty hard, my thinking is when I stand up the bars are to short, not to mention 14mins put this in my head.I have the 10.5:1 piston on order now, the cam and porting need to go with it, I'm shooting to make the gncc race in late march in macon goergia, I don't know if I'll have enough money to do the engine so I may wait to do the engine mods.

Speeking about engines let me tell you what I've found this week.
I wanted to know more about putting the stalk needle back in my carb, like lakota300cr stated he did, so I did.
Now before I say what happened this is what I did, I pulled the exhaust and put some high temp rtv on all the joints,then I put my 13T sprocket back on, then I added one gallon of 112 octain to the existing fuel in my tank.
This worked very,very well, I would say atleast one full horse power gain in the mid range, much cleaner and snappier than the dyno needle.
I checked it to see if it was running lean or fat in the mid range because the stalk needle suggest a much leaner profile than the dyno jet needle, but is shorter than the dyno jet.
now I have a #134 main, stalk needle, three turns out on the air/fuel mixture, with a IDS2 with 12 disc, runs the best that I,ve ever seen.
The most proven test I haveso far is when I shift to second and lift the front end I have to let off a little not to go over, now with the stalk needle back in I can get back into the throttle and the front end will stop falling and start rising again, excellent response. This never happened with the dyno jet needle, the front end would fall and I never had the response to recover.

 

hey i forgot to add that the alltracks do rub the battery box mainly when backing up . i ovaled out the bolt holes as much as possible to move the battery in but the tires still rubbed. the holeshots dont rub

 

hey gaff im gonna try the trans upgrade real soon! as far as the rims i got the stock rim size and just turned them around so the valve stem is on the inside kinda generic way to do it but it works real well and you dont have to buy spacers helps with stabilty too i sent the rear one's back cause i want the itp edge series they're alittle more heavy duty but so far i love the .190s on the front no bends and i've been riding pretty hard.not sure what size i'm gonna get for out back iam currently running 22-11-11 dirt devils or as there called now dirt d's (must have been a legal issue with the sweeper people)and i have very little rubbing on the battery only when iam jump something, let me know if you get skids cause i too am looking for a set and not sure about where to buy from.i guess i shouldnt complain about my bike so much i only paid 2500 for it and it was in excellent shape but you just feel so left out cause i still get looks and questions like"what kinda quad is that?" "i never heard of a lakota!"and nobody makes kool hop ups for them like yam and hondas oh well ive rambled on enough....

 

Gaff,
Hey I am glad to hear your results. I don't know why, but I just thought it was strange the dynojet needle was longer than the stock needle. I think with the shorter stock needle, the response is faster. I dedcided to try the stock needle with the inlarged slide hole and the difference is very noticable, as you have seen. I would reccomend to anyone to only buy the main jet and enlarge the slide hole (gaff, do you know the drill size from the kit?) I ran my Lakota in the CR mountains this weekend and it performed much better. I was able to keep up and pass the mojaves in the trails, but on the open road the mojave was still quicker (I also weigh about 40lbs more than the Mojave driver and the Lakota is 60lbs heavier than the Mojave.) I think with equal weight drivers, my Lakota would be faster than the Mojave. I am very happy with the performance of my Lakota now. Gaff, it is good you sealed up the exhaust leaks, they are not good at all. Talk to you later.
Lakota300

 

The drill falls between a 3/32 and a 7/64, the micrometer says 2.58mm
I sent bigbad400 a message that I would send him mine so he can modify his carb.
I'm a huge dynojet fan and can't explain it, I'm going to call them, and I will probably find a dyno and take a couple of runs and send them to dynojet.
I'm not crying or anything, I owned a dynojet dyno before and can't tell you ever this happening before.
So us older guys learn a lesson, I don't believe it is a lesson a younger guy can afford.

What about a steering dampner?
What do you all think about higher handle bars?