I recently rode my Odyssey FL350R for the first time since I purchased it. When I purchased it had a blown motor, so I had the bottom and top ends totally rebuilt at a local shop. After getting it home I took it for a test ride. Right off the bat I noticed several problems.

#1) This thing vvibbbrrates! My hands go numb after riding for 15-20 min. I feel the vibrations through the steering and through the seat. Is this normal? Does yours vibrate? I visually inspected all the motor mounts, no flaws. I also checked all the exhaust mounts they also are in great shape. It vibrates worse while revving it in neutral than it does when clutch is engaged and vehicle is in motion. Could a bad primary drive clutch be causing this?

#2) Do they all run really rich on the factory settings? Mine had the stock #142 main jet and is all stock with the exception of a K&N filter and header wrap on the exhaust. I am running the fuel oil mix @ 20:1 per manufacture's recommendation. The needle and slide are at stock settings and when they rebuilt the motor they thoroughly cleaned the carb. Both days that I ran it where VERY humid and around 75-80 degrees.

Low and mid range pull really hard, but when it starts to get near the end of the mid range and into the upper rpm it would fall on its face, big time. It would lose most of its power and bog down bad, back off to about 1/4 to 1/2 throttle and it would pick back up where it left off. It would also flood if I shut it off and tried to restart it while hot. I checked the plug: it was black. So I re-jetted it with a #140, no change, out came the #140 in went a #138, no change. That's the smallest jet I have so I have ordered some smaller ones.

On a whim, I removed the airbox cover. Runs like a top, with no top end bogging, no problem starting hot. Anyone ever experience anything like this? I plan on adding another larger snorkel to the air box to improve airflow. Any other suggestions?

 

Erick, I had A FL350 oddy awhile back and I had the same bogging that you are describing. I removed the top of the air box and it would rip. A local shop told me that the K&N filter if oiled to much will restrict air flow. I cleaned it out and reoiled lightly but enough to function properly and it did the same thing. I ended up buying an outerwears and runing it with the box lid off, ran fine....

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Herbert~~99Wolverine & 89LT520

 

Thanks Herbert, I plan on adding another snorkel to the air box and enlarging the current one so that I will have 2, 2.5"-3.5" snorkels instead of just one 2" snorkel. I believe this will be sufficient. I would do the same as you but, the conditions I ride in can get pretty messy and a big old gob of sloppy mud might not do my air filter any favors.

As for my vibration problem? I have taken it back to the place that rebuilt it to have the counter balancer timing checked out. They will also re-check the crank to make sure it's within specks even though when the motor was rebuilt the crank was completely rebuilt also.

Does anyone know anything about counter balancers? My mechanic said that the ones in my 350 are identical to the ones installed in the TRX250R's. He also said that he doubted that this could be the problem as they are fool proof to line up when assembling an engine.

If nothing wrong is found within the engine I will replace the clutch even though it has no visual defects.

Thanks, Eric Zeh

 

I'd say the vibration is one of two things -- one, main bearings. This could also cause the too-rich jetting condition in some cases. Even if the bearings are good, the case could be worn where the bearings ride (look for uneven wear patterns on the outer bearing surface). You can do an external check by pulling the outer cases and looking at the flywheel and clutch outer hub for any signs of rubbing on the cases.

two -- counterbalancer mis-aligned. These are not fool-proof. Since the counterbalancer sprocket must be removed to do a crank rebuild, it could DEFINITELY be re-installed on incorrect timing marks. It would be pretty much impossible to actually install the crank and counterbalancer incorrectly tho.


Hope this helps!

Pam

 

Eric.
Somthing's not right.I rode my buddies 85 Odyssey last week end and didn't notice excesive vibs.It does smoke like a b--- when you first start it.God he killed all the bugs within a mile.

I'll see he this weekend and see what he thinks.I did notice that it dosen't shift from netural to forward verry smothly thow.

Wait a minute!!I just remembered, My buddies sled did the same thing last year.Check the belt and the clutches for wear.It turned out I flat spoted the belt.But you say it does it in neutral.Hmmmmmm clutch?Hmmmmm check engine mounted clutch side for ballence.May be it got damaged when the motor blew.Or locked up at high rate.

[This message has been edited by trx430ex (edited 09-17-1999).]

 

Thanks for the help everyone. I picked it back up from the shop today. They completely disassembled the engine checked all specs and tolerances and found no problems. He re-assembled it and set the counter balancer by the book. When I rode it around the parking lot noticed no difference; it still vibrated the same, MAYBE just a little less than I remembered. The mechanic Josh still insisted that the amount of vibration I am getting is normal, he also guaranteed me that if the motor failed due to a defect in any of the parts or due to faulty workmanship, he would “eat my shorts” and fix it for free.

Not satisfied, I took it by the local Honda dealer on the way back and got thier shop foreman to take it for a ride. He said he had only worked on a half dozen or so of these in his time but that he thought that this one’s vibrations weren’t any worse than the other ones he had ridden/worked on. I may take it to one more dealer a little farther away to get another opinion.

The Verdict? Am I being overly picky? I guess so… at least according to the three mechanics that have driven it. I think I’ll just ride it and be happy that it runs like a scalded dog. If it comes apart, it will go back to the shop for a free fix. What do you think?

Pam, When I had my engine rebuilt the only things that where re-used where the crank (rebuilt completely), the jug/sleeve (bored) and the head. Everything else was replaced including the crankcase ($).

I read in another thread that you did not like the use of synthetic oil in 4-stroke engines. How about 2-stroke? My mechanic gave me a couple of pints that he wanted me to use specifically for break in use. The brand name escapes me but it was a synthetic/conventional blend and was almost $10.00 per pint. A little too pricey for me. I asked what I should run once broke in. He told me as long as it was a high grade conventional or synthetic/conventional blend it would be OK. What type/brand would you recommend?

Trx430ex, a new clutch is my next purchase I will get a Comet 94C “Duster”. This is supposed to have very similar engagement RPM and shifting characteristics as the stock clutch.

The transmission on my Odyssey does the same thing when going from neutral to F or R it doesn’t want to go into gear without grinding sometimes. I asked my Honda dealer and several other Odyssey owners about this. Apparently Honda had a recall on the transmissions and here is why: When in neutral, at a normal or even low idle, the drive clutch will touch the belt just enough to spin the driven pulley a little bit. The transmission was never meant to be shifted with that pulley turning, thus causing the gears to grind. I have found that if when shifting into gear you do it very quickly you can avoid this problem for the most part. The other options include: Having the transmission completely rebuilt using the upgraded gears which are cut in a manner which allows shifting with out the grinding ($$) or fabricating a small auxiliary hand brake that will apply just enough pressure to the driven clutch to stop it from spinning. The one that was described to me seemed very similar to the early brakes on small snowmobiles. This is what I’m going to do. Because I don’t feel like spending another $850+ on my beast.

Eric Zeh

 

Eric.
The way I shifted it was,When it's runing and your sitting in idel,hit the kill switch till the engine allmost stalls,then SHIFT and CLICK the switch back on before!! it stalls. After a while you'll get pretty good at it.

Seems funny dosn't it.Hey whatever works.

PS I like tkat snorkel idea.

See yea, Steve