I just saw one of the best quads to ever build! Weather it be for dunes or woods the quad to use is the Kawasaki Mojave.

The frame is beefy and will accept nearly any motor conversion (short of a car engine).

My friend has one now that has a ninja 600 motor in it. What a clean conversion it is too. The thing looks nearly stock! The hardest thing about this conversion is trying to hang on as it takes off like a rocket ship!

As far as reliability he has had no problems with it in the last 6 years. The thing always runs great and is always ready to open a can of whoop a$$. In fact every time one of are quads are down in the group (usually suzuki or banshee) you can bet that quad will take you the distance for the weekend no matter how hard you want to hammer it!

Now don't get me wrong, It isn't the fastest dragster on the dunes, but there are very few that can run with it.

My only sugestion to my friend that I have made is to change from the the stock Mojave A arm to some wider after market ones.

The one thing the quad is missing is a set of front and rear racks that came on the Lakota's. If anyone knows where I could pick a set of these racks up please let me know. (The racks help haul the other broken quads back to camp).

 

i know a guy that has one of those too. might even be the same one... who knows..
does he live in samamish?
but he's only had his 6 months or so, not 6 years... naw, couldn't be. his has a durablue axle, and extended swingarm(which he already had to have welded & reinforced). the guy that tipped him off to it being for sale had one himself(he builds them)... he said that the rear suspension is the weak point... he'd been through 3-4 rear shocks already. engine weight increases significantly going from a 250 thumper to a 600cc 4 cylinder... by about 100lbs.

i agree with the rack, he definitely needs it. then he could bring the keg, stereo, & generator out to the far side of the dunes for the party. i don't drink, but he could bring it for the rest of ya... in a real hurry too... just keep it strapped on, in case the cops bust up the fun.

 

this is my brothers quad and it hauls .I have personnally seen him beat only a couple of times once was by a stroked banshee with NOS and another time was by a trx250R with a cr 500 motor running on alchohol.
He has owned the quad for about 9 months now but the previous owner had it built about six years ago by a friend. He paid 2200 for the quad. Which most the guys he drag races have in just there suspension alone.
It is alot of fun to watch him pull up to the line and see all these highly modified quads look at him like what a joke but as soon as they take off they realize the joke is on them and usually just pull off early and ride away with there tail bettween there legs . Most will not even stick around to talk to him .
The mojave at first glance looks stock with factory white uncut mojave plastic and a blue powder coated frame. As far as mods it does have a +3 aluminum swingarm and a white brothers rear shock. The only problem he has had with the rear suspension is the shock had been filled with air instaed of nitrogen which had ruined the seals so he had that rebuilt and to get the rear shock to fit right they ground away at the swingarm to get clearance for the shock body which it has cracked a couple of times where they ground away material.
He had a friend who recently sold his mojave with a new works performance shock on the rear so he traded his white brothers shock for the works performance just because it has more clearance and the works was fairly new.I have done all the work on this quad since my brother has owned it and the only other thing we just replaced is the clutch.
So dualsporter you need to shut your trap when you talk about stuff you know nothing about and try to fix your own junk. Oh by the way i heard your suzuki is blown up and your brothers LT still dosn't run. Iam sure glad I have honda pride because all of my stuff still runs and I know that makes you yellow with envy.

 

i'm just joking around & i know the machine.

i helped him inspect the swingarm personally, right after he got it and showed him the indicators of where possible cracks were forming(oxidation lines). i talked with the old guy that built them too... his word, not mine about the rear suspenders.... or was it you that said it after he told you?

this mojave is one fast SOB, and i'll readily admit to that. i've seen the looks people give him on the line. it's gotta put a grin on his face every time! i'll bet it's plain scary in the woods.

speaking of talking trash, isn't it you that started it here the first time?... something about a gas cap?

so do tell rad-r,
have you never toasted a top end? i recall reports of one time 4-5 red rides in our group blowing up at the dunes....

it just happened 3 weeks ago & if i had the $$$ it'd already be fixed. life as a student doesn't put much cash in the pocket for fixing the toys. and it does come down to a cash issue if you want to know the truth. plus, right now i'm in the process of moving... so all work on the toys is postponed. ...speaking of that, where's a good local place to have a cylinder bored?

bang for the buck...i still think i'm doing very well (i still don't have over $4k in my quad yet). and...doesn't my machine keep up with almost everything in our group?(if not whoop them) with the only exceptions being: the hot banshees, LT500s, and this mojave. i know it keeps up with all your highly polished show toys.... that have had unlimited budgets to build it seems.
final point: how long have i been riding? 2 years on quads. i think i've done some ballzy stuff for being in the sport for such a short time.... how long have you been in it?
maybe we need to get out & go for a long ride to see who runs out of gas first...

as for my brother's ride... that's his problem, and last on my list to fix for him, i expect him to do his own work. i do some investigating for him, but that's about it.... he will revive it from the dead, though.

speaking of dead machines how's justin's?

 

 

Dual-sporter I do not recall a conversation with the old guy about suspension on the mojave,but I would of thought he would of been smart enough to figure out with diffrent spring rates a correct valving the mojave should not have a problem with suspension.
Yes i have toasted one motor down at the dunes but it was all due to a lesson about oxygenated fuel, it melts pistons really fast.
I have been riding quads now for 3 years before that i was strictly a two wheel rider but bad knees ,family and closing of favorite riding spot put a end to that.
there are alot of places that can bore cylinders but most shops will send them out. I use everett motorsports (formely everett honda) but with addition of the suzuki line they changed there name. They do there cylinder boring right there and the thought that they actually sell and repair the brands of bikes I own makes me feel more comfortable. I actually had them do the cylinder on my Yamaha YSR and they did a good job on that too. They charge around $60 for a cylinder bore a hone. You will need to have the new piston before they bore it so you can purchase one elsewhere or buy one from them.

 

i know about the spring rates & valving issue just the same, i recall the old guy stating that he was running a CR250 shock on his at the time we ran into him because he'd blown the seals out of two stock ones. the only other worry is if the shock & suspension mounts will take the abuse hard riding will dish out on them.
i think the guy that built these has access to an atv & motorcyle salvage yard is why he'd built so many... and why he had a CR250 shock on it then.

instead of talking trash it might be best to help each other out when we can.
personally i hate going with the 'norm' or status-quo, that's another reason i stick to the 'zuks, they take me every where i need to go, and it isn't what everybody else runs(hondas or yamahas)... and for me they have been just as reliable.
now the real problem i think i have is that i may have made a mistake buying that X-33 axle...apparently they're designed for TT racing, not MX, they aren't built to take real abuse... i think it's a materials & heat treating issue... but i'll have to talk with them personally. i think they need to have a hydrogen bake done on them, have them shot-peened prior to chrom eplating or not drill the hole in the center as deep... or maybe all three.. ( see the 'durabreak' thread in the racing forums)

returning to the topic:
when it comes to a chassis for swaps though... the mojave has space to spare it seems and becomes the ultimate sleeper when in a drag race. racks might help keep the front end on the ground and reinforce it visually as the sleeper it is.

 

Just imagine ifn that quad had a ZX9R motor in it. I know the ZX12R is faster but the 900 weight very close to the 600 and you could use a stroker kit from Muzzys and really rock.

 

Dualsporter I hardly call going with a quad that has proven to be reliable and has one more races than anyother quad and accepts motor mods with little loss in reliability going with the norm or status-quo.
I know when i was looking into a quad I talked to people who owned quads and not one of them I talked to would go with the suzuki over the honda. If you just look at what the racers use,what the motor builders have mods for and resale value the honda 250R stands by itself. Look at how many motor kits there are for the 250R 265,270,275,295,300,310,330,350,370,400,410. Now i have never heard a suzuki lt 250 with a kit bigger than a 300 and have only seen a couple of those. Now why do you suppose that is ? Well it is because the LT250& LT500 were plagued with problems and most of them fell apart just being stock let alone when you tried to mod them.
Look at the people we ride with Stewart,Shawn,Johnny,Dave your brother they have all had major problems with there suzuki's. Now look at the people with Hondas that are still on there original bores Judy,Westly,spencer, david and my 88. Other than justin which dosn't matter what he ownes they just fall apart. He had a lt 500 and a trx250r and a banshee and a pilot he is able to break anything in minutes. If you look at the problems we have had with the R's they have not came from a mechanical flaws.
Jims broke a cylinder in half due to running with no airbox and going flying through a puddle motor sucked up water and hydrauliced the cylinder and split in in half,my brothers spark plug elctro broke and scared the cylinder, my 89 I ran oxygenated fuel in it melted the motor all of these problems were caused by bad luck and stupid errors nothing to do with the durability of the quads.
Remmember I own to suzukis my self and have experienced nothing but problems with both. Once you start building your motor you will see what I am talking about Hondas are over engineered and Suzukis are not thats why you don't see any suzukis running at the pro level . To win races you need reliability and Suzuki's don't have that.
Now maybe with this new quad they are coming out with they will have learned something,only time will tell. Untill then I will stick with my Hondas that always run because to me a seven hour drive is to far to drive just to work on something.

 

you're right, it's not about being different...(insert foot in mouth) it's about cash flow on my part. if i could afford anything i wanted & had more time to have decide & get more educated on the subject, i probly would have had something different. but i have what i have & try my best to make the most of what i have... and i think i've done dang well for not having on average $6-10K invested in each machine. (is there something wrong in this? it seems that there is by the way that you address it) on the same maintenance schedule & same number of hours ridden, i think that the 'zuks can hold thier own.(i think on average zuk owners do less maintenence per hour of riding than most honda owners is why they have been less reliable) given they did have weaknesses from the factory.... the hondas do too i'm sure(most of which, they have found ways to overcome on both brands.) every machine does, any design is always a series of compromises.

in another sport (i know only a little about but have interest in) there is something of note: chevy's are the number one winning drag car in a america, but does that make them a better car? no, it's just plain numbers, 80% of drag cars are chevy... just by plain numbers they'll win more races. why? parts & cars to start with are much cheaper. but they fall apart more often too... on average for the weekend drag racer, chevy's get engines rebuilt four times more often than mopars... so which is the better one?