Has anyone heard of or has had any work performed by Mickey Dunlap at 4 Stroke Tech? I'm looking into having some work done, and this wrench is in Pennsylvannia were I'm from, maybe two to three hours away...

Tony

 

well when i get enough money for my 440 kit i'm probably gonna get it from either fst or sparks. i'd also like to get fst's liquid cooling kit if it actually works because i'm kind of skeptical abotu it. i hear fst does some good work tho. i also know that mickey dunlap has posted on this forum before.

 

This isn't personal experience, but do a search on this site about it. Ive heard his customer service is crap.

 

You might as well wipe with your hard earned cash as give it to FST. You are better off having your local lawn mower shop perform the modifications.

 

Chawness....please explain to me your PERSONAL experience with Four Stroke Tech. I'm dying to hear what it is.

 

They totally rebuilt my 1987 Mojave engine, I bought the most expensive package they had at the time. $2,500

Rode the quad ONE time and transmission goes out. Called FST and of course it wasn’t covered, Took back and they charged $600 to fix it. Rode quad TWO more times, transmission went out again. Called and said it wasn’t covered, bought a TRX 250R, let Mojave set for several years, then sold it for $500.

Maybe he has changed since then, but I doubt it. If you havent had any problems, consider yourself lucky.

 

Was the transmission rebuild part of the first purchase?

 

It's really easy for people to get on these sites and talk about people and the reader only hears one side of the story. If I don't get on here and give the other side of the story, it makes me look like I don't take care of my customers. My business would not be the success it is today without the morals and work ethics that I have. I answer to a Higher Authority and I have to keep that relationship right or nothing else in my life is right. Let's take the person with the Mojave for instance. Here is someone who has made some statements that are untrue or are only half truths. First of all, he says he had a $2,500 motor built by me. I have never built a $2,500 Mojave kit so he must have had about $500 or more in Kawasaki parts that needed to be replaced before we even started on high performance parts. Second of all, Mojaves don't have gear box problems. They have kick starter problems which, if they are modified with 13:1 compression or so and the decompression unit is removed, you can break the gears and possibly the counter-shaft. Apparently, this is what happened to this customer which is no fault of mine; it's a weak part on a Mojave. With engines like this, I try to talk with the customer so he understands this problem and I try to teach him how to start a high-performance 4-stroke engine. But even at that, if the engine backfires while kicking, it can snap these parts. This is why we came up with an electric start for the Mojaves when I worked with Team Green. The high performance business is a very delicate business to run and that't why there are only a few of us out here. We build very reliable and fast engines but they are mechanical and they break - fact of life. Bottom line is, every four stroke engine builder out here does his best to please each customer but some customers should not have high performance products.

 

I am simply stating the facts Mickey. It was a long time ago, but I havent forgotten the hard earned money my Father and I paid you. Matter of fact, I still had the receipts up until a few years ago when I finally sold the Mojave. Just to let everyone know, the $2,500 wasn’t just for the "kit", it was for other parts as well as installing the motor into the chassis.

And Mickey, you are right, Mojave’s don’t have transmission problems. At least mine didn’t until you got inside of it. If a 13:1 compression motor causes so many problems, why build one. Just stating what you did in your post proves you and your customers had those problems then, and I’m sure every time you said "its not my fault".

I will continue to tell the facts to anyone who ask. I only wish we would have taken you to court over the whole ordeal.

 

Mickey,

I am glad that you and your colleagues (spelling?) are dedicated to helping out the sport. I am also glad that you read these forums. Do any of your competitors read these forums?? If not, could you pass along the word? Also, this is going to be a REALLY DUMB question, but, have you ever considered working on two strokes as well??