I've been thinking long and hard (it's giving me a headache lol) about splicing a 250r front but I'm not sure if I really want to go thru all the trouble. What else can be done to make it handle better?

 

I lowered mine by moving my top shock mounts up higher you can see them in my pics. This helped some but the front springs are still way too soft. I am going to put a-arm on mine, I am going to build the front section myself rather than cut it off and add another one.

 

remove some weight

 

Scrambler123, That sounds like a good idea. Do you have on idea of what it will take to make it work? How will you add the second a-arm?

tbsleeper, I've been working on cutting the weight down. I removed the floorboards, trimmed the plastic, removed the starter and battery. I have an HPD trail pipe with the stock silencer. I've heard that you can shed a few pounds by going to an aftermarket silencer. Does anyone have a used one lying around they would like to sell?

 

theres so much crap you can do to make them lightweight. lights, wiring harness, axle, tires and wheels, steering stem, handlebars and mount, New hubs, Swingarm, Buy some chromoly redo the frame. Just get out the pocketbook at the same time.

 

i'm just going to cut out the supports that run vertical in the fron of the frame then put some horizontal tubing above the lower a-arms.

 

123, Remember that there is alot that makes a dual a-arm quad handle better other than just having 2 arms. It all has to do with the anglesof the arms, the steering stem, the placement of the shocks............ All these things have to work together, thats why I chose to use a 250r frame, the engineers built that thing to handle well, there are many quads with dual arms that handle no where near as well as the 250r. Not saying its the best ever, just saying that its pretty good. I was thinking about making my own set-up too, but after thinking alot about it, I can imagine getting it done and not having it handle well.
There are a ton of things that make big differences in handling, i figured i would go with what I knew worked.

 

better handleing trailblazer.

It depends on how much you want to spend.

1) lose some weight. getting rid of the floor board will lose over 20 lbs and cost noting. swing arm and a-arms can be replaced with chromoly (dennis shotwell AZ Bad Boyz). Remove oil injection system and premix you gas. Chromoly steering stem (HSP) and aluminum handle bars(lower bend).

2) Tall foot pegs (if you dont remove the floorboards - HSP), add some foot prg extenders (James Lucky), and Knobber bar ends (HSP). This complete set-up will only run about $50.

3) Increase horsepower (this will make the machine feel lighter). A pipe and clutch kit combo is a good start (RCR or HPD) for the ultimate power boost try a reed cage conversion (AZ Bad Boyz). A team industries secondary roller clucth will improve upshifting and backshifting (it does effect handling)

4) complete suspension upgrade - HPD custom shocks all around. Works Performance struts w/ a PEP rear re-build (Baldwin Motorsports)

5) Tires and rims, lighter the better. I like holeshots, but there is alot of good tires out there


Again depending on your budget you can gain a noticable difference in handleing for under $100. For the most band for you buck expect to spend about $500. For competative racer about $3000-4000.

start with cutting off the floor boards and put on foot peg extenders, new lower bend handle bars w/ bar ends ($100). Then get a RCR stage 1 kit ($325). holeshot mx tires on aluminum rims ($400-500). It wont even feel like the same machine. much more peppy and responsive.

 

One of the things that ajo said that I could really tell a difference was a set of Hot Seat handlebars. They make turning easier. Anything but the stock handlebars will work tons better IMO. It's fairly cheap too.

 

troyer23j i am aware that i cant just slap some supports together and put a-arm s on and make it handle good. My idea for the front end was to basically duplicate the heights and angles of my bro in laws z-400 front end.