I own a 00 Scrambler 500 which i think is an absolutely awesome quad. I have a question regarding top end. Whenever i open it up and run it at top speed it picks up a bit of a shimmy(shake). Anyone else with Scramblers experience the same thing? Is it normal or is it possible that toe/alignment is off? Im really not sure what the deal is. Any comments appreciated.

 

- No scrambler, but here's my opinion anyway.

While ATV's are capble of "highway speeds", note that tires are not balanced (at least, mine aren't). Also, it is the nature of the beast to often have mud or snow caked on the wheels, so sometimes the shake will be more noticeable.

Tim Bundrick
'98 Polaris Sportsman 500
'00 Yamaha Kodiak
<a href="mailto:tbundrick@cos.wantweb.net">tbundrick@ cos.wantweb.net </a>

[This message has been edited by Prospector (edited 12-05-1999).]

 

I'll have to agree. Those tires are not balanced and might be mounted incorrectly. I had the same problem once and i remembered that I had a front tire mounted .I noticed that part of the inner bead was not completely touching the rim so I over inflated the tire to seat the bead fully then removed the excess air. There still is a slight shimmy some times at high speeds on the pavement.

Chris Picciotto
99 Scrambler 500

 

I have only noticed this once. I was going about 60 on a smooth but unpaved road, and it shook a little at high speeds. When off the smooth roads or at lower speeds I don't notice it. I am convinced it's from my tire sealant, it never did this before I put it in and I have heard of this before.

 

interesting idea about the tire sealant. i got a flat back tire about one week after i bought my scrambler and i immediately put sealant in the back tires. however i did not put it in the front tires so im not sure if any of my shake could be attributed to the sealant. I only notice it when im flat out on paved or smoothe roads. Anyway, not that big of a deal as im not flat out on smoothe roads very often and when i am its only for short periods of time. just wanted to hear possible explanations.

 

Same here, I hardly EVER ride anything smooth unless you count mud as smooth. I put tire sealant in my tires the day I brought the machine home and put it in my new ones before I even installed them. I think the benefits greatly outweigh the disadvantages. I can plow through just about anything I like with the sealant in, even when I had my soft stock tires.