Thanks, I ahve been looking for a light, but all the ones I found are bigger than what I would like to put on.

 

Well, got it stripped down to the frame so far. Everything looks good and straight, no surprises under the body work. Notice a bit of play in the swingarm bearings tho, so those will have to go. Now I'm wondering about colors for it. I'm thinking about maybe putting some yellow in there somewhere for more of a traditional Suzuki look...opinions?

 

Shock covers, seat covers hoods and handguards are cheap enough to swap out for no other reason that color. I am getting a different hood so I can keep the white with Blue that my 230 has. the plastics are white, and the frame seat and soon to be hood will be blue. Adding some blue shock covers and some white with blue accent handguards should finish it off nicely. too bad I have some more important things to finish on the little quad before looks.

 

Alright gents, I started working on the new front end and I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the a-arms are in terrific shape, all the ball joints will work with each other, the brake lines don't seem like they'll need to be extended, and everything went back together nicely.

The bad news is, I put the 230 front end back on for now since I have an issue. Look at this pic and notice where the shock mount vs the ball joint location is on the 230 arm and the 250 arm:



So which solution is going to be better? Should I move the shock mount forward? It wouldn't be very easy, but I think it would work. Or do I just bind the shock a little bit by cutting it to keep the ball joint in the same location as the 230's? But here's the stinger....I've already cut the upper a-arm to be positioned in the same spot as the originals. So does this leave me with no choice but to bind it? Now take a look at these pics:

Here's is how it wants to sit when the shock is not being bound at all, as you can see, the mounts don't line up.



Now if you look at this pic, I'm binding the shock just a spec, there's very, very minimal resistance, and it will line up. BUT this will leave my ball joint in a different spot and keep in mind, the top arm is already cut.



More in the next post.....

 

So its seeming to me at least, that my best option is going to be to move the shock mount, even though its going to be a pain in the behind.

I would have worked on it more, but I think I'm going to wait and bring it to work one night so I can use all the tools there. Plus, working int 8 degrees isn't the best. Although I never broke a sweat hacking away with POS Tool Shop hack saw I was using.

Well, it wasn't the evening project I thought it was going to be but I'm on Spring Break, so it can be a spring break project! Plus, my tie rods never haven't come and I'm riding this weekend.

Oh, and I officially hate cotter pins.

Here's more pics of the project:
More Pics

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Quadsport_Scotty

Well, got it stripped down to the frame so far. Everything looks good and straight, no surprises under the body work. Notice a bit of play in the swingarm bearings tho, so those will have to go. Now I'm wondering about colors for it. I'm thinking about maybe putting some yellow in there somewhere for more of a traditional Suzuki look...opinions?</end quote></div>

You should look through the 230 tribute album I made that's linked in my sig for some color ideas. One guy in there, I can't remember who off the top of my head, did a white and yellow scheme.

Colors are so personal. I personally am not a fan of white and yellow together but maybe if you found some nice paint and changed your white to yellow, it could look like an old quad racer.

 

Well guys, I'm headed of for riding in the morning so I'll be interested to read your thoughts when I'm back Sunday night! Have a good weekend.

 

Good thing I decided to check in. I haven't been getting ANY email updates for this thread! Some other forums I post on is the same way. I'm wondering if its gmail. Anyway...

Just put the top of the shock off to the side of the top mount and use longer bolts. Then get a long piece of steel and drill a hole in each end to "connect" the longer bolts. Effectively, you will have moved the top mount. If the steel is wide enough, you should be able to grind it just perfectly to touch the frame and keep the shock from bending the bolts. Then its up to you if you want to weld it. I don't think you'll need to since the spring will always push the steel against the frame.

 

They say we might get snow here this weekend. I guess hell CAN freeze over periodically. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

Atlanta and Birmingham may get 3 inches.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: Quadsport_Scotty

Well, got it stripped down to the frame so far. Everything looks good and straight, no surprises under the body work. Notice a bit of play in the swingarm bearings tho, so those will have to go. Now I'm wondering about colors for it. I'm thinking about maybe putting some yellow in there somewhere for more of a traditional Suzuki look...opinions?</end quote></div>

What's your favorite color?

Inspect the swingarm bolt for any wear. If the bolt is "skinny" where the bearing rides, it will wiggle some even with new bearings. Also check the swingarm tube on the chainside. It could be bent.