i am leaking oil at what i think is the valve cover gasket (just above the spark plug hole). is this an actual gasket i need? or can i just take the cover off, clean it up and re-seal it with some of the suzuki sealant?

 

Here's a video of a wounded leopard attacking a hunter:

Trophy Room

It'd prolly make me scream like a little girl too! I didn't think you could hunt leopards?!?!

 

Well I think I'm pretty much back up to operational now. Long night!

Hopefully it doesn't happen again soon, or ever for that matter!

 

Valve covers you can use sealant on. I think there's something on the website about how not to do it under the help & how-to section.

We used Yamalube on my girlfriend's brother's 230.

 

sweet thanks! i saw that thing on what kind of sealant to use and not to use rtv, i just wasnt sure if i needed a gasket there as well.... this forum rocks by the way.

ANOTHER QUESTION... how do i check to see if my swing arm bearings are bad?

 

It truly is the best forum on the web! People couldn't be nicer!

By the way, join the social group I just invited you to; we'll be one short of the Polaris guys and the biggest social group on ATV Connection! We were the first too you know!

Either get a piece of wood or a strong person, and lift the back-end off the ground (prop the wood under the grab-bar or something) and grab the wheels and try to move the whole swing-arm assembly side to side and see how much slop there is. You don't want much if any play!

 

JOINED

thanks.

so earlier you were saying if i dont have an air filter, it will screw up my intake valve. is this just because of the crap that gets in the motor from not having a filter or does it have something to do with back pressure?

 

Dirt will mess up the intake valve.

 

The way I check the swingarm bearings (and axle bearings) is to jump on the quad and rock it side to side. If I feel a lot of slop or a friend observing from behind sees a lot of slop, then the bearings are bad. Some slop is to be expected due to the gaps in the bearings and the rod bolt.

Ideally, the bearings should never go bad so long as they have some type of lube. What typically happens is the chain wears and gets sloppy, so in an effort to keep the chain on, owners will overtighten the chain. Once the chain is too tight and you hit a bump on the trail or land off a jump, the chain won't let the rear shock bottom. Instead, the chain tightens up and produces a flat spot on one of the needle bearings in the s-arm. Once you have a flat spot, its all down hill from there. The bearings quickly grind themselves to dust. Now its even harder to keep the chain on, so the owner will tighten the chain even more. The next thing to happen is a broken swingarm. Malhombre has a pic of a cracked s-arm: ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community - MalHombre's Album: The Project - Picture

 

I can make it a year or so. I think my longest run was from 2006 to 2008. Seems like in the past year I've had to reinstall 3 or more times. Plus other people's computers when they get a virus or something.