I riude with yfz450's z-400's and honda 400ex's and when racing 3rd gear is when everyone disappears. The LT500 will eat up all but super buiilt Banshee's. Tight trails on the ptherhand are a bitch as the power from this machine drains your strenght (trying to stay on the machine) 3-4 hours of tight trails and I am done for the day.

 

Best thing to spend bucks on the LT500 is get new shocks!!!!Dump the fronts and get you some dialed in aftermarkets, the rear is rebuildable. get it re valved for YOUR type of riding.
Ill tell you the difference is night and day on that beast when dailed in!
Im a big guy 325/lbs I can toss the LT around like its a toy, the newer 4 strokes are way to heavy! my DS is at 465 and that with a diet on the frame my goal is to get down to 450/lbs.

 

I'm with you on the shock set up, i'm 230 lbs of twisted steel and ...well im too heavy for my shocks when catching any air. I have a great pic i will put on my profile soon that demonstrates the shock issue. I was probably only about six feet off the ground, landed, the bike looks like a low rider, the skid plate is on the ground, it looks strange. If i stiffen up the back shock, the front tires will be off the ground all the time..... the zilla is a powerhouse...
Trails will kill a guy in short order, i have spacers on the back so keeping the tires on the beads is an issue. Perry about did me in. I just need to suck it up i guess..

 

if you can get it for 2000 then you stole it if it is in the conditions you said . But i seen two bust the arms and frames jumping them. but that can be someone elses maintance. It is still a zilla long live the king

 

ERBEDS650, I wanted to correct a small mistake in your first post. The 88-90 zilla's did have a smaller intake than the '87, but it's not exactly correct to say that it is the smaller 250 sized intake. Actually, the '87 250 had the same size intake as the '87 zilla, and both were "shrank" in all subsequent years.

BTW, how does your DS650 compare to your zilla? Overall power? Torque? HP? It would be nice to hear from someone who owns both.

 

LT 500 blows it away, I call the DS my Tractor, soon to get a 720 Cylinder to help it out, the nice thing about the DS is a good riding with family quad, the LT is my "Hey Get out of the way I need to scare myself and ride fast".
How s that

 

my friend totally rebuilt his lt and sent his engine to trinity. That itself cost 3 grand. I cant wait to see this thing. Its gonna be so sick

 

it is true for the '87 jug producing a braoder and a little more torque range power than after,
cauze of the larger reed cage indeed,there is no better sound out there than a zilla,it come on smooth
and rev out as quick considering the big piston in it.

 

This is straight from the master DR.Q

I finally have some time to start the LT500 motor build thread.
First, let me say that most of this stuff, if not all is probably old news to most.
I feel it's important to cover it all in case anyone new is out there listening.
Also, remember that these are just my particular "recipes" and it doesn't mean that someone elses soup won't taste good.
I will promise you though, that they will do EXACTLY what I say they will, w/no BS.
I have flogged these "pigs" for quite a while, leaving no stone uncovered in my pusuit of HP and reliability.
I WON'T waste space w/my "Frankenstein" experiments or the use of "unobtainium" parts as this will not help 99.9% of the LT enthusiasts out there.
First: Factory Suzuki Sc--w Ups/ Rx fixes and why:

SU #1) The OE cylinder head chamber design is horrible. The squish/chamber area ratio and clearance makes this motor prone to detonation even at 6 to 1 compression. This detonation is also one of the MAJOR factors in "hammering" out the crank bearings and head gasket leak issues! Just because you can't hear it "rattling" doesn't mean it's not. Good gas is cheap insurance.

Rx#1) Machine the head w/a 15 degree squish angle to .5MM bigger than the bore and set-up w/1.2-1.3MM clearance. The squish/chamber ratio and clearance needs to yield a fairly high 28-30 m/s max squish velocity on nearly ALL the motor combos. This higher combustion "turbulence" reduces the inherent tendency to detonate and will yield a higher average BMEP at a given octane rating.

SU#2) The cases have "jack diddly" strength for support on the main bearings, especially the LH side. The counterbalancer bearing bore on the RH side is also a "low strength" "feature". When these rotating assemblies get loose the subsequent vibration/ damage is HUGE. The main seals w/also "suck air" and lean the motor out until it goes BANG!
Rx#2)
Brass sleeves are better than nothing. Brass is still fairly soft, but nice and easy to machine!
I use hardened steel sleeves that are precision machined to "fortify" the cases. Machining hard steel and installing in soft aluminum is tough/tricky, but is the ONLY way to go in my book. (Just hit a piece of brass w/a hammer. Guess which piece distorts?)I'm tooling up as we speak to do these again

 

SU#3) The flywheel rivets will "work" as a result of the LT500s "vibrations". As soon as they start to get loose this induces even more vibration damage.
Rx#3) 3 evenly spaced 13-15MM lap weld beads between the hub and the shell stop this nonsense.
(Use a wet rag inside to stop the heat transfer damage to the rubber in the shell). The flywheel can also be lightened some to make the motor a little "snappier" in response.

SU#4) The well known fact that the 87 cyl pulls the 6 wimpy 8mm studs out.
Rx#4) Also well known to either replace w/3/8 NF or 10 X 1.25 studs/nuts

SU#5) Cylinder base gasket leakage/rear cyl breakage. The factory simply made the cylinder casting too thin at the rear cyl bolt bosses. It is prone to distort when torqued and will cause an air leak. Any porting or greater RPMs/vibration aggrevates this issue.
Rx#5) Make 2 new "ears" out of 1/2" - 3/4" alum plate and weld on to the existing ears. Machine the base after to ensure a flat sealing surface.

SU#6) Factory clutch springs are too weak and will slip even on a bone stock motor
Rx#6) Use Barnett or EBC HD clutch springs.
That's the basics.

SU#7) Those wonderful wrist pin washers. These are a real sore point w/me. These are made of case hardened steel and are prone to fracture when left in the motor for any length of time or exposed to detonation.They are a necessary evil however. Many come out of the box w/microscopic cracks that eventually lead to failure and ruining your nice cylinder/head.
Rx#7) No real good answer. We used to have hardened alloy washers made and use an RM250 wrist pin bearing. I have also sent them out for x-raying before using. (about 15% of the batches we sent were NO GOOD!) I may make the alloy ones again. Even if they break (none ever did) they won't tear up the motor too bad.
These issues need to be dealt with BEFORE going ahead w/any kind of mods.
Once done though you will have a solid motor with which to modify to your heart's content.