OK, so I have been reading around this forum for a little while and I just want to make sure I've got things straight:

1- I can extend my swingarm 4", but it will sit too low with the stock shock. (duh!)
2- A used Honda 300ex rear shock will fit.
3- Now heres my question; Will a 300ex shock be stiffer? How much so and how will it perform with a +4 setup? I'm actually looking to sit 1-2" lower than stock anyway, but how much of an adjustability range will the new shock give me.

BTW: I cannot mess with (cut, weld, etc.) anything on the FRAME (not swingarm, or a-arms) as I need to stick to GNCC production rule in order to race blaster class this year.

While I'm at it, How do you think I will do in blaster class? (machine wise) I've got a DG Pipe, bigger Mikuni VM carb, Uni Filter w/o aibox, hi-compression wiseco piston, and I'm planning on: a stage 2 cam w/ spring kit, WAY WIDER all around, +4 swingarm, .80 over or .80 over in an LT250 Cylinder if it will fit (hey theres another question!), holeshots w/ douglas .190 wheels, and a bunch of other little things.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

haha i just realized i posted this with the subtopic of a "quick" question. I guess that was a little off lol!

 

Who knows if the shock is stiffer or not, but for a 300 I would think it is. The fact that you're going 4 inches back gives more leverage on the shock, so the shock should seem softer.... unless you move the bottom shock mount 4 inches back as well. In that case, it might seem stiffer. Either way, if you can cut n weld, you can make it work. I don't really have a problem with the stock rear shock though. Its the fronts that are horrible.

My opinion....
DG pipe = not that big of a deal

Bigger carb = less low end torque and possibly more top end if you can turn enough rpms to require it. Could be an overall loss if the engine is not in need of the extra cfm.

Uni filter = trash it and get a KN and jet your carb if your serious about racing it.

Stage 2 webcam = everybody seems to like them, but nobody has ever replaced JUST the cam. So we don't know if they do anything special or not. I have two simulators that say it loses HP across the board. Never rode the cam, so I don't know. Megacycle has good reviews and does well on the sims, but doesn't seem to be as popular as webcams for some reason (I think their website isn't as pretty).

Wheel spacers on the front will kill your tierod ends,,, possibly half way thru the race,,, depending on how rocky it is and how hard you hit them. Not to mention your hands and arms will hurt. Try to avoid spacers if you can.

The 250 cylinder will fit. You may or may not need a longer cam chain though. Possibly a new rod too (I forgot). A longer rod would help out anyway if you can handle the job. That's what I'm doing, but its taking months to build this thing with all the sending everything off.

Holeshots = too much traction and too heavy. Get something lighter that slips a little more. A 230 doesn't have the power to break holeshots very well. And I hear the holeshots totally suck in the mud. Trac Stars would be my choice if racing. Plus they clean the mud out very well. And only 13lbs per tire. I have Kenda Klaws now. They do VERY well slding sideways, which is good, but they weigh 16 lbs.... Not so good and I can feel it too.

.190 rims = what for? I have .160 and they hold up fine and are a bit lighter. Lighter is the key in the back end. Kinda wish I had gotten the thinner ones.

While were on the subject of lightness, get the lightest chain you can find too. Probably either an x-ring or non-o-ring chain.

Spend some time setting up the handle bars so you can turn and slide around at will. Nothing should ever surprise you in a turn. You should be able to handle it all in stride. Lowering the back end does wonders in that area too.

Getting the weight down, the power up, and having honed skills.... You should do quite well in any race.

 

well, first of all im not going ALL OUT RACING, so i will still be doing a huge deal of trail riding, so the .190's are an abosloute must. Im not getting standard holeshots like you are thinking of, im getting the holeshot gncc's for the rear which are only 14lbs each and have a large, wide-spaced lug pattern for good sliding. for the fronts i will be getting the holeshot xcr's which are only 9lbs each! for the filter, there is a very small flow diffrence between uni & kn, the real difference is what happens when they get wet, the uni is atleast usable. the cam im not sure about yet, i want an overall powergain with no loss anywhere, so ima look at megacycle too, but i can't see how anybody would seriously sell a cam that gives you LESS power. Im not really sure about the 250 cylinder, that would be the LAST thing i would do anyway. ive got a brand new wiseco piston in there right now and I DONT WANNA BUY ANOTHER for a while!, so i guess ill hold off on boring out too. while on the subject of engine internals, i was reading something about "filling in" the boxy intake port in some spots and the making a nice smooth port, any tips on that?

lastly, im only planning on going with spacers in the rear, then a diamond j customs widening kit in the front. and im already running a non o-ring chain, a pretty good did one too, what do you think the best lube is i tried belray and it SUCKED, so i wuz lookin at pj1 or mfr.

thanks for all the help man!

 

All I do is trail riding in the mountains with big rocks littering the trail. The last time I went out was last fall. When I came back, I found my swingarm bearings exploded, my tierod ends had about an inch of play, the sprocket guard on the bottom of the axle looked like I ran over land mines, my spindles that bolt to the axle and hold the rims were lose, my chain was toast and had come off about a dozen times,,,, but my .160 rims are still straight and good looking. You couldn't hurt those rims with anything less than a bigass SUV or something. 315lb quad is not enough.

I never ran the GNCC's, but according to ITP, the 20x10-9 weighs 15.1 lbs and I have read reviews that say they hook up unpredictalby in a slide.... And they did the review on a big bore! Those x's in the tire just hook up too good. The z's in the Trac Star make more sense. http://www.itptires.com/sportatv/tracstar.html "Rear Trac Star's staggered tread pattern provides a perfect balance of traction and control that enables it to hold a line as well as slide predictably." The GNCC don't say that. In fact, they say, "Special angled shoulder **** design provides increased side bite for faster, more controllable cornering." Which means it don't want to slide. But its up to you.

For the fronts, I don't think it matters that much... So long as they have a large diameter for barreling over large rocks. I went with 23's on the front. I feel much safer now plowing down trails n hitting rocks that I didn't see until its too late to react. Plus, the big front tires makes the back sit down more and helps with sliding and going down hills with jumps.

I never had a KN get wet and I've been in water over the tires before. Well, I take that back.... It did get wet once when I wasn't very careful with the water hose. I dried it off and its as good as new. Choosing foam over KN is going to cost you an edge in the race anyway.

Why anybody would sell a cam that loses HP is beyond me. I guess they made the cam way back in the 80's before we had good sim programs. Also, nobody races the 230, so there was no reason to put a lot of research into it. I don't know.... I've never been a fan of square cams anyway. The stage 2 webcam is a square design. But the website is pretty, so the cam must be good. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img] They have other grinds for the 230 too. 13 of them not listed in the catalog.

Filling in with epoxy is the brainchild of that motoman guy. He says it speeds up the air and ultimately, that gives you more air into the cylinder by the time the valve closes. I don't know, but I'm going to try it as soon as I get that far. I bought the big jugs of JB. Go here http://www.mototuneusa.com/break_in_secrets.htm and sign up at the bottom. You'll never hear from the guy again (at least I haven't so far), so no worries about spam n that. Its free and you can read all about filling in with JB.

I don't know what the best lube is, I'm still experimenting with that myself. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

Glad to help, er, at least give my opinion.

 

Yeah! I never heard from motoman either!!

I have the webcam stage 2 in my bike, great power across the full power band. Granted this is a big bore, with a ton of mods. Like Randy said, nobody has "just added the cam" Someday, I'll tear it apart and put a Stage one, then a stock just to see if it was worth my $ or not.... But I have waited sooooooooo long to have this thing done, that I am not going to mess with it for a long time!! Knock wood.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

I have an ANCIENT dirt wheels Mag, don't know what year the cover is long gone, probably late 80's early 90's, that show a 86 lt230s that dominated ice racing for like 2 years straight.. That is the only racing 230 that I can recall...

 

I was wondering if you was still planning on switching cams just to see once n for all.... But was afraid to ask. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

If I had the money, I would buy both webcams and megacycle and have them and the stock cam dynoed JUST to see. But right now I'm thinking of just running the stock cam with new springs. According to the specs and the sims, the stock cam is not all that much different than the aftermarket ones anyway. And I think the springs getting the valves to close faster is the better part of the power gains from cam swaps. Cams usually just push the power curve around, but hardly ever give a power boost all across the board. Kinda like changing the port size in a speaker box. Just move it from 30hz to 50hz will make it louder, but it won't play 30hz much at all anymore, but 50 will probably be insanely loud (and give you a headache). I remember a yr ago when I first got my .060 over wiseco going in my 230... I thought it was the ****! Pulled the front up in 4 gears. That sounds about like what everybody says no matter what cam they have. I don't know.... My plan changes with the weather. I have so long to go before I need to even start thinking of cams. Still haven't gotten my jug back from KK yet! Has to be the slowest shop in the country. Except for my shop. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] I haven't even taken the engine apart yet. Its still sitting on the bench where I put it months ago. And lately, I haven't even had time to track down a shop that can balance my crank and not charge an arm n leg. Finishing this quad may be my xmas present for next yr. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-shocked.gif[/img]

I think I might have seen that issue before. Seems like I remember ice racing quads when I was a kid. The problem is, back then I thought the 230 was a POS coz the honda and kawi was always whomping on it. So, I wouldn't really have made much of a mental note. I think I was, what, 13????

 

Ahh, memories, they are few an far between anymore!!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-blush.gif[/img]

 

Back then, for me it was all about 2 stroke dirt bikes, 3 wheelers were my weekend play things, and quads were for puss@es... My, how things change...

Now, I have a self imposed ban on two wheels, my 3 wheeler scares me, and I love my quads!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Funny how things change like that. I can't wait for the first hybrid quad. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img] Those electric motors have oodles of lowend grunt.