Always wondered about these quads.

 

oh yeah they are good!!!! They are a simple, low maintenance little thumper, they are about on par with the 250ex and the kawasaki lakota. They have decent suspension and great for doing wheelies down the trail, just basic auto clutch fun.

 

The quadsport isn't an auto clutch.

The 250ex is a dog compared to the Qsport.

The lakota is 150 lbs heavier.

I have a 2005 250ex, 1986 230 Qsport, 1987 230 Qsport, 1990 250 Qsport, and a 1999 Lakota. What do you need to know?

 

Top speed,handling,how many gears,best mods to get to make faster thinkin about buyin one.

 

About 55 or so stock. Some guys say they've done close to 70 with other gears and mods. Seems kinda fast to me, but who knows... Its theoretically possible.

Its a 5 speed. 1st gear is about 3:1 and top gear is 1:1. Stock gearing in the early years is 12/41 with 22 inch tires and later years is 12/39 with 20 inch tires.... Which is the same ratio and speed.

Handling is about what you'd expect from a small quad like that (kinda crappy). I think its 39 inches wide in the front, stock, and in the low 40's in the back. Its a real wheelie machine though! The front shocks don't nearly have the travel they should have, but they work I guess. I never had a complaint about the rear shock, but some guys do.

The cool thing about these quads is the bore n stroke is 66mmx67mm. Most other quads in the 250cc area have a stroke of 57-59mm. That means you can bore it out and gain a lot of cc's. .080 over is 243cc. With little money you can bore it out and have a wiseco 10.25:1 compression. That's about the biggest jump in power. With a little more money you can get a big bore kit.... Either 258 or 265cc. With a little more money you can even go to a 273 kit. Can't do that with any other 250 quad!

If you can figure out how to put a turbo on like this guy did http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwlBdbUftGY you'll be out running blasters with 240 kits too. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-tongue.gif[/img]

If you can find one for $500 or less, I'd snag it for sure. I got my 1986 for $200 smoking like a tar wagon. $250 for a bore job and was tearing it up all summer. My buddy actually owns the 1987 and 1990.... He gave $500 for the 87 and $350 for the 90. Didn't really have to do anything to either for a year... except chains.

The swingarm is a weak link, so most likely the first thing you'll have to do is replace the bearings there and get a new chain. Otherwise, you'll crack the magneto cover when the chain pops off all the time. Those magneto covers are like gold on ebay.

Oh, and when yamaha says the 250 raptor is the lightest sport quad ever, they're full of crap.... My 86 used to weigh in at 315 lbs wet and with the 250 engine I have in it now and the +4 swingarm and +5 a-arms it weighs 330 lbs wet. The raptor is 313 dry. The 85 and 86 230 is 309 dry according to Clymer.

 

Yes, they are decent little quads. Back in the day they took a hind seat to the Honda 250X and Kawasaki Mojave, etc, but still a fun machine. If you do buy one, just remember it is a fairly low tech 230/250cc 4 stroke and it was never intended to run with the race crowd. The new Yamaha raptor 250 is basically built in the same spirit of the Qsport, but with a few modern goodies thrown in.

 

what would it take to do this http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...WQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm not sayin I would do that but it would be cool.

 

that would be sick for dunes but a little to tipsey for trails on some tight turns with mine i have to stand on just one foot peg to keep it from tiping

btw got mine for 600 but 300 in i smoke my friends 250ex, 250 trail blazer, and a yamaha 125 ttr

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: scrambler400enoge

what would it take to do this <a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1986-suzuki-quad-600-cc_W0QQitemZ220283154679QQihZ012QQcategoryZ42592QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
">http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors...1QQcmdZViewItem
</a>
I'm not sayin I would do that but it would be cool.</end quote></div>

Looks like he cut the frame and welded it longer. That would take a fair amount of modding, but not a project I'd turn down if a had a big engine just laying around. Otherwise, I'd probably just find a raptor 700. Its a LOT easier.

 

<div class="FTQUOTE"><begin quote>Originally posted by: zz8t

that would be sick for dunes but a little to tipsey for trails on some tight turns with mine i have to stand on just one foot peg to keep it from tiping



btw got mine for 600 but 300 in i smoke my friends 250ex, 250 trail blazer, and a yamaha 125 ttr</end quote></div>

Yep, the 250ex is not a speedster. The 230 will easily outrun it.

I widened my 230 to 48 inches. Turns great! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]