What is the scheduled maintanance for the Ozark?
The obvious is an oil change. That should be easy enough, but what type of oil for Texas weather and how ofen?

The second is do we have a schedule fluid change for the crank shaft or any other area of the bike. If so, where? Can you be specific to walk a Noob through. Thanks

How about the spark plugs...

Air filter....

I have a used bike, I just want to be sure Im doing everything to keep it running. Its a 2003 and who knows how many miles it had before I got it.. And since I purchased it i have been doing allot of riding. So I would like to give the bike a once over now regardless if it is the scheduled time or not.

Thanks for your help.

 

The Ozark is a simple and durable little machine. Other than changing the oil, it is...almost...maintenance free. Just check to see that all the bearings and seals are still in good condition and when the air filter gets dirty, clean it or buy a new one. What I like to do when I see a dirty air filter, is clean out the area around the air filter. Keeps it a bit cleaner. They say to readjust the valves every some odd years but I don't know enough about that, and not many people do it, at all. ou should be good to go after a clean filter and an oil change though.

Oh, and every once in a while, just check your spark plug for oil deposits or something.

That's about it!

 

ok, i would deffinatly do EVERY bit of maintinance you can asap. that way you have a starting point and know that everything is tip-top! buy a service manual!

1st, oil and filter change! i think it takes a little over 2Qts, like 2.1. and buy a new filter!!! 10w-40 is what your manual should call for, that in a good synthetic(maxima or redline are BEST ester formulas) or standard valvoline ATV oil is cheeper. just be sure it is motorcycly or atv specific! the engin and tranny oil are shared, so an oil change is protecting both systems.

change the rear dif oil, 2 plugs. one drain one fill. it takes hypoid 80w gear oil

clean air filter, or replace if desired. soak in soapy water, rince, and let dry. its also a good idea to get a can of WD-40 and spray all the frame joints: front suspention, rear swing arm, steering, ect.

check the plug for dammage or fouling, if it looks good replacement is optional IMO. but always good to have a second plug on hand!

you may want to also take the bowl off the carb and clean it out. (optional)

that is about it...oil and filter change every 50hours as well as cleaning the air filter. i do gear oil once a year since its super easy.

http://www.bikebandit.com/ or http://www.rockymountainatvmc.com/home.do can get you what you may need over the net. good luck!

 

thank you thank you..
You guys are life, well Ozark savers. Other than oil I dint know where to begin. I appreciate the advice.

Cherokee99, where is the Rear diff located? are the plugs on the bottom of the bike?

Also, what size spark plug wrench do you use?

 

hey man
i have the same bike and 2003 year model also.
I bought it from a guy and it had alot of miles. He hadnt changed the differ. oil in about 2 years and let me know that when i bought it
I did the same thing as you are going to do and changed the oil and went to change the rear diff oil. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN TAKING THE BOLTS OFF THE DIFF!!!!!!
With it being in there so long the bolts had froze into the aluminum and when i went to break them loose.....broke the check valve....and stripped both(yes i said both) plugs (fill and drain) this is a very hard problem to fix so be very careful when u do it
other than that my ozark has treated me well as I have put about 300 miles on mine since i bought it in november with no problems
this bike seems that it will take a beating with the right care.

Good luck on your new purchase

 

K, so how did you fix the stripped allen bolts? I have a bolt that is stripped and have been debating on how I am going to get it out without tearing everything up...

 

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

hey man

i have the same bike and 2003 year model also.

I bought it from a guy and it had alot of miles. He hadnt changed the differ. oil in about 2 years and let me know that when i bought it

I did the same thing as you are going to do and changed the oil and went to change the rear diff oil. BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN TAKING THE BOLTS OFF THE DIFF!!!!!!

With it being in there so long the bolts had froze into the aluminum and when i went to break them loose.....broke the check valve....and stripped both(yes i said both) plugs (fill and drain) this is a very hard problem to fix so be very careful when u do it

other than that my ozark has treated me well as I have put about 300 miles on mine since i bought it in november with no problems

this bike seems that it will take a beating with the right care.



Good luck on your new purchase</end quote></div>




Sounds like a pain in the **** to fix. My guess is you had to tap the screws.
I am worried about the bolts being frozen. Is there any tricks to the trade to losen them up before i try too hard, (ie.. stuck nuts or wd40?)

 

yes is was a pain
I broke the check bolt into the housing itself....and didnt want to try to drill it out so i left it in because it was not leaking and just filled the differential with the reconmended amount and havnt seemed to have a problem yet
with the drain and fill plugs it pulled the thread out of the housing itself with the plugs...so I had the plugs out but no way to put them back in because there was no thread to screw them into........ I was going to try to use helicoil to put new threads in but they dont make one in that size.....so what i ended up doing was gettin pipe thread from the local parts house and tapping new threads into the housing...that was my only option left without buying the $200 housing plus the seals to go with it......
trust me this was a pain in the a** and now that I got it back together it seems to be fine and shouldnt be so hard to get out because I put anti seeze on these bolts.
To break them loose i hear heat works or there is sometype of solution you can buy that will do this......never done either as you can tell I did it the hard way then paid the price later

 

Well, i did it. I changed all fluids, spark plug and cleaned filter.

I changed the differential fluid, without incodent. The fill, level and drain plugs all came out with muscle. I sprayed WD40 on each and let it sit for an hour or so. The came off with some torque. The diff oil was very thick and very brown. We did my neighbors Ozark at the same time and his was more of a redish tent... Im not sure whos was worse, mine looked it.

The oil was easy as well, expect when I knocked the pan over and had a mess to clean. But the oil and oil filter is an easy task to take on.

The air filter looked pretty new, but just dirty.
I cleaned it with a spray. The I was going to spray a tacky spray on it, but notied not to use it in tematures less than 70 degrees??? I wonder why?

 

A questoin for all of you guys. What types of riding do you guys do with your Ozarks?

As for the spray question, it may be because the spray will not be sticky at cooler temps. It may just act as a dampening to the filter when in cooler temps. But I do not know for sure.

One more thing....when I called Warn about whaty winch to buy for my Ozark, they said only the 1500lb. winch would fit. But it seems like some guys have put 2500lb. winches on there's. I'm slowly finding out I NEED a 2500lb. winch because this 1500lb. one is not doing the job too well. How did you guys get a 2500lb winch on your ozark?