i have a chance to pick up a lt 230 but i dont know if they are good for me. i own a lt 250r and love it. my firend has a 230 that has been sitting for about 4 years and hasnt been started. i told him i would give him 150 bucks for it. he agreed. i wanted to know how hard are they to work on? and what common problems will i encounter? any advise? (sorry no pics yet)

 

for $150, you cant go wrong!

 

They are a good machine.

 

they are a great quad for only being 230 cc. I own three of them and all my friends like them too.

 

Good little quads, they can go just about anywhere because they are so light. They certainly aren't powerhouses though, so don't expect it to keep up with the 250R on the straights. They aren't to bad to work on either. Actually, they have a lot of design in common with the '85/'86 LT250R.

 

230's are awesome little bikes.

reliable, TORQUEY, TORQUEY, TORQUEY (longer stroke than a 450!), light, more suspension travel than a blaster, reverse, hydraulic disc brakes all around, simple, kickstart

the main thing to watch out for on these things is the chain. what happens alot is someone will over-tighten it, and upon compression of the rear suspension, it will tighten and crush the swingarm bearings. then its all downhill from there. it becomes nearly impossible to keep the chain at the proper tension, and when it comes off it usually results in a hole in the sidecover. you gotta make sure the tension is correct, bearings, guides, and teeth are good, and it really helps to have a nice beefy o-ring chain (idk why but it makes a HUGE difference over non o-ring)

 

I would bet that is because the o-ring chains are internally lubricated. They don't wear as fast and therefore don't stretch as fast given proper maintenance vs the non o-ring style. Really, about the only place I see an advantage for the non o-ring is for racing or maybe a backyard quad that never sees inclement conditions. You don't really save much with them as you end up replacing the chain and sprockets that much quicker.

 

yeah that and it seems like the o-ring chains resist side-to-side movement (slapping around) much more than non o ring.