One thing the light does a real good job of is hiding the jungle of cables from the handlebar controls. IIRC, It also made an effective windshield when it was cold out. I will package and safely store it in case I change my mind.

 

And, after a few hours of soaking in the Berryman Carb Cleaner combined with a little elbow grease:


Here's what 20 yrs of age will do to an air filter.

 

now thats a good looking carb!

 

I tried to adjust the valve lash tonight. Holy cow is that hole tight. I really damaged my feeler gauge trying to get it in there. I gave up after a while and did the following instead.

- cleaned out the gas tank, which was surprisingly clean, on the inside
- disabled the parking brake, since the cable was seized. I have no real need for that anyway.
- removed the intake box. Not sure yet if I'm going to clean out the mess inside, or just ditch the box for good.

Tomorrow night, will either be a night off from this or I'll try to downsize my feeler gauge and see if that will make it easier to get in that tiny hole.

 

if you ever plain to ride in rain or threw creeks id save the air box!

 

Yeah, the water thing is main selling point for keeping the box. But I don't have much desire to run through creeks, and the area that I have to ride has easily avoidable creeks. Plus, if I want to play in the water, I have a boat for that.

But I'm not going to throw away anything that I pull off. I'll keep the parts just in case I change my mind.

 

I figured out what I was doing wrong with the valve adjustments and was able to get them adjusted tonight.

Also, put the carb back together, changed the oil, change the spark plug and it fired right up. Unbelievable after all these years! Didn't stay running, but it had no trouble starting. I only let it do that once, since it was 10:30 and I don't want to wake the neighborhood kids.

I'll see if I can get it to hold an idle tomorrow.

 

Still no luck getting this thing to idle. It idle'd once for about 5 seconds but then shut off. I can get it to fire, turn over a couple of times by itself and then shut down.

I haven't been able to check the compression since I've loaned my compression checker out. I might rent one tomorrow if I get a chance.

 

WOOHOOO!!! It will idle now. I know, I'm the only getting excited about making an ATV idle, but this thing has been getting the best of me for the past three days.

video | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

No idea what it'll do under a load, but this is a big step for an engine that's been sitting this long.

 

Just daydreaming here, but if you were going to build an engine, would you prefer to start with the 250s engine? Or would you use the LT230S engine and add a big bore kit from this place: Suzuki Big Bore Kits Street, Off Road Motorcycle and ATVs

I assume that since the LT250S cam will work in the LT230S that you could use an aftermarket cam in the 250 engine as well?

What about the carb, is the factory carb large enough to support 30 additional cc? Is there even an upgraded carb still available, I don't think Vince has any left.