Hi...I just bought yesterday an lt500. I have a few questions for the experts of this forum. I found that the a-arms bushings are gone. Where can I order this bushings and how much $ aprox.??Where can I order a manual for this atv? what kind of oil it uses for the trans and how much? I didnt see a measure screw like in the honda 250r. What kind (#) of spark plug it use. (It came with a Pro design Cool head.)How is the mix ratio gasoline/oil for this atv? I see it have a small window. What is this for? any advive on what to look or maintenance for this specific atv....your experience.
Thank you very much in advance....

Juan Carlos Curet

 

Hi you can get a shop manual at your local suzuki dealer I use a 32:1 ratio and run a NGK B8ES plug.

 

Well Firstly, you got yourself an awesome quad. No A-arm bearings, well ive seen kits advertised in Dirtwheels, but if they are salvagable, you can rebuilt them. i stripped my a arms down and the cases were still in good order. I bought new needles from a bearing shop and but it back together, and i hope itll last a while! You can also get the bearings from suzuki, but i heard they're expensive. Manual - from your suzuki dealer. any MX shop can get em too. I saw one on ebay also. Oil, well ive been told not to use synthetic but ive found its no problem. I use Silkolene medium gear oil. It says on the side of the gearbox 1L whick is 1 litre so what ever that works out to be in imperial. Measure screw? dont know about that.... Depending on the brand of oil, id start with 32:1 and then get a little leaner till it runs fine. 32:1 is usually for a stock bike and you can go to 40:1 or even 50:1 for modified bikes. Just have to try and see. but you dont wanna run not enough oil!! better to run more, but you will 'foul' plugs. The small window is for checking your exhaust valve. you should see it move when you get the bike past a certain rev range. my exhaust valve wasnt working when i got the bike but dont worry about it. its still very very fast!

maintenance - check every bolt regularly. and also check and recheck your head bolts every ride if its a '87 model. other than that theres nothing different with this bike as far as maintenance goes. just have fun [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] Hope that helps dude

 

Just order the brass bushings from RAD Racing and save some dough($53.00). I've had no problems with them in mine and they were easy to put in. I put 10W30 motor oil in my tranny because I'm scared to use the synthetic stuff after hearing about destruction of engine seals. There is a screw in front of the kickstart, just pull it out and fill with oil. When the oil starts to drain out of the side hole you're done. I also run mix my gas at 32:1 with Maxima premix. I have also used Yamalube without any problem but try to stick with one brand. I don't know how hard premix is to come by down in Puerto Rico. There are several plugs you can use, depending on availability, NGK B8EGV, B8ES, BR8EV, Champion 801c, and a couple of others. The manual I bought was about $60.00 from a Suzuki Distributor out of the back of DirtWheels.

Advice? Keep a wrench handy to retighten all those bolts and hang on!

 

Aussiezilla and slinger, Thank you very much for your help. I found very curious that slinger use motor oil for the trans. Hows that? Someone told me to use Type F trans oil. Is that right?
Thank you again...

Juan Carlos Curet

 

No worries dude, thats wat we're all here for.

If im not mistaken isnt Type F auto trans fluid? If it is i was also told u can do this. But of course, oil companies make oil specialised for an application. I would run with a reputable moto x oil for sure. Check with your local bike shop on whether u should use synthetic or not. Im using it and havent had a problem. Peace [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

I also run the bronze bushings, I think they were about the same price as slinger paid, I like em. The Zilla's hold 1000ml in the tranny, I use Bel 80wt in my motor, I've never had any problems with it, and I run Maxima 927 two-stroke oil with 112 race gas at 32:1.

I purchased a Suzuki manual several years ago from a local cycle shop, it cost me around $35.00. Also I'm finding small things in the manual that don't seem right, like it says to run Suzuki or equivalent two-stroke oil at 20:1, I have never tried this, but it seems to me that you would choke the carb with too much oil, there are some other small things that I didn't agree with in the manual so I also confided in a reputable mechanic who also agreed that they didn't seem right. The bottom line; even if the "manual" tells you so, I wouldn't always take it as the gossipel, get another opinion. It was still worth the money to get a manual and I have learned so much by reading or rather studying it.

Good luck in your venture.

 

I just paid $400 for all the the suspension bearings from Pivot Works(A-arm, swingarm, and the big cushion lever bearing), and also used an entire tube of heavy duty grease(most of which pushed out onto the floor and all over the frame) to make sure they last awhile.....As far as maintenance, keep checking all bolts are tight, and everything is well greased(sux there's no zerks), and treat the air filter like its a god....and if something seems a little worn, fix it instead of waiting to see what'll happen if you leave it alone....but most importantly...ENJOY!!

 

Grease zerks are only a few mods away dude. email me and ill reply with some pics of my '87 with zerks installed.

 

I finally got my fuel mix straight recently. I run maxima premix 32:1. I use 94 octane gas with JP1 octane booster 2 oz. per gal. Mine runs perfect now. enjoy and hang on!