What was the First year for the quadzilla and what were some of the first year problems they had?

 

1987- First Year,

6 studs for the head. Blown head gaskets

Killed too many people. Things are freakin beasts, the like of which we had never seen before or will see again.

RoostKing...

 

They had carb problems from the get go which I believe were covered under warranty. The top set of A-arms were square tube which was later changed to round tube but I don't know if they caused any problems. On Off-road.com Mr. Dune has an LT 500 build up article and he goes into depth about the problems Suzuki had with the cases and the crank bearings. Check it out.

Off hand, if I was to buy, I'd purchase the last year 1990. By then they had the quad sorted out. Damn, you know you are getting older when 1990 doesn't seem that long ago. 12 years, geez!

 

The '87 is the first year of the 'Zilla and I wouldn't let the year model sway me much one way or the other. Find one and then work to get the price down if possible, use that saved money for replacing wornout parts. I have an '87 with an '88 model motor in it with different parts from all the other various years. The '88 cylinder will fit on the '87 cases and vice versa. I didn't have any problems with my '87 head leaking or weak studs, I just put the '88 cylinder on it because I happened to have it rebuilt while I was riding the '87. The thing about the 'Zilla is that these things generate a lot of power and need to be maintenanced often and watched closely. Checking for things like loose nuts and bolts is a must. On wheelers that are this old, certain things will need replacing so count on redoing some things right of the bat: the top-end, the water pump assembly, crank bearings and seals. Expecting to replace these items will help save you from being disappointed when they do break. The biggest thorn in my side was the waterpump. Failure to fix it properly cost me a new set of clutches, some bearings and seals, a new top end, not to mention the waterpump that I should have fixed properly to begin with. If you do work on this area it is best to just replace the ENTIRE assembly. One other difference between the 87 and the other models is a larger reed cage on the '87 with larger carb jets. This rocket will never leave me, it is that different. I never have a problem steering, either. Just turn the bars and crank the throttle, it'll spin right around. In the air it feels big, but not too bad.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] I have an 87 completely restored to original condition except for bigger head studs, crank bearing boss's redone and some grease fittings everywhere I could put them.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

87 QZ
87 QS