I have a chance to buy a 88 lt500, what should I look for on this year bike, is their anything wrong with the 88's, is their any references on the internet I can look to for info on the 88's.

 

You'll want to grab each A-arm and shake them to see how the suspension bearings are, grab each tire by the top and bottom and check the ball joints and wheel bearings, grab the axle and see if there's any play in the axle or swingarm bearings, check the steering stem below where the handlebars bolt on to see if its been broken and then rewelded. Also, if you can, take the magneto cover off (shifter side) and grab ahold of the magneto and see if there's any play in the crankshaft bearings. All those bearings are expensive and a pain in the A$$ to replace.

Check out mrdune.com or macdizzy.com, you might find sumthin' useful in there..........Latah......

 

The 88 lt 500 has some good improvements over it's predecessor but it still has a few problems you can look for:
1) look for cracks on the back of the cylinders by the intake at the base bolts. ( usually repairable )
2 )Pull the ignition cover grab the flywheel ( motor off of course da ) pull up and down. You should feel no up and down play. If you do it could be the cases are bad ( this can be fixed but it's not cheap )( to date we have repaired over 4000 case halves ) it also could be a bad bearing, or crank half.
3 ) look at the flywheel closely and see if you see any streaks of what looks like oil coming from the center hub, this means the hub and the flywheel are starting to work against each other and failure is right around the corner.
4 ) check compression it should be ( if stock ) around 165 ( sea level )
5 ) look over the swingarm and frame for cracks, you will see paint chiping off usually around the joints, look at those areas closely you will probably find a crack.( usually around the a-arm area )
6 ) you can tell a lot from a bike by riding it, if it pull right or left ( possible bent frame or front end problem )( make sure it's not just tire pressure or OD size of the tires), ( look at the rear tires when your riding see if they wobble around ( bent axle or hub ), excessive vibration ( lots of things ), all these could be signs of a problem. Good luck on your purchase

 

I finished looking at the trinity site at the different work you do to the 500's. Is it possible to send you the complete engine to go through and make perfect for its intended purpose? If I purchase the quad it will become a dedicated flattrack/tt quad.

 

The site is going to be done, so they say in about a month, I'm sorry it looks like it dose but I have had my problems getting the right company to do the right job for me. If you decide to get the quad I hope it doesn't require all the mods we discussed. But what ever it needs I know we can handle it, we worked out all of these problems back in the late 80's So if you decide to go ahead with this we will help you the best we can. As far as your racing is concerned I feel confident we can deliver the performance you require.

 

Make sure that the previous owner religously changed the blinker fluid and muffler bearings.

Thespazardman

 

Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure the blinker fluid joke is only supposed to be funny when you're talking about a vehicle that actually has blinkers...........

 

I was being silly. Nothing more.

Thespazardman

 

You silly rabbit............[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

checked it out today, rode it, but, to much money for basically a stock bike with beat up plastic compared to others that are currently for sale in MN and surrounding area so I am on the hunt for a 250 fixer upper so I can turn it into a dedicated flat track quad right from the beginning.