After two months of searching, and finding nothing but super modified or beaten down quadzilla's, i found a pristine 1987 from a guy who wanted to get rid of one of his quads, and his other one was a honda 250R. He had both up for sale, but was only going to keep the one that didn't sell. Anyways, after seeing his 1991 GMC Cyclone with 30K miles and his 1989 Pontiac TransAm Turbo with 6K miles in his garage, I couldn't wait to get to his heated barn where the quads had stayed. I couldn't believe how clean the bike was, all the stickers are there, the VIN # wasn't removed * like most i had found* , had brand new Holeshot XCT tires, and he had extra's that came with it like a complete 500 motor, radiator, rear shock, 2 sets of tires, extra seat.... he said he bought a totalled on from in the paper in case he needed some parts...

Anyways, wanted to let everyone know about my great experience.. oh, by the way, I got it for $2100..

To those who have quadzilla's; i'm planning on nerf bars, FMF fatty pipe and silencer, and that's about it... Any suggestions..?

Laters

 

On the pipe I would recommend a Paul Turner or Trinity stage IV. I have an FMF.....................

 

Wow, what a price! That would fetch about $4,000 in my area! I would avoid the FMF unless you are on a budget. I've heard great feedback on the LRD adjustable pipe but they recently stopped manufacturing it. Maybe you can find one in a parts shop that's still inventoried or there are some sold now and then on Ebay. The Paul Turner with a Fat Boy silencer is another great pipe for all around performance but the Trinity Stage IV is a better top end pipe. The bike is obviously loud, so try to find a silencer with a turned down outlet at the rear of the silencer. This displaces some sound. Usually the spark arrestor silencer have them. One weak point you want to check is the water pump, upgrade it if it hasn't been already and replace the radiator cap. If either goes bad, you'll overheat and sieze that bad boy real quick.

Good luck
[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Thanks guys,

I'm actually thinking i probably should go with the Trinity Racing Stage II kit. It's like $750 with the chromed pipe. I plan to do mostly trail riding, and going on the sand every once in a while. I also will probably upgrade the clutch to a trinity racing clutch, but have seen alot of guys use the barnett. The way i'm thinking, i can send off the spare motor and have that be my toy motor, and just keep the stock one for now.

What's the water pump upgrade that your talking about? haven't heard of anything like that; but have heard of some part of the case that expands differently then a certain bearing causing a problem. Something about the fix is boring out and installing a bronze insert for the bearing to sit in. Have either of you heard of it?

Yeah, for the price, i couldn't say no.

 

sweet deal........
my 89 (see my gallery page)has the trinity pipe and a FMF silencer(till I find a trinity silencer on E-Bay [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img] )And it SCREAMS!!!!!!!!
And on the 87 check your head bolts!!!!!!!!I hear lots of problems with the 87's
good luck with it dude
Scott

 

That's a great deal on a great quad. Visit this site for all the fixes including the crank inserts you need for this quad.

http://www.off-road.com/dunes/suzukitech/tips.html

 

Holy Cow!!!! You stole that one!!! They are so hard to find in that condition!!! I've been looking for years for an unmolested machine at a REASONABLE price... You lucky dog!!

Take good care of it with proper maintainance and it will last you for years.

Don't let everyone freak you out about some of the short commings of the '87.... Mine ran 12 years with the stock piston before I did ANYTHING to the motor... Just took good care of it, watched the jetting, used good oil, keep the gearbox oil changed, and most of all, the air filter clean.

Here's some of my PERSONAL opinions on your add-ons: I hate nerf bars, unless you moto-X, I find them worthless, and depending on the fit, you'll hit your foot on them while kick starting.... Just my opinion.. Don't waste your money on the FMF pipe! Hardly any difference b/w FMF and Stocker! If you don't want a strong Top end pipe like the Trinity Stage IV (I have no experience with that one) or the LRD adjustable (Best in my opinion), I would recommend the Paul Turner unit. It's a good 'all around' pipe that should make improvements across the powerband. If you are bound and determined on the FMF, Let me know and I'll make you a heck of a good deal on a barely used FMF gold series.

I'm not aware of any 'update' on the H2O pump... They've probably changed the design of the mechanical seal thru the years... I always carry a new spare in my toolbox, but in reality, I've only changed mine once in 16 years.
The '87 has only 6 head studs vs. 7 on the '88+, This really isn't a problem, unless you start bumping up the compression. A stock motor should be fine. The typical problem is they don't hold torque, and eventually pull the threads, thus causing head gasket failure.
The fix: The larger 10mm studs from 88+ installed with the help of your local machine shop, then O-ring the head, or Pro-design Coolhead, or ??? Whatever blows your dress up... The stock head can be modified nicely.
The main bearing boss' tend to get oblonged with many hours on the motor. The problem is case material expanding at different rates (Dissimilar metals) and a relatively weak design causes this to happen. Again, Mine lasted 15 years before I noticed a problem... and that's with some pretty hard riding and mostly in Sand. How do you check for this?? Take the stator cover off, Grab the flywheel and wiggle... I mean REALLY wiggle up and down (Almost lifting the machine off the floor)
ANY perceived motion here means you need the fix.
The fix: Most shops use a brass insert by machining the cases to accept the larger diameter bronze bushing, and new crank bearings.

The cool thing about having two motors, is you can mod the daylights out of one while keeping the other completely stock.... Modded motors tend to be more unreliable (Depending on builder)
It sure would be nice to have a stock spare for those big trips....(I could have used one last summer)
Good luck with Trinity... If that's who you should choose to do your work... Just be careful and DO YOUR RESEARCH! There are good builders out there, and there are very bad ones... I'm not starting an arguement here... just be educated, before you act!
Here's another Opinion: If you trail ride, with some sand involved... I wouldn't even mess with a stage II from anybody... stage II is merely cleaning the casting marks out of the ports. I started slow with my mods too, and I've always been left wanting more power... I should'a went stage IV right out of the box... and saved big $$ (That's where I ended up anyhow)

Hope this helps!

Good luck with your new baby!

 

msujon71, good deal man, enjoy.

Is the spare motor an 87 also?
One of my buddies had an 87, until he updated cyl, head, reeds and manifold to an 88 he always had problems.
You might want to update the head studs on the 87,could be a cheap alternative to the cly upgrade.


Hey stormnorm, that is a great site, lots of info, thanks.

 

visit this site for some pics and my Zilla sory

http://yamahabanshee.150m.com/zillapage/zillapage.html

 

$2100 thats not bad.I got mine for $1200 and its a 87. It had fmf pipe and silencer k&n filter. Bored .60. nerfbars, AC front bumper,Douglas .190 wheels,Renthal bars and tiwst throttle. The guy thought u had to split the motor because oil was leaking thru the engine breather and it had a blown shock.Wow im glad i got it at a great steal.I added a pro series clutch kit,new shock,and new holeshot tires.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]