Very nice web site Dirtgirl...thanks for sharing....... i was looking for a blown up picture of that one on the opening page ,of you leaning up against your quad with your birthday suit on.But i couldnt find one... That is a great picture.... I love it..

 

Dirtgirl: The base gasket is a common problem on the mighty 500... How does the junction of your case halves look? sometimes Zuki didn't do a very good job getting a nice flat mating surface where both halves meet..
Also, most of the failures occur right under the reed cage... the gasket is just not very thick there... Tudors performance has a spring steel gasket for them, and I can testify that they don't blow out like the paper gaskets will (I'm on my second year now)

Please please please please don't run your Zuki on the lean side... the 500's don't like that at all. Especially if you have much in the mod dept.
It's way better to err on the rich side by a little...
When I do a carb change, or something that I know my jetting will be off... I'll slap a big main and pilot in it... then step it down gradually reading the plug as I go...
500's don't like to be lean, they like plenty of oil, overheating, and high compression detonation also kills them frequently.
The BEST way to determine accurate jetting, is to read piston wash.. Problem is, you'd have to remove the gas tank everytime you want to look at it (Too much work for me), so a plug chop is the next best thing.

Should I tell ZigZilla about the secret area in your website??? That's my FAVORITE!!!!
I'd love to have a full size poster of you on your quad for my shop!

 

Does Tudor's have a website or what is their phone #? Yes the gasket blew out right in the back at the reed cage. I was running Cometic on it just went yesterday and picked up another gasket kit from them.. The head gasket was leaking too when the quad was warmed up. When I took the cylinder off this morning the head gasket had not even sealed from when it was put together last time.

As far as the carb, I had no idea what size jet I needed so I looked at the book to see what the CR500 had in its carb and went bigger than those thought that would be a safe place to start. The Keihin had bigger jets in it already than the Mikuni had in it. The guy who had it before me was running really lean obviously!

As far as my website you can tell Zig whatever. I am not sure if he really wants to see that or not, but that one pic he is talking about is in that section....

 

It is on there if you know where to look...

 

Well when I get the Zilla back together again I am thinking about getting some new pics of it with the white plastic and my Texas thong....

 

Tudors website is here. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

 

Thanks I called them and they helped me out big time!

 

dirtgirl you do an lt500 the justice it deserves

keep up the good website, thanks.... seein you on a lt500 is cewl

I also would like a poster of you standing up on the pegs of the lt500... for my shop.

If you think you are lean(you look to be on the lean side to me lol), pull the head
and tune by piston wash, it is worth the extra work.
piston wash guide

 

Dirtgirl: Glad you found Tudors... Jeff is pretty helpful.
Did he sell you on their head gasket too? If so, I have some advice on that one.... See I bought both of his gaskets... Love the base gasket, hate the head gasket!
1st complaint is it's pretty thick... It's a great theory, and would work well, but my jug needs to be milled before it will seal, as it is warped just enough to cause problems. I tried getting it to seal 5 or 6 times at the dunes last year... got tired of working on the thing, so put a cometic back in...I've never been that happy with cometic either... genuine suzy is the best, but they don't make an oversized gasket for the larger overbores.
Gotta use some 3bond or equivalent sealant to make any gasket seal on the mighty 500...
Another thing to think about is: is it an '87? If so, they have the tendancy to not hold torque on the head studs. The real fix for this is to install larger studs. (Two options here, have a machine shop install 3/8 studs, or get the 88+ head studs which have a 10mm to 8mm taper)
This typically fixes any and all problems with blowing head gaskets... And if you are running higher compression, the problem is amplified.

ALLCOOL is right, while you've got the head off, study your piston wash and see what's happening. Jetting isn't rocket science, but it takes a little practice to get it right... You can do it!
Be careful comparing mikuni and keihin jets... unless your measuring actual oriface size... because they use a different numbering system.

Sure can't wait to see that texas thong! Especially posing with the mighty 500! That's centerfold material right there!! *Evil grin* Keep up the good work!

 

Well the cylinder is off right now and yes it is DEFINITELY too lean.. One of the studs in the case that goes through the bottom of the cylinder is stripped out so I gotta tap out the thing and fix it... I was going to put another Cometic gasket in it until I get the other one from Tudor's that way I can ride it again this weekend... I found out the thing was stripped out when I went to torque it down so I pulled the cylinder back off and went to remove the new gasket and it ripped in half. Doggone it!!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-disgusted.gif[/img] OH well it looks like I will be riding Honda this weekend...

Sounds like to me just from reading this topic that I need to make some posters to sell to ppl hehehe