I am looking at buying a 1987 Yamaha Moto 4 225. The condition seems like its in pretty good shape. Good plastics, tires, etc but the owner says that there developed a tranny noise. I'm willing to buy it as a fixer upper and tear it apart to see what the noise is.

My question is, what things should I look for? Are these prone for failure anywhere (frame cracks, bearings, bushings, etc.). Essentially, when giving it a once over, what should be tell tale signs that maybe its too far gone to fix and would just be a money pit.

I've never worked on 4 wheelers before. I'm switching from 80s vintage scooters onto something different. Is there a specific forum for the older yamaha ATVs?

 

They are tanks and with regular oil changes they will last for ever. Dont know much about the frame but I am 240lbs mine has held up to a mean 6x12 table top built for bmx bikes every 1 thought I was going to die. You cant go wrong with machine more power rather than speed they are decently fast for what they are. I have not yet got stuck mud/sand/water/ 2-1/2ft snow that is fun stuff to ride in hope this helped. I would recommend 1 any day, they are built farm tough

 

Very reliable ATV due to to being so simple. I had a 87 but the sticker on the side said 250 not 225. Maybe its a Canadian thing.
I was very notchy to shift but was much soother once I switch to synthetic oil .

Odd thing was it was only a 250 2wd yet had a low range,witch came in handy. Fun ATV.

Looked like this

 

My first quad was an 86 Moto4 200, light, easy to steer, ran great, and the air intake is up by the handlebars, so you can run them in water almost past the gas tank.....(found out the hard way). only problem I had with mine was one broken spring in the cent. clutch, maybe thats the noise you are hearing? great trail quad, ran all day on a tank of gas, and never failed to start on trips out to the ice fishing shack, even in 10 below weather.

 

Well its mine. Made the purchase. Had the back end jacked up and spinning the wheels by hand to determine where the noise may be coming from. I'm thinking sub-transmission so I may start there. Either way, the motor is coming out as I'd rather work on a bench top. What kind of chore was it replacing the cent. clutch?

 

My spring was one of a pair that wrapped around the outside in a couuple of grooves, then just hooked together, they served to 'pull' the outer shoes back in when the rpms dropped, it was more work to pull the side cover than run the spring around and reattach. dont know if yours is different, mine was a 200 with a single range tranny, you have the sub tranny, could be an entirely different set up.

 

UPDATE......kind of. I did start the bike the other day as I hadn't even heard it run before I bought it.

Ran good but I definitely heard the noise the PO talked about. Just sitting in neutral, you could hear a sort of loose gear clatter chatter noise. So given the fact that its noticeable when the bike is in neutral and not necessarily when the bike is in gear, does this change where the problem could be?

I plan on pulling it apart, just want to start digging in the right area.

Anybody?

 

How do you lock the low and high in gear? I bought a atv just like this and having some issue but thats my main worry.

 

I sold it awhile back, so its hard to remember .

Its either the ATV has to be in neutral or with the foot or hand brake engaged or both.

 

Hey 95wolv, my noise may be the same as what yours was. I pulled apart the transmission yesterday and everything looked good. No metal bits, rounded gears or things that looked odd.

Since that turned out OK, I will focus my efforts on the clutch side. Hopefully, that is where the issue is.