Can it be done?
.Can Rear Wheel Travel Be Increased To An Acceptable Level? I have not been able to examine one closely. In the pictures it appears to have a U-joint at the back of the engine.
If it is a true U-joint, at or near the swing arm pivot, maybe the only thing keeping it from having MORE TRAVEL is the shock itself.
.....But if the driveshaft is straight and the engine pivots as part of the swingarm like some mini and scooter designs,,,,I'm screwed.
...I need 6" or 8" rear suspension travel to go with the 7" or 8" I'm going to get out of the Blaster a-arms and works shocks going on the front. I am hoping that simply replacing the rear shock with a tailor made Works front shock will give me the rear suspension I'm looking for. Fabricating driveshafts and u-joints is getting a little tricky, though there is a place here that does that.
.....I am going to use Douglas wheels on the back instead of wheel spacers, they are cheaper, and will save weight. I can go with 8"x8" with turf tamers in 18"x9.75"x8". The front will be Holeshot MX 19"x6"x10" on Douglas 10"x5" wheels.
..........But I am worried about this rear end set up. I wish I had one to look at. I am still hoping Yamaha will surprise us all and put real suspension on this thing. Then I can use these Blaster parts to make a really cool wagon or something.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]

 

SO somebody with a Badger help me out here. Is the Engine part of the swing arm? Does it move in the frame when you bounce on the back?
Does it look like the rear suspension travel could be substantially increased? Thanks,[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/img]

 

I will try and help anyway possible. The engine is not part of the rear suspension. There is a u-joint at the rear of the motor, but the swing arm has the drive shaft inside of it. If you've seen a Wolverine, Bigbear or something like those, it's made like them. I can try to remove a shock bolt and see how much movement there is, but I doubt theres enough to achieve 7" to 8" of travel. It would have to move about 5" more than now and still not bind. That might be a bit much. The swing arm is so short, I really don't know how much you could gain before it starts getting into a bind. Are you going to use 3 lug wheels like the stockers or are you planning to change them to 4 lugs? And if so, how? I could really use a couple of new wheels on ours.

 

I plan on using Douglas 8"x8" wheels on the rear. They are available from Rocky Mountain ATV, in the 3 x 100mm lug pattern. If you would like to buy the new stock wheels, I'll sell them to you cheap.
If you would, please take off that back shock then measure the distance eye to eye with no shock in the fully collapsed position and then in the fully extended position. I also need the distance from the swing arm pivot to the shock mount, and the width of the shock mount itself. This way I can get started on the replacement shock with Sandy from Works. Don't worry about the actual wheel travel, it is the shock distances I need.
......If you would do this for me I'll make you a super deal on the wheels. How about $10 apiece? The fronts will be available as well.
$50 including shipping for the set? You want tires too? How about $100 for the tires, wheels, including shipping? [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

I'll try to get the measurments tonight and post in the morning. I would be very interested in the wheels and tires.

 

Cool! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Here are the measurements: swing arm pivot to shock mount = 13 1/2"
fully comressed = 7"
fully extended = 14"
mount width inside/inside = 1 5/16"
stock shock length = 11 1/4"
The extended measurement is until the rear u-joint was not in a bind and I could still turn the tires. It will go down almost an 1" more, but the u-joint won't let the tires turn. I double checked all the dimensions, but please allow alittle room for wear and things. It did have more movment than I thought it would. Good luck!!!

 

ASFASTASU, YOU DA MAN!! Thanks so much! Very encouraging numbers.
I will let you know when the Raptor 80 gets here, the tires and wheels have your name on them. Thanks again!![img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-happy.gif[/img]

 

Here's a thought for you; I recently bought a Badger & found out the motor was switched out from a '86 yfm80. At first I thought that was a bad thing,(so I bought another one) then I realized (while test riding for my son[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img])THIS THING HAS 4 GEARS!! Since you are gonna slice it up anyway, you might want to start with something like that & buy Raptorette plastic for it. Might save you lots of $ & get you more performance to boot.

 

Yeah, I get the idea. I found a 1987 Badger in nice shape for $1300.
Start adding and I would save a grand, but not much more, and I'd have a 10 year old used machine. Besides, this way I can get my dough back from the dealer who I already bought a Scrambler 90 from, which is still not sold. So this way, I get my money back, or at least something for it, and have a clean new quad, modded like a full race MX, with a stock, but new engine.
.....My thoughts are that this quad will do till he's about 10. Then the transition to a Honda 250 EX or equivalent will be quite easy.
.....Besides, chopping up a BRAND NEW QUAD is so deliciously decadent..
I've got this figured out so the whole A-arm assembly is a forward subframe that attaches where the Badger leading arms and shocks attach.
.....I could easily build this in a jig so I can make more. I have written Dirtwheels to see if they're interested, with the emphasis being that Good Handling and Good Suspension are the best Safety features of all. And it's SOOOO CUTE! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/img]