Honda ATV Forum banner

96 TRX300A 2wd

10K views 81 replies 7 participants last post by  fishfiles 
#1 ·
This is a 1996 TRX300A 2wd , gave it to my son for his first atv , the history on the bike is that it was a grandfather's atv and he gave it to his grandson , and it quit running and no fire to the plug , I had bought it cheap for a part bike , apparently the boy plugged something into the OEM power outlet at the handle bars and melted the wiring harness , I changed the harness and it runs great and is a very good bike , I did a 2wd disc conversion on the front already , the rear is the only 300 I have with a OEM 300 rear end still in it , going to run that one till it needs rebuilding and then drop a 250 rear end I have as a spare into it for him


things to do : find a green kick starter cover , a set of floor boards , new brake pads in the front and new shoes in the rear , snorkel it , a water proof storage box and some 26's with some heavy mud thread for the rear
 

Attachments

See less See more
3
#3 ·
What are those wheels? I have to ask. For my advice to you, since it's a 2WD I'd avoid 26 inch tires and a snorkle like most people do, because there is a snorkle next to the tank that's hidden, so the air is no problem. As for the tires, the taller you go the less your gearing will be, I'd stick with a radial at the very least. Radial tires are rounder and that means less resistance to try to roll.
 
#4 ·
jdp , appreciate the tips , kind of set in my ways but do listen to everything I hear ----- those tires are the take offs from a 2016 Honda 500 my buddy bought and got new tires , the rims are OEM Honda alum rims , the tires are fairly new but not aggressive enough thread and only 10" wide , I have 26's x 12 Dirt Devils on one of my other 300 2wd's and it handles them well , no problems , I really don't feel I need radials as far as flats go , as it is all mud where we ride , I can count the flats on one hand in the last ten years on , I pump all the tires to 10psi cause I spend a lot of time in water , which I think makes them fill out more and be rounder like you mentioned radials would be and on the ones with 9" inches I think it gives you more floatation when in the water ------ the snorkel is very necessary , not that I am looking to see how deep I can go , it is an insurance policy cause it happens , we got some hole digging clowns around here , they will go hang out at one spot for an hour and take turns digging a pit
 
#5 ·
Wow 500 wheels huh? You might be alright I was just worried cause the gearing for the 2WD and 4wd is different. No harm no fowl. Soon as I get the money saved up, Chronic flat spots will be gone replaced by Black Diamonds. :)
 
#8 ·
Was unaware of that I heard from folks that told me wrong. My apologies. I'm still saving up for it :)
 
#7 ·
went to get a jump on a brake job , a set back already , I found the rear brake lever bent up under the atv , I seen them bent before but never this bad , needs some floorboards ---------- managed to get the lever off with great difficulty , and think 90% I have a couple of levers in the shed , but the 10% is kicking in and I can't find them yet
 

Attachments

#9 ·
I got Moose utlities on mine. I like their floorboards. As for the brake lever ebay should have one cheap.
 
#11 ·
I got a set of Strongmade boards on the way , $108 is pretty good , I have a set just like them and they are well built

I think what is going to happen here is this brand new set of shinny new boards is going on my Red 300 4x4 and those boards off the Red 300 4x4 will go on his green 300 2wd , I know my son is going to want to upgrade to a 4x4 in the future

I think it is best to start him off slow on a 2wd , and let him progress , crawl before you walk

found quite a few brake levers on line , cheapest being $14 , which isn't a bad price , but I need to look a little more as I should have one , have 3 300 frames in the yard and none have a rear brake lever on them , the best way to call my parts building is messed up
5008 - Floorboard For Honda Fourtrax 300 - STRONG MADE
 
#14 ·
If you don't mind sharing, @fishfiles, how old is your kiddo? Mine is 6 and I wonder if he is ready to get off the toy and on a big boy machine. I had my first bike when I was 5, but the wife is very hesitant about my progeny having that many horses on demand. Just like his old man, he likes to go fast and hard.
 

Attachments

#18 ·
My son is a late bloomer as far as ATV's go , he is 33 and I was a little worried about him getting hurt at first , but he handled it well

There were some young ones at the house this weekend past , my buddies grandson is 6 and has a Honda 90 , and he can ride , he has so much safety equipment on when he rides , he looks like a mini M/X racer , he had a few china knock-offs before this one and had been riding on his own since 4 , he was riding on the front of Dad's seat since he was 2 ----they brought the grandson's friend along , he is 8 and has a 500 Honda that is his Dad's but he rides it , he is a big 8 though , he looks 12 ----funny story is my neighbor has 3 acres and it is mostly woods and he always let the 6 year old ride on his property as the little kids don't come along for the ride in the woods , so his 500 8 year old friend went over there too this weekend , my neighbor went to a wedding and wasn't home , that 8 year old boy tore his yard up bad , hehehehe , he asked me yesterday if any of us rode in his yard cause those tracks are not Honda 90's , he also told me yesterday that will be no more riding anything by his house - hehehehe
 
#15 ·
from searching the net it looks like the 88-92 was the same then 93-2000 , you got me going to check and see what all types I got on other 300's ------- Mrs Fish on this forum , LMAO -----

I found a rear brake foot lever this morning , but , it is on a piece of rusted out frame that I cut off and saved ------ I got it to turn barely , guess the plastic bushing is going to stay stuck to the pivot rod like the other one just done , I am working hard for this $14.44 lever

found a few other goodies while digging , amazing how you find stuff after you don't need it any more
 
#20 ·
'foot , there is no derailing my threads , come as you are , say what you feel , it's all good ---- John Wick is a good movie , seen them both and heard they are going for a part 3 , I like when the Dad asked the son " do you know who's dog you killed " ------ maybe try and use the atv to straight out his fighting habits
 
#22 ·
got the brake lever off and put it on the bike , used a three arm puller and it fit it perfect , got the floorboards on and moved the foot shift up a click or two , started on the snorkel job ---------- picked up pelican box at Academy , not really fond of the color yellow , but it is a lifetime box good to 30 feet for 30 minutes , I hope it never gets tested to that , it was on clearance and a bigger box for $3 cheaper -----was hoping to do all this stuff with the son , but there is more to do
 

Attachments

#24 ·
The reverse pin on the lever was weak and the arm that it goes into wallowed out , which made reverse lock out hard to operate , went with a good first gen style lever which has a adjustment nut for the cable on them , this one is actually off a TRX250A , ordered a cable as they are different where they go into the adjustment nut , this is a nice thing to have as you can fine tune the brake cable easily -----

I have made the decision to scrap the OEM 300 rear end in this 300 , if I am going to do this , might as well get it done right , I have a rear end from a TRX250A , that has already been welded to fit the 300 , all it needs is a axle and hubs as the splines are worn on the hubs , I have another axle and hubs ready to go , so will just change the outer tube bearings and seals and brake shoes , the diff oil is clean and no problems with the diff , going to drill and tap the axle tubes and swing arm tube for grease zerks

still watching for a good set of mud slinger rears
 

Attachments

#26 ·
The cable I use is a 300 1st gen cable , the end where it goes into the adjuster has a shorter snout on he end , you can see in the previous pic how it sticks out too far and isn't seated , that is the cable that was on the 96 ----- the lever assembly , with the back up lock out lever is from a TRX250A , which is the same as a 1st gen 300 as they have the adjustment ring -----------

On the tires : For now , till something pops up , I think he is going to get these 26x12x12 rear and 26x10x12 rear Dirt Devils off the red 2wd 300

I could have given him this red bike , but that is really the wife's back up and the green 300 is a fresher bike , it even has the OEM 300 rear end that has never been into before , the engine has never been touched , it shifts so smooth , it is the smoothest shifting bike around here ----the red 2wd has a 250 cam and 250 rear end in it , but a lot of hours , it was mine way back , then the wife's , then a loaner , then back to her back up

At least I done something if I don't do anything else today , sprayed paint over the '5200 , that stuff is solid as a rock today ------something I didn't mention , when I clean the air box with Purple Clean so the '5200 would stick well , I blew the box off with air and seen bubbles making it thru the grommet , I always seal all around the grommet anyways , but it would have leaked if I didn't
 

Attachments

#29 ·
Well if you look at the fronts, those are Vampires. The lugs are spaced pretty wide.

The rears are TSL's (which are what I'm talking about that are $40) which have big lugs but they're close together.

They ride great, pull well, are pretty light, and have stiff sidewalls.

The TSL's are the only ones they have free shipping on at the moment, and they have to go to a business address.

They're in Rayne, which looks like a pretty good haul for you if you were picking them up.

The 25x12x12 Vampire Blems (with the wider spaced lugs) are only $30, but no free shipping on those.
 
#30 ·
Vampires pull good , my buddy has them on his 300 , I had a set of rear 26's and gave them to a friend that needed tires a couple of months ago , they had a lot of thread but were starting to dry rot split ---------- I never measured Vampires or the Dirt Devils before , both seem to be short - The Dirt Devils seem to measure narrow on width also , those front tires on the red one says 10 wide , but look 8

Rayne is about 3 hours for me ,
 
#31 ·
Picture this , a CCC meeting : Critical Chinese Conference ( kinda like a AAA meeting for Chinese part addicts trying to reform ) " Hi , My name is fishfiles and I bought Chinese bearings today " --- Did I fall of the wagon or what ?

The front wheel bearing came in yesterday , SKF bearings are $5.55 each , it takes 4 per the two front hubs on a 300 2wd disc conversion hub , that's $22.20 for 4 -----

I found some bearings sold by 10 @ $13.39 ( $1.39 each ) or 100 @ $105 ( $1.05 each ) with free shipping , doesn't say where they are made on them , just the part number , China no doubt as the cost is crazy --- so it is $5.56 per set of 4 ,less than the cost of 1 bearing , I have 3 - 300's set up like this , I needed 12 bought 20 , enough for 5 times ----- the Super ATV disc pads don't last long , as cheap as the bearings are in price , I can change them every time I change the pads , I think they will last 50 hours ( life of the pads ) LOL for sure , very easy to change

I'll see how long they last , plan on pulling the plastic shields off the inside of both the inner and outer bearing and packing the cavity full of marine grease
 

Attachments

#33 ·
I have been saving the worn out disc brake pads and I have a pile , been thinking of getting some brass round stock , cutting off pucks to the correct thickness and glueing them onto the backing plates -----I have bought Polaris 1000 pads and they fit , and last longer but cost 3 times the Super ATV pads , they last longer but not enough to justify the added expense

My son is working at the Jazz and Heritage Fest this weekend so he didn't come yesterday , and no hurry on his bike build
 
#34 ·
Drilled the hole for the snorkel , made a bulk head fitting by using 1 1/2 inch PVC , a male threaded to pipe and a female threaded to pipe coupling , found a rubber grommet the perfect diameter and squeeze the fender and the rubber tight ----- that long sweep 90 on the bottom side I am going to cut about 2 inches off of it -----------the vent from the crankcase got some new hose and I stuck it in a piece of wire loom might protect it some , it looks factory , it is going to go up a faux snorkel next to the main one ---- the vent off the carb got replaced with 3 inches of rubber off the carb to 1/4 poly air tubing
 

Attachments

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top