New kid on the block...

Hey all,

Just picked up my first quad last week for a pretty fair price (I think). I've owned lots of motorcycles tho. It's a 1988 Fourtrax TRX300FW. The story I was told goes like this. This was a parts bike that was thrown in when he bought the running bike it's parts had been used to fix. Mostly the rear of this one had been put into the other bike. The guy seemed to have been a collector of ATV parts, and he later down the road discovered he had a spare rear for a 300 buried in his garage, so he decided to see if he could get this "parts" bike running.

Turns out he did. And it runs quite well. He put new front bearings in it, brakes, and brushes for the starter. He also discovered he had a mint condition Honda seat that fit it. Doesn't smoke, doesn't leak, and runs and idles pretty good. It was leaking gas out of the carb when I went to look at it. He seemed surprised, claimed he keeps it in the garage and never smelled gas, and never was leaking before. Investigation showed it to be the primer that was leaking, and a quick google search showed me the fix was $10. Already got that fixed! Tank has zero rust in it somehow (bout the only reason I pulled the trigger on this one). It's pretty plain it's sat outside most of it's life. All the plastic is REALLY weathered, and the left rear fender is pretty torn up. The rear fender is going to have to be replaced. The grips were more or less rotted away. And the Dirt Devil tires are pretty old. And Patched. They have some tread left, but I just can't trust them. Weather cracked, and I've found a least 3 patches.

So ordered up Mobil 1 75w-90 gear oil, Mobil 1 10w-40 motorcycle oil, a spark plug, a air filter, DOT 4 brake fluid, OURY grips, and 4 Kenda K299 Bear Claw tires (F 24x9x11 R 25x10x11). I know the tires are 1" taller and wider than stock, but I think it will be fine. These things can use all the help they can get on clearance, and I just wanted more tire. Google searches tell me these should fit fine without rubbing. Hope Google didn't lie.

I got everything in today except for the rear tires. For whatever reason those won't be here till tomorrow. All fluids have been changed. The oil was black, but not too bad. However the gear oil in both the front and rear were a grey sludge. The brake fluid was back as midnight. The transfer case oil was black. Everything is flushed and refilled. Brakes are bled.

All is going well, but I think my front diff clutches are fused (I have a thread in the TRX section about that) and I'm suspecting my master cylinder might need replacing. Even after a full bleed the fronts are not as responsive as I think they should be, and the handle will stop at about 3/4, then SLOWLY fall all the way to the grips if you hold it long enough. Stays at 3/4 for about 5 seconds then gradually starts falling. Past experience tells me my master is likely going bad.

I've put about 4 hours on it so far (most of it before all the work). All around the 6 acre wooded mountain I own, and playing in the 20 acer "quarry" the county owns that is behind my property. It never even flinched once at anything I tried to tackle with it. And when I say I live on a mountain, I mean it! She maybe an oldie, but she sure is a goodie!!! In the end, I'm very happy with my first quad! I think this one will be a keeper!

Now to work on something for my son, so we can go riding together.... I'm starting to see I'm falling down the rabbit hole....