I was probably about ten years old when my Grandpa Cliff gave our family his old 1986 Yamaha 350cc Moto4. Ever since then (being that old of a bike) it has needed constant repairs, which I always tried to do myself. But for that mean time us kids got plenty of use and abuse out of it…such as pulling sleds behind it or flipping it over or running into the house with it. Yeah, I was the one who ran into the house. Eventually it had to break down and it did about two years after Grandpa Cliff gave it to us. So every once in a while from when it broke down to now I have messed with it trying to figure out the problem with it but it wasn’t until a couple weeks ago that I finally found that problem. I completely took apart the carburetor and cleaned and checked all the pieces. I found that the main needle and needle seat (where the gas enters the carburetor) was all eroded and clogged. So I got all the best parts I could find off of other moto4’s around the ranch and put them on the one I was working on. I also cleaned out the whole air system. So after it was all put back together I pulled the pull start twice (since the electric doesn’t work) it fired right up...with a bit of smoke. But oh my gosh after about a week of working on it right after school and it starts up for the fist time in about three years I was pretty exited. So now I have my own four-wheeler that cost me nothing but time to get it. It’s pretty funny though because it feels like your riding a bucket of bolts that has a huge crack in the bottom and could fall apart at any time. Also the shifter lever broke off so until I get it welded I’m shifting with locking pliers. It also swerves from side to side on its own when you’re driving it. But all the lights work J!! For the most part though it’s a working four-wheeler that we just recently used for spraying thistles…and yeah…I’m still trying to figure out the problem with my dirt bike. I took it to three different bike shops and none of them could help me much. It’s extremely frustrating thinking that you’ve fixed the problem and putting it back together and it still doesn’t work right.
Hey man, The moto4 was good to us as well growing up. We definately used the heck out of it. The rear end had fallen completely apart and though it still ran well, we pushed it into the ditch. Way to go on fixing up the quad though. I am going to miss riding this summer as we will probably not have the opportuniy here. Sorry to hear about your bike. That really stinks. Fixing things can really be frusterating at times.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you all are doing well.
Take care, Jesse