last Sunday out of the blue I see an ad online for a 1998 Formula 500 deluxe with 1675km on it needing some clutch work.
Off I go with my trailer
get there and the guy says he just pushed it in his shop with the atv and it won’t run.
The sled looks new, as it should with -1700km on it. Seat is perfect. One little pain chip on the hood. Needs a bath bad.
Not a mark on the painted hood, so it’s never spend any or very little on a trailer exposed to the salt. Dash plastic has a small crack and both mirrors are junk from stuff falling against them
I do a compression test, two times 125psi
Do the clutch roll and listen for crank rattle and clutch weights moving. Track is perfect.
Won’t start. Guy thinks he flooded it. I have him hold the throttle to the bar, 7 pulls and it runs, horrible. Like it’s on one cylinder. Reverse engages fine. He tells me the chaincase cover was just off and he was checking the gears, so has new oil, great. I see dark oil in the belly pan so the story checks out. How he says it has a bad bang bang bang when you try and drive it. Doesn’t happen on the stand though. Interesting……
We make a deal and I bring it home.
Tension the chaincase 12 or so turns. Bang bang bang is gone
Remove carbs and inspect. Wow, looked like he was storing jello inside. I didn’t even mess with the fuel pump, just ordered a rebuild kit for it
so, new spark plugs, pump rebuild, deep clean carbs, new belt, all new fuel hoses, new primer later, six pulls and it runs like a new sled. The boy put a KM on it doing circles in the driveway tonight. Put some heat in the motor, no leaks anywhere.
Tach and fuel guage don’t work, nor do the bar heaters. Temp and speedo work as does the thumb warmer, so I suspect the voltage regulator is on its last legs. I’ll figure out the test procedure and buy a new one.
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Off I go with my trailer
get there and the guy says he just pushed it in his shop with the atv and it won’t run.
The sled looks new, as it should with -1700km on it. Seat is perfect. One little pain chip on the hood. Needs a bath bad.
Not a mark on the painted hood, so it’s never spend any or very little on a trailer exposed to the salt. Dash plastic has a small crack and both mirrors are junk from stuff falling against them
I do a compression test, two times 125psi
Do the clutch roll and listen for crank rattle and clutch weights moving. Track is perfect.
Won’t start. Guy thinks he flooded it. I have him hold the throttle to the bar, 7 pulls and it runs, horrible. Like it’s on one cylinder. Reverse engages fine. He tells me the chaincase cover was just off and he was checking the gears, so has new oil, great. I see dark oil in the belly pan so the story checks out. How he says it has a bad bang bang bang when you try and drive it. Doesn’t happen on the stand though. Interesting……
We make a deal and I bring it home.
Tension the chaincase 12 or so turns. Bang bang bang is gone
Remove carbs and inspect. Wow, looked like he was storing jello inside. I didn’t even mess with the fuel pump, just ordered a rebuild kit for it
so, new spark plugs, pump rebuild, deep clean carbs, new belt, all new fuel hoses, new primer later, six pulls and it runs like a new sled. The boy put a KM on it doing circles in the driveway tonight. Put some heat in the motor, no leaks anywhere.
Tach and fuel guage don’t work, nor do the bar heaters. Temp and speedo work as does the thumb warmer, so I suspect the voltage regulator is on its last legs. I’ll figure out the test procedure and buy a new one.
