Dirt Wheels - February 2014

By Winston “Boss” McKannick
A MEANER OUTLAW

Dear Boss,
I’ve done lots of mods to my
Banshee and YFZ450 and have them
where I want them to be. However,
my 2010 Polaris Outlaw 525 IRS is
completely stock, except for an FMF
pipe. I haven’t read about much else
to do to it. Boss, do you know of any
other mods I should do to make it bet-
ter and faster in the woods? Thanks
for your help.

Waylon Strange Somerset, PA

If I were you, son, I would contact Allen Knowles at CT Racing at (562) 945-2453. He owns a 525 and is very knowledgeable on how to make the 525 faster. Also, check out his recommended modification table at www. ctracing.com/new_page_2.htm.

My personal favorites are boring the carb to 41mm. This mod tends to increase the mid to top end with little loss on the bottom. Then, add a Vortex ignition X10 CDI. ( www.vor-tex cdi.com). Finally, look at a KTM bore kit and cam.

THE DOORS

Dear Boss,
Will the doors on the new 2014 RZR
XP 1000 fit on my 2011 RZR XP 900?
If so, can I get Polaris to install them
for free like Yamaha did for Rhino
owners?

Kevin Pease Lucerne Valley, CA

The frames are different enough that it will take a bit of butchery to make them fit. And no, I don’t expect you to be able to get Polaris to offer up free doors. Check out www.pro armor.com and www.roc-kymountain atvmc.com. Both have great doors for all RZRs.

ENGINE SWAPPING

Dear Boss,
I have a Honda TRX250R quad and
a Honda CR450F dirt bike. I’m think-
ing about swapping the engines in
these two machines. Will the engine
cases and motor mounts line up fairly
close? Also, can I convert the CR-F to
a forward kickstarter and the 250R to
a rear kick?

Matt Wrisk Willow Creek, CA

Son, you are just “what ifing.” The motors have different case-mount points and will be difficult to mount

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up. Can it be done? Sure! Has it been done before? Sure! The easiest way to mount a CR450F in a four-wheel chassis is to use one of the special frames specially made for this conversion. Check out Walsh Racecraft ( www.walshrc.com) and Service Honda ( www.servicehonda. com); they do modifications similar to what you are after.

ADDING AN ELECTRIC STARTER

Dear Boss,
Will the Goki electric starter work
on a quad that has 13.5:1 compres-
sion?

Nick Harwell Bugtussel, KY

Will it work? Yes, but your quad will need a compression release to allow the starter to start turning the engine over with no compression.

Once you have a bit of momentum built up, you can drop the compression release and hope the engine will turn over from the built-up momentum. From personal experience, when Goki first released the electric-starter motor kits for the Honda ATC350Xs, a stock engine could not be spun over without first pulling the compression-release lever and allowing the engine to turn over once. Heck, son, even the ATC200s sometimes could not turn over if the battery was less than full.

The problem with the Goki electric-starter kits is the ring gear to pinion gear ratio is geared too tall. It’s like starting in third gear uphill!

GRAVITY-POWERED STARTING

Dear Boss, The only way I can get my 2001

Honda 300EX started is to push it
down a hill. Nothing happens when
I push the starter button, except the
neutral light goes dim. If I put a char-
ger on it, the neutral light gets bright-
er, but that is all. Could it be a bad
battery? Please help me.

Joe Cahill Pleasant Lake, IN

Well, son, it might be the battery; however, you need to be my eyes and ears. Is there a single click or multiple clicks when you press the starter button? A single click means possibly your starter is bad. We will test that in a bit. If you get multiple clicks, then this might indicate your battery is weak. We will test that in a bit too. If you get no click, then either there is no electrical connection with the starter solenoid or the solenoid is shot.

Let’s start with testing the starter motor. Obtain a set of jumper cables and directly connect the positive terminal of the battery (+) with the exposed terminal on the starter motor. If the motor turns over, then it is okay and so is your battery. If the starter motor doesn’t turn over, then use a car battery. Connect the negative cable to an engine mount bolt and touch the positive cable to the starter motor’s terminal. If the starter motor turns over now, then your EX’s battery is weak or bad.

Assuming the battery checks out and the starter motor turns over fine, then see if there is power at the solenoid when the starter button is pushed. There should be two small gauge wires that you can connect to with either a test light or a VOM ( volt-ohm meter). If there is power available when you press the starter button, then it is your solenoid. If there is no power, then it is in your wiring.