Suzuki Quadracer HQ
LT500R Quadracer => LT500R - Engine => Topic started by: Scawn on November 15, 2013, 03:56:30 am
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Nevermind. After looking at the OEM parts picture a bit more I realized that the head with 6 bolts has a reed cage with 5 bolts which is what we have. The heads with 7 bolts has a reed cage with 6 bolts. That helped me know which set of reeds to order. Unfortunately they were out of stock, LOL.
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I was going to order some OEM reeds today. Is there a quick way of telling whether we have an LT500R or LT500RL cylinder or do I need to take the carb off and get to the reed cage to be 100% sure? I just realized there are 2 different sets of reeds for the 87.
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Dez fab your own up man! If I can do it anyone can its so simple it's ridiculous!
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Quadman is right
Damn if I didn't get that urge to build a faster 500
A work in progress... looking at an open filter system next
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Just remember one purchase alwayst leads to another and another and..... Unless you are running an 87 carb that had problems I still feel that on our 500 or most any 2 stroke the best power per dollar spent will always be found in the exhaust.
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Just my .02 but if your going for new reeds get ahold of Hall for his V2 setup and spacer.Sweet setup and I run one on my 87 250.The PT pipe is a decent pipe but take it from me better to spend the extra on one of the high volume pipe.Hall,Q pipe,Aaen,DCS,old LRD,etc.I dragged my feet about spending the $$$ on one the heavy hitters.Got a great deal from a member here on a V1 Q pipe and couldn,t be happier.
If your on a budget and thinking used a PT pipe can be found relatively cheap.If you were thinking of buying a new PT pipe you can find a good used high volume pipe for almost the same price or even some new for a tad more.
That is one sweet looking carb.Unless your doing long WFO runs I would think you,d be fine with the small fuel bowl.I,m running a 44 Lectron with no issues so far.Maybe the dune guys wot for long periods may be different.As far as the air filter there is an adapter for the stock airbox that allows the use of a bigger clamp on filter.I run in some mud time to time and went that route so I could retain the OE airbox. Keep us posted on the carb,interested to see how it runs.
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If you're engine is stock and your gonna stick with that pipe, just put a set of carbon tech medium tension reeds in it. They aren't listed on their website, but they have them.
I personally don't care for foam filters, but I believe uni is probably the best amongst them.
We actually talked about switching to a Paul Turner pipe because I believe they are much better. I'm not sure if there is anything considered to be even better than that, but the FMF will do since we aren't looking to go all out with the motor anyway and it's a decent replacement for the stock exhaust. I'm hoping the money was better spent on the carb than on a PT pipe.
The PT pipe is ok. It has been said by more than one expert that the stinger is too small in them and they cause the piston crown to overheat.
The best pipe is the HPR19 from Hall's Precision Racing. They are expensive, but they are the best.
If you are wanting good low end power, and a really good all around pipe the old LRD pipes are hard to beat. They haven't been made in a while, but if you watch eBay they pop up every now and then.
For the reeds, carbon tech medium tension with the reed stops set at the width pictured is a great bang for the buck setup. I have vf2's and can't tell any difference seat of pants.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y250/jeremiah25/null_zpsed3219ba.jpg)
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My opinion you would've been better off spending the money on a Paul turner or for a little more then that carb cost you an AAEN pipe. Fmf are pretty much a chrome stock pipe the only thing they change slightly is the sound and add probably 2 hp or less. Getting a set of vforce v2 reeds and a Paul turner pipe will livin that beast right up!
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If you're engine is stock and your gonna stick with that pipe, just put a set of carbon tech medium tension reeds in it. They aren't listed on their website, but they have them.
I personally don't care for foam filters, but I believe uni is probably the best amongst them.
We actually talked about switching to a Paul Turner pipe because I believe they are much better. I'm not sure if there is anything considered to be even better than that, but the FMF will do since we aren't looking to go all out with the motor anyway and it's a decent replacement for the stock exhaust. I'm hoping the money was better spent on the carb than on a PT pipe.
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If you're engine is stock and your gonna stick with that pipe, just put a set of carbon tech medium tension reeds in it. They aren't listed on their website, but they have them.
I personally don't care for foam filters, but I believe uni is probably the best amongst them.
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jerry hall has the the vforce reeds,
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If you can find some vforce v2's like the ones motorgeek has everyone I've talked to including Jerry Hall (motorgeek) says they're the best reed setup for the lt500. It's what I have in my motor.
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Thanks Buckeye. I'll check with Suzuki East and see what kind of price they have on it.
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87 is a different reed cage and cylinder all together from the 88+ motors. If you have an 87 large reed cylinder (5 bolts holding the intake on & 6 head bolts) you absolutely need a 87 specific vforce reed setup.
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i wouldnt get oe reeds, go for the v force, around $130. or just upgrade with some carbon fiber reeds for the stock cage.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xlt500+reeds&_nkw=lt500+reeds&_sacat=0&_from=R40
and the fuel cell on that carb look small, i hope it does not run out of fuel when your on a long pull. but it looks pretty nice.
good luck with it, and i hope it works good for you.
Yea, I know it's taking a chance on something new. Worst case is it doesn't work as I hope and we end up putting it on my TRX250R. As for the V-Force 3's, I notice that most of them say 88-90. Is there a reason the 87 is left out of that range? Do I need an 87 specific set and what's the difference?
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Ohh that makes sense my friend---Im just bustin yout chops-Buckeye :)
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i wouldnt get oe reeds, go for the v force, around $130. or just upgrade with some carbon fiber reeds for the stock cage.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2050601.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.Xlt500+reeds&_nkw=lt500+reeds&_sacat=0&_from=R40
and the fuel cell on that carb look small, i hope it does not run out of fuel when your on a long pull. but it looks pretty nice.
good luck with it, and i hope it works good for you.
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Maiden voyage my man better to be rich then lean and better safe than blown up. That and I didn't get to do my shake down ride to open it up and do plug chops so I left it pig rich on the main.
And I second Quadman I'm glad you're taking the endeavor to test out this new smart carb I've heard about it and been on the site a few times but haven't heard any direct reviews related to a 500.
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If getting new reeds I would get the new v force 3's. They are going to be as well or betters than stock on a stockish motor and if you opt to up the power they are way better and your not buying twice. I have always had good luck with the uni foam filters and thats what I ran for years with my airbox. I am ditching my box and going to try a big 9" dry filter (overkill)
To me the idea of a self adjusting carb is appealing (though I am open but cautiously and optomistically skeptical) Glad to see you test this out.
I ride from 4000 feet to 13000 feet--from 20 degrees to 100 degrees (no, not the same day) but jetting is a pain to me---Buckeye--if it were so easy why was she still pig rich.
I trust Motergeek that if something significantly better were out there he would probably be doing it---but I am glad to see new people testing new things for out zillas.
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On another note you could've had your mikuni dialed in for the cost of some jets and tuning time less then $40 and a few hours tuning.
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Post a picture of your current reed cage and reeds. I have a custom made motion pro throttle cable for my stock mikuni tm38 bored to 41.5mm using the moose dual gasser throttle. I have no complaints with my motion pro cable accept that I should've had them make the adjuster bigger. I have no comment on the uni filter I know a lot of guys on here are running them with the factory air box and the bracket that's in the store on this site so you can run a clamp on filter. I'm running a custom airbox I designed with a 9" k&n filter and water resistant outerwears pre filter.
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I'm still not getting the answer to my original question though, just a lot of opinions about the carb. Should I just get a set of OEM reeds and a UNI filter to make sure things are fresh? Also, has anyone used the Motion-Pro throttle cable?
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However for people like me, who have read and reread jetting threads, but still am clueless how to tune carbs,... it sounds like an easy way around the jetting issue. I can turn a wrench just like the next guy but it is hard for me to understand the way carburetors are adjusted and how to figure out what adjustments to make when I'm out riding. If that carb can adjust itself, I may think about getting one for my 250 for shear convenience once I start rebuilding it. Post up a pic please.
The top knob is the rich / lean adjustment on the needle, the side knob is the idle adjustment, and of course there's the choke. Again, it's not ALL about no more jetting, but that did direct us towards this instead of a Keihin AirStryker carb which probably would have ran $275 anyway.
(http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r620/RichTrainDriver/008.jpg)
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if it wasent smoking then your running it hard enough.
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First time I ever tuned a carb was on my 500 took a little bit trial and error shooting videos for the guys on here to tell me what to tune I had it in no time. Guys on the trail last weekend couldn't believe how well my bike was tuned and how little it smoked being mixed 25:1 and being pig rich on the main jet.
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However for people like me, who have read and reread jetting threads, but still am clueless how to tune carbs,... it sounds like an easy way around the jetting issue. I can turn a wrench just like the next guy but it is hard for me to understand the way carburetors are adjusted and how to figure out what adjustments to make when I'm out riding. If that carb can adjust itself, I may think about getting one for my 250 for shear convenience once I start rebuilding it. Post up a pic please.
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Dang $400 for a carb that adds no real power gains other then no rejetting. It's not like rejetting and tuning a carb is hard or costly. I could think of a lot more id do with $400 to my Zilla.
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Don't mind you asking at all. The cast carb is $375 plus $24.99 shipping for a total of $399.99. What I meant by "took a step down from a 40mm" is that APT's Buying Guide (http://www.powerapt.com/Buying-Guide.php) suggests a 40mm carb for a 500cc motor.
There a lot of variables that influence the proper size carb for a given engine displacement. The amount of power an engine makes is not always the deciding factor.
A stock YZ 125 has a 38 mm carb and makes 28 to 30 RWHP. A stock LT 500 has a 38 mm carb and makes 45 to 50 RWHP.
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Don't mind you asking at all. The cast carb is $375 plus $24.99 shipping for a total of $399.99. What I meant by "took a step down from a 40mm" is that APT's Buying Guide (http://www.powerapt.com/Buying-Guide.php) suggests a 40mm carb for a 500cc motor.
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How much was the apt smart carb if you don't mind me asking? And what do you mean you went down from a 40 to a 38? The 500's all came with 38mm carbs.
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We went with the 38mm APT SmartCarb for a few reasons. First of all, no more jetting. Also, APT claims that the SmartCarb has proven to provide a broader powerband in most applications both on the track and on the dyno. That being said, we took a step down to the 38mm instead of the 40mm so that the quad would be a little more rideable before hitting the powervalve instead of constantly being on the pipe. I'm pretty sure we're going to be the first to try this carb out on the quadzilla and I'm confident it is going to be a blessing over the stock 87 Mikuni, but that's not really saying much, LOL. I was looking to replace the reeds and air filter with fresh components before the carb came in so that everything around it was "clean" if you know what I mean. It wasn't in hopes of a performance gain at all. Just not sure how old the reeds in this motor even are because we haven't taken anything with a gasket off yet.
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So as I mentioned in my introduction post, we ordered a 38mm APT SmartCarb for our 1987 LT500R. I just had a few questions while waiting for it:
1. Are the stock reeds a good set up or is there a better aftermarket to go with? Just running an FMF pipe right now and don't plan on doing anything more with the motor. We'd like to order new reeds and I wasn't sure whether to order stock replacement reeds, a V-Force 3 setup, or something else.
2. What's the best / most commonly used air filter or does it matter? Uni or Twin-Air is my preference.
3. I want to go ahead and replace the throttle cable so everything is new / smooth when we put the carb on and we'll need one with some adjustment in it. Are Motion-Pro cables a good one for the quadzilla?
I've also got some clutch questions but I'll probably start another topic on that one.
Different reeds will not make very much difference on stock ports, FMF pipe and a 38mm carb unless your reed petals are broken. Contrary to popular myth, replacing reed petals that are not completely closed will not usually improve the performance or carb tuning. Petals that are not completely closed will close completely in a running engine!!!!!
It sounds like you are prepared or in the process of spending a lot of money for things that will not make any noticeable difference in power but POSSIBLY run better because the new carb may POSSIBLY meter fuel more precisely. Why not spend a few dollars and make your stock carb meter fuel to the engines needs? There is not any magic in carburetors. I have not seen any breakthroughs in carb technology in the 40 years I have been working on two strokes. You just need someone to set up your carburetor properly.
If you are planning to do engine work we make a bigger higher flowing reed assembly that uses the V2 Force cage for the 1987 cylinder.
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So as I mentioned in my introduction post, we ordered a 38mm APT SmartCarb for our 1987 LT500R. I just had a few questions while waiting for it:
1. Are the stock reeds a good set up or is there a better aftermarket to go with? Just running an FMF pipe right now and don't plan on doing anything more with the motor. We'd like to order new reeds and I wasn't sure whether to order stock replacement reeds, a V-Force 3 setup, or something else.
2. What's the best / most commonly used air filter or does it matter? Uni or Twin-Air is my preference.
3. I want to go ahead and replace the throttle cable so everything is new / smooth when we put the carb on and we'll need one with some adjustment in it. Are Motion-Pro cables a good one for the quadzilla?
I've also got some clutch questions but I'll probably start another topic on that one.