LT80 #3 lol

[hawaiianbasshed]

got a thrid one sunday, traded a couple subwoofers for it. motor is cracked in two (really bad design to use a motor as a swing arm imo)

but the tires/wheels were the ones I was going to get from him by trading my pitbike anyway, plus I got the new white plastics and the rest of the motor is good, crank, bore carb and stuff, had pull start too that still works fine :D so good score. anyway, here's the tires/wheels, polished up and on LT #1 (the 04 in my sig as it's running and the 96 isn't the 96 is dubbed LT #2 and the frame in the back ground is LT #3 as well as all the parts... I harvested off her...

turf tamer 18x9.5s, douglas wheels all around an stockers on the front (these ones are 8" so pretty stoked, as the ITP fronts are 10"s so I couldn't use the stocks)

[hawaiianbasshed]

not sure how to do multiple pix lol this forum is the only one I'm on that I can't use the and tags...

[hawaiianbasshed]

last one I promise :D

[LT80]

Wide tires.. I donno why those cases are breaking.:eek2:

[hawaiianbasshed]

lol, you mean to tell me too much traction or hard landing because of the wide tires? I see them on lots of other quads so figured why not LOL.

please lmk if it's a cause for concern. I think the whole motor as a swingarm is the stupidest idea I've ever seen for atv rear suspension stock lol

[etccb]

please lmk if it's a cause for concern.
He is letting you know.

[hawaiianbasshed]

you guys have an internet language similar to japanesse (I have no idea what you're saying as there's not much there to start with LOL)

so, yeah, wide tires are bad because? I like the way it looks LOL. I don't really want to take them off. if there's a way I can avoid damage and still have them I'd like to know how and do it.. what about the guys whose kids ride the LT80s in the dunes? to the best of my knowledge the sand tires only come in 9+ widths... so I'm trying to figure if it means no jumping? can you guys elaborate more than a 5 word post? lol... I was thinking it would be ideal to make some sort of bracket that goes over and under the motor (kinda like a traction bar but curved over and under the motor) attached to the rear carrier and front (motor mount/bracket area) to take off some of the stress/workload and I could possibly extend the rear further and have more travel. then the front longer arms and different shocks as well. Kind of like a true swing arm that has an upper and lower arm and the motor just rides along between the two is my idea I guess I could say...

as far as I see the biggest downfall of these machines is the CVT (also it's key to off the line power) and it's suspension or lack there of... so if I could somehow remedy the suspension I could at least make it more worth keeping around.. I can bend pipe at work and my buddy can weld whatever I need. so imo an extended swingarm/engine support brace would be killer. I'm not sure it would cost me much but time and effort :) seabuggy I think his name is, already figured the front arm extending it seems like. so all that's left is the rear and we're gonna have better suspensions on these :D dunno, sounds easy in my head LOL but I've never fabbed anything before.. just figure I'd bend a few pieces of 1/2" or 3/4" chromoly tube and weld them together with brackets and I have an extended swingarm LOL could incorperate a pitbike style chain adjuster too I'd image or some type of REAL tensioner...

[etccb]

If you dig through tire posts in the suzuki mini section of the forums you will find that it has been talked about a lot. On the lt80 the engine case swingarm is a weak link and tire choise can make it a bigger problem. Stock style sidewall flex is much better for it then a stiff sidewall or wide hooked up tire. Do a little digging through the mini forums and you will find a lot of threads to read about it. Sand is more forgiving then dirt and an extended swingarm will only put more stress on the case. small kids that are very liteweight can also get away with a little more but even the littlest tikes have busted some of these in the past.
Don't ride too hard or your stack of broken cases will grow in a hurry.
Good luck and have fun.

[LT80]

Exactly.
Now, we're not trying to scare you away from riding. We raced at a national level with the LT's and every now and then a case broke.
Land on one rear wheel and the odds go up. :)
We stressed to our kids to ride smooth... Fast but smooth. :devil:


They do make a nice 6.5" wide 5 or 6 paddle for the dunes.

[seabeebuggy]

you know adding 3'' on each side is super easy. if you want to move the tires foreword 1 '' that is where thinking come in.. If you want to save some cash take the arms to a welder and tell him to add 3''

[hawaiianbasshed]

my skid plate is supported by 2 bent concrete form pins... that should help I would imagine? I'll get pix to explain it better. It was like that when I got it, and probably explains the case not being broken but the frame cracks had to be welded up lol

and the swingarm I had in mind would absorb all the shock and the motor would just ride between the bars to propel the bike.

I really think I need to put up pix holding some bars in place or something. the motor won't hold as much of the pressure is what I'm thinking. the bars probably four of them total two above and two below would hold the rear carrier to the motor mount basically like traction bars over and under the motor to absorb or help absorb any shock load the motor would otherwise absorb normally :D