Apex service

[the norm]

I live about an hour away from Portland, Oregon. I would like to take my son's apex to someone so I can get it to run right. If anyone knows where I could go near Portland or even Olympia, Washington. Thanks Loren

[nastynotchback1]

What is it doing and what size is it?

[the norm]

A 90cc that is hard to get started.

[nastynotchback1]

Have you done a compression check and checked the carb to make sure it is clean along with getting fuel properly?

[the norm]

Nope. I work a ton of hours so I wanted to take it to someone familiar with Apex quads.

[nastynotchback1]

I see. I don't know about any shops on that side of the states but I can help you get it running over the net. They are super simple to work on.

[the norm]

Ok. I'll give it a shot when I have a day off.

[nastynotchback1]

What year is it? Has the quad been sitting awhile?

[the norm]

Its a 2010. I bought it from a guy on Craigslist about a year ago. Its been nothing but trouble. The kick start gear got smeared twice. Now I'm ordering a complete cover loaded with all the kick start assembly. I have to kick it over for a long time before it will fire. I know the previous owner used it for flat track. So its set up for that. The engine is bored and stroked but to what I don't know. I want to build it into a sand dune bike for my son. So it needs to be reliable!

[LT80]

Clean the carb If that don't fix it then do a compression test.
Depending on the results you may want to send the motor out to a qualified shop.
G-Force and Hetrick racing are a cpl of good options.

[the norm]

I'm waiting on kick start parts. So when they arrive I'll give an update.

[the norm]

So an update.... I have the kick start fixed. I just did a compression test and came up with 210psi on a brand new OTC gauge. Jetting is 55 pilot and 145 main. I just cleaned the carb and put fresh gas in the tank. It also has a new br8es ngk plug. It takes 15 minutes to get started. What's the problem? Thanks

[chris p.]

hmmmmmm what ratio are you using for the fuel ?? did you drain the tank and start fresh ?? how about the air/fuel screw on the carb?? it should be about 1.5 turns out try this too if you have the stock fuel petcock and shutoff eliminate it and run a fuel line directly from the tank to the carb we ran ours like that for years (on a built drr90) with an inline stone fuel filter and never had a problem again our shutoff valve went bad and the engine was starving for fuel give it a shot and let us know

[the norm]

A/F screw is 1.5 turns. I just had it running. It died twice. Both times it was acting like it was starving for fuel. When I was draining the tank it would stop feeding fuel. I pressurized the tank to get it to feed. Must be the petcock. I will try it without it.

[nastynotchback1]

Also make sure nothing has made a home in the pipe.

[the norm]

I pulled the petcock off and sprayed it out with carb cleaner then air. Put it back on and now it flows a little better. I'm going to put a new filter inline and try it. I would really like to keep the petcock in place. This is going to be a dune quad so we will go on long rides and reserve might come in handy. Also I'm worried that the jetting isn't right. I don't know the exact mods done so I can't list them. I do know it has an after market pipe carb and has been stroked with a big bore kit(120cc). Again I wasn't really given great info by the previous owner.

[chris p.]

run the fuel line direct to eliminate any doubt. you can always reinstall a new petcock if that's it. even though you cleaned it and blew it out the old seals or O-rings will still swell and block the flow even though it seems ok. your jetting sounds pretty good.. do a plug check. install a brand new plug and then do a full throttle pull(assuming it starts !!!) it should be a light chocolate color. tannish.

[desratt]

Did you look at the reeds while the carb was off? Did previous owner live at a different elevation. We work on drr's here at www.rectires.com and they are extremely similar. But we're a ways for ya.

[the norm]

I'm honestly ready to through this POS in a dumpster. I have checked everything. I just put new fuel lines, fresh fuel, new fuel filter, spark plug, checked compression. You name it I've checked it. I also bypassed the fuel shut off valve. I'm at a loss. I don't know where to go from here.

[LT80]

How about the electronics? Maybe ohm the stator and CDI.
I'm wondering if it has a aftermarket ignition.

[the norm]

It has a pvl. I don't know how to set it up or adjust it. It is getting spark. Once I get it started it runs great. It just takes 20 minutes of kicking to start. I think a 55 pilot is a little bit large. I'll try dropping to 52 today.

[chris p.]

yea,defnitely check ignition. if you can, try removing the spark plug boot. it should unscrew from the coil wire. check the threads on it and if you have enough wire cut it back and thread it back into the fresh cut area. ours went bad here once. also, how did you check the compression ??? throttle wide open or closed ?? and check the spark while you kick it over. pull the boot and put a plug in there and ground it on the head while you kick it over but make sure you don't touch the plug while doing so. let us know if i's a strong spark or weak.

[LT80]

With all do respect, PVL's have been known to fail. One guy teels me has a pile of them. It happens.
I set mine up (in the day) at TDC -1mm to start..
Please understand , nothing personal against PVL.
I'm thinking that 2 ppl now have tried all, except ignition.
I'm just a LT80 guy but that's my 2 cents. :)

[the norm]

My son has an lt80 that has been bullet proof! He is just to big for it. I got it to start today after only 12 kicks, which is an improvement. He got some seat time on this machine for the first time since we got it. He absolutely hated riding it because of the vibration. So he went back to old reliable (lt80).

[the norm]

Here is an update on this quad if anyone is interested.... I need to get this thing to start so I can sell it. I'm only getting intermittent spark. It has a pvl which I know nothing about. So how do I test to diagnose the problem? Do pvl ignitions have a common issue? I have fresh 110 octane fuel mixed at 40.1. The carb is clean and the reeds are in good shape. Please help if you can. Thanks Loren

[desratt]

did you clean all the dust out of the flywheel?

[the norm]

Just pulled it apart and cleaned. It isn't a pvl. Its a malossiinner rotor ignition. Everything is cleaned. I'm going to try to start it.

[nastynotchback1]

Just pulled it apart and cleaned. It isn't a pvl. Its a malossiinner rotor ignition. Everything is cleaned. I'm going to try to start it.

What do you mean? Malossi makes a pvl also.

[LT80]

IMO, PVL and Malossi are 2 different companys. They both are inner rotor flywheels.
I had a older center rotor Motoplat. They all of a sudden were not available anymore.
Then came along PVL's. My first PVL was in 1995. PVL's were sold by what was Penton Motorsports (or is) west of Cleveland Ohio. They are the importers of KTM (or was). 1993 I talked with the son (and then CEO) of Penton. He donated his time to the local MX track.
Then came along the scooter revolution and the onset of nifty foreign parts Like the Mallossi.
That's my story on that.....LOL :D

[nastynotchback1]

I forgot about the penton brand.I use Stage 6 myself and prefer them over malossi.

[the norm]

I cleaned the stator and rotor. Got good fresh fuel. Checked the coil wire and spark plug boot. New spark plug gapped to .026. Kicked her over a few times and pow. It's running.