Blaster Build up part 3!

[bradley300]

FIXING THE WORST, FIRST:by Bradley300

STAGE 3: REAR SUSPENSION
This article we will go into the rear suspension. On any race quad, the suspension is the most important part about the set up. After riding the stock Blaster for so long, I have decided that the front suspension isn’t great, but the rear is even worse. Since this is a slow build up and not everything is being added at once, I decided to do the rear suspension first. It seems to hold the quad back from going faster more so than the front.

First of all, the blaster has a serious problem with the chain adjustment procedure. I would explain how to adjust the chain on the stock swing arm, but I still don’t understand it. This huge problem is a quick fix if you’re in the market for a new swing arm anyway. There are plenty of aftermarket swing arms for the blaster including Laegers, JB, and LSR. After looking at all the choices (I didn’t search long, I’m sure I missed some, including the JB) I chose a swing arm from Burgaurd Cycle. The nice thing about the aftermarket is they help fix some of the shortcomings of a stock quad. In the blaster’s case, that means the lame stock chain adjustment. There are many swing arms that come with a round house rear end chain adjustment (similar to a 300ex). It’s much easier to adjust, as well as looking a lot cleaner. I looked at three swing arms and here’s why I picked the Burgaurd. First off, the Laegers was a nice price and Laegers is always been a big name. Only problem was this was a stock style chain adjustment, so there’s nothing that will make me buy it. The LSR is a good product and looks nice, but it’s expensive. The Burgaurd was a round house just like the LSR but it was cheaper, so that made my decision. The Burgaurd unit was 525 for the swing arm and 125 for the new Honda style carrier with bearings and a new mounting bracket for the rear brake caliper. I chose a plus 2 length because after some research on different ATV sites, a plus 2 seemed to be the most popular.

[bradley300]

Mounting the swing arm is fairly easy. You will need to take the short chain roller stay off the stock swing arm as well as the chain roller. You will also need the stock pivot bushing sleeves, but the swing arm does come with new bushings. In the back, you will need to take the axle out of the stock carrier.
1. First, you need to take off the brake caliper, don’t worry about taking off the chain, the whole sprocket will slide right off the axle.
2. Loosen the outer axle locknut, then the inner until they are off the threads.
3. Take off the left hub and the axle will slide right out.
4. Take the pivot bolt out of the stock swing arm as well as the rear shock pin.
5. After that, the stock swing arm should slide right out.
The new Burgaurd swing arm will bolt right in the old ones place. Put the new axle carrier in the swing arm. (Make sure to grease it well!), as well as the axle. Snug up the inner axle locknut, but don’t get it too tight. If it’s too tight there will be too much side load on the bearings and they will go out in no time. Tighten the outer locknut as tight as you can get it so that the inner nut doesn’t have a way to get loose.
For the shock, I chose an Elka shock with ride height, and rebound adjustment, as well as a compression adjustment on the remote reservoir. Elka sends their shocks set up for your specified weight, riding style as well as your suspension geometry. The shock was easy to bolt on, just two bolts. The shock also came with directions and even a picture showing where to mount the reservoir. Mounting the reservoir was kind of a pain. To do it right, you really should take off the rear plastic which is one piece with the carburetor intake boot. Before you take off the plastic, make sure the area around the carb’s intake boot is clean. If any dirt gets into the carb, you may end up taking the whole carb apart to clean it. Once the plastic is off and your ready to mount the shock make sure the rebound adjust is facing the rear of the quad and is on the bottom.

1.Drop the shock down thru the frame rails with the reservoir hose hanging over the left side of the frame.
2.Put in the top bolt and snug it down. Watch as your doing this, if you get it too tight you can squeeze one of the black rubber o-rings out.
3.Put in the bottom bolt and you can set the quad on the ground to mount the rezzy. The best place for it is on the left side right in front of the oil injector’s oil tank. Elka sends a good picture as well as mounting instructions so you get the rezzy in the best place.

That’s it for the parts this week. There will be 3 or 4 weeks before the next article, so if anyone has a specific item they would like to see next, send me a private message and I will try to work on it for the next article.

[bradley300]

Florida GNCC:
What a rough track! Nothing but 11 miles of sand whoops. There were 4 of us on the line this time. Me, a black warrior (Jeff Dever) and, 2 yellow and blue warriors (Steven Mitchell and Phillip Lambert). Steven Mitchell was also in Texas and got 2nd. Place. The start was great, all four of us got a good start, which made for a fun first few turns. I probably could have got the hole shot, but I missed a shift. Jeff Dever ended up out front about 10 seconds ahead of Steven and myself. Phillip was far back already, it was his first race and with only four of us, he knew he would get a plaque as long as he made it one lap, so he made 1 lap his goal, and stuck to it. As luck would have it for Steven and I, Jeff noticed a missing nut on one of his shock bolts and pulled over within 2 miles of the start. He would later come back though. Now it was Steven and I neck and neck for a few miles and I slowly started to pull away. I was winning! I had never lead a GNCC before and it was such a cool feeling knowing I was leading instead of following. The longer the race went the more tired I became but I was still in the lead.
At the beginning of the second lap, as I was going thru the pits I heard a cheer and looked to see Phillip, enjoying an ice cold Corona. He had made it his lap and had gone into “retirement” with a 1 and 1 record, 1 race, 1 plaque, good for him. I sure wish my record was that good! I eventually got so tired that I just went into survival mode. I sat down most of the second lap and the third, but luckily, Steven wasn’t doing much better.
Finally, I saw the checkers and man was I relieved! And I loved what I saw, 1st place! I pulled off the track and saw Jeff. He said he did end up making 2 laps once his quad was fixed and he got 3rd place. This was one of the roughest tracks I have ever been on and I was glad to survive. My win at this track put me in 2nd place in the points with Steven winning as of now.
I will have a Georgia race report up soon!

[dirtmomma]

CONGRATS Bradley on your 1st place!!!!!! thats awesome I can tell your stoked Hey did ya see my post got ANOTHER one!! Hey I see that you went w/ +3 arms?? How come not just +2?? I'm just curious cuz everyone always says for GNCC they like to use +1 or +2

Just curious you got any current pics w/ the arms & swinger?? GOOD LUCK @ TEXAS!!

[bradley300]

stock the blaster is 40>3 inches wide, so add 2.75 for the a-arms (the laeger plus 3's are actually 2 3/4 inches) and 4+1 wheels and you are at stock 400ex width, which is perfect for gncc. let me find some pics with the swingarm and shocks
thanks, i'm stoked about winning, cant wait to do it again!

[bradley300]

one more, best i have of the swinger

[lilwitting]

nice

[countypark]

On both the report as well as the Number 1. I hope I can get one this year.

5th last year was my best.

Sounds like the competition may be building.

After North Carolina any new racers have to run all 9 to qualify for the series awards.

Top 5 would be cool for me.

[bradley300]

tom with the way its looking you will have a top 3 in the bag!

[czrider263]

heres a pic of my blaster