questions on the "older" suzuki lt230 quadsports...

[scooterroo]

well. looking at picking one up for a project. its an 87, which is basically the same as the 85/6 version only white plastics and headlight shell. the price is right, as in $200 right. it runs pretty good, plastics look like doctor frankenstien got to them, multiple ziptied cracks in the rears, fronts have been trimmed sorta like a quadracer maier fender, headligth shell also has zipties holding together. like i said it runs ok, puffs a bit of smoke when cold, but once warm, its fine. no ticking in the top end, no knocking in the bottom end. it's basically completely stock.

my question is, what kind of mods are out there for this year bike? can i still get the plastics for it? havent bothered checking ebay yet, for them, or maier, but i definately want to gt some new plastics for it. also, what about motor mods? i had one when i was a kid and had a "viper hurricane kit" thrown in it when i got it, but to be honest i cant even remember what that all included. im wondering about the topend... cam, valves and springs, timing chain, bigger intake, carb, filter, exhaust... anything out there for these? also wondering about suspension and drive train... longer a-arms, maybe extended swinger, shocks, extended axle?

a friend of mine said he thought that some of the older quadracer suspension parts might interchange, but then again he said he wasnt 100% sure on that. could i use parts off an 85/86 qracer? or at least buy the extended arms and axle for a qracer, and use them on a qsport?

any info or ideas is greatly appreciated here. i have always wanted o make a nice low, wide, mean looking flat tracker out of one, and the opportunity is finally knocking. let me know what you think guys, like i said any info, ideas, suggestions are greatly appreciated.

[MonroeMike]

http://sites.google.com/site/suzukilt230svault/Home

[scooterroo]

nice site mike, thanks. any other ideas? anyone?

[honda200x1987]

I owned a 1985 LT230 QUADSPORT back in the late 80's and the there is one technical problem with this model that I had. When the drive chain pops off it will shatter the magneto/flywheel cover. It does have a case saver but it is very weak and will break at a medium-high speed. As long as you have good rear axle bearings and chain/sprockets you should be ok though. Other than that it was a great machine and I rode it everyday as a teen so it held up well concidering. As for parts availability Maier has plastics but I think the OEM fenders might be discontinued but do not quote me on that,,Here is a new OEM front fender for your 1987 230 on eBay.. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/LT230...Q5fAccessories

[whipit]

every 230 quadsport I have ever seen (aside from new ones in the dealership back in the day) has a broken left engine case

[SWIGIN]

Back in the 80s to early 90s my buddy had a few Q sports and he found out that they don't run great when modded. He had ALL kinds of money in the one and it was nothing to whoop it on a built up 200x.

I wouldn't wast my time trying to build one up, but if you let it stock they are good little quads.

[RDH/86200X]

i had one about three months ago that had a good left engine case but it did have a cracked head shatered piston and a broken crank all i can say is the timing chain broke maxed out. never rode a modded one but stock here great

[oldskool83]

i dont know too much about them other then the have an odd kicker that kicks away from the bike. i see lots of them still going strong guess they a pretty solid quad but they always look stock when i see them.

[ktmbk]

The old quadsports were good little bikes.
There were plenty of good hop - ups for them back in the day, I'm sure some can still be found, but they seem to be harder to find now.
plastics can be had aftermarket, I'm not sure of the headlight shell though. I've seen engine mods and suspension upgrades out there though mainly shocks and not arms. Be careful on ordering stuff for a quad racer without checking into it to make sure of the fit. It is true that some stuff interchanges in the later years but a lot more so for the 89-90's. For example - I don't think the arms swap work on the older models, but i have seen sights that show how to modify things to make it work.
For $200 it's a great deal, sounds like maybe a top end refreshing up with stem seals is needed, but I bet you can ride like it is for a while. Watch for the broken case syndrome that happens when the chain slips. Someone use to make a case saver to help prevent one. The bikes were also known for weak bushings and bearings in the rear suspension. The above mentioned case issues mainly came from bad swingarm bushings, axle bearings and worn chain/sprockets, be sure to check them befor beating on it too much. Making a flat tracker out of one sounds like a nice project, But with the newer larger bore bikes out there I don't know how competitive it would be in a race, there still great trail beaters though.
Oh yea, be sure to check out the atv connection forum pages, there's a posting on the quadsport 230 there thats like 950 pages long, no really, it is.
http://forums.atvconnection.com/suzu...port-help.html

[cr480r]

scoot being that you own tecates and other 2 strokes you will never be happy with lt230 performance unless you plan to just use it strictly as a trail beater.. for $200 bucks i'd buy it and run it til the chain takes out the case..

[scooterroo]

oh its not that im looking to do any racing with it, and i know the power wont be anywhere near my other bikes, its just a "cuz i can" thing. something different, something to do. kinda like an idea i have rolling around in my head about a trx200sx thats sitting behind a relatives garage just rotting away. hmmmm!!!! and my kids will enjoy riding it when done.

[coolpool]

Two friends and I bought three of them in 86 and loved them. They were well balanced and had enough power, suspension and braking power to keep us happy. I can't believe how many people have had busted side cases from loose chains. I've never seen one? I used to have to change my swing arm bearings at least once per year. Once I drilled a grease nipple into the tube, my problem was solved. We just installed a Cobra Megaphone exhaust on my son's 86. The original was rotten. IDK if it's made any difference since we did the top end at the same time to stock specs.

[Mike(nj)]

Can't go wrong for $200! I had a '88 LT230E brand new back in the day which is almost the same but had semi auto trans, pull start and E start. I couldn't kill it. Like some said, swingarm/axle bearing go bad and make the chain jump off. Either pull it apart and pack the bearing or wait for them to fail. They just don't make them like that anymore. I'm all for air cooled and kick start toys.

I just found and bought a mint 1987 quadsport just a few days ago........was searching the net and found this so had to reply. Mine is a keeper for sure. Man, it sure brings me back to the late 80's!!

So did ya get it??

[hang&rattle]

Funny. On another site the old 4-wheelers came up. And the last couple of days I've been mulling over this one ($600 o.b.o.):

[fabiodriven]

Trailpros

I have had plenty of friends that had them and I personally owned one for a brief period. Total heaps of shite IMO. It nose dived every time I jumped it, the front wheels pushed through every corner, and the 230cc engine wheezed out a depressing lack of power, but only if it wasn't broken down.

In my experience over the last 20 or so years dealing with ATV's, dirt bikes, street bikes, and sleds, stay far, far away from Suzuki. The only exception being some of their street bikes. Other than that, their sled engines are unreliable junk, quads- junk, dirt bikes- junk. I've towed home more 'Zuki's than I care to count.

That's how I really feel.

I forgot about the little ALT and Quadrunner 125/185's. Those actually weren't that bad. The Quadrunner version pushed through the corners just like it's older brother, but at least they ran OK and made alright power.