Suzuki ALT-125 Sweet little ATC

[motorhead]

Just got his out of storage to exercise it a bit; and thought to try to upload some pics of it.

I try to get all the machines out once in a while; for exercise.

If you never had the chance to be around these little ATC's, these things are great. Oh yea, no suspension, etc; but Suzuki made a fine machine in these.

This little girl only has 239 miles on it, and i have the history from the dealership that sold it. One family owned until me. Built 7/85 so by most thinking this is a 1986, sold I believe in 1987, but can check on that later.

Enjoy

And by the way,I may be selling my Sasquatch this year, a bit; a bit later in the year. Pics are on this site, my albums.

[ps2fixer]

Nice looking machine, pretty unique looking vs the Honda's I'm used to seeing like that 2 piece front fender.

If it's not too much trouble, could you peek at the harness and see if it looks like the photo in my other thread? I can't find a part number for it, just want to make sure the part I got off ebay was correctly labeled.

http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthr...ss-part-number

[motorhead]

What harness is this for, on the machine?

I already put the bike back in storage; but I can take a look next week.

As far as the ALT 125 and the LT 125, I would think everything except the front-end is the same. And mechanically and electrically, I never really saw any differences in any of the years. But, maybe there are; I don;'t know.

Anyway, what connects to the harness to have?

Oh by the way, A friend of mine; was the shop mechanic/technician, back in the day when these were sold new. He said the first year had some problems, all machines had the same problems. But after that, the factory made changes; and nothing ever went wrong with these machines. Bullet-proof engines, plastic fuel tank(No rust), great ignition system. Almost all of the old Honda's have fuel tank issues; and Yamaha's have ignition issues. I just replaced a source coil on a Yamaha. The old Suzuki's just keep on running. I don't have favorites; I have had most of everything in my days.

Not saying these old machines are anything like the newer machines, which they are not.

motorhead

motorhead

[ps2fixer]

The listing claimed 85 ALT125, other listings claim 83-86 is the same. It's just weird I can't find a part number for it on the part diagrams, I scanned though them all for the machine.

I was looking at the LT125 listings, and they look like the same harness, some even claim they fit each other but I know so little about the suzuki's.

The harnesses are a little weird on these machines. Based on the wire diagram (just looked it up in the service manual), the harness I reproduced is between the regulator/light switch wiring and goes to the tail light for the gray wire, and the black/white wire goes to a ground wire and the tail light. Looks like everything else makes up the harness. The service manual has two diagrams, the harness matches the 185 layout based purely on the wire diagram, the 125 doesn't show a disconnection at the tail light side, so on that machine it appears like there isn't a main harness, just all parts interconnect together. I've seen plenty of mistakes or lacking info in service manuals, so hard to know for sure.

I scanned over the service manual, it does look quite well built, the engine sounds to have quite a lot of compression too, spec is 142-199psi.

I have a 2nd manual, and it seems to be a better one. Looks like 83 was wired slightly different than the 84-86 machines. 84-86 has the two extra connections for accessory power leads, while 83 appears to just be the two tail light connectors (connectors are poorly shown though so not 100% sure).

The metal tanks on atvs isn't exactly a major problem, cars/trucks etc did it for decades before the atvs, the thing that changed was the fuel. Most pump gas is "E10" or 10% ethanol. Ethanol is highly corrosive, and separates over time from moisture in the air. That's why the bottom of tanks rust out. Old school, the top of the tanks would rust out when sitting a very long time because of just the moisture in the air. Old advice was to fill the tank before it sat because the gas was an anti corrosive (like any petroleum based oil). Now the advice is to empty the tank if it's steel or at least run the carb out of fuel if it has a carb. Modern cars/trucks generally have plastic tanks now including atvs.

[motorhead]

Yes, certainly the ethanol fuel is the problem; with metal tanks; but that is not a problem with the ALT-125

Didn't get to the ALT yet toady; but your harness is probably correct, maybe an extra lead or so. I am only guessing that Suzuki combined all versions of the ALT-125, LT -125, and maybe all the years, into one harness. That would be a manufacturing saving for production. Probably depending when your harness was manufactured.

Suzuki was a manufacturer that really used the combing process to their benefit.

The harness you have; is undoubtedly, the replacement for your machine. Maybe an extra lead or a missing lead? But I will compare to my machine, I have a 1986

motorhead

[ps2fixer]

No rush or anything. I have it listed for 83-86 on ebay, just hate blindly listing an interchange like that with out knowing for sure. The source harness was claimed to be an 85 so I'd think it would match your 86.

I have noticed Yamaha, Suzuki, and Kawasaki all seemed to use wire harnesses for whole models instead of year + model. Honda kept changing connectors every year or two, so there's like 60 versions of Honda harnesses, and the other 3 brands probably have like 20 total combined.

FYI, I don't have a Suzuki, I made the replacement harness based on one I bought off ebay =).

[Gabriel]

Funny...I have never thought any of the Suzuki 3 wheelers were very cool. Them and several of the Yamaha and definitely the Kawasaki's just look weird....BUT, this one is a nice surprise. It looks great.

Nice!!!!

[motorhead]

Thank you for the comment

[motorhead]

Well, I looked at mine. I did not take it apart though.

From your pic , with the 2 harnesses; mine seems to look like the one on the right; where you have the 2 harnesses. My bike has never been touched and I am hesitant to start removing clamps and such, to confirm each wire end connection. I just can't do it.

I think you can understand on this machine with 239 miles.

it was good talking to you.

motorhead

[ps2fixer]

Yea the right side was the stock one, left is my version of it as a reproduction. Not a problem digging into it too far, wasn't expecting you to or anything. Really weird there isn't a part diagram that shows the harness but atleast I know a very likely untouched machine has the same harness, which is helpful for me. Thanks for taking your time and looking at it, kind of a weird direction the thread went from it lol.

How many other like new machines do you have? The Suzuki's I never see for sale around here, I suspect their production numbers were pretty low. I've rode a Tri-Z once, but that's my only experience with other brands besides Honda. I'd like to give one of them smaller hard tail Yamaha's a shot, like the YT175, the YTM225DX/DR would probably be pretty neat machines too. I think they'd be fun to ride and handle quite differently with the engine near the rear so much.

[dvx400]

Awesome man. My dad bought the alt quad and lt 125 trike back in 1983. Still have the trike to this day. He still uses it deer hunting. Your thread brings back memories.

Sent from my SM-G960W using Tapatalk

[motorhead]

Your typing error: just to help

ALT 125 = Trike
LT 125 = Quad

It is all good, have a nice day

[sledcrazyinCT]

Nice looking Zuki Motorhead! I got a Vance Hines pipe I took off mine and replaced with a stocker if you are interested