A bit of history, I bought two used 1998 Honda 300 Fourtrax in 1999 with factory speedos, horns, hour meters and cooling fans on them from a farmer with less than 400 km on them. I still have one and samjp22 has one. Mine currently has 11,000kms on it and is still solid with regular maintenance.
Fast forward to a month ago. I was having a few wobbly pops and a friend sends me an add for a 1996 300 fourtrax for sale 5 mins from the house for $1900.00. For that price I was interested so I grabbed some coin and a DD took me over. It looked OK and ran good, felt tight everywhere and stops on a dime. There were a few questionable items (remember I was drinking) but I brought it home for $1800.00. I've been through this thing thoroughly, changed all the fluids and ended up having to replace:
1. Steering stem bent. ebay.ca for $86.00
2. Right side cover. New from Honda $50.00
3. Left Handlebar control (choke lever was broken). ebay.ca for &75.00
4. Battery hold down plate. ebay.ca for $10.00
5. Air filter hardware and foam. $35.00
6. Hand grips. New from Honda $25.00
7. Rear splash guard foot plates and hardware. New from Honda $50.00
8. Carb gasket kit. New from Honda $30.00
It does need a new CDI (which I knew at the time but didn't comprehend=beer) because it will only catch once you let off the starter button. It starts so well that I'm not too worried about as they are pricey to replace. Anyone have one laying around?
What I was really amazed about is that the brakes appear to have never been in water or even opened up in 24 years. I'm doing seals since I'm in there which is regular maintenance in my books.
I'll be upgrading tires to 26 x 12 x 12 rears and 25 x 10 x 12 fronts DNA Dirt Diggers with ITP steel rims.