Suzuki lt 4 stroke motor power and performance potential?

[hawaiirider]

hi my next door neighbor has a suzuki lt 185 and lt 230 4 stroke quads, they both run good and both have what im looking for in a trike, electric start, auto clutch and reverse! plus chain driven. question is do they put out good power? both are stock. can they be modded? i cant test ride them as they are absolutely wedged in the back of his garage im suprised they still start up
forgot to say i would be buying the quad for the motor to put in a trike -of course-!!

[hawaiirider]

Im trying to compare power to a 200x as thats what chasis id put either motor in

[brd812]

I still have a alt185 trike, I got it in 85 and believe me she was abused for years and the only engine upgrades ever done to her was a ring job about 25 years ago. The alt still runs like a top and only smokes on start up for about 30 seconds. With that being said she not speed machine being a hard tail but is a beast to ride. The alt was replaced by 230 quadsport, as kid I was first to go to 4 wheels and I rode with my buddies everyday and can tell you my sport always got smoked in our backyard drags by my buddies 86 200x and my neighbors 250sx. Needless to say I had to upgrade my ride to a T3 then things changed....lol .... I eventually blew up the sport on my first engine rebuild. I replaced the valve guides and piston and rings and didn't replace the rod, oops and threw the rod. Lesson learned there. Good motors, but not performance engines at all. Hope that helps

[hawaiirider]

sounds like there isnt much info or upgrades available on the zukis, maybe ill just stay honda, without being able to upgrade those motors i doubt ill be happy with the performance

[Toaster556]

The LT230 is known for rod problems, not limited to throwing the rod and egging out both ends of the rod. It WILL cost you a fair amount to build it correctly, but you'll still be down on power from a Powroll 218X. Pretty much the only things available for the 230 are DG exhausts, LA Sleeve 260 kit and a wide variety of cams. The motor itself is pretty close to it's limit for stroke, there's not much more room in the cases, but the bore can be stepped up to 71 mm safely, 73 mm with case boring and super tight clearances. Getting creative, you can even source a certain Hyosung 4 vavle head that bolts up, or have some custom reverse rotation cams ground and run an LT300 head with the carb sticking out front. Crazy things can be done, but its not an easy build in any way.

The LT/ALT185 and 125 are both closely related, and not worth hopping up IMHO. The granny low is great for towing an arena drag at low speeds, but the performance capabilities suffer, as it's basically a four speed plus low. HOWEVER, the 125/185 was never electric start, but Suzuki made an LT160 which was electric start and a little different but the same family. The 160s have a 58 mm bore and 60 mm stroke as opposed to 57/48.8 or 63/57, yet have a 5 mm shorter cylinder and small valve head with tiny ports, and are manufactured by Hyosung.

I spent a lot of time and a fair chunk of change building a few DR100-200 based motors which are also very closely related to the LT, and the DR200 is the closest thing to an XR200 in terms of performance. My DR190 (DR100 with a 7 mm LT185 cylinder for a whopping 19 mm over stock) is strong enough to walk all over most stock XR200s or CRF230s. The autoclutch motors are much like the autoclutch ATC200s, good trail motors, but not much in the performance department.

[yaegerb]

Nice write-up toaster. I will add that at 13 I bought my first quad, an LT230 and sank a small fortune into rebuilding that motor. The saddest part.....my bored/piped 200s smoked that 230 all day long.... Lol

[RIDE-RED 250r]

This thread brings back some memories... old and not so old..

My first ATV I ever owned was an '86 LT230s with that wonky sideways kicker. This was back in 1991 and I was 13 years old. My buddy got one of those "inferior" 3-wheelers, a mint '86 200x. When we raced, my piped and geared Quad Sport was always out front by a nose. I would never have admitted it then, but the 200x was quicker. I was just a little better rider than my friend.

I still have an '88 LT230E that my son rides. This is the identical twin to the LT230S Quad Sport but has E-start and Auto-clutch. I am the second owner of that machine and know it's history from day 1.. My grandfather bought it new in '88. All it has ever had replaced is the clutch pack and CDI and it still is a reliable runner. Top end is starting to get tired though... It has been working its little heart out on Tug Hill for the last 4 years..

I think stock to stock a 2nd gen 200x is definitely the quicker machine. But I think if you were to lighten the Quad Sport by turning it into a trike it would level the playing field quite a bit. Quad Sport was heavier than a 350x.

Toaster is right, not much in the way of mods other than exhaust and cams. As-is I find the LT to be a nice general purpose trail machine for easy paced rides with the family on the back forty.

I bet an LT230 converted to a trike would be a pretty fun machine and pretty comparable to a 200x. Might not be too difficult of a conversion either with the battery mounted by the tail light and no oil tank to worry about re-locating. Hmmmm......

[hawaiirider]

thanks, turns out the lt is the auto clutch one, its faster than a stock 85200x with a pipe he and his son said as they have both bikes, the little one is a 160 not a 185 and it goes pretty good he pulled it out, seems geared low (40mph max) but has alot of pep for such a small motor!
im in serious debate on buying one of these,$ 250 for the 160 and 400$ for the 230, both run good, look fair to beat. im fairly satisfied w my modded 200x now, but the zukis have reverse!! if i could get the power of my x out of one of these i may do the trike build, what yall think?

[Dave8338]

You know what I think... Do it !

[fabiodriven]

Suzuki's are absolute turds. I think it's pretty obvious from the replies you've gotten that the outcome with these motors is not going to be what you're looking for and I'm surprised you would even still be considering it. Hooray for Hyosung heads and blown rods!

[RIDE-RED 250r]

Well, I have had quite a few years experience with these things.. I wouldn't go so far as to say they are turds and not worth picking one up if in good shape. Just don't go into it with unreasonable expectations of them.

FTR: I would take a descent 2nd gen 200x over any LT (2s or 4s), any ol' day of the week though..

[yaegerb]

I have worked on and owned suzuki's with Honda's in the stable. Unfortunately or fortunately, Honda wins, hands down, every time.

[RIDE-RED 250r]

I have worked on and owned suzuki's with Honda's in the stable. Unfortunately or fortunately, Honda wins, hands down, every time.

YES SIR!

[hawaiirider]

Suzuki's are absolute turds. I think it's pretty obvious from the replies you've gotten that the outcome with these motors is not going to be what you're looking for and I'm surprised you would even still be considering it. Hooray for Hyosung heads and blown rods!

another or a different bike is always a temptation, after hearing about the rod problems im not sure what to do, i know my x is tough as nails either way.

[Toaster556]

Fabio's right. If you're looking for outright performance, the LT230 is NOT the answer. The rod problems were solved by Suzuki in 1989 for the LT250S with a bigger crank pin and longer rod, but it didn't trickle down the auto clutches until LTZ250/ Suzuki Ozark 250. However, even without the rod problems, the long stroke doesn't exactly make for a high rev ceiling. To put it in perspective, the LT230 has a longer stroke than a Yamaha Warrior 350, and is only 1 mm shorter than a 350X. ALL the 450 motocross bikes have a shorter stroke.
Are they a good trail engine? After the crank mods are done, provided you keep off the GD rev limiter, YES. Are they a race motor? Hell to the no. Doesn't mean every Suzuki is a turd.

Oh, and the Hyosung head is kinda like an aftermarket Honda 70 head, just something a little different for that extra edge. The fit and finish on the head I got is Honda-esque, very nice stuff.